Football Thought Bubble

Introduction: It makes sense to start this piece with two quotes from German football journalist and author of a recent book “Football Hackers”, Christoph Biermann who said, “data is part of an ongoing evolution that changes football from a game of opinions into one of knowledge. (Biermann 2019, pg8) The writer also makes the strong point that “the future of football will not simply belong to those with the best data, but those who draw the best conclusions from the information at their disposal.” (Biermann 2019, pg8) This piece will discuss how data analytics and information systems have impacted the world of football and the industries around it over the last few decades. This piece will analyse how data has change football tactics, scouting of players, player fitness and the betting industry.  Who is using this data? How is it being used, and why? Definitions, History and Influences “Data analytics is the science of analysing raw data in order to make conclusions about ...

Part 1: Should We Americanize European Football here I want to clarify that I am not suggesting that the European game should copy the American system. Some policies are unusable in Europe, such as the relocation of teams, the lack of promotion & relegation, the match schedules, and the old penalty rules. As suggested in part 1, the MLS or Major League Soccer is a lot more competitive than the European game. This does not mean that the standard is higher, but instead, there are no teams can dominate year in and year out in the same way they do in Europe. The MLS has had six different winners in the last seven years, and this reality is very different from European Leagues or the Champions League. Part 1 explains this in greater detail. In this piece, I will take a look at some of the things the football/soccer organisers do to make the game different in the United States. First of all, some of the key terms that help explain why in the MLS is not so easy to predict and is ever-...

On Monday, the 27th of August 2019, I was a guest on the High Wide and Handsome Football Index Podcast. Give it a listen here Thanks

Written by Diarmuid Gillingham Inspired by DW Kick-Off and my friend, who supports Barcelona. Part One: Why The American Question Needs To Be Asked Part Two: How The MLS Approach Would Impact The European Game of Football Introduction and Context This will be the first of many blog posts comparing the European football scene with that of the USA.  While Europen societies are better known for their equality than the USA, the American way of doing sports is often more equal than their European counterparts. This fascinating cultural fact extends to the world's most popular game, which is football or soccer. In this first piece, I make a comparison between the European game and the MLS. This piece will mainly focus on why the European game is so one-sided towards the big clubs. On the 16th of August 2019, I watched Barcelona struggle in a 1-0 opening day defeat to Ath. Bilbao. What caught my attention more than anything was my friend's constant complaining about the Ba...