Football giants

Chapter 187: Big Data Era

"I'm curious, Dr. Satoy, I have a question."

On the way back to the training building while walking with Marcus du Sartoy, Yang Huan asked the doubts in his heart.

"Why is football so disinterested in statistics?"

I believe this is also everyone's doubts.

Since big data can solve so many problems, why is no one doing it?

Marcus Du Sartoy shook his head and smiled, "You are wrong, Master Huan. It's not that no one has done it, but that many, many people have been doing it for a long time. It's just that the level of data analysis is still too backward compared with other industries."

"Let's hear it." Yang Huan was very interested.

He is aware of his flaws and inadequacies, and he has always been self-aware.

Since it's something you don't understand or don't understand, let someone who understands and understands do it.

Or, just do the hard work on your own and figure out what it's all about.

Marcus du Sartoy organized the answer to this question in his mind, because he found it cumbersome to answer.

"The introduction of data analysis and high-tech gadgets in the football circle has actually been done for a long time. After Wenger took over Arsenal, he attached great importance to data. Let me give you an example that I know."

"Flamini, you should know this player, Master Huan?"

Yang Huan nodded. The French defensive midfielder had just played a little level at Arsenal, and then left for AC Milan in Italy.

"When Wenger decided to introduce this player, it was because he heard that Flamini could run 4000 meters in a game. This figure was amazing, so he went to investigate. After confirming that Flamini's large-scale running was not blind, Arsenal introduced this player."

Yang Huan had never heard of this incident, and thought it was quite interesting.

"In addition, as we all know, AC Milan has a world-famous Milan laboratory. They were able to win the Champions League. This laboratory has made great contributions. Even earlier, the Brazilian national team and Nike of the United States have cooperated in this research."

Having said that, Marcus du Sartoy's conclusion is already very clear.

The introduction of data into football has actually been done a long time ago, and it has even developed to a certain extent.

"Master Huan, do you know how many relevant data OPTA needs to collect for a game?"

Yang Huan shook his head this time, because he had no contact with OPTA.

"There are more than 500 items, and they are getting more and more detailed. In the past, everyone only cared about some superficial things, such as ball possession rate, number of shots, running distance, number of dribbles and so on."

Speaking of this, Marcus du Sartoy couldn't help laughing.

"I still remember that in the earliest days, OPTA's data was calculated by observers sitting in the stands or sitting in front of the live TV. It was calculated by the most primitive and inefficient manual means, and there were many errors."

Yang Huan couldn't help but smile, so the OPTA data company, which sounds very tall, has such a history?
"Later, after they were acquired by Sky TV, they got sufficient funds to develop, and then continuously improved their software and hardware, and developed specialized analysis software, which allowed them to obtain more and more refined data."

"So that's where you have movement heat maps, pass lane maps, stuff like that."

Yang Huan doesn't know everything when the lines are separated by mountains.

He really doesn't know much about the data field of the football industry, and it can even be said that he knows nothing.

In the past, the data that ordinary fans could see was only a few items at best, but OPTA collected more than 500 data in one game, which shows how deep the water is.

As long as you pay, you can get those advanced data of OPTA.

"Dr. Sartoy, according to what you said, data has been rooted in the professional football field for so many years, and several data service companies like OPTA have been developed, but why do you still feel that it is very outdated?"

Marcus Du Satoy nodded and said with a smile: "Because these are just data."

Now, Yang Huan began to understand a little bit.

"The data provided by companies like OPTA are indeed very fine. It gives us a lot of data, but what can these data show? This requires us to analyze."

"Data is dead, but analytics is alive."

"To take the simplest example, there is a striker who is very good at scoring goals, he is far ahead of the league scorer chart, but the results of his team are very bad."

"If you only look at the stats of this player, you will find that he is a top scorer, because he can get a lot of shots every game, and then how many shots can be converted into a goal and so on."

"But if you analyze the entire team in more depth, you will find that this player shoots wildly in pursuit of his own goal, which leads to the team's overall offense lacking threat and unable to run smoothly."

"Also, there is a defensive midfielder whose interception and steal data is very eye-catching, and the running distance covered in each game is also very large, but his team is doing poorly in defense. The media and fans have criticized the defense, but in fact?"

"If you analyze it in depth, will there be another kind? This player's personal ability is indeed very strong, but his team and tactical awareness is very weak. He gallops all over the court, has no sense of position, and cannot appear in front of the defense when the team needs it. Provide a strong protective barrier, and expose the defense to the opponent's artillery at will."

Now Yang Huan really understood thoroughly.

What Marcus du Sartoy meant was very clear, the data is not important, because these things can be bought.

What really matters, or rather, the key to determining whether data is useful is analysis.

"According to the two examples I just mentioned, if you only go to the first step, that is, only analyze the superficial data, you will definitely find that the player is too good, but the team is too bad, so many teams spend a lot of money to introduce this player. As a result, when they use it, they find that it is not right. The player is not used well, and it becomes a so-called parallel import."

"If you analyze it more deeply, you will find that the problem is not so simple, and the closer it can be to reality."

"So it seems to me that a lot of people saying the data can lie is because the data they get is too one-sided."

"It's a lack of data!"

After hearing this, Yang Huan kept nodding his head. This kind of argument is indeed very convincing.

Especially in the United States, NBA, rugby, golf, baseball, tennis, etc., a large number of professional competitive sports are increasing their investment in data analysis, which is enough to illustrate the prospect of data application.

Professional competitive sports all have a common pursuit, that is the result!

Every aspect of football is always about scoring goals.

Goal oriented, everything is quantifiable.

And as long as it is quantifiable, there is room for big data to play a role.

"Then why do many football clubs ignore statistics?"

Marcus du Sartoy was going to answer the question raised by Yang Huan just now.

"There are two situations. One is that they think the data is unreliable. The other is that they lack the courage to invest and think that investing so much is not as cost-effective as introducing stars. Therefore, we can see that almost every team in the entire Premier League is buying data from OPTA, but it is just buying."

"AC Milan tasted the sweetness and won the Champions League. However, in the second year, they immediately mobilized the Milan laboratory and suspended all scientific research projects. The reason is very simple. Their management believes that the current level is sufficient, and it is a waste to continue to invest in scientific research."

"These people just want to get a rough idea of ​​the data they are interested in, but they never thought about establishing a system project to scientifically analyze the entire team and the entire football field, because the latter has invested too much!"

"Football rejects data and high technology, not because of closure and conservatism, but because of money!"

"In the United States, the NBA, NFL and baseball have higher club income than football, so they have enough financial resources to invest in research and development in this area."

Now Yang Huan completely understood.

Still the same sentence, no one in this world is more stupid than anyone else.

It's like when the founders of OPTA saw that Americans began to introduce data into the NBA and NFL, they immediately started to engage in the Premier League, and it didn't take long in the middle.

But now, the gap between the data analysis capabilities of European football and the data analysis capabilities of several major professional sports leagues in the United States is really not that big.

In the final analysis, it is still a matter of money.

The two chatted and walked along the way, and before they knew it, they came to the downstairs of the training building.

Because the new training building is still being renovated, the office of the data analysis center is currently on the first floor of the old training building.

Yang Huan plans to rebuild an independent building for them to work.

It will be the data heart of Southampton in the future.

"Master Huan." Marcus du Sartoy stopped in his tracks, "When Charlene told me that you were very interested in statistics, I didn't quite believe it at first, because Southampton is only a League One team, but after getting to know you, I believed it."

"I believe that in the entire football circle, no one can know the future of data better than you."

Yang Huan couldn't stop nodding. Both WeChat and game companies attach great importance to data collection and analysis.

He knows the magic of big data better than anyone else.

Before, he ignored football, but now, he is determined to catch up.

"But I still want to remind you, Master Huan, that the data of football is different from the data of Internet companies, because it involves people, and people are the most complicated, so we need experts in many fields such as anthropology, physiology, nutrition, etc. to collaborate and analyze."

That is to say, the more manpower invested, the more research and development funds are needed.

"OK, I understand!" Yang Huan clapped his hands vigorously.

"Don't worry, Dr. Satoy, I've told you that in the future, you will have as much funding as your data center. As long as you think it is necessary, you can apply for funding for research, and I will support it!"

"Thank you, Master Huan!" Marcus du Sartoy immediately thanked him with a smile.

But Yang Huan waved his hand and shook his head, "Don't say thank you, I haven't finished yet."

Marcus du Sartoy immediately listened carefully.

"Although I will give strong support in terms of funds and in all aspects, I want to see the results. We Southampton will not be like AC Milan, who will stagnate after a good start. As long as I am here, I will do my best to support your research and development."

"However, I must see the results!"

"I understand, Master Huan!" Marcus du Sartoy immediately nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry, we will not let you down."

All scientific research projects in the world are like this, there is no hope, or those scientific research projects that will never produce results, no one is interested.

Or to put it simply, scientific research is also an investment.

Marcus Du Satoy seemed to be afraid that Yang Huan would not believe him, and immediately pointed to the office of the data center with a smile.

"I think, Master Huan, you should come in and take a look. Dr. Howard Hamilton has something good!"

It looked like a naughty little ghost offering treasures.

Yang Huan couldn't help smiling, "Good thing? What is it?"

"A really wonderful product that has been very helpful to us!"

Having said that, Yang Huan was really interested.

　Hematemesis third, ask for a monthly pass!
　　Lao Chen found that there were very few recommendation tickets this week, please recommend!

　　Thanks to [Youyou Huanghuang] book friend for the monthly pass!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)