1. The influence of statistical and performance analysis in football.
Perceptions of the performance analyst are beginning to change within football. Before, they were
perhaps seen as computer geeks who were obsessed by statistics and data. It has moved from the
conceptual idea to a profession which has caused the emergence successful sports focussed
statistics businesses such Soccerbase and Opta Stats. Analysis is big business and statistics are
becoming increasingly more interesting, important and influential to the world of football.
To a degree, performance analysis has always been a factor, but long gone are the days of a
manager or coach turning up in disguise at the side of a game, making notes on his opposition on
an old handkerchief that he found in his pocket. Nowadays, every single professional team has a
group of performance analysts who film, code and provide detailed analysis on the performance of
their teams and the performance of their opposition.
A number of current high profile managers began their careers in performance analysis, most
notable being ex Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur manager, Andre Villas Boas. His name came to
prominence after his appointment as technical scout by Jose Mourinho during his time at FC Porto.
AVB was clearly meticulous; compiling full dossiers on individual players and opposition teams.
Mourinho relied heavily on these reports and regarded Villas Boas as one of the most important
members of his background staff, referring to him as his “eyes and ears”.
The combination delivered wins in the UEFA Cup in 2003 and then the Champions league in 2004,
ultimately sparking a big money move for Mourinho to Chelsea where AVB followed.
At Chelsea, Villas Boas was able to hone his expertise, perhaps due to greater resources available
and an increased exposure of a club operating in the Premier League. During this time, Chelsea
secured two premier league trophies, two league cups and one FA cup. The evidence displayed in
a famous leaked report by Villas Boas before Chelsea were due to play Newcastle in 2005 backs
the idea that performance analysis has a massive influence on the success of a team.
Similarly, current world champions and one of the favourites to win Euro 2016, Germany, have
developed a system of analysis that was first put in to place in 2004. When Jurgen Klinsmann was
appointed as manager of his country, he made the decision to adopt his take on a strategy first
devised by Billy Beane, Oakland Athletics MLB general manager. Klinsmann had the idea that if he
could gain an in depth understanding of the way his opponents were to play, then he could coin a
game plan that would help Germany overcome any team.
“Team Cologne”, a group of volunteer students were assigned with the task of compiling a dossier
that analysed the individual performances of potential opponents in the 2006 World Cup. Their
most influential piece of analysis came at the quarter-final stage, in a penalty shoot out against
South American giants, Argentina. Germany were victorious, the analysis that the students
provided meant that goalkeeper Jens Lehman was able to save two penalties as the Germans
progressed to the semi-final stage.
Next up for the project was, South Africa. 2010. With Joachim Lowe now in charge, Germany were
to again play Argentina in the last eight. This time they had to devise a plan to stop Lionel Messi.
The data indicated that if Germany marked Messi with a defender in front and a defender behind,
each one yard away then the little magician would have little impact on the game. It worked.
Germany impressively despatched their opponents 4-0.
Continuing their faith in the system, Rio 2014 was a triumph for Team Cologne. With their
assembled analysis significantly influencing Germany success to not only become world
champions but also shock the footballing world with a 7-1 victory over the host nation. The
Germans knew everything about Brazil that evening. It was was like they had seen every touch
and every pass that the Brazilians would make before it even happened.

2. Clearly, performance analysis has a significant influence on the success of football teams. Be it
over a single match or used as a tool to help build a project over time. However, there is the
concern that teams may become over reliant on statistics. Whilst preparation is key to the success
of a football team, once the players cross that white line then it is all up to the players to perform on
the day.
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