11 Questions with Abhijit Bharali

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 Abhijit Bharali:

How did your first opportunity in football come about?

My first opportunity in professional football came about in 2017 when I got the chance to be part of the backroom staff (performance analysis department) of an Indian Super League team (Mumbai City FC). It was a combination of good luck, years of love's labour as well as working for peanuts and waiting for the Indian game to become more forward thinking.

It all started with me trying to be more than a casual football watcher and learn more about the inner workings of the game through websites like Zonal Marking, Spielverlagerung in the early 2010s and then getting my hands dirty by dissecting and writing about matches myself.

The entire analysis and analytics industry has grown hugely since (in the past decade), contributing to my good fortune and the roles I've had over the past few years.

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

The ability to be more scientific in a process that is majorly art (until now, at least) attracted me to data/scouting. The fascinating thing about this domain is the way neither science nor art can take the upper hand and how the perfect combination of both is what's useful and difficult to achieve. Names are more intriguing than numbers and numbers are more valuable than names. Names come and go, numbers stay.

What type of player fascinates you? What caught your eye?

I love to watch ball progressors (at elite level) and players who take risks (at any level) because I feel that shows they have the cognitive skill to spot something earlier than others and also the technical skill to carry out that action. 

I'm also quite fascinated by deep-lying playmakers in that they tend to do the same things over and over again and teams remain unable to negate their effects, as they make subtle changes to their positions to have similar angles and time all the time. 

What is the biggest misconception you’ve found in this space?

I'm still learning as I work hence I don't want to pick on particular concepts but one thing that annoys me is the tendency of people to make sweeping statements about the superiority or inferiority of a particular team or player with little regard for context or environment. 

Also, I can't emphasize enough the importance of video as a data source that is integral to the entire analysis process, and debates between data scouting and traditional scouting should be non-existent considering we are dealing with information either way. 

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

I'd definitely build my entire skillset in terms of domain knowledge as well as data skills which is easier said than done. I'd give more time to prepare myself in a more rounded manner to work in the pro football industry, something that I did in a very fragmented way considering the lack of a proper roadmap into working in the pro space, at least in India. 

What is more important domain knowledge or curiosity?

Curiosity, as I believe curiosity is what builds domain knowledge, and it's probably easier to be curious than be a domain expert. If you're inclined to learn more you'll automatically build domain knowledge over time. That's what I feel I have done over the years and even though I'm still scratching the surface, there's a hunger to consume and learn more everyday.

What is your favorite sports moment? Why?

Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona from last season because it showed the unpredictable nature of sport, as well as facets like good luck, encouragement and hard work that tilted the scale in the favour of one team.  These facets are equally applicable in real life as well, if you see it that way. Almost all iconic sporting moments are moulded in a similar manner, to be honest. I just picked a more recent example.

I would also mention India's 4-1 win over Thailand in 2019 Asian Cup and India's cricket World Cup final win of 2011 as two of my most satisfying sports moments. There are too many such moments and that's why I love sports.

What coach or player would you give a lifetime contract to? Why?

Messi, because it's unlikely I'll get tired of watching him play. It's just the aesthetics.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into this space?

I'm fairly new to this field myself so the best piece of advice I can offer is to work hard (read, understand challenges, learn, create/improve past work/innovate, share). I would like to improve myself in so many aspects which shows that even people inside this space are working, improving every day and are not the finished products. This is a niche space for sure because of which opportunities tend to be limited but it's evolving every day and this suggests it's not a closed space. 

Also, hat-tip to the people in this community for their willingness to share ideas and open-mindedness. There's so much to learn just by following the right people on Twitter. It's not a big task to curate your Twitter feed, followers, etc. 

Who is your favorite athlete? Why?

Basically every athlete who is relentless in their pursuit of improving and being successful, even if they don't end up being successful. Growing up as a Liverpool fan, I absolutely loved Steven Gerrard and over time, I have learnt to appreciate Indian footballers and non-elite footballers more.

What is your favorite quote or saying?

I find Aristotle's quote, "the more you know, the more you realise you don't know", very motivating and it keeps me grounded.

Also, I like a quote that's become quite popular these days, "Football is the most important of the least important things in life". It just sounds so positive.