Liverpool FC — dominating with data
From finishing just a point behind the league leaders in 2019 but getting Champions League success to make up for it to winning the Premier League the next season along with triumphs at domestic and other European cups, this side has won it all.
Let’s look at how the club has become so successful in recent times and yes, it’s not just because of having top players.
The data side of Liverpool
As I said, they hosted some amazing players like Salah, Mane, Van Dijik, and a coach like Jurgen Klopp but largely it’s the case with most big clubs. What set the Reds apart was using numbers in their strategy.
The club has been crunching data for some time to find out the best players suited to a particular position in a certain situation and to decide the most effective game style and formation. To make this work, they hosted an entire team of analysts who ensured the club brought out the best in every game.
With a PhD in theoretical physics, Ian Graham, the head of the research division of Fenway Sports Group (owner of Liverpool F.C.), is in charge of analysing player and sports data. Along with him, the team includes Michael Edwards, the club’s sporting director, a former analyst, Tim Waskett, an astrophysicist, and Will Spearman who have coined the term “Pitch Control”. It refers to a technique where a team may see how to use the pitch by using visuals, such as the pictures here.
With this, the team can comprehend how every move they make on the field affects the likelihood that they will score a goal.
What’s next for the reds at Merseyside?
When making decisions about transfers, gameday preparation, and other business-related decisions, Liverpool’s hierarchy like using quantitative data and now they are taking it one step further. Liverpool is trying to advance with StatsBomb 360 (a company that provides in-depth football data) after previously revolutionising the methodology in football analytics with a four-person research team. The Reds have signed up for the data provider’s next level of analytics even though they are already regular customers. This level will allow them to keep track of every player on the field for every one of the thousands of events that occur during a battle. It will also help them get the best deal in the transfer market and only sign players who fit Klopp's style.
I'll leave you all with a fun fact — Ian Graham and his staff are responsible for Klopp’s hiring by the club in 2015. After a catastrophic final season at Borussia Dortmund, Klopp was harshly lambasted in the media but Graham’s AI-based data analyses revealed that Dortmund had just been extremely unfortunate in that season and that Klopp was still one of the greatest managers.
If you liked this edition, do share it amongst your football friends and let them know of this interesting back story of the super club!
