11 Questions with Lukas Brandl

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 Lukas Brandl:

How did your first opportunity in football come about?

I don’t think I can identify a concrete first opportunity, my football journey started more fluently. I began to work on my first coaching licence when I still was more a player than a coach, and at some point, it became clear that my contribution as coach will likely be more beneficial than as a player. Then, things kind of just happened, and I like to take the role of participating in football as much as I feel helpful doing so, and watch new opportunities evolve without really enforcing them.

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

I started coaching and writing about football nearly at the same time, and in both cases I was attracted by thinking: „I might be able to add something valuable to this!“ – so, basically, it was probably just some kind of self-verification.

Names or numbers – in the end, it’s always names, because numbers are meaningless without a defined frame, and the frame wouldn’t exist without names who play the game of football. But still, numbers can be very innovative and change the way we see the frame – after all, I think it’s not a question about names or numbers, but rather about perceiving thoroughly and reflexively. For me, the emphasis is probably on „names“, because it gives me more thinking ressources, but I am aware that it’s just one perspective of the spectrum and currently, I try to improve my „numbers“-perspective. Anyways, one will always be forced to have a certain perspective, but the degree of reflexivity and tolerance can increase.

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

One can recognize easily the player who scored a goal or whose major mistake lead to conceding a goal, but the steps before these events are interdepending in a complex way, because decisions of 22 individuals are influencing the game in more or less conscious and more or less direct ways. I am fascinated by players that are able to contribute massively, but unobviously. 

Maybe that is because I feel good when I manage to spot something like that when I watch football, but moreover, this always remembers me how complex the game of football is, and how much freedom it gives to every player (and coach) by being so. You know it‘s impossible to play ultimately perfect football, but there always seems to be a chance to reach perfection. I admire players who accept this quandary and perform serenely and focused at the same time.

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

There are misconceptions in both directions: You can either overestimate players who are performing very blatantly, but you can also think that an unremarkable player is secretly super good, just because you feel cool and hipster by having this opinion. That is, obviously, where changing your perspective and consulting numbers helps. In the end, it’s a balancing act to manage the blind spots of your own perceptions and of the models which are responsible for the numbers.

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

I talked about the feeling of adding something valuable as a source of motivation – well, in retroperspective, what seemed cumulatively valuable some time ago seems pretty obvious and superficial today. This Dunning-Kruger-experience is inescapable, and after some de-motivating effect it might give you some tranquility as well. I think I reached a point where I am able to recognize how much I do not know and in which, relatively small, fields I might be something like „competent“.

Regarding these thoughts, it’s hard to define a skill I would have liked to have earlier. I sometimes think I’d liked to be more talented as a player to reach higher leagues, because this would have made me more confident probably – but also, I wouldn’t have been as much in some aspects of football as I am in now because I somehow had to compensate that I never played very high.

If I have to decide on some „skill“: I wish I would’ve stayed more into maths since I left school, because I was not too bad, and today, I am sometimes missing the opportunity of conceptualizing things with the help of math effortlessly.

What is more important domain knowledge or curiosity?

Curiosity in a sense of being prepared to actually reflect and bring light to the spots of your knowledge that are inadequate (which can be quite uncomfortable – „it both opens our eyes wide and plunges us into the dark“, the philosopher John Llewelyn described it) – is crucial if you really want to develop and, somehow, make a difference. But – without a solid basis, without any substance, without some domain knowledge –inadequateness ca not be identified first of all! 

So, this is another balancing act here: You definitely need a lot of domain knowledge to act confidently, make decisions and to have a „difference-template“ to be able to exploit your curiosity. But then, the more your knowledge solidfies and becomes self-evident, indisputable, the chance to stay curious and deeply reflective decreases. It’s not easy at all, I think.

What is your favorite sports moment? Why?

I remember watching the World Cup in Germany 2006 on TV together with my younger brother, when I just turned 8, and seeing Germany winning over Ecuador 3:0. This always comes to my mind immediately when I think about my first emotional football experience. Then, of course, some good times as a (youth) player, and then as a coach: For example when I experience players of my team dominating the game that are usually used to be rather unconfident and shy, or when I really get into reflection and discovery processes alongside the players. These are my favorite moments.

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

Obviously Christian Streich, because he has such an admirable distance to his job and football overall, he is so reflected and circumspect, but has a clear and loud opinion at the same time. He is more than football. There are definitely more coaches and players I admire, but with this question, Streich was the first to come to my mind.

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

Take football serious, accept its complexity, treat it like a science, because it is. But don’t say things like „football is my life“, because in the end, it’s also just a game, and everybody can play it. That’s why it fascinates the world. So: Identify your bit that you can contribute to football, and enjoy doing it. Don’t believe you will change the (football) world, but also be aware of your chance to make it better.
Who is your favorite athlete? Why?

I think you have to pay massive respect to athletes like Michael Jordan, Cristiano Ronaldo, Muhammed Ali… and they are surely role models for many, because of their discipline, effort, commitment. But I, personally, enjoy thinking about athletes like Ronaldinho or Maradona – in their prime, they also worked hard of course, but after all, they just enjoyed what they did and still were among the very best. They gave a shit about standards, I think this is another example for the freedom football gifts, and that current norms can never be ultimate.

What is your favorite quote or saying?

Very hard to pick one. Currently, I like Leonard Cohen’s „there’s a crack in everything – that’s how the light gets in“, I think it says a lot. But I enjoy reading, generally, and diving into the work of authors like Eco, Gadamer, Merleau-Ponty, Arendt, Guattari… can reliably help to readjust my thoughts.