Are football stats useful for lower league clubs (part2)
In part 1 I looked at what form of analytic data is actually useful for lower league clubs.
I concluded that recruitment data was less useful than player and team level data.
But I didn't say how they could afford to do so. Or what the starting point for that would be.
And this is probably the biggest hurdle.
How does a club go from where they are now to a smart club using analytics to inform decisions?
There are several options. Listed here from most to least expensive.
Investment.
Outsourcing.
Partnership.
Investment means throwing cash at it. Advertise for the positions you want to fill. Recruit and get on with the work. You retain total control and secrecy. However this is an expensive and high risk approach. You are vulnerable to losing staff you have invested in, and with them their knowledge and skills. On the other hand your intellectual property is kept in house. This is how most Premier League clubs operate.
Outsourcing is certainly possible. There are data provision companies, there are lots of analysts on twitter and blogs producing excellent work available for hire on specific projects. It is likely to be cheaper than direct employment, with the flexibility to change supplier if you don't believe the work is good enough. But is a random internet "fanalyst" going to produce work your coaches trust? When the coaches or players dispute the recommendations what are you going to say? I think this would be a good starting point for most clubs. You can buy the data from companies like Statsbomb and then (subject to the terms of your agreement with the data providers!) recruit people to work with it. Find a style of report/feedback you like and use it to inform decisions.
Partnership involves lower league clubs working with higher tier clubs. Clubs that share a philosophy could work together for mutual benefit. If, say Everton, Wigan and Oldham entered an agreement to all play similar systems then the PL club analytics team could share data analysis with the other clubs.
For example the Everton analyst would look at the way Wigan/Oldham were setting up and see what could be done to improve them. If it were that they lacked a midfielder capable to playing accurate passes to feet in tight situations, or a striker capable of holding on to the ball then they would look at loaning appropriate players to help plug the gaps in the squads. Loans would be of better quality as the player would be perfectly matched to the recruiting club's needs and the parent clubs wishes.
Further more if it were identified that, say, Oldham were conceding way above average quality chances when defending free kicks, but, say Wigan, were exceptionally good at preventing chances, then they would have access to the coaches to see what could be done to improve outcomes. It would require coaches eager to take on ideas from each other and to cooperate but could be an excellent learning environment.
This intermingling of coaching and playing staff would increase the ability of Oldham and Wigan to recruit players - an ambitious 20 year old with a choice of clubs would probably prefer the option of joining one with weekly development sessions at a Premier League club, than one without. In return Everton get access to an increased player pool for recruitment and the Everton coaching staff gain valuable experience working with a variety of players.
Would Oldham or Wigan feel such an arrangement lessened them as an autonomous club? It is all very well saying this as a neutral observer, that this arrangement makes sense, but I'm not sure a die hard Oldham fan would like the arrangement as much.
However to me this is the best option for gaining a competitive advantage.
I concluded that recruitment data was less useful than player and team level data.
But I didn't say how they could afford to do so. Or what the starting point for that would be.
And this is probably the biggest hurdle.
How does a club go from where they are now to a smart club using analytics to inform decisions?
There are several options. Listed here from most to least expensive.
Investment.
Outsourcing.
Partnership.
Investment means throwing cash at it. Advertise for the positions you want to fill. Recruit and get on with the work. You retain total control and secrecy. However this is an expensive and high risk approach. You are vulnerable to losing staff you have invested in, and with them their knowledge and skills. On the other hand your intellectual property is kept in house. This is how most Premier League clubs operate.
Outsourcing is certainly possible. There are data provision companies, there are lots of analysts on twitter and blogs producing excellent work available for hire on specific projects. It is likely to be cheaper than direct employment, with the flexibility to change supplier if you don't believe the work is good enough. But is a random internet "fanalyst" going to produce work your coaches trust? When the coaches or players dispute the recommendations what are you going to say? I think this would be a good starting point for most clubs. You can buy the data from companies like Statsbomb and then (subject to the terms of your agreement with the data providers!) recruit people to work with it. Find a style of report/feedback you like and use it to inform decisions.
Partnership involves lower league clubs working with higher tier clubs. Clubs that share a philosophy could work together for mutual benefit. If, say Everton, Wigan and Oldham entered an agreement to all play similar systems then the PL club analytics team could share data analysis with the other clubs.
For example the Everton analyst would look at the way Wigan/Oldham were setting up and see what could be done to improve them. If it were that they lacked a midfielder capable to playing accurate passes to feet in tight situations, or a striker capable of holding on to the ball then they would look at loaning appropriate players to help plug the gaps in the squads. Loans would be of better quality as the player would be perfectly matched to the recruiting club's needs and the parent clubs wishes.
Further more if it were identified that, say, Oldham were conceding way above average quality chances when defending free kicks, but, say Wigan, were exceptionally good at preventing chances, then they would have access to the coaches to see what could be done to improve outcomes. It would require coaches eager to take on ideas from each other and to cooperate but could be an excellent learning environment.
This intermingling of coaching and playing staff would increase the ability of Oldham and Wigan to recruit players - an ambitious 20 year old with a choice of clubs would probably prefer the option of joining one with weekly development sessions at a Premier League club, than one without. In return Everton get access to an increased player pool for recruitment and the Everton coaching staff gain valuable experience working with a variety of players.
Would Oldham or Wigan feel such an arrangement lessened them as an autonomous club? It is all very well saying this as a neutral observer, that this arrangement makes sense, but I'm not sure a die hard Oldham fan would like the arrangement as much.
However to me this is the best option for gaining a competitive advantage.
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