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 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 Sam Gregory:
Here is Sam Gregory:
What is your first memory of football?
I have a very vague memory of the 1998 World Cup England-Argentina shootout, but soon after I became a Manchester United fan because of David Beckham so I can't have been watching very closely. That was around the time I started playing as a kid as well.
What attracted you to data and scouting? What’s more intriguing now, refining your processes and acumen or 'discovering' players?
What first attracted me to football analytics was just the ability to take my educational skill set (economics, math and statistics) and combine it with one of my biggest passions, watching football. From a more theoretical perspective I think the idea of using data as a tool in player recruitment just appeals to my data-driven way of approaching problems, learning as much as I can about a topic or problem by analysing data. I don't actually work for a club so I think more of my work now is around finding new tools and frameworks to evaluate players than actually just trolling through data and "discovering" players.
What is the biggest misconception/cliche regarding recruitment you’ve found in this space?
There is still the idea in some places that there are the "real football men" on one side and the data people on the other. In my experience this just isn't the case. If you speak to anyone working in football analytics you'll soon realise that they watch just as much football as anyone else and on the other side lots of people inside the game who are open to data-driven approaches and being challenged with new insights.
I have a very vague memory of the 1998 World Cup England-Argentina shootout, but soon after I became a Manchester United fan because of David Beckham so I can't have been watching very closely. That was around the time I started playing as a kid as well.
What attracted you to data and scouting? What’s more intriguing now, refining your processes and acumen or 'discovering' players?
What first attracted me to football analytics was just the ability to take my educational skill set (economics, math and statistics) and combine it with one of my biggest passions, watching football. From a more theoretical perspective I think the idea of using data as a tool in player recruitment just appeals to my data-driven way of approaching problems, learning as much as I can about a topic or problem by analysing data. I don't actually work for a club so I think more of my work now is around finding new tools and frameworks to evaluate players than actually just trolling through data and "discovering" players.
What is the biggest misconception/cliche regarding recruitment you’ve found in this space?
There is still the idea in some places that there are the "real football men" on one side and the data people on the other. In my experience this just isn't the case. If you speak to anyone working in football analytics you'll soon realise that they watch just as much football as anyone else and on the other side lots of people inside the game who are open to data-driven approaches and being challenged with new insights.
If you could start over what skill would you build on first?
I would have spent more time learning how to code and program earlier. If you want to work in sports analytics being able to code well and answer questions efficiently without using excel or spreadsheets is the first skill you have to develop.
What is more important domain knowledge or curiosity?
I think these are completely complementary, everyone with domain knowledge today started at one point with curiosity.
What is more useful in analytics - breadth or depth of talent? Why?
Completely depends on the role, if you are the only analytics person in a small club or organization you have to be able to do everything yourself so breadth is more important but if you are working in a big team of analysts you may be able to focus on more specific problems and depth of knowledge in a few key areas might make you a better suit for the role.
What three (3) football icons would you want to have a meal with? Why?
Sir Alex Ferguson - The best manager of all time and as a Manchester United fan would love to just sit down and hear stories from his time managing the club.
Charles Reep - Arguably the pioneer of soccer analytics, would be interested in hearing more about why he chose to collect and analyze the things he did and so he could see how football data and analytics has evolved today.
Patrice Evra - Trying to weigh someone who would have great stories from his playing career and would just be fun to sit down for a meal with and can't think of many more entertaining and genuinely positive people in the game today than Evra. Need someone to bring some energy to the table with Reep and Ferguson as well!
What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into this space?
I've actually written two pieces about this very subject, probably much more detailed information there than anything I could re-write in a short answer here. So if you are looking for my advice on how to get into the space I'd direct you to these two pieces
https://medium.com/@GregorydSam/getting-into-sports-analytics-ddf0e90c4cce
Sir Alex Ferguson - The best manager of all time and as a Manchester United fan would love to just sit down and hear stories from his time managing the club.
Charles Reep - Arguably the pioneer of soccer analytics, would be interested in hearing more about why he chose to collect and analyze the things he did and so he could see how football data and analytics has evolved today.
Patrice Evra - Trying to weigh someone who would have great stories from his playing career and would just be fun to sit down for a meal with and can't think of many more entertaining and genuinely positive people in the game today than Evra. Need someone to bring some energy to the table with Reep and Ferguson as well!
What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into this space?
I've actually written two pieces about this very subject, probably much more detailed information there than anything I could re-write in a short answer here. So if you are looking for my advice on how to get into the space I'd direct you to these two pieces
https://medium.com/@GregorydSam/getting-into-sports-analytics-ddf0e90c4cce
https://medium.com/@GregorydSam/getting-into-sports-analytics-2-0-129dfb87f5be
What is your favorite quote or saying?
"All models are wrong, but some are useful." - George Box
What is your favorite quote or saying?
"All models are wrong, but some are useful." - George Box
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