The pursuit of wisdom in any walk of life quickly reveals that what you think you know is not nearly enough to get you to where you want to go. As I'm starting out in my football scouting journey I challenged myself to reach out to those already working in various roles in football to answer a short list of questions. My goal wasn't to get answers but relevant perspectives on the game within the game.
Here is @SgtSaltnPeppa of Grey Area Analytics.
How did your first opportunity in football come about?
My first opportunity in football came through Twitter. I had picked up some data science skills at my corporate job and thought it would be a good idea to try some of these techniques on football data. I started posting graphics on Twitter and then started greyareaanalytics.com. I spent the last 3 years collecting data on the top 2 divisions of Indian football and posting long articles and visualizations. Luckily, this got noticed by a club and they asked me to come on board.
What attracted you to scouting/analytics? What’s more intriguing now names or numbers?
It all started with xG. A few years ago, I started seeing articles on Twitter from Sander Ijtsma, Michael Caley etc. and found the concept fascinating. The conclusions they made, the creative ways in which they used data to describe football games was eye-opening to me. It led me to make the conclusion that in football, the information or "rules" that are commonly mentioned by pundits/coaches on TV or in the media are not necessarily fact based. Numbers are definitely what I find more interesting. Names are not important at all.
Who/what is the first player/concept you "found"? What caught your eye?
Indian football is far behind the other leagues in Asia and Europe. This isn't to do with physical or technical reasons, and in my opinion, it's purely tactical. Sometimes, it's stunning how little tactical awareness the players here have. So, when scouting a player and they do the small things like scanning their surrounding multiple times before receiving the ball or making an off the ball decoy run, it's a sign that there's a player that has some awareness and could be a useful player.
Who/what is the player/concept you "missed" on? What did you learn from it?
I work at a club that is top of the league and challenging for trophies and continental qualification. Sometimes, it's very important to sign ready made quality that can come in and do a job immediately rather than looking for a discount pick or a pick with high potential that will pay out in the long term. Obviously, the latter is more valuable but being closed to an option just because it is a short term gain is never a good thing.
If you could start over what skill would you build on first?
Definitely programming ability. You can learn football by watching games and reading article and I, personally, find that easy to do. The real difference maker is in programming ability and the ability to interpret data.
Do you see player development as more of an art or a science?
Currently, I would say it's more of an art form. There are plenty of unquanitfiables in football and for that reason, it might not be a fully scientific process. Using data and logic to guide the process is key, though.
What is your favorite sports moment? Why?
Ooff, tough one. I've been an Arsenal fan for as long as I can remember and 2004 was obviously the high point in that journey. Plenty of brilliant moments since then though, Arshavin's winner against Barca or Henry's against Leeds come to mind. Also, as an Indian, cricket is in my blood and India winning the World Cup at home in 2011, or the multiple trophies that IPL side, Chennai Super Kings have won are also right up there for me.
What coach/player/team inspires you? Why?
Arsene Wenger. He's basically my spiritual guide and many of the ideas I have about how the game is to be played come straight from his playbook. One of the items on my bucket list is to meet that man and just thank him for existing.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into scouting/analytics?
JUST START. There's no blueprint how to learn this work and it's vital to just start doing work and posting it publicly to get noticed.
What is your favorite app/tool to use (for work or fun)?
I use R and Tableau, primarily. Instat's new video editing features are pretty cool, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment