11 Questions with Michael Karbach

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 Michael Karbach, creator of Bstat

How did your first opportunity in football come about?

This goes back to my childhood, when as a 7 year old I attended Borussia Mönchengladbach's Bundesliga football matches. Therefore, I am big fan of just this team! 

What attracted you to scouting/analytics? What’s more intriguing now names or numbers?

I am not a professional expert in football scouting and also not in tactics. Due to my own professional work, I am highly interested in numbers. However, I would like to stress that I am not a statistician, but that I carry out my analyses merely out of my own interest in football. Therefore, I am interested in the combination of both aspects, names and numbers!

If you could start over what skill would you build on first?

OK, I am not an expert, but as a former marathon runner and through my analysis of successful matches, I believe that the athletic aspects of football as a whole have not yet been fully exploited. If you compare other with other sports, e.g. athletics and swimming, it seems that these sports are more intensive and more physical training.  

Do you see player development as more of an art or a science? Is development on the club or the player? Why?

I believe both aspects must form a unity. Science must form the basis, but this must be combined with imagination, skill and good ideas, i.e. art.

What is your favorite sports moment? Why?

My own personal favorite moment was my first marathon, which I did just for fun because I was near New York at the time.

On the other hand all the beautiful moments when my favorite team won the championships in the seventies over Bayern Munich. The biggest emotional moment of modern times, was the won relegation 2011 against Vfl Bochum. That was incredible, because the game was partly about the existence of the club.

What coach/player/team inspires you? Why?

Only one, my own favorite team, and in part FC Liverpool under Klopp, as the team seems to break all records.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into media/analytics?

I can speak only for analytics, and there I would say that one should have a personal interest.

What is your favorite app/tool to use (fun only!!)?

Not a single own, more or less every programming language can do the job. It is a matter of taste. I am using R and MatLab.

What other sport/hobby/discipline do you feel improves your work as an analyst? Why?

None!