Clubs at every level of the football pyramid
are becoming smarter and more efficient.
How? The use of data.
To hell with conventional wisdom - the way we've been doing it, it has not been working.
Analysts are now recording
data from thousands of actions during games
and training sessions to help shape pre-match
preparation and post-game debriefs, pinpoint
transfer targets and develop young talent.
The genie is out of the bottle and I don't think it's going back in.
We may know more about the opposition than they actually know about themselves.
The growing using of analytics
in football has attracted criticism and cynicism.
These are athletes, they're not spreadsheets.
Battle lines have been drawn between the analysts and the traditionalists.
Can football be translated into numbers by data bods? Or does it require special insight from real football men?
