Vasco Samouco

I like crazy ideas. I reached out to Vasco Samuoco back in February about having an email dialogue about a lot of the topics we bring up on Twitter and our email lists.

Vasco has a sharp mind and is a forward thinker of football based in Portugal. If you haven't already, follow him on Twitter and sign up for his newsletter.

Quick note: This conversation started back in February and only stopped right before the Euros started. We cover a lot of ground but a general theme is that the more world football changes the more it stays the same.

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Davide: I appreciate you being a good sport and welcoming this conversation! 

Let’s jump right in and talk about clubs, small clubs. What are 2 clubs outside of the top 5 leagues you like to follow and why?

Vasco: Hello, Davide! 

Well! It's not easy to pick just two, because there are great clubs, very well running, even outside of the top-5 leagues. I'll say AZ Alkmaar and Brentford, because of different reasons, but also because they have one thing in common: they think differently.  

What I like about AZ Alkmaar it's his youth system, how they think about talent, how they have different goals for different age groups and how they are able to feed the first team with young players. They don't have a lot of money and a big budget, but they always have good players, good teams, good results and also can get big profits because of this approach.  

On the other hand, Brentford don't have a youth system, so they do a great job using different methods. Yes, Brentford is well known because of 'big data', but as far as I know, Brentford was also the first club that abdicated of having a youth system and they did that because they realized that, by being in London, they can't have the best players like Chelsea, Arsenal or Tottenham. So they save that money to invest in other areas. Very smart and only possible when you think differently or logically.

Like AZ Alkmaar, Brentford don't have a lot of money or a big budget, but they always can find good players. They are always trying new ways of being smart and competitive, finding gaps in the game and in the industry.   If you are smaller and if you don't have a lot of money, you can't do the same things the others do. You have to do something different, like AZ and Brentford.    

My question for you is the same. But you can't say AZ or Brentford : )

Davide: Ah well two good choices!  

I’m going to pick two clubs in Denmark: Brondby IF and Silkeborg IF.   Brondby historically is a massive club in Denmark. They have 10 domestic championships in their trophy case. The last few seasons have been somewhat lean however. That won’t last. They are currently top of the table in the Superligaen. 

Their recruitment, led by Carsten V. Jensen their sporting director, is simple but elegant. Get young Scandinavian talent and develop them. Keep an eye out for Jesper Lindstrom and Morten Frendrup to single out two young profiles. As a club they are positioned to fight at the top of the league going forward. They have funds yet they seemingly are replenishing their ranks with undervalued players that appreciate in value.   

Silkeborg is currently playing in the second tier in Danish football. They are a club that develops players. Frederik Alves. Robert Skov. Kasper Dolberg. You could say they’ve mastered the art of sell-on fees for promising players. Two players to keep an eye on: Magnus Mattsson and Anders Hagelskjaer. Mattsson is shredding defenses and Hagelskjaer is a sturdy, left footed CB with potential. Silkeborg leverages their academy to supply the first team but to also turn a profit.   

Next question: How important is a club’s identity or style of play, especially for smaller clubs?

Vasco: For me, identity is everything. And have a recognized style of play is very, very important.   A football club must be more than winning football games, that's why identity is the most important thing. Identity is what you think, what you do, what you defend, what you stand for, what you represent. And all of that is what creates bonds with supporters, companies and people who see the club as a model to follow because of his values.    

I believe clubs need to have something that makes them different, that differentiate them. Having an attractive style of play is a way of valuing the club, valuing players and coaches. It guarantees financial income and media attention, even internationally. Also, helps the club make better decisions in terms of recruitment, not only of players that fit in that style but also of coaches that share the same vision. And if you keep that style of play you get more stability in the long-term, so you will be able to get more good results consistently. Having an attractive style play helps the clubs to be stronger in every area, in and off the pitch.  

My question is: What advantages do small clubs have over large ones?

Davide: Great question. I believe there are many advantages that small clubs have at their disposal. Like everything, it’s a matter of context.   

The pink elephant in the room is and always will be money. It is vital. That being said, small clubs must make better use of the money that flows through the club. Jordan Gardner, owner and chairman of FC Helsingor, has talked about this at length. Any club, regardless of size, has to be solvent to have a long term future.   

I tend to view smaller clubs as startups or boot-strapped companies. Survival is the bottom line. They can’t expect parachute payments or investors to swoop in and inject money into the club.   Therefore speed of implementation is an asset. Ever wonder why so many West African players play in Scandinavia? The climate and cultural differences can be massive. Why not find a club in France where there are many clubs and communities that are seemingly more compatible? There are only so many French clubs - plus those clubs don’t all have a European platform o showcase players.    

Scandinavian clubs can showcase players and give them direct access to the top 5 European leagues. Smaller clubs have an understanding that is crucial in recruitment: they know that the best thing for the club is the clearest pathway for emerging talent. Let’s face it. The best talents in the world aren’t at smaller clubs - they’re at the big clubs. The other 99% have to work their way up the ladder of levels of talent.   Players are bought for one reason. They can be sold for a hundred different reasons. Smaller clubs are generally more efficient in player recruitment. That is a victory in and of itself.   

Question for you: What is more intriguing to you: a club enjoying sustained success or a club repeatedly defying relegation?

Vasco: I think "repeatedly defying relegation" can be "sustained success" too, if that is the goal of the club. Lots of people think that success is only about winning trophies and being champions, but success is about achieving goals and avoid relegation is a very important goal for many teams. So, if they do it they are successful. On the other hand, a club only is truly successful if they get good results in a consistent way for many years. Having good results in one season doesn't mean you have success, but having good results in five or six seasons means something. Avoid relegation can be as hard as be champion and we have to consider that those clubs have "sustained success" too.    

Question for you: What are the big mistakes that clubs make and that prevent them from succeeding?

Davide: I think most clubs have one problem. They don’t know who they are or haven’t defined what type of club they want to be. Bayern (club motto: Mia San Mia= We are who we are) is chased in Germany by clubs who aspire to be challengers but are at best opportunists. 

What is Borussia Dortmund truly about? What are they uncompromising on? No judgment or criticism but I don’t think it’s clear.   If you look further down the pyramid in Germany it’s obvious what FC St. Pauli is about or Holstein Kiel demands. Investment without conviction of vision is merely activity. Not achievement.   When you don’t know who you are as a club your managerial appointments suffer.   A club more people need to be aware of is Silkeborg in Denmark. They know who they are. Decisions made are in line with where they aspire to be long term.   

My question for you: What concept in football have you changed your mind on recently?

Vasco: There were two game changers for me recently.   

One has to do with money and how we still think that having a lot of money is essential to have success. I don't think so. I truly believe you can beat money with ideas, by thinking differently or investing well the money you have, even if you don't have much. It's not the money that matters, it's about what you do with the money you have.  

The other one is: "To win on the field you have to work well and be smart off the field". For example, I don't believe that you need the best players to have good results. Instead, I believe that you need the right people around the team, the right environment, the right context and the right culture, so that the players can perform well and express all the quality they have. We (football) don't think a lot about how the same player plays well in one club and bad in another, but that is a very important thing and shows the influence of what we don't see on the field. What happens on the field is a consequence of what happens off the field.  

The same question for you :)

Davide: I’ve changed my mind on multi club ownership.   I’m in no position to buy a club nor do I have any desire to be critical of any club owners. Red Bull, City Football Group, INEOS, et al have seemingly made it even more attractive to own a club. With good reason. I feel we as humans underestimate simplicity and we tend to overvalue complexity. 

Running one club well is hard.  

Ralf Rangnick is lauded for what he’s done in Salzburg and Leipzig. We forget about, or at least minimize, his impact at Hoffenheim. He laid a foundation almost two decades ago.   Monchi has done wonders at Sevilla. And he also struggled to implement his methodology at Roma. I’m biased I’ve come to love “smaller” clubs. Smaller bets. You can implement radical change at smaller clubs and the impact can be felt fairly quickly. Big clubs, multiple club models take time to settle in, if ever.   Smaller can be better. Sporting, economically and logistically.   

Next Question: what is the most interesting way you’ve seen a club balance developing youth and winning games/avoiding relegation?

Vasco: I completely agree with you. 

It's a difficult question. I could say AZ Alkmaar and Nordsjaelland, but, to speak about other clubs, I also like what Norwich has been doing in recent years, even though they weren't able to avoid relegation of the Premier League. But I think Norwich is doing a brilliant job in developing players, promoting them to the first team, being patient with them and still winning more matches than losing. They are the best team in one of the most difficult championships and they are going to be promote again to the Premier League and, hopefully, next year they will avoid relegation. I really like what they are doing, the way they think and do things.   

Question for you: Do you have any thoughts about MLS and American soccer? What do you think about what they are doing and their improvement in recent years? 

Davide: Honestly, I don’t watch much MLS or American soccer. A lot of interest and investment has been made in the game here and that will reap benefits in the coming decades.   It’s just hard for me to watch. 

We as a nation will produce some exciting players. I think our football/soccer culture is adrift. Until we adopt or graft an identity the results and progress will vary, wildly at times. The bottom line is that it takes time.  

Here’s a tough question for you: Would you rather have a player of Lionel Messi/Cristiano class for 10 seasons or a visionary like Johann Cruyff/Ralf Rangnick for 5 years? Why?

Vasco: It's not a really tough question for me :)  

I prefer, with no doubts, having a visionary like Cruyff or Rangnick. Ronaldo and Messi can give you a lot now, in the short term, but, on the other hand, as we are seeing in Barcelona or Juventus, they also transmit a sense of comodism and false confidence. People think that just because they have one or another they are going to win.   

I believe that the influence of someone like Cruyff is much more antifragile, transformative, constructive and powerful. Cruyff and Rangnick change clubs, teams, cultures, coaches and players, they create value that remains even after they leave. Ronaldo and Messi ensure trophies and titles while they play, but when they leave they do not leave anything that is advantageous for the future.   

Question for you: What you think about the academies? What disadvantages do you see? 

Davide: You’re stealing all my good questions =)  

Academies are important. Or at least they can be. I think it will always be a context driven stance. Brentford scrapped their academy. Should Luton Town or Norwich? I don’t think so.   Most players don’t go on to play professionally but I don’t think that is good or bad. The real question is how are you as a club in your given community leveraging your academy? Is it strictly a profit center or trophy hunting land grab? Or are you after molding young men and women for the big picture, more than football? 

FC Nordsjaelland and Right to Dream are doing this beautifully. HB Koge and FC Metz do a great job utilizing academies in West Africa for players but also funding those setups with revenue from sell-on fees. Context is paramount. Academies are important as well for molding coaches. And they are social hubs of the communities they share. Like all things they need to evaluated regularly and serve a purpose with intention.   

My question for you:  What’s more important for “smaller” football nations in Europe: domestic clubs doing well in continental competitions or the national team faring well at the Euros/World Cup?

Vasco: It's a very good question, but I never think a lot about it, I must say. 

Both situations can say a lot about a nation and perhaps both are connected, because it's difficult to have a good national team without good clubs and a good global environment. Iceland is a great example, I think. Their national team is doing really well lately, but before that they had to improve a lot the quality of their coaches, their clubs, and their infrastructures. Without that, and because you don't have much talent, you can't have good players and a good national team.   

Question: You talk a lot about Denmark and Danish clubs. In the last weeks we saw Denmark doing really well in Euro Under-21 and in the Qualifiers for the World Cup (six games, six victories). We also saw a lot of Danish players compete in major leagues, very talented young players having opportunities, clubs are improving a lot, on and off the pitch. So, which are the main secrets behind this recent success?  

Davide: Denmark is hyper-focused on player development. They have a podcast, newsletters and shows that high profile players and coaches regularly appear on that are focused on development and detailing their journey.   

It’s cultural. That’s the main ingredient. They expect to get better. The next Laudrup may appear before our eyes in the coming years but the ethos of the nation is one of honesty and humble ambition. The next wave of improvement will come when the coaches take that leap. You can model that growth by countries like Portugal, Germany, Italy.  

Question for you: Who should have more weight in football clubs: a nutritionist or a psychologist?

Vasco:  I believe that everything that helps players, coaches, persons and teams to have mental strength it's the most important thing. And it will be more and more important. Of course that what you eat and how you eat has an impact, but I think that knowing those things is easier than evolving the mind. Nutrition it's practical, but mental health it's much more complex. So, if I have to choose, I would prefer having a psychologist, or a Head of People or a Mental Coach. If I can, I want to have both.   

Question for you: What do you think about the Superleague? 

Davide: You couldn’t help yourself by asking about the Superleague =)!  

I’m American and leagues are important here. There is a fixation on a Super(fill in the blank) League in all sports here. World football is different. European football and all football is cultural. I’m surprised those that tried to piece this together did so in the “dark”. 

That in my opinion doomed it from the start.   Let’s be honest and have a long term view. Some version of this will happen and the smaller clubs will suffer to a degree. But would RSC Anderlecht or FC Midtjylland win the Champions League? Probably not.   

Survival is the key for small clubs. They will have to be run more like small businesses instead of branded tax shelters. Change is coming. There are ways for the FC Porto’s and the Udineses of European football to survive but it will be via operational savvy. Not broadcasting revenues via a Superleague.   

My question for you: You’ve written eloquently about transparency in football and the benefits of that. Do you think we will see transparency in the future with a SuperLeague, CL format, etc?

Vasco: I really doubt that, to be honest. With the amount of money involved, the tendency is even less transparency. The majority of the clubs are in big trouble financially speaking, with big debts, so their defense is hiding what they do with the money. I think that transparency will only occur by your own initiative or if the supporters demand it really hard. Things like Financial Fair Play can help, but we already saw that it's not enough.   

Question for you: Which are your favourite books about football? 

Davide: So I have two books that are fundamental to my understanding of football. 

Thankfully, they were two of the first books I read once I got more intrigued by football.   

1. Arsene Wenger The Autobiography by Xavier Riviore  So many gems in this book but my favourite takeaway was Wenger’s thought that the best way to make younger profiles better is to put them around better players. It speaks to an environment based on growth but also competition.   

2. Leading: Learning from My Life and My Years at Manchester United by Alex Ferguson and Michael Moritz  This is the book that made me curious about the two topics that have my full attention: leadership and recruitment. The book was co-written by the chairman of a hedge fund here in the states and I have to admit it’s one of the few books that I have ever read cover to cover in a few days.  

Obviously recruitment has changed somewhat to when the Wenger and Ferguson patrolled the touch lines yet I think they figured out principles that will be relevant in perpetuity.  

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11 Questions with Christian Rønsholt

 

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 Christian Rønsholt:

What is your favorite memory of Danish football?

From club level football, my favourite memory is also my first memory of attending a football at a stadium.

It was the infamous Brøndby 5-0 win against the arch rivals FC Copenhagen in 2005. It was the best Brøndby team for the last 25 years, with Michael Laudrup as coach and players like Daniel Agger and Johan Elmander.

I don't remember much from the game itself but I just recall the atmosphere being so electric and happy full grown men dancing in the stands and after the game. 

A game that sparked the joy for me in football.

In regards to the Danish national team it is the goal from Jakob Poulsen in 2009 against arch-rivals Sweden which secured a 1-0 win and qualification for Denmark to the 2010 World Cup.

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

I like data as it can substantiate or reject the sight you have of a certain match, team or player, and provide another view that isn't visible without the insights of data.

Furthermore, if you have knowledge about how to leverage the huge amount of data available today, you can help the club make better decisions on and off the pitch, and help players improve their performance.

I certainly haven't come to the point where I just see players as a row of numbers. The playing style and expression of a player still has a big impact on my impression of the player.

What Danish player who plays abroad do you enjoy the most? Why?

Today Denmark is blessed with many players abroad, which wasn't the case just 3-5 years ago, so the choice has become much more difficult.

At the moment I really enjoy the Danish centerbacks in the Premier League, Andreas Christensen, Jannick Vestergaard and Joachim Andersen. Especially how Joachim Andersen has taken the armband and impacted the Fulham defense is very impressive after a period in Lyon where his abilities were questioned after being the most expensive transfer involving a Danish player ever.

What is the biggest misconception/cliche regarding data you’ve found in this space?

I think the biggest misconception is that people who work with data in football believe that data and statistics always is the only way you can evaluate a player or teams performance.

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

The basic programming skills are hugely invaluable. 

What is more important for Denmark’s growth as a football nation - national team performances or domestic and continental league improvements?

That is a very good and hard question to answer.

I believe that the success of the national team can inspire many young girls and boys to pursue the career of being a football player, and thus drive the development of Danish football.

But on the other hand, means domestic success more money and a greater reputation of the Danish clubs. This will lead to Danish clubs being able to invest more in youth development and e.g. the use of data within the club. It can furthermore extract more young foreign players to the league and Denmark can evolve as a league that can perform and extract attraction from the rest of Europe.

So overall I believe that domestic success overall will have the largest positive effect, but it is certainly very close between the two.

Do you feel like data is being utilized more in Denmark? Why?

I certainly believe that many clubs in Denmark, and the national team, are following the global trend of investing time and money into the use of data as a tool to improve transfer spendings, playing style, recovery etc. 

In Denmark are FC Midtjylland, with their connection to Brentford through Matthew Bentham and Rasmus Ankersen, on the front foot of using data in sports, which are driving other clubs in Denmark in that direction. Especially the increase of FC Midtjyllands performances in the past few years has increased the use of data in Danish football.

Although, I still believe there is more potential in the use of data in Danish clubs. The budgets in Danish clubs are generally quite low, so the clubs have to prioritize the people and equipment necessary for utilizing data to its full potential. A conclusion not all clubs have reached yet.

What coach or player in Denmark is the next big thing? Why?

I believe that the next big asset Danish player out the Danish 3F Superliga is going to be Jonas Wind from FC Copenhagen. At 22 he is leading the front line of the strongest squad in Denmark, and he is at the moment the number one striker for the Danish national team.

He is not only a good goalscorer, but he is also very capable of dropping deep and play as a number 10.

A younger player, who is getting a lot of attention in Denmark these days, is 17 years old Wahid Faghir from Vejle BK. He has been called up for the U21 European Championships and is the second youngest player at the tournament after a certain Youssoufa Moukoko.

What Scandinavia league outside of Denmark do you watch the most? Why?

To be honest I don't really follow any other Scandinavian leagues.

What is your favorite quote or saying?

“If you can't support us when we lose or draw, don't support us when we win” - Bill Shankly

A very simple quote, but it captures an important point when I'm watching football.

Don't be overly happy in progress and don't be overly disappointed in adversity. This makes it much more possible to make well considered decisions and don't be influenced by disturbing external factors in pressured situations.

Eredivisie Preview Part 2 with Chaka Simbeye

 

Curiosity leads you to interesting conversations if you keep your eyes and ears open. I launched a new podcast this month with my first guest being Chaka Simbeye of Left Back Football. 

Enjoy part two of our conversation where we discuss the remaining clubs of the 2020/2021 Eredivisie season.

Eredivisie Preview Part 1 with Chaka Simbeye

Curiosity leads you to interesting conversations if you keep your eyes and ears open. I launched a new podcast this month with my first guest being Chaka Simbeye of Left Back Football. 

Enjoy this two part conversation where we discuss the brand new 2020 Eredivisie season.

Goals, expectations and sausage rankings

Goals. Finding players. Exceeding expectations... and sausage rankings. Below is a short conversation with Jordan Gardner, Chairman of FC Helsingor in Denmark about the season so far.

11 Questions with Jan Van Haaren

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 a conversation with Jan Van Haaren:

Hi! I am Jan Van Haaren and I am a Belgian football data scientist who currently resides in The Netherlands. A trained computer scientist and machine learning engineer, I have been developing football analytics metrics that capture player performance and playing style for more than ten years. Moreover, I have been an avid football player since my early childhood.


Q: What is your first memory of football?
My early football memories date back to the middle of the 1990s. I remember collecting Panini stickers for the 1994/1995 season in the Belgian league. Around the same time, I also started playing football at my local football club, which I have continued to do ever since. The first football tournament that I remember consciously watching on television is the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, where Belgium faced The Netherlands, Mexico and South Korea in the group stage. Having grown up in a border village between Belgium and The Netherlands, I particularly remember the atmosphere in our village for the tense derby against The Netherlands!

Q: What attracted you to data? What is more intriguing now: names or numbers?
I got intrigued by football data in the late 1990s and early 2000s while playing football games such as FIFA 99 and Championship Manager 2001/2002 with the latter game still being my all-time favorite football game. However, I quickly got more interested in modding those games than in actually playing them. 

I got involved in a Dutch website that reported on the latest news in the football games industry and hosted a community of modders for the FIFA series. While most community members were mostly interested in designing new kits, shorts and badges or even building entire stadiums from scratch, I was more interested in building modding tools and updating the in-game data. 

By doing so, I even ended up as a Data Editor for the FIFA series! Back in the days, I used to be a fan of players like Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Rivaldo, Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Gabriel Batistuta, Andrei Shevchenko, Luis Figo, and Pavel Nedved. However, these days, I am definitely more intrigued by the numbers than by the names.
Q: What is more intriguing to you: cultivating a team vying for European places or building a team that progressively staves off relegation? Why?
I love football clubs that try to punch above their weight by outsmarting their opponents, regardless of their season objectives. Football analytics has so much to offer when it comes to taking better-informed decisions, but most clubs have only scratched the surface! I would not be surprised if a few forward-thinking clubs that currently still reside in the lower divisions but have already discovered the potential of data and analytics ended up at the top of European football in the next decade or so.

Q: What is the biggest misconception or cliché regarding data or recruitment that you have encountered in this space?
Many traditional football scouts appear to believe that football data scientists aim to replace them with computers and numbers. This misconception considerably slows down the adoption of data-driven methods in football unfortunately. Instead, I believe that football scouts should view football metrics as a tool and an additional source of information that enables them to take better-informed decisions. In addition, these tools would enable them to do their work faster, allowing them to analyze and evaluate more potentially interesting transfer targets.

Q: If you could start over, what skill would you build on first?
Unlike many other people who are trying to get into football analytics nowadays, I first built my skill set and then started applying my skills to football data. However, if I were to develop my skill set from scratch, I would focus first on programming skills and then on data science skills. From mentoring more junior football data scientists, I learned that a lack of programming skills often stands in the way of quickly trying out new ideas. Furthermore, I believe that solid programming skills speed up the process of acquiring relevant data science and machine learning skills.

Q: What is more important: domain knowledge or curiosity?
I would say that one needs a good mix of domain knowledge and curiosity as a football data scientist. Domain knowledge helps to understand the need of the practitioners and to assess the quality of potential solutions, whereas curiosity helps to come up with potential solutions that might address the need of the practitioners.

Q: What is more impactful for a player: psychology or environment? Why?
I would say that the answer very much depends on the player and varies from one player to another. The impact of psychological and environmental factors on the performances of players are not very well understood yet. These factors definitely deserve more attention in the football analytics community.

Q: What coach or player would you give a lifetime contract to? Why?
Kevin De Bruyne would be my pick as I really enjoy watching him play for Manchester City and the Belgian national team. He is not only a great football player, but also a great example of why the risk versus reward trade-off should be taken into account when developing and interpreting football metrics.

Q: What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into this space?
My advice would be to sufficiently focus on relevant non-technical skills. My impression is that newcomers to the field overvalue hard skills and undervalue soft skills. In many situations, the ability to identify the need of the practitioners and to convert the analysis results in a data-driven story is far more important than programming or data science skills.

Q: What is your favorite quote or saying?
My motto in football analytics is "fewer numbers, more insights". I believe that football data scientists should focus on presenting actionable insights as data-driven stories rather than sets of numbers that are hard to interpret and understand by practitioners.


Please feel free to reach out to me if you are interested in discussing further!

5 Questions with SMukherjee

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 a conversation with SMukherjee:


What is your first memory of football?

My 1st memory is going to local football matches with friends and listening in radio (It was 1980s in India) about big matches (Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal) from Kolkata league.

My 1 st memory of international football was Italia 90. It was really exciting to watch the big names I had only heard about till then. Became Cameroon fan for that tournament after the 1st match!

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

I don’t even know where to begin on this. There are so many. It will almost be an article in itself.

As a data analytics lover, biggest misconception in football data is most often how it should be used vs how it is used. Lots of people hate data because for them it does not support their narratives. Also, a bunch of big names in football twitter use data just to get to get eyeballs – they use data selectively only to hype about one player or a team. It's used without context and just works like clickbait. Because these accounts have big following, these then become accepted knowledge among some fans.

Second part of this is some people’s idea that just because we love data, we don’t watch matches! Actually, it’s mostly in reverse. To analyze properly, we usually watch more than once.

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

I would build my skills up in Python or R. I don’t know coding and it holds me back currently from expanding to different other types of data visualizations.

What three (3) football icons would you want to have a meal with? Why?

Bielsa, Klopp and Wenger. The discussion would be really interesting to listen to.

What is your favorite quote or saying?

'We think we know what we are doing. We have always thought so.'
— Michael Crichton (Prey)

5 Questions with Marius Fischer

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 a conversation with Marius Fischer:

11 Questions with DB

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 DB:

How did your first opportunity in football come about?

My first opportunity in football came about completely random and spontaneous. I was traveling through the United States in the year after my graduation from High School. I wasn’t really that deep into coaching and football analytics but I tried to start analyzing and writing for fun in my free time for TheFalseFullback.

In our working chat, one guy told us that he needed an assistant for the upcoming season. We chatted a bit and it was soon clear, that we would be a really nice fit and wanted to give it a try. We knew about the enormous difficulties and challenges this cooperation would bring and it was a hard decision, but I knew if I wanted to make myself a name in the football coaching scene I needed to make that step. 

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

It was the general desire to know more about football. Nowadays, if you want to become a good coach you need to have knowledge on every aspect of the game. Analytics, Scouting, Tactics, Sport Science, Psychology and, and that may seems a bit odd here, Philosophy. I recently come across the so called T-shape:

If you think of Liverpool's coaching staff for example you can see they have an expert for almost every small detail of their game, like a Throw-In-Coach for example.

And I think that sooner or later first team coaches will no longer be specialists in one specific topic (like the ones I addressed above e.g. tactics etc), however where good and more average coaches differ now is the coordination between these areas and the use of the given knowledge.

Their main job is to coordinate them efficiently, to keep everyone in the team happy and to ensure that everyone will do everything for the clubs success.

So to be “I-shaped” in terms of coaching knowledge and a Generalist regarding every smaller aspect makes you a really, really good coach. You need to realize that if you don’t know much about data analytics, you will never know the advantages that it brings to your game, even though you have a great assistant. 

For that reason I took a dive into analytics and scouting. There are certainly different approaches to a wider knowledge of football, analytics is one of them, and for beginners it is very easy to start because you just need to watch a game and to think about it.

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

Later on I talked a bit about the magnificent turn around Julian Nagelsmann was able to pull of in his first season at Hoffenheim. Back then I was supporting them because I was curious how a 27 year old guy will perform in a die-hard relegation race against far more experienced sides. In the first game he played a 3-1-4-2 and he continued to do so. The shift between three at the back and five at the back against the ball was not that common in this time, so I watched these games over and over again.

Nagelsmann and Hoffenheim won 6 out of their first 10 games since his arrival which secured them a 15th place and another season in the first division. Playing three in the back wasn’t really my favorite system so I watched the games and took notes about small positional changes and team principles, and finally realized how powerful this system is. 

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

Before I started coaching I was a huge fan of predetermined principles, almost like moves everyone had to do in order to start successful attacks. But as soon as I started coaching I realized that I underestimated the impact of randomness in football and learned that small individual principles lead to a more successful approach.

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

Tactics, Tactics, Tactics. Watch games, analyze games and talk about them with someone who probably knows more than you. I learned that, as a coach, especially as a youth coach, your players always ask you: “Why”? Why should I do that? Why should I run there? Why should I make this pass? And if you don’t have a really deep knowledge you can’t answer these questions.

Of course you will answer them, but not precisely or you somehow give mixed signals. A great advice I heard from Rene Maric once was that on your way to the pitch you should think of every question that comes across your mind while thinking of your prepared training exercises. Every small detail is important. If you can answer everything; dive deeper; ask more. Repeat that over and over again.

Knowledge is nothing that grows straight. You will have set-backs, you will struggle and you will fail. But that’s all part of the process, have faith, be curious all the time, don’t hesitate to ask for advice, and keep on grinding.

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

I think it’s a mixture. And one is granting the other. If we don’t see the art behind a development of a player, no science will help us to help them to grow. And on the other side, if we don’t use modern approaches and tools with all their variability and creativity we will never get a player to a point where the art starts to fascinate us all.

What is your favorite sports moment? Why?

Allen … for three … history shot … bang. 

What coach/player/team inspires you? Why?

Of course there are many great coaches out there, who one should mention somehow. But If I could only name three it would be certainly Marcelo Bielsa, Pep Guardiola and Julian Nagelsmann. Bielsa's desire, passion and love for details is absolutely unmatched and a big inspiration for my everyday life. Julian Nagelsmann opened the door for many young coaches with his success (for me his biggest success is still his first season at Hoffenheim where he was suddenly announced as their new head coach (as I mentioned earlier)) and I don’t think I have to say something about Guardiola's impact on all of us.

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

If someone who is interested in doing sports analytics full-time I think it's crucial to be great in either parts, sports and analytics. You should definitely have a great knowledge and interest in the sport you aspire to work in, because it's so important to connect and transfer all the given knowledge into recommended actions. 

Furthermore, I think some technical background like coding, database stuff and modeling statistics should be in your profile, too.

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

I love Tactical Pad for designing and recording training sessions, but VLC Editor needs to get a shoutout too.

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

As a football analyst/coach you can learn from many sports. Let's take basketball as an example. Mid-Range Jumpshots are almost old-fashioned and their data driven change to 3 point shots or close range shots is very intriguing and I wonder if we will see something similar sooner or later in football.

Of course if you think of golden shots and golden assist zones etc, but I think there is many more to explore. Where should we force a turnover to get the best shot out of it? How should we set up our rest defense, especially the goalkeeper? Should we allow shots with a generally worse xG value more freely and frequently in order to avoid shots with a high xG? Should we completely avoid long distance shots? (I know Tiago wrote a nice comment about that, you should definitely read it) but anyway, I think these are the kind of questions we have to ask ourselves as analysts and coaches more deeply in the near feature. 

5 Questions @mathieufeig

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 Mathieufeig:

What is your first memory of football?

My first memory is the final of the World Cup 2006 France against Italy.

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

Probably all the misunderstanding about the meaning of lot of statistics.

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

I would love to develop skill about statistics and programming (Python).

What three (3) football icons would you want to have a meal with? Why?

Zinedine Zidane to talk about football performance in general.

Pep Guardiola to talk about tactics.

William Spearman to talk about data science.

What is your favorite quote or saying?

« Pounding the rock » Greg Popovich

11 Questions with Scott Martin

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 Scott Martin:

How did your first opportunity in football come about?

Near the end of my graduate program in philosophy and theology, a classmate of mine started working at a local high school. They needed a coach for the girls’ team, so she connected me with the school’s athletic director. I haven’t turned back since then. That high school job led to academy and university coaching roles here in the United States.

I’ve always been a very studious person, actively engaging my interests and developing new skills. While tactical understanding was one of my strengths on the pitch, both as a player and coach, I wasn’t satisfied. Around Easter of 2019, I discovered Total Football Analysis. Reading their content and seeing the ads for new writers sparked an application almost exactly a year ago to the day. Since joining TFA, I’ve benefitted from David Seymour’s mentoring, as well as an

incredible community of analysts. They’ve really pushed me to enhance my eye for detail and pick up new skills, especially related to programming, data visualization, and data structures.

Nearly a year into the project, I’ve contributed to recruitment analysis reports for clubs competing in the world’s top leagues. It’s been quite the ride.

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

numbers?

Coaching and tactical analysis were and still are my passions. Interacting with players, helping them along their journey both as a player and a person, brings me a lot of joy. The tactical component of the game is also deeply satisfying. I really enjoy developing systems, identifying problems, and working towards solutions.

That said, my role with Total Football Analysis has given me more insight and a greater appreciation for the role of data. Starting with data refines the process and helps an analyst avoid the pitfalls of bias. Systematically structuring and interpreting the data is critical to analysis. It

informs the process, ensuring nothing escapes notice. From there, an in-depth eye test refines the details, ensuring a thorough assessment.

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

Two types of players come to mind. First, players who manage space really well, especially from an attacking perspective. In particular, midfielders who manage the more compact space of the central channel and half spaces, as well as forwards who excel at disconnecting their markers from the opponent’s defensive structure or manipulating large swathes of the opposition’s structure, make for an excellent study.

The second type of player is the type that initiates play from defense. Their spatial and threat awareness really separates these players from the pack. Think of a player like Casemiro. He’s incredible and, in my opinion, the most important player on Real Madrid. His performance allows those around him to utilize their strengths in attack more freely, so he’s benefitting both

the individuals and the team as a whole.

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

I think there’s still a prevailing notion, much like in the corporate world, that experience equals competence, even if that experience is in a totally different capacity to the current role. The upside is that more and more clubs that go against the grain are achieving unprecedented levels

of success, both in football and other sports. My hope is that, much like the Moneyball revolution in baseball, we will see a diversification of skillsets within organizations and that they’ll look beyond the shallows in the talent recruitment process.

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

Programming, data visualization, and data structures. The COVID-19 shutdowns seemed to bring all the data visualization specialists out of the woodwork, so we’ve seen some really incredible presentations and ideas coming out of the data community. Seeing their impact and appealing presentation of data has sparked my interest. Learning R and Tableau has been really helpful.

Continuing to study those programs, as well as mastering Excel, are current projects.

What is more important domain knowledge or curiosity?

I don’t view these as mutually exclusive qualities. In fact, I’d argue that curiosity serves as the vehicle of development. Without a curious mind, development is extremely limited. A growth mindset necessitates curiosity, helping us analyze strengths and weakness, limitations and possibilities, and theory versus the concrete. 

It’s the developmental process sparked by curiosity that builds domain knowledge. That view reframes the context of domain knowledge. Rather than viewing it as an endpoint, it’s now seen as a process of continual development. Intellectual

humility and curiosity are key to growing domain knowledge, whereas arrogance and pride are the enemies of development.

What is your favorite sports moment? Why?

As a teenager growing up in central California, the late-game heroics of Scott Hatteberg and Miguel Tejeda in the Oakland A’s famed 20-game win streak, then an American League record, was really special. The A’s legendary broadcasters, Bill King and Ken Korach, made it all the more special. The way they shared my joy and excitement really made the moment.

Overall though, it has to be Eder’s extra-time winner against France and the hobbled Cristiano Ronaldo lifting Portugal’s first senior-level trophy. My heritage is entirely Portuguese and I grew up in a Portuguese community, so seeing the suffering come to an end and joy come to the nation

and her descendants will live with me forever.

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

Zinedine Zidane can coach my team as long as he wants. He’s not only an exceptional, yet

underrated, tactical mind, but his squad management is impeccable. Add in the fact that he’s found the balance of level-headedness and competitive fire and you’ve got a perennial winner.

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

Embrace the fear, chaos, and messiness of personal development. Growing up, my pride and fear of mistakes kept me for taking on more public roles and responsibilities. Studying the philosophy of the ancient Greeks and stoics has taught me that courage isn’t the absence of fear, but the acknowledgment of it. 

If your fear of criticism or public error are holding you back, identify those fears and contemplate whether they make the task impossible or mere difficult. It the latter,

embrace that difficulty and the challenges that accompany it.

I think too many people let fear or intellectual pride dictate their actions. Rather than running from those obstacles, identify them and see them for what they are. In most instances, temporary embarrassment is the most significant threat. Know that we’re all embarrassed from time-to-time. The people I admire most don’t let that possibility of embarrassment limit their growth.

Reach out to established analysts, put your work out there, and don’t be afraid to engage the future you want.

Who is your favorite athlete? Why?

Cristiano Ronaldo. Between my Portuguese heritage, love of Sporting Portugal and Real Madrid, and his exceptional skill, longevity, and dedication, he’s the easy #1. His generosity is another thing I really admire.

What is your favorite quote or saying?

I couldn’t narrow the list (my apologies), so here are my top three.

1) “He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two

commandments.’” (Matthew 22:37-40)

2) “The things we love tell us what we are.” Dr. Peter Kreeft paraphrasing St. Thomas Aquinas

(Summa Theologica I-II, 34, a4)

3) Q: “What’s wrong with the world today?”

A: “Dear Sir,

I am.

Yours,

G.K. Chesterton.”