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The secrets of the analysts | blogjou

David Sumpter

Soccermatics

p. 314
03 Feb 2023

The secrets of the analysts


Premier league analysts were even more cautious than René when they spoke to me. As I talked to them about mathematical methods for analysing player tracking data on order to improve tactics they were very keen to hear my ideas, but they were not so keen to talk on the record about what they were currently doing. Howver, my overall impression remained the same as I described at the end of Chapter 9. The main reason that clubs don’t let talk their analysts in detail about player-tracking data isn’t because they are worried about their secrets will be revealed. Instead, they are worried that the opposition will find out that they don’t have any secrets to reveal. While maths is increasingly used in scouting, its potential uses in tactical development remain largely unexploited.