{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"MRKT Insights - Football Consultancy Services","provider_url":"https:\/\/mrktinsights.com","title":"Building analytics into a football club - MRKT Insights - Football Consultancy Services","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"0wD1fNqzQ0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mrktinsights.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/19\/building-analytics-into-a-football-club\/\">Building analytics into a football club<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/mrktinsights.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/19\/building-analytics-into-a-football-club\/embed\/#?secret=0wD1fNqzQ0\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;Building analytics into a football club&#8221; &#8212; MRKT Insights - Football Consultancy Services\" data-secret=\"0wD1fNqzQ0\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/**\n * WordPress inline HTML embed\n *\n * @since 4.4.0\n * @output wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.js\n *\n * Single line comments should not be used since they will break\n * the script when inlined in get_post_embed_html(), specifically\n * when the comments are not stripped out due to SCRIPT_DEBUG\n * being turned on.\n *\/\n(function ( window, document ) {\n\t'use strict';\n\n\t\/* Abort for ancient browsers. *\/\n\tif ( ! document.querySelector || ! window.addEventListener || typeof URL === 'undefined' ) {\n\t\treturn;\n\t}\n\n\t\/** @namespace wp *\/\n\twindow.wp = window.wp || {};\n\n\t\/* Abort if script was already executed. *\/\n\tif ( !! window.wp.receiveEmbedMessage ) {\n\t\treturn;\n\t}\n\n\t\/**\n\t * Receive embed message.\n\t *\n\t * @param {MessageEvent} e\n\t *\/\n\twindow.wp.receiveEmbedMessage = function( e ) {\n\t\tvar data = e.data;\n\n\t\t\/* Verify shape of message. *\/\n\t\tif (\n\t\t\t! ( data || data.secret || data.message || data.value ) ||\n\t\t\t\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test( data.secret )\n\t\t) {\n\t\t\treturn;\n\t\t}\n\n\t\tvar iframes = document.querySelectorAll( 'iframe[data-secret=\"' + data.secret + '\"]' ),\n\t\t\tblockquotes = document.querySelectorAll( 'blockquote[data-secret=\"' + data.secret + '\"]' ),\n\t\t\tallowedProtocols = new RegExp( '^https?:$', 'i' ),\n\t\t\ti, source, height, sourceURL, targetURL;\n\n\t\tfor ( i = 0; i < blockquotes.length; i++ ) {\n\t\t\tblockquotes[ i ].style.display = 'none';\n\t\t}\n\n\t\tfor ( i = 0; i < iframes.length; i++ ) {\n\t\t\tsource = iframes[ i ];\n\n\t\t\tif ( e.source !== source.contentWindow ) {\n\t\t\t\tcontinue;\n\t\t\t}\n\n\t\t\tsource.removeAttribute( 'style' );\n\n\t\t\tif ( 'height' === data.message ) {\n\t\t\t\t\/* Resize the iframe on request. *\/\n\t\t\t\theight = parseInt( data.value, 10 );\n\t\t\t\tif ( height > 1000 ) {\n\t\t\t\t\theight = 1000;\n\t\t\t\t} else if ( ~~height < 200 ) {\n\t\t\t\t\theight = 200;\n\t\t\t\t}\n\n\t\t\t\tsource.height = height;\n\t\t\t} else if ( 'link' === data.message ) {\n\t\t\t\t\/* Link to a specific URL on request. *\/\n\t\t\t\tsourceURL = new URL( source.getAttribute( 'src' ) );\n\t\t\t\ttargetURL = new URL( data.value );\n\n\t\t\t\tif (\n\t\t\t\t\tallowedProtocols.test( targetURL.protocol ) &&\n\t\t\t\t\ttargetURL.host === sourceURL.host &&\n\t\t\t\t\tdocument.activeElement === source\n\t\t\t\t) {\n\t\t\t\t\twindow.top.location.href = data.value;\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t}\n\t};\n\n\tfunction onLoad() {\n\t\tvar iframes = document.querySelectorAll( 'iframe.wp-embedded-content' ),\n\t\t\ti, source, secret;\n\n\t\tfor ( i = 0; i < iframes.length; i++ ) {\n\t\t\t\/** @var {IframeElement} *\/\n\t\t\tsource = iframes[ i ];\n\n\t\t\tsecret = source.getAttribute( 'data-secret' );\n\t\t\tif ( ! secret ) {\n\t\t\t\t\/* Add secret to iframe *\/\n\t\t\t\tsecret = Math.random().toString( 36 ).substring( 2, 12 );\n\t\t\t\tsource.src += '#?secret=' + secret;\n\t\t\t\tsource.setAttribute( 'data-secret', secret );\n\t\t\t}\n\n\t\t\t\/*\n\t\t\t * Let post embed window know that the parent is ready for receiving the height message, in case the iframe\n\t\t\t * loaded before wp-embed.js was loaded. When the ready message is received by the post embed window, the\n\t\t\t * window will then (re-)send the height message right away.\n\t\t\t *\/\n\t\t\tsource.contentWindow.postMessage( {\n\t\t\t\tmessage: 'ready',\n\t\t\t\tsecret: secret\n\t\t\t}, '*' );\n\t\t}\n\t}\n\n\twindow.addEventListener( 'message', window.wp.receiveEmbedMessage, false );\n\tdocument.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', onLoad, false );\n})( window, document );\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/mrktinsights.com\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.js\n\/* ]]> *\/\n<\/script>\n","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/mrktinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Screenshot-2021-02-19-at-13.20.45.png","thumbnail_width":695,"thumbnail_height":362,"description":"How do you win a football match?&nbsp; Easy. Score more goals than the opponents. How do you do that? By consistently creating more, and better quality chances than you allow the opposition. How do you do that? By having more skillful, fitter, and better coached players? It doesn\u2019t take many layers of annoying questions to reach reasonably complex areas. How do you find and recruit more skillful players?\u00a0 How do you make players fitter? How do you measure what better-coached players play like? Traditionally the response to these questions from club owners has been to outsource the responsibility of answering them to a football manager. They are effectively given control of recruitment, fitness, and coaching of the players. If they don\u2019t deliver results on the pitch they are replaced by somebody else who is again given full control. There are two main issues with this as an approach. Firstly the \u201cGoldilocks\u201d issue of retaining staff in football. If the manager does too badly, they get fired and you start again. If the manager does too well he will attract interest from bigger clubs, leave, and you start again. The manager has to be \u201cjust right\u201d to do well enough to keep his job but not too well that other people want him. But this probably means you don\u2019t win anything. The second, and main problem, is that every time the manager walks away he takes almost all the knowledge of how to run a football club out the door with him. Usually taking the core people from each department with him. The solution to this issue is found in the Sporting Director model. An individual with the responsibility of offering continuity, so even when the manager (now the head coach) leaves the institutional knowledge remains the property of the club. \u201cInstitutional knowledge is the combination of experiences, processes, data, expertise, values, and information possessed by company employees.\u201d But even with this model you have potential issues. Sporting Directors get better offers, or sacked too. Is the knowledge they have gathered distributed among staff and systems? And if the head coach doesn\u2019t share a footballing vision with the Sporting Director then the gathered knowledge has no value. We need to build a system that ensures that we are gathering useful information AND that this knowledge is used to help the club win games. The first step is to ask; what is the current state of institutional knowledge in this club?&nbsp; Again this question leads to more questions. Is what we are doing now as a club going to lead to future success? What do we do well, and what do we do badly? How are we going to measure the success of any changes we make? Phase 1 &#8211; Decide on the destination In order to build something&nbsp; you need to start with a plan.&nbsp; Every club has probably produced, at some point, a strategy model called \u201c&lt;Insert Club Name Here> DNA\u201d or has a dusty 5-year plan from 2005 somewhere in the building. Very few of these plans have been followed through on. Ownership changes, budgets change, managers get sacked, plans are ripped up, fresh starts and clean slates are talked about. The problem with detailed plans is they can\u2019t cope with the short-term and relentless nature of football. A 5-year plan won\u2019t work with an owner who sacks people after 5 bad results. What can work is a set of statements backed up with a plan on how to make them into a reality. It all starts with a game model. A game model is a short set of clear principles about how the club wants to play football. Almost all managers and head coaches will have these types of documents, certainly, newly qualified coaches will have extensive plans and linked sessions. Simple clear statements on the non-negotiables of how we are going to approach football matches such as detailed in Jonas Munkvold\u2019s blog below. https:\/\/jonasmunkvold.selz.com\/blog\/the-making-of-a-game-model Or google &#8220;Game model Rene Maric&#8221; for a very detailed approach. The point is not just that these documents should exist as they already do, but they should be developed by, and the property of, the club. Any coach in the club should have easy access to these documents, the linked sessions, the contents should be the basis of the daily work and regular updates should be made as evidence is gathered on what works best. Although they set out the philosophy of the club they need to be grounded in pragmatic reality. It is also not possible to say \u201cplay like Pep\u2019s Barcelona\u201d to a team without Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi.&nbsp; You, therefore, need to pick a long-term model but phase in the stages to reaching that end goal. If you do want to play like Barcelona then you need to ensure each and every decision you take is one that leads you a step along the road to that destination. But you have to remember if you start in Burnley it takes a long time to reach Barcelona on foot. Phase 2 &#8211; Build in the measures of success Some teams start from a position of being very happy with the style of football they play already and wish to continue it. Others want to change their style, in those phased steps discussed above. The first thing to do from an analytics point of view is to ask; what does success look like? By having a game model we should be able to build out a set of measurable impacts on the team\u2019s playing style. We take our baseline of how we play now. We look at the playing principles we want to embed and the results we want to achieve. What should we see changing? Imagine a game model that envisages a team building out through a deep playmaker who will spread the play into wide areas to full-backs who will progress the ball upfield. If the coach is working with the players every day in implementing this game"}