Football is a often a matter of opinions and approaches. We make decisions about teams, training sessions, opponents and opportunities based upon how we feel about a situation. Certainly in the heat of the match we don’t get a lot of time to think thoroughly and assess all of our options. However, in a training context, we get the opportunity to be well prepared and throughly planned (subject to work commitments and whatever else throws itself at us). Don’t get me wrong, there are always unexpected twists and turns for sessions but the methodology and rationale for why we are working on something can be maintained.
Since the start of the season, Morgan has been performing some analysis tasks. When we started looking at the games, we knew we wanted some data. I wanted it to inform the coaches and help me shape some of our decisions. I wanted my gut feelings to be either validated or challenged so we all knew we were making effective decisions. The first few attempts were looking at entries into the attacking third and the subsequent outcome. Morgan used a simple tally chart, in his notebook. We knew by half time how many times the players had entered and if that entry resulted in a shot, corner, throw in, offside or a goal. The input at half time wrote itself. Morgan was hungry to know more though so I was happy to let him explore. As a management group we asked questions and tested the data. The next few games we looked at the area of the pitch that the entries had been made: left, right or central. This gave us a better understanding of the contributions made by certain players in certain positions. Later, the tool grew further and it now looked at where the entry was initiated and by the time training came we had pie charts detailing how many times the ball entered the third and where it had come from.
The cynic looks at the data and says its only relevant to one game and there are many more variables such as how the opponent sets up their team, the personnel available and the familiarity of players in those affected positions. I wouldn’t disagree however what it gave us was facts so when we knew possession had been lost, we knew where. Morgan’s tool was developed further and we began using it in reverse. How was our defence coping with entries into our third? Where were they coming from? Again, training comes and we are prepared with a plan that reflects the previous game and helps us to approach the next. Our players appear to be buying into it. We’ve not had less then 22 attendees for a long time.
The final development came when Morgan went digital. He turned his work into a live spreadsheet where he is able to put the starting team in and time code what happens. We can now make more conclusions from the data with a deeper understanding of what it’s telling us, live in the match. We’ve also been able to use it to compare contributions from different players when playing in similar positions and provide meaningful feedback to them. Our own personal bias is removed.
I’d recommend any team tries working in this way because it helps to support and challenge the management. I would also like to point out that at many levels, only one statistic matters; the score! Morgan’s work helps us to understand our journey to the match outcome and validates some of our feelings about certain individuals. It writes its own stories and as you know from my articles, I love a good football story!
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