Soccer clubs can enhance their chances of success on the pitch through effective data management.
2021 has been a summer of sport like no other, and as the Olympics has captivated us with amazing feats of strength, speed and precision, it’s easy to forget that the UK soccer season is upon us once more. As the anticipation for the new Premier League season builds, it’s easy to overlook the role that data plays in every team’s preparations. In our digital age, victory is no longer dependent upon player performance alone, it is strongly supported by the club staff and coaches closely scrutinizing match and training data collected in real time. From clubs in the Premier League down to the lower leagues, a data strategy has become as important as scouting, transfers or the players’ dietary regime. Why? It’s estimated that 16 players with six balls can generate around 13 million data points in just 10 minutes — providing crucial insights into everything from player run-rates to touches of the ball and passing. And, this is just from the training pitch. Mirroring IDC’s predictions of unbridled growth of unstructured data by 2025, soccer is now awash with different data streams which must be effectively managed by clubs if they are to deliver optimal performance on the pitch week-in, week-out, and get ahead of the competition. As the value of insights distilled from data increases, we are witnessing an evolution in soccer. From a fan’s perspective, we’re now closer than ever to our favorite clubs and players, with instant access to stats like player heatmaps and expected goals from companies like Opta or Squawka. At a club level, we’re seeing an emulation of modern technology businesses一those outpacing their peers have a digital mindset and invest in robust IT infrastructure to handle unstructured data to provide consistent data insights for real-time changes during matches.
