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Sports as we know it today has come a long way. There were times when watching sports on television was considered a massive step forward in terms of technology. Fast forward 60 years, watching sports on television has become the most basic thing. Today we watch sports on the go on our mobile phones or any device with a screen and internet connectivity. Proud of how far we’ve come, aren’t we? Hopefully I can change your opinion on that by the end of this article.

What is sports all about? Sports is a bunch of people getting together to play a game with pre defined rules and a referee to ensure that these rules are adhered to during the passage of play. I am a sport lover and play sports all time. My love for tennis and soccer in particular cannot be defined. My issue when it came to technology and advanced analytics was with the game of soccer in particular. Soccer is such a beautiful game. The strategies that the coaching staff come up with and the way it is executed on field by the players, it actually is a thing of beauty. I was a soccer player myself (just an average one at that) and have been part of various teams. I know firsthand how strategies are built, how much thought goes into one single run of play.

Enter -> Advanced Analytics

Most of you would’ve seen the movie Moneyball. The movie was based on the book Michael Lewis wrote in 2003. It talks about how a jock turned luminary uses advanced statistics to gain a competitive edge over his better funded opponents. This book brought about a revolution is sports. Fans and boards of soccer clubs didn’t want to settle for subpar statistics or analytics anymore. What Moneyball did is, it took an old cliché – «sports are businesses» and made us move on to the next logical question – «how do we do things smarter?»

Now let’s talk about advanced analytics. Advanced analytics in today’s world plays a massive role in every business sector. Advanced analytics has been a boon for us. Moving from descriptive analytics to prescriptive analytics, we actually have come a long way. In various businesses, where the requirement is demanding, advanced analytics are of utmost importance.

When we look at soccer, its a game that does not require too much machine intelligence, it is a game that needs the human element. When you bring in analytics and technology and try to reduce the human element in the sports, it simply just crushes the spirit of the game.

Relying on analytics heavily killed the Premier Leagues long ball game and brought in the pressing, continual passing tiki-taka. Each league for that matter had its own style of play. The Premier League had the brash and brazen style of football that was termed «The way real men play football». There were beautiful long balls, harsh tackles but all the players just sucked it up, walked it off and it was all up to the referee on the pitch to penalize the offender or not. There were arguments and fights, the passion from the fans was crazy, that was the football that screamed of passion, when players got in the face of other players not fearing punishment. The Eric Cantona’s, the Ivan Genaro Gattuso’s, the Jaap Stam’s of the football world went missing soon enough and the diving and the biting began. Then there was the tiki-taka style of football that was played in the Spanish La Liga, the silky style of play that caught everyone off guard. The legendary Pep Guardiola and his army at Barcelona were the masters of the tiki-taka. There was Real Madrid who were always a star studded line-up with excessive parts of their play relying on lightning quick counters which most often than not left the opponents stunned. There was Manchester United who had their own brand of football being managed by the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson. That United team was a team of sheer grit and character. Each of these leagues had their own beauty and the teams had their own style of play.

When you bring in excessive technology and analytics, there emerge sorry technologies like VAR (Video Assistant Referees).

There are 3 stages as to how the VAR works:

Step 1

Incident occurs

The referee informs the VAR, or the VAR recommends to the referee that a decision/incident should be reviewed.

Step 2

Review and advice by the VAR

The video footage is reviewed by the VAR, who advises the referee via headset what the video shows.

Step 3

Decision or action is taken

The referee decides to review the video footage on the side of the field of play before taking the appropriate action/decision, or the referee accepts the information from the VAR and takes the appropriate action/decision.

Now the referee can consult with VAR for basically any doubts he wants clarified. What does this do?

• Removes the human element from the game.

• Takes up excess time and brings too many stoppages within the game, a game that was previously free flowing and continuous.

This makes it similar to Formula 1 racing. The analytics which brought about the fuel weight management systems and the numerous pit stops took the continuity out of the race and viewership reduced with the increase in technology. A pretty similar trend might occur in football if this implementation becomes mandatory.

The Positive Side of Advanced Analytics in Soccer:

Analytics are not all that bad in football. Let’s take the case of when Simon Wilson joined Manchester City in 2006. Simon Wilson was a consultant for an analytics startup called Prozone initially. He joined City to start a department of analytics and hired the best data analysts under him. He wanted to change the way how data was used by football teams. He saw that, after a defeat there was no introspection as to why they had lost and what needed to be done next time. City were a mid table club at that time. In September 2008, when the club was acquired by the Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment, a private-equity outfit owned by a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, the team suddenly found itself with the resources necessary to mount a challenge for the Premier League. Today, Wilson is Manchester City’s manager of strategic performance analysis. He has five departments under him, including the team of performance analysis, which is now led by a sports scientist named Ed Sulley.

After each match, the team’s performance data would be examined. The list is extensive. Line breaks (a rugby term), ball possession, pass success rates, ball win/loss time ratio were what used to be analyzed. «Instead of looking at a list of 50 variables we want to find five, say, that really matter for our style of play,» says Pedro Marques, a match analyst at Manchester City.

«With the right data-feeds, the algorithms will output the statistics that have a strong relationship with winning and losing.» Wilson recalls one particular period when Manchester City hadn’t scored from corners in over 22 games, so his team decided to analyze over 400 goals that were scored from corners. It was noticed that about 75 percent resulted from in-swinging corners, the type where the ball curves towards the goal. The next 12 games of the next season saw City score nine goals from corner.

Teams are investing heavily in analytics today and it is working in their favor. Look at where Manchester City are today, sitting atop the Premier League table and not being threatened at all. Look at Manchester United this season, their game has been such where their possession percentages are low but their goal conversions are high. The Manchester Derby on 7th April 2018 saw United have only 35% of the possession but they managed to trump City 3-2. Each team has their set of analysts who provide inputs as per the strength of the team.

Advanced analytics is like the coin Two Face in Batman has, «Heads you die, Tails you survive!»

It can reap crazy rewards from a team’s point of view but at the same time can disrupt the lovely game by bringing in unnecessary stoppages, replays and by taking the human element out of it. The numerous replays and the different angles, show the fans if the referee has made an error or not. Let the error happen, after all to err is human. Refereeing in soccer is not an exact science and it’s all real time. Let there be arguments about a decision, let the passion in the argument come through. Do you want to watch a football match like the El Classico or the Manchester Derby and sit with your bunch of friends and say «it was a very clean game, the best team won!» Hell NO! Don’t drive the passion out of soccer with technology and analytics. Let soccer be soccer and let technology stay away!

Ahead of every new season, we are all asking «who will our team sign»?

See what you think of my predictions:

Fernando Torres

Liverpool > Chelsea

With Liverpool now failing in all areas Fernando Torres will want to start winning trophy’s and he knows that Liverpool FC is not the place, there were rumours of a Barcelona move however that will not happen now and he would never join Real Madrid.

Chelsea are successful and looking to build on that, With Drogba and Anelka at 30-31 years old they will be moving on within the next 2 years therefore Torres will take the mantle.

Approx Fee – £40 Million

Karim Benzema

Real Madrid > Manchester United

It is well known that Sir Alex is a fan of this young Frenchman and he showed promise at Lyon however has had a tough season in Madrid, one bad season in Madrid is normally the end and I expect the same result here. Man united need striker’s with Berbatov not performing and Owen injured invariably it rests on Rooney’s shoulders.

Approx Fee – £22 Million

Cesc Fabergas

Arsenal > Barcelona

If this does happen i would be shocked, Fabergas has publicly stated his desire for the move and when that happens you cannot stop it, it would be another fantastic signing following David Villa to the Nou Camp, as it happens he would join the other Spain Internationals such as Puyol, Pique, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Villa, Pedro.

Approx Fee – £40 Million

Wesley Sneijder

Inter Milan > Chelsea

I write this article pre WC final however regardless of this fact he has had a fantastic season and a great World cup campaign, he has matured in the talent that was showing promise in his Ajax days, Scoring Goals from all angles and distances including dead ball ability he has fast become hot property.

With a host of big clubs interested such as Manchester United, City & Chelsea he will have plenty of options.

There is of course a chance that he will stay with the European champions but when money talks players often move.

Approx Fee – £35 Million

Maicon

Inter Milan > Real Madrid

What a signing this would be. In my opinion Maicon is the best right back in the world, he has everything including goals. Although he has has had league and European success i suspect he will fancy a new challenge and following his former coach to Madrid which would mean Sergio Ramos moving into central defence should the move happen.

It is a glamour move and the Spanish league is a faster pace which will suit Maicon’s game.

Approx Fee – £25 Million

Edin Dzeko

Wolfsburg > Man City

With new manager Steve Mclaren at the helm he needs to funds to change this now faltering team, starting with the sale of Edin Dzeko, the tall striker is a goalscorer in the bundesliga but for fee involved it is risky. The Premier League tends to find players out and i feel it will happen to Dzeko.

We will see.

Approx Fee – £30 Million

The draw for this season’s UEFA Champions League last 16 has taken place and it certainly produced some mouthwatering encounters to look forward to. These games will take place on February 24th & 25th with the return legs two weeks later on March 10th & 11th. Here is the full draw as it was drawn in Nyon, Switzerland:

Chelsea v Juventus

Villarreal v Panathinaikos

Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich

Atletico Madrid v FC Porto

Lyon v Barcelona

Real Madrid v Liverpool

Arsenal v Roma

Inter Milan v Manchester United

The current champions Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson face their old friend, the former Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho and his Inter Milan side who were knocked out by Liverpool last year at the same stage. Mourinho had made it clear he wanted to draw one of the English «big four» clubs and he certainly got his wish, with the first leg to be played at the San Siro. The game at Old Trafford will no doubt revive memories of Mourinho’s famous celebration, as he ran down the touchline back in March 2004 when his Porto side scored a last minute equaliser that sent United crashing out of the Champions League. Of course Mourinho and Porto went on the lift the trophy that season beating Monaco in the final.

Sir Alex Ferguson is also looking forward to the tie as well. Ferguson believes it will be very interesting to come up against Mourinho as he has a character with a good personality. Contrary to what used to go on between the two when Mourinho managed Chelsea, Ferguson also said that he has always got on well with the now Inter Milan manager. It didn’t take long for Mourinho to also start the psychological word games by talking up Man Utd. He stated that he wanted to be drawn against the best and that he got the European champions. Man Utd could also be crowned World Club Champions in Japan this weekend too. Meanwhile another of the English teams, Liverpool, were drawn against the current Spanish champions Real Madrid and their new manager, ex Tottenham boss, Juande Ramos. The former Tottenham manager has only just taken over at the Bernabeu and will no doubt be looking forward to his return to England with the 9 times winners Real Madrid. Liverpool have the perceived advantage of the second leg at Anfield due to finishing their group on top. The tie is a repeat of the 1981 Paris final, which the English side won 1-0 thanks to a goal by defender Alan Kennedy. That was the last time these two giants of European football have met in a competitive game.

The draw also provided Italian coach Claudio Ranieri the chance of an emotional return to London and Stamford Bridge, against his former club Chelsea, last year’s beaten finalists. Ranieri is now the manager get Italian giants Juventus. Ranieri was a popular figure at Stamford Bridge before being replaced by non-other than Jose Mourinho in 2004. This despite Ranieri guiding them to the Champions League semi-final, where they lost to Monaco, who as mentioned above were then beaten by Mourinho and Porto. Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal will have the first leg at home as they take on AS Roma. The Arsenal manager believes the Gunners, just like every other team now left in the competition, has a good chance of lifting the trophy in Rome come May. Despite both those difficult ties for Arsenal and Chelsea, they will have breathed a huge sigh of relief as the draw was made as they could have been paired with the current favourites Barcelona. They will have been extremely happy to have avoided the Catalans however, as mentioned above both Arsenal and Chelsea face difficult ties against AS Roma and Juventus respectively.

The «unlucky» team to draw Barcelona were the French champions Lyon and looking ahead to the game, their sporting director Bernard Lacombe admitted that they were very worried. Lyon couldn’t have been handed a more difficult game.

The Spanish team Villareal, which finished second in the group stages behind Manchester Utd, were handed, what on paper at least, looks one of the easier ties. They will face the Greek side Panathinaikos which pipped Inter Milan to top stop in their Group. So, Panathinaikos will equally be relived they didn’t finish second, as Utd would have been awaiting them. Former champions, and I suspect a dark horse for this season’s cempetition, Bayern Munich, will play the Portuguese team Sporting Lisbon and in the final tie of the round another Portuguese team Porto will go head to head with another Spanish team, Athletico Madrid.

There truly are some great games to look forward to in early 2009. No doubt there will be plenty of drama and a few shocks, the UEFA Champions League never disappoints once it has entered the sudden death knock-out stages.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had once managed French team Monaco, where a young Thierry Henry played in the youth team. Wenger encouraged the young Henry, who went on to win ‘French Young Footballer of the Year’ in 1996.

It is no surprise that when Wenger took charge of Arsenal, he bought Henry from Juventus for £10 million. At first it looked as if Henry could not cope with the physical nature of the English game, he failed to score in his first eight games. However, after toughening himself up, he ended his first season with an impressive twenty six goals.

During the 2001/2 season, Henry’s hard work payed off and the team won the double, Henry scored thirty two goals in all competitions. Arsenal were now a real force to be reckoned with. In 2002/3 Arsenal won the FA Cup and Henry was named PFA Player of the Year. During the 2003/4 season Arsenal went through the entire campaign without being defeated, the first team in more than a century to do so, largely due to the excellent performances of Thierry Henry.

In 2006 Henry became Arsenal’s top goal scorer of all time and won the Football Writers Association Player of the Year.

Arsenal reach the finals of the Champions League in 2006 but were defeated by Barcelona. The following season, Henry was out through injury for long periods.

In June 2007 Henry was transferred to Barcelona for twenty for million Euros.

Always a prolific striker and skillful player on and off the ball. Thierry Henry is a legend at Arsenal FC.

Jose Maurinho is one of the most respected coaches in Europe. This is not only because he knows his job very well, but because he is disciplined and would never take nonsense from anybody. He knows what he wants and demands it, not minding what people would think of him, as long as what he needs would assist him get the needed result.

Jose Maurinho is a pace setter; he is a god father, a disciplinarian and a charismatic coach, whose results speak on his behalf. He may not have been a football player, but as a coach he is fulfilled. He has succeeded where others have failed: he has won several domestic titles and two champions league titles (with FC Porto and Internazionale Milan).

One strong point he has is that he knows how to use what he has to achieve the result he wants. He knows where there are deficiencies and what he needs to cure the deficiency. When he came to Chelsea FC for example, the club was seriously in need of the premiership title, having failed to win it in the past 50years. Maurinho came in, brought in the likes Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Andrea Shevchenko, etc. and won the league back to back, breaking the 50years old jinx. He also won the FA cup, Carling cup and the community shield during his period of stay in Chelsea.

Nobody gave him the chance to win the champions league at Inter-Milan. People had thought that either Barcelona, Chelsea, Man-United, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Olympic Lyon, Liver pool or Bayern Munich would win the league; but coach Maurinho proved them all wrong, defeating Chelsea and Barcelona convincingly along the way. He finally snatched the UEFA champion’s league title beating Bayern Munich 2-0 in the final.

Now that he has signed to coach Real Madrid for the next 4 seasons, I see him winning the champions league which Marcello Lippi failed to win with the assemblage of world class players in his arsenal. With players like Christiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema, Raul Gonzalez, Higuain, Gutti, etc. Jose Maurinho would win several titles (domestic and continental) for the club, if only the club management would give him a free hand to make his selection and to determine the kinds of players to add to the team. Being a very respected coach who takes no nonsense from players, all players would surely give him his due respect and play in the role that they are assigned to play. As the new coach of Real Madrid, Jose Maurinho is set to make history again as he prepares to give them the champions league title which has eluded them for about a decade now.