{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"MRKT Insights - Football Consultancy Services","provider_url":"https:\/\/mrktinsights.com","title":"Football strategy - Part 3 - Micro and Macro - MRKT Insights - Football Consultancy Services","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"Lz5EeMZPda\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mrktinsights.com\/index.php\/2021\/12\/17\/football-strategy-part-3-micro-and-macro\/\">Football strategy &#8211; Part 3 &#8211; Micro and Macro<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/mrktinsights.com\/index.php\/2021\/12\/17\/football-strategy-part-3-micro-and-macro\/embed\/#?secret=Lz5EeMZPda\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;Football strategy &#8211; Part 3 &#8211; Micro and Macro&#8221; &#8212; MRKT Insights - Football Consultancy Services\" data-secret=\"Lz5EeMZPda\" 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\/12\/Screenshot-2021-12-17-16.42.00.png","thumbnail_width":650,"thumbnail_height":164,"description":"Article by Tim Keech and Olivier Wicki In our previous articles we looked at how clubs could use a strategic approach to club management.\u00a0 Firstly by setting out a long term vision for the club, and secondly by breaking this down into individual projects and processes. This final article in the series will look at how we can prioritise those projects. Which of the departments in a club has the greatest impact on on field performance? And how can you link these decisions to your overall strategy? How to measure impact? Measuring impact is difficult. How do you compare the decision whether to spend money on a weight machine or a psychologist?&nbsp; In most businesses you would try to quantify investments with a rate of return. Would buying a new piece of equipment\u00a0 for \u00a31m be better than employing two staff members to do the work instead for \u00a350k a year each. You put in the expected costs, the cost of borrowing, anticipated productivity and work out which decision makes more sense. But in football does measuring output in currency make sense? You could argue that winning more could lead to more income in TV and prize money but the reality is that a lot of clubs are running at a loss with a goal of winning trophies. It therefore may be better to take the output in football as the points won. This is something all clubs are striving to achieve. So our input is cash (\u00a3) and our output is points. We therefore look to maximise the number of points won for each \u00a3 spent. https:\/\/www.open.edu\/openlearn\/money-management\/management\/business-studies\/stefan-szymanski-on-the-business-football Stefan Szymanski and Simon Kuper showed how close the correlation between expenditure (input) and points (output) was in their book, Soccernomics.&nbsp; The data in the above diagram relates to the 2003-2012 period.&nbsp; In that period Everton (Moyes), Bolton (Allardyce) , Swansea (Martinez, Laudrup, Rodgers) were able to consistently record higher outputs (points) than we\u2019d expect with their financial inputs.&nbsp; Leeds, Derby, Southampton and many others underperformed relative to their expenditure.&nbsp; The question is therefore how do you ensure you are above average? The team who achieves more than they should given the wages they spend. Hierarchy&nbsp; If we agree on the use of points as the output of spending then we must also agree that some things directly impact the winning of points more directly than others. A typical basic hierarchy may be: Players &#8211; on the pitch Managers\/Coaches &#8211; working with the players and tactical preparation Support activities &#8211; scouting, youth academy, analysts, medical&nbsp; This would seem fair at first glance. The forgotten factor is the people who employ the players\/coaches\/support staff.&nbsp; It is arguable that the single most important section in a football club is the executive leadership. You cannot have a successful club without both good business logic and football knowledge at senior levels.&nbsp; There will then be hierarchies within each of those sections. Is it better to have a third choice goalkeeper or spend the budget on a better striker? We can calculate likely outcomes to this type of question. On the other hand, is it better to increase spending on medical staff to improve recovery from injury or to spend money on preventative software aimed at stopping injuries occurring?&nbsp; If we can work out the anticipated return in terms of minutes of our better players on the field we can assign a points impact to it. Allocating budgets&nbsp; A common idea in football is that it is a game of marginal gains. By being slightly better in lots of small areas (micro) we can add all these gains and be much better overall.&nbsp; This is true, and part of our strategy. However often the largest gains are to be made in macro strategy.&nbsp; In our previous article, we devised a strategy for transforming a fictional Premier League team into the English Dortmund. The strategy is built on three pillars (macro strategies):&nbsp; youth development innovation department&nbsp; scouting and recruitment department. Our fictional Premier League team is convinced that by implementing this strategy, they will be able to become a competitive team with a sustainable break-even business model. It is not enough to simply create a beautiful strategy, the board of directors must also take action. The strategy is implemented at the operational level, where individual departments develop policies and programs to help achieve the strategic goals. The board of directors must direct this process by allocating resources appropriately \u2013 in our case favoring the youth, innovation, and scouting &amp; recruitment departments. MRKT Insights has created a structure of six departments that build up a football club. The six departments are first team, club development, analysis department, player development, player recruitment, and corporate. So, how does our club&#8217;s management allocate the budget toward these six departments? Budget plan The budget plan above demonstrates that there was no clear strategy in place up to this point (year 0). The old \u201cstrategy\u201d was to devote the majority of its resources (85%) to the first team, resulting in a structural deficit of \u00a315.000.000 in the previous year. This was clearly not a sustainable way to run the club. The first time we can allocate the resources according to the strategy is in year 1 (right now). Because the board of directors cannot simply turn everything around, their hands are tied in year 1.&nbsp; The room to manoeuvre refers to the valuable player assets that are sold as they no longer match our current playing philosophy. Furthermore, restructuring the analysis department as well as the corporate side supported us in becoming more efficient. These additional resources are not reinvested into the first team squad but into our strategy: the club development\u2019s budget is increased from 1% to 4% in order to implement an innovation department&nbsp; the player development\u2019s budget is increased from 4% to 8% in order to give more resources for our youth academy the player recruitment\u2019s budget is increased from 2% to 7% in order a data-driven scouting and recruitment"}