11 Questions with JP Quinn

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 JP Quinn:

How did your first opportunity in football come about?

I don’t work in football, but if someone would like to give me an opportunity, I would love to!

What attracted you to scouting/analytics?

I’ve always loved sport (particularly football) and I studied maths, so naturally I was very interested in how maths could be applied to sports. I became more involved online as football analytics began to develop, through people like of Ted Knutson and concepts such as expected goals.

Who/what is the first player/concept you "found"? What caught your eye?

I founded the concept of attacking centre-backs. Chris Wilder stole it from me.

Who/what is the player/concept you "missed" on? What did you learn from it?

No one specifically but one thing I’ve learned is that progress is not linear – players can plateau or explode and it’s difficult to predict. It can also be very much dependant on their environment – being in the right system, with the right coach, for example.

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

I probably wish I had worked on my coding skills earlier.

Do you see player development as more of an art or a science?

As a mathematician, of course I see it as more of a science, but I think it’s both.

What is your favorite sports moment? Why?

It’s too difficult to pick one moment but the Solheim Cup last year went down to the very last putt (of a 3-day event), Suzann Pettersen holing to win it for Europe, and it’s hard to think of a more perfect or dramatic sporting moment.

What coach/player/team inspires you? Why?

Pep Guardiola has probably been the most influential coach in recent times and one of the most intriguing tactically, but what I find most interesting is how teams/coaches find different ways to win – Simeone, Klopp, Mourinho, Benítez, Bielsa have all had success with very different styles.

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

Specifically from an analytics point of view, I would probably encourage people to widen their knowledge of maths/stats if they haven’t studied that and look at learning how to use statistical programs like Python/R. Also, read some of the articles by Statsbomb or other analysts and put your own work out there.

What is your favorite app/tool to use (for work or fun)?

There are lots of sites with public data – WhoScored, SoccerStats, FBREF – which are great for anyone wanting to get involved in data analytics.

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

Maths and coding, which give me a good platform from which to analyse and visualise data. I tend to view things in a more probabilistic way anyway, so I think this helps to understand the role that chance plays and take a more logical (perhaps less emotional) approach to analysis.