Expected Goals: The story of how data conquered football and changed the game forever

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Klopp had an open mind and had some familiarity with data use from the Bundesliga, but Liverpool took it to a new level.

Money-ball' was about exploiting inefficiencies in the market; paying premium fees was the very definition of an inefficiency. I have left a few souls exasperated when they tried to use data to try to convince me that CR7 is the goat. The formula used to calculate expected goals and other related stats are explained in a straightforward manner by Tippett and are accompanied by easy to follow examples and graphics. Moneyball meets Freakonomics in this myth-busting guide to understanding—and winning—the most popular sport on the planet.It’s a fascinating subject to be sure, but the football man vs data boffin debate continues to rage even now in what should be more enlightened times. He worked with Rafa Benitez on Champions League Dreams, but this is his first book under his own name. Expected Goals : The Story of How Data Conquered Football and Changed the Game Forever (2022) by Rory Smith is another book that looks at the rise of data and analytics in football.

He charts the data revolution in football, the way statistical analysis has become central to how clubs operate.Brighton, an unglamorous mid-table Premier League side, has punched above its weight and become mainstays in the league in large part because of how the way they used data in the transfer market. Michael Lewis’ 2003 book Moneyball, which showed how analytics transformed baseball, initially inspired some football chiefs to abandon ‘gut instinct’ and gravitate towards a more enlightened player recruitment model.

We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others.By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. There’s also the story of 17-year-old Ashwin Raman from Bengaluru, who was hired by a Scottish Premier League team as an analyst, on the basis of blog posts he shared on Twitter. Football has always measured success by what you win, but only in the last twenty years have clubs started to think about how you win.

The greatest moment of danger for any team is in the moment when they switch from a defensive mode to an offensive one. Smith tells an incomplete story while trying so hard to be Moneyball but comes up short in almost every way.Whether you belong to a football club, are a Premier League fan, or simply just interested in learning more about the football world, our list of the best football audiobooks captures what draws so many people to makes ‘the beautiful game’. It was a massive success and helped Brentford achieve five successive top half finishes despite having one of the division’s smallest wage budgets and fanbases. The Expected Goals Philosophy is a very helpful read for anybody wanting to use expected goals to inform their betting or simply learn more about it. Glass’s Aberdeen side were profligate in front of goal and leaky at the back, but I imagine the data league table made probably put a good sheen on things as they were a team creating chances and not conceding many albeit they were high percentage chances inevitably put away by the opposition as we found ourselves on a string of 1-0 defeats or rather uncreditable draws.