Premier League teams, most notably Everton, are at the forefront of using statistics and analytics to prep for upcoming matches. Leveraging stat providers like Prozone and StatDNA, Premier League teams have been able to gather key information about the opposition long before stepping out on the pitch. SI.com recently highlighted Everton and their manager David Moyes who introduced data analysis to the team back in 2002.
Some of the information Everton can gather by examining analytics includes their opposition's style of play, tendencies and set-pieces. Perhaps most interesting is the detailed look managers take at specific players on the opposing team. Steve Brown, First Team Performance Analyst at Everton, said "We will identify certain trends of a player, for example a winger, and show our fullback what we think they're more likely to do in certain situations.” Additionally Brown was quoted, "It's the small detail which we are meticulous in. We examine if the players have certain patterns to their play which we think we can expose or need to be aware of. Do certain wingers have a style of attacking play in order to create a crossing position? Something that we might be able to predict and counter. The idea is to give them a picture of what the opposition [player] is doing."
Not everyone loves the idea of applying analytics to the game. Many fear the metrics could be misinterpreted, which could lead to confusion and misinformed decision-making. However others, including Tim Howard and Landon Donovan, are eager to learn as much as possible from analysis done on the competition. Brown does concede that interpreting the raw data is key, but if done correctly, this information is an incredibly powerful tool for managers and players alike. Ref. Pic. si.com Ref. Tottenham-Spur.blogspot.com
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