Hudl, The Magazine Vol.4

Data and a Dream The solution fueling Brazil’s FIFA World Cup campaign

Introducing: Studio

Hudl’sbrandnewtelestration tool is powering analysis

Fully Connected

Tackling rugby analysis with Suntory Sungoliath

Broadcasting Live The link between punditry and technology for Jamie Carragher

A New Way to Win Innovative analytics experts outline the power of data Issue 4 • September 2021

What’s Inside

Suntory Sungoliath shares with us how video analysis enhances their entire analysis workflow (p.25).

5 Welcome Hudl’s Director of Customer Solutions Ed Sulley explains how our solutions are solving the biggest challenges in elite sport around the globe.

Features 6 Introducing: Studio Everything you need to know about our dynamic new graphics tool.

12 Samba Style How scouting technology will help Brazil select and develop players in the lead up to FIFA World Cup 2022.

20 Pro Suite Levels Up (Again) Check out all of the latest updates across Hudl Pro Suite, plus the exciting features we have planned for the future.

25 Live From Japan Learn how Japanese rugby giants Suntory Sungoliath use video analysis before, during and after the match.

30 A Whole New Ballgame Turkish Super League powerhouse Fenerbahce Beko have found their new solution to push them towards success in European basketball.

38 The New Wave Learn how Hudl’s link with the University of Derby is producing the performance analysts of tomorrow.

46 Data Is the New Oil What is Wyscout data and how can it help you win?

48 How to Get Ahead of Your Competition with Data In our exclusive roundtable discussion, we spoke with some of the most innovative experts in sports analytics on the power of data.

Interviews 10 The Modern Workflow Norway’s Senior Performance Analyst Andy Findlay describes how Studio has taken his elite workflow to new heights.

34 Monchi’s Philosophy We pick the brain of world-renowned director of football Monchi on how he set up the sporting direction of Sevilla FC.

50 The Art of TV Analysis Jamie Carragher tells us how Wyscout is the go-to tool for television pundits to generate cutting-edge player insights.

54 The Italian Job Italian legend Francesco Totti’s new career is in scouting.

He explains the impact of technology in this field.

42 The Value of Volleymetrics Veteran player and coach Marko Klok gives us the rundown on the power of game analysis in elite volleyball.

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Hudl Headquarters Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

Foreword

Through our world-class experience and expertise, we aim to solve the biggest challenges in elite sport.

This goal represents an important step we’ve made to ensure our business can live up to the high standards our customers demand of their partners. Simply providing great technology isn’t enough.

Of our 2,100+ employees operating out of 20 countries, many have worked on the front lines of sport across all levels. Hudl enables them to continue to provide high level consultancy to many leading clubs and federations. This creates a unique level of empathy and authenticity that’s incredibly difficult to replicate.

Earlier in March 2021, our “Hudl Presents: Performance Analysis” week showcased our continued investment into our solutions and services, whilst also highlighting our valued partnerships with great organisations such as the Association of Sporting Directors. We covered updates to Hudl Sportscode, stories from sporting leaders around the world, and introduced our newest major update to Hudl Sportscode: Studio. This new feature represents a perfect example of how a cross-functional group of talented people took our customers’ feedback to make a solution that’s now earning high praise from the sports industry.

Over the last 12 months, we have taken part in more than 6,000 customer interactions. Those conversations helped us understand the common trends our industry is facing today.

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Style of play: It’s all about efficiently capturing and effectively educating current and new employees about the way you want to play the game. It also plays a role in creating sustainable success with recruitment and development.

Scouting and recruitment: Organizations and teams had to adapt quickly to the impact of the global pandemic. A key step was ensuring technology was and continues to be utilized successfully, without leaving key employees behind or creating barriers to decision-making.

Player pathways: More than ever, the need to realize the potential of young athletes is incredibly important. It can be one of the keys to success in executing a sustainable business model. Providing them competitive senior minutes early is vital.

We share more technical insights in this issue, including how Brazil’s national football team the Seleção are using technology to prepare for their next FIFA World Cup campaign, along with an exciting update on the value that Wyscout data is bringing to elite football and how Hudl Sportscode is helping teams win across the globe (specifically with Suntory Sungoliath in Japan and Fenerbahce Beko in Turkey). These resources, along with all the content in our magazine, can teach you how to make the most of performance analysis. Maybe you’ll even make it into our next issue.

Edward Sulley, Hudl Director of Customer Solutions

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Save Time Studio opens right from Hudl Sportscode for hassle-free, two-way sharing of video and graphics packages.

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No need to export, import or realign video

INTRODUCING

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Automatically sync multiple angles

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Seamlessly pull team data from Wyscout

Your New Home for Telestration We’ll help you get to know our brand new graphics tool that’s

seamlessly integrated with Hudl Sportscode, and the full range of Hudl Pro Suite products.

Experience Auto-Tracking Technology There’s no longer any need to manually track players with graphics. Simply highlight the player and

Hudl Sportscode users can now quickly add professional, dynamic drawings and graphics to multiple

computer vision will does

angles in video packages, all within one ecosystem of products.

the rest.

Studio has been designed and engineered to specifically address the visualization needs of analysts

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Broadcast-quality graphics

and coaches, to empower them to quickly and effectively enhance their analysis workflows.

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Automatic chroma keying

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Simple calibration

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September 2021 7

Key Features Easy Imports

Multiple Camera Angles

With your Hudl Sportscode playlist open, simply select the

When you import clips to Studio from Hudl Sportscode,

clips you want to import using the usual hotkeys (control + shift), click “Add Graphics”, and they’ll immediately be transferred to Studio. No matter how many clips you select, there won’t be a delay in this seamless import process.

they’re placed in the playlist panel—from there you can easily switch between camera angles depending on what best suits your analysis. Adding telestration graphics to one camera angle is automatically replicated on the other camera angles, allowing you to do the work once but convey the same

Artificial Intelligence The computer vision algorithm uses artificial intelligence to

feedback message from alternate camera angles.

detect the chroma key automatically, then calibrates the pitch,

Connectivity with Wyscout API

reducing the time-consuming setup process required with

Studio allows you to create naming labels for your players,

many third-party telestration softwares. AI also automates the player tracking so users no longer need to manually track players when adding graphics. Simply highlight the player and computer vision will do the rest.

which appear on the pitch next to the linked player. You can create as many labels as you want and save them as a team.

If your Wyscout API is integrated with Studio, you’ll be able to search for any team worldwide, with full data including the last 20 matches a team has played. This adds further time-

Improve Communication Give players enhanced visual feedback in multiple angles.

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Built for analysts and coaches

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Removes conversation barriers

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Free with Hudl Sportscode (Elite)

Drawing Tools

saving benefits because you no longer need to manually add player names. Simply drag and drop from the menu.

Studio allows you to add professional, dynamic drawings and graphics to multiple angles in your video packages. Graphics can be two-dimensional or three-dimensional and you can preset graphical styles and conventions to further speed up the process.

Visual Learning Engage players and help translate key coaching points with enhanced visual feedback. In Studio, one click allows you to

Presentations

In Studio, you can take the analysis you’re working from and easily move it to an external monitor with one simple drag of the mouse. This allows you to present your analysis while simultaneously working on your telestration on your original screen. You can co-produce the analysis with fellow analysts or coaching staff as you collaborate on the key coaching points and adjust the telestration in real time.

place a pose on a player with the move player tool. You can also add drawings and highlight zones on the pitch where you want the pass to land. These principles can be used in any facet of the match, so defender movements can be tracked in the same way.

Customizable Designs There’s a large range of properties that allow for different looking drawings. You can also create your own design language conventions to best express your personal analysis, plus set graphical styles and conventions to make future projects quicker, easier and consistent.

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Studio, if a coach was doing a one-to-one session with a

Findlay and his Norway-based team were one of the first to

player and just wanted to add the tracking of one disc on

test Studio, so they’re more than qualified to describe and

that player or highlight a space, it can take two minutes.

compare the new workflow against their old one. One of the key features that impressed them most was automated

“So for a coach coming back in from a session, in 15, 20

tracking, which means there’s no longer any need to manually

minutes you might be able to do five to 10 clips easily with

track players with graphics. Simply highlight the player and

annotation, and then you're ready to go. So within half an

computer vision will do the rest.

hour you've done a fully annotated presentation for players.”

“Again, the big thing is how time effective it is,” said Findlay.

Working directly with coaches is a key part of any analyst’s

“If you have four or five different animations, you can group

workflow and Studio allows for quick editing of clips. Studio

them straight away and set a start and end point really easily.

opens right from Hudl Sportscode for hassle-free, two-way

It became quite simple to use and actually really effective.”

sharing of video and graphics packages, enabling quick

Andy Findlay:

How Studio Enhanced My Workflow

Following the launch of Studio during Hudl Presents:

“We play two away games and a home game in the space of

Performance Analysis, we spoke to Andy Findlay, Senior

a week, which is a lot of travel and quick turnarounds,” said

Performance Analyst at Norges Fotballforbund, to gain

Findlay. “The fact that the calibration is automated from the

insight into how Studio is enhancing a high performance

start of the clip means you don't have to spend a long time

workflow.

getting things ready. It’s almost a case of import your clips,

adjustments without having to import, export and realign

The ability to add professional, dynamic drawings and sync

video multiple times.

directly with Wyscout is a further time-saving benefit.

“Whether I'm in the office, in the stadium, or at home, I can

“If you were adding circle drawings around the automated

easily go from using Sportscode straight into the animation

tracking or the manual tracking yourself, the ability to drag

tool, which naturally is a nice, easy step,” said Findlay. “But

and drop the names over is really handy,” said Findlay.

also the presentation tool means that if I am working on two

“For example, if I had our squad from Wyscout, that would

screens while sitting with the coaches, I can edit instances

automatically be on a panel on the side and I can drag those

on the spot. Because I have the edit screen of Studio on

names over, straight onto [the video], so that you can see

my laptop, but then on a separate monitor they'd be seeing

the tracking automated with the player's name and squad

the output and the presentation, it makes that stage of the

number together. That's a time-saver itself because you're

workflow quicker as well.

not having to type out and manually add text over the top.

It’s all automatically linked, and you might think it's 10 or 15

“The quality of the output at the end, when you export or go

seconds to do it, but if you're doing 20–30 clips and you're

back into the organizer–the sharpness of it is almost like a

adding four or five names per clip, that's actually a lot of time

presentation or a high quality output itself.”

over a week or a month that you save.”

jump on it, and then you can start to do the output. So, I think It’s Findlay’s role to provide both live and post-match analysis

it's really adaptable, really time efficient.”

across the “A squad” and a range of youth squads within the Federation, both for men’s and women’s teams. In his own

In Studio, Hudl Sportscode users can now quickly add

words, he wants, “To try and build a structure that means that

professional, dynamic drawings and graphics to multiple

we can make the communication processes as smooth and

angles in video packages. This new enhanced workflow,

as detailed as possible.”

which integrates with the Hudl ecosystem of products, has easily been adopted by Findlay’s team.

A big part of developing efficient workflows is finding ways

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to save time on menial tasks in order to have more time for

“With telestration, there may be a fear factor with coaches

deeper analysis. Studio provides efficiency savings for high

sometimes. You see a lot of timelines, images, effects

performance workflows that make Findlay and his team’s

and different widgets and think ‘That looks complicated,

jobs easier, especially during the busiest times.

I haven't got that much time,’” said Findlay. “Whereas with

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September 2021

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The Role of Technology in Brazil’s World Cup Dream With thousands of Brazilian players playing professionally worldwide, it’s an

arduous task for the Brazilian national team analysts to track and identify the best talents for selection, especially with a World Cup on the horizon.

In this article, we learn how five-time world champions use a full suite of

technology solutions to scout players, develop them for the national team, and work towards their goal of World Cup glory.

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September 2021 13

from these athletes,” said Baquete. “Then we can watch

“With the national team we previously had a situation where

videos on the Wyscout platform, which is connected to our

we had to switch between different analysis tools, and the

entire database, to complete the analysis of the athlete and

problem with this was there was no interoperability,” said

connect the statistics with visual evidence.

Baquete. “There was once a lot of storing in one place, then exporting to another. Now with everything integrated,

“So there is a connection between the qualitative and

it facilitates our entire workflow, because more connectivity

quantitative data. When I pull these two datasets from the

is better.

same database, I can connect to a statistical action, for example a pass or a finish, with the video.

“The global football calendar is already so full with club football and we only have a small amount of time to generate

“Therefore, I can integrate both datasets. Combined with

complete analysis with the national team, so we must have

information from Hudl Sportscode, which is the basis of our

a connected solution to relay information as quickly as

analysis work every day, we can create an integrated cycle, a

possible.”

grand solution that accelerates our analysis process.

For example, the analysts with the Seleção can use the Pro

Image Credit: Brazil CBF Oficial

“The sharing of images and data has become faster and

Suite platform to download match footage from Wyscout,

technology is taking us in this direction. But what was

code the footage in Hudl Sportscode, then export to Hudl or

already a challenge in the past, becomes even more

Studio to apply telestration and graphics.

challenging with the accelerated pace of everything as we have to rapidly filter all of the data that we are receiving.

“With the arrival of Studio, we now have a situation where we can close the loop within our analysis workflow,” said

Having cut his teeth in the analysis teams of Brazilian club

“The first thing is to understand our team strategy and

giants Corinthians and Atletico Paranaense, Bruno Baquete

game model, then we can analyze and search for statistical

had a solid grounding in his career before progressing to

information for a player based on these references,” said

performance analyst with the Brazil national team beginning

Baquete. “For example, if I need a player who completes a

with his involvement in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

lot of forward passes, I will use our software to analyze and verify a player with these qualities.

The Brazil national men’s team, known as the Seleção, work in two key time periods when preparing for a tournament: the

“I don’t just want a player who completes many forward

pre-call-up and during call-up stages.

passes, but also the quality of those passes, and video allows me to have a more complete analysis where I can

“Before the call-up stage we analyse all of our athletes,

see accurately how the player also performs in terms of

including those around the world and within Brazil,” said

positional strategy on the field.

“It is an ever-growing challenge; we are getting more

Baquete. “We want integration and speed in the national

data, more rapidly. The Wyscout API allows us to create

team environment, so for us to be able to simply grab a

increasingly powerful filters so we can arrive at the needed

video, add it to the software, add designs, then return to the

data we need, faster.”

organizer all in one platform is extremely important.

The Seleção combines all of their high-performance

“Another important detail in Studio is the automation when

video and data solutions into one integrated platform. The

I pull the game report which automatically pulls the name

connectivity of Hudl Pro Suite allows Baquete to seamlessly

of the athlete along with their playing number connected to

link together workflows in a shorter time span. This is crucial

the design.”

in national team setups where there is a limited amount of time where the players and coaches are in camp together.

Baquete. “Essentially, we analyze the games in the stadiums and via video analysis where we create and database

“Some players we call up can already play in the game

footage that has strategic importance to our selection and

model we want, while for others we can use analysis to

development processes.

create a project where we show them different models and pave a way for them to learn how we want to play in the

“This is especially useful during this pandemic period, as we

national team.”

can’t go to the stadiums. During the pre-call-up stage, video analysis is a fundamental tool for us to obtain images of the

The call-up phase of selection is aided using the Wyscout

athletes for discussion.”

API, the tool that allows them to automatically get data for the Seleção coaching and analysis staff on players they’re

When analyzing players to call up to the Seleção squad,

tracking from all around the world.

Baquete and his partners need hard evidence to prove a player’s worth, in terms of selection. It’s through video

“For the players we are interested in around the world, we

analysis that they can effectively measure specific elements

deposit all of the information in our database using the

of performance that make a player suitable for the team.

Wyscout API and within the platform we have the information to generate a customized report to analyze what we need

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September 2021

Image Credit: Brazil CBF Oficial

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“I don’t need to copy the name, to enter player numbers, to

“To pull the best information, to generate qualified analysis,

search for the game report, or search for whether he played

our area is important. But in the end, the grand protagonist

or didn’t play, it’s all there automatically. These are key

is the athlete. We give the data to the trainers, so they can

details that make a difference, that streamline the process.”

create all of their processes to help the athletes feel good, to be in top shape and make the best decisions.

All roads lead towards the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar for the Seleção and the strategic use of video and data to inform

“We always speak about how the human factor is important,

selection for the tournament will be a huge contributing factor

Tite is a guy who defends this a lot, the human factor involved in

towards the potential success of the team. Baquete will be

the entire process. We always aim to transfer data, information

no stranger to this environment as it will be his second World

and analysis to include the human factor as well, which is

Cup campaign.

fundamental so they can feel best in the team environment.

“I had the opportunity to work in the last World Cup and I

“I hope I am able to contribute to our grand objective. All of

saw how difficult they are, because every team prepares

us as Brazilians, we want this title, we are seeking this, trying

a lot, they’re the best national teams in the world and it’s

to improve everyday.

a short tournament,” explained Baquete. “When you get to the knockout round, you have 90 minutes to decide on every

“It’s our dream, to arrive at the next World Cup and be able to

bit of work you did over the last four years, so every detail

compete and earn the right to be champions.””

OUR K NO W L E DGE , SH A R E D

PRO SER VICE S

is important.

Consultancy Services for High-Performance Sport We’ll help you maximise your investment in people, technology, data and high-performance workflows.

ME T HODOL OG Y C A P T UR E A ND E DUC AT ION

P L AY E R P AT H WAY A ND VA L UE C R E AT ION

P L AY E R A ND C O A C H R E C R UI T ME N T A ND DE V E OP ME N T

G A ME P L A N C R E AT ION A ND L I V E DE CISION S UP P OR T

Find out more at hudl.com/go/mag/proservices

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Image Credit: Mr. Lucas Figueiredo - Brazil CBF

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DAY 1

WATCH TIME: 50 MINS

Hudl Sportscode Telestration Launch Hear from our CEO David Graff, VP of Elite Sam Lloyd and R&D Director Franco Puppo as they discuss what’s coming in the future, and present the launch of an exciting new telestration feature for Hudl Sportscode Elite users.

DAY 2

WATCH TIME: 40 MINS

Hudl Pro Suite Update Hudl Sportscode remains at the core of the Pro Suite, and new features and functionality are released regularly. In this session, Product Manager Paul Arnott presents the latest updates across Hudl Pro Suit and outlines more exciting features planned for 2021.

DAY 3

Earlier in 2021, we provided daily content and unique insights into what’s coming in the future.

What We Covered Insights from the Hudl Pro Services team

Hudl Sportscode telestration announcement Stories from leading football figures around the world

Updates for Hudl Sportscode users Hands-on Hudl Academy webinars for all users

Hudl Pro Services Director of Pro Services Ed Sulley shares insights into key trends in highperformance sport, relating to strategy, identity, high performance workflows and the centralisation of data—and more importantly, how teams can overcome specific challenges faced in recruitment and performance analysis.

DAY 4

WATCH TIME: 30 MINS PER WEBINAR

Hudl Academy We outline Hudl’s commitment to education and professional development, including a series of insightful webinars covering the subjects that matter most to you.

DAY 5

To watch the sessions, scan the QR codes on the next page.

WATCH TIME: 40 MINS

WATCH TIME: 40 MINS PER SESSION

Hudl Masterclass with the Association of Sporting Directors Get best practices and industry insights from this roundtable discussion with key Association of Sporting Directors members.

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Everything You Need to Know about the Hudl Pro Suite Updates From new Hudl Sportscode features to key updates to the Hudl library, league exchanges and Wyscout, let’s get you up-to-date with the details.

One of the highlights of Hudl Presents: Performance Analysis 2021 was Lead Product Manager for Match Analysis Paul Arnott revealing the latest exciting updates to the Hudl Pro Suite. These updates are designed to further enhance your elite match analysis workflows, while also presenting our future plans for the connected platform.

HUDL PRO SUITE How to Download Video and Data from League Exchange in Hudl Sportscode Download Video Packages Users familiar with Hudl Pro Suite will be aware that you can access video and data from your Hudl team library directly from Hudl Sportscode.

Now, this option is also available for league exchanges, streamlining your analysis workflow and improving speed to access access your all-important league video and data. For leagues with multiple angles of video available, you’ll be able to see all angles right away in Hudl Sportscode.

Start Analysis While Video Is Downloading When opening a video package in Hudl Sportscode, you now have the ability to start coding, labeling clips and creating playlists while the video is still downloading, making your analysis workflow considerably faster. And, as the timeline data for the whole game is downloaded first, output reports will immediately show data from the whole game.

Access Multiple Leagues Finally, for those who have access to more than one league—whether it’s women’s and men’s leagues, domestic and international leagues, or two different youth leagues— you can now access all of them from within Hudl Sportscode.

We’re also working on a future enhancement that’s going to allow you to automate this process. You’ll be able to set a trigger that causes games to automatically download to your desktop as soon as they become available. Stay tuned for more information.

For leagues with multiple angles of video available, in future, you’ll be able to select which angles you want to utilise right away in Hudl Sportscode.

Use Mentions to Communicate Our goal is to provide acces to our large global database of video and data, both from Wyscout and Hudl, within the interface in Hudl Sportscode.

Get Hudl Sportscode XMLs from Wyscout This is our first step toward integrating Wyscout, Sportscode and Hudl. You’ll now be able to download an advanced Sportscode XML directly from Wyscout, with the ability to configure how it appears in your timeline.

Within Wyscout, you can click “Download XML” for a specific game. The new window allows you to choose whether you

Hudl users can now tag an athlete, any team member or any group of team members when they’re adding a comment.

By using the “@” character, you’ll get a filtered list of who you can tag. When you submit the comment, it automatically notifies everyone who’s tagged by sending them an email. And it adds the clip to that person’s (or that group’s) library as well.

ANALYSIS Experience Options with the Data Source Selector

want to download player-based data or team-based data.

The find window it’s a really powerful component in Hudl

In the following screen, you get to choose how you want

data sources. Up until recently, this feature was restricted to

that data to be formatted. For example, whether you want to include both teams or the color of the team rows. You can configure the prefix for the rows in the timeline, and choose whether or not to show the shirt number, the team name or

Sportscode that allows you to search for instances across just the topmost timeline.

But now you’ll have more options. Using the data source selector, you can search for all timelines in a folder,

the player ID.

recursively searching through all the timelines inside video

You can also control the lead and lag time for all the instances

packages and timelines you want to search are organized

packages within a selected folder. Provided that the video

in the timeline. By choosing the smart link option, you’ll get defaults for each of these rows. If you choose the custom length option, you get to configure both of those values. You also have the option of deciding which subset of data appears as labels on the instances in the timeline. And finally, you get to choose whether to download the whole game or possibly just one half.

It downloads from Wyscout as a single XML file in a Sportscode XML format that

in a single folder in your file structure, this function can be extremely helpful.

But if that’s not how you organize your files, you can also use the new custom selection feature within the data source selector. This allows you to apply your search criteria to any selected set of timelines and video packages, either in one or multiple folders in your file system.

What’s more, you’ll be able to do exactly the same thing with

you can import directly into Sportscode.

an output window. When you switch to report mode, you now

If the video you’re using in Sportscode

you can select multiple video packages and timelines within

comes from Wyscout itself, then the data in the timeline will automatically be aligned with the video that you’ve downloaded.

If you get video from a different source, or from multiple sources or multiple angles, you can use the workflow within Sportscode to align the data with the video.

get the data source selector in the toolbar. And from there, those video packages, exactly the same way as for the find window.

It will also work for the chart visualization feature previously mentioned, allowing you to generate a chart and visualize data in that chart across multiple games.

This feature significantly improves the quality of your analysis, allowing you to spend less time building databases and combining timelines, and more time searching and reporting across multiple games.

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Analyze Multiple Games Faster in Hudl Sportscode Hudl Sportscode now includes the ability to run a code window in report mode across all timelines in a folder or a custom selection of timelines.

When Hudl Sportscode was launched, it introduced significant performance improvements in databasing, with

or send to playlists whilst adding notes. This enhancement now allows you to access your custom data, along with your

simple video package.

Databasing has always been the cornerstone of multi-game analysis. It’s been a great mechanism for collating moments of interest from multiple games, either for further analysis,

powerful features to enhance this. The first is the ability to

This ability has also been added to the find window, allowing

on functions involving labels in the matrix.

you to quickly return specific instances matching your search criteria.

COMING SOON: VISUALIZATIONS

features have now been added to Hudl Sportscode and will be available to use imminently.

See Your Data in Charts

chart can be configured by a dropdown in the inspector to be

by adding a new button type to the code window: charts. A either a bar chart, a column chart, a stacked version of the bar or column chart, or a pie chart. Expect more chart types

such as databasing or combining timelines.

to come in the future.

This update includes the much requested ability to execute

With this feature, you can embed a chart in your output

even on a custom selection of games. This also supports the ability to generate video from the code window reports, giving you the possibility to add flags back to the original source

buttons, labeled buttons or action buttons in a code window.

Each type of chart has a different set of parameters that you can configure in the dedicated inspector.

of charts are linked to video. You can set them up so that if you click one section of the chart, it launches a video player with the corresponding instance you’ve configured. The chart updates live during the game, just like output reports do.

These basic charts are just the tip of the iceberg for some of the visualizations we’re working on. We think these visualizations are going to change the way you analyze data during a game, and the way you use Sportscode. Keep an eye out for future updates.

Finally on analysis, let’s focus on how users can export data out of the matrix into other applications. in

Excel

or

other

databasing

Sportscode data and combining it with other data for

Moving to live workflows, ones which involve Hudl Sportscode or Hudl Replay, you’ll now be able to import live sets of data provided by a third-party provider directly in your

Before the start of the game, and from within the Sportscode import menu, you’ll see a list of live matches you can choose the data will automatically get imported into your capturing requires access to the data source and the live video.

Automatically Sync New Instances This was a much-requested feature that’s now available.

Using the “Tag” button on the right-hand toolbar of the iPad screen, coaches using Hudl Replay can create new instances that automatically synchronize with Hudl Sportscode (if in use) and are represented by a new line in the timeline.

This feature allows coaches to quickly present clips that are meaningful to the team. If multiple coaches are using Hudl

September 2021

When using high-resolution monitors, the text now appears in an appropriate size for dimensions of the monitor or TV that you’re using.

See Original Name & Number in Sorters clip are now displayed in the sorter. You’ll have context of where the clip originated and what part of the game it came from in the timeline.

Edit Slide Names You can now edit the name of a slide in a sorter to provide context about what’s actually appearing on a slide.

UPCOMING ENHANCEMENTS: PLAYLIST Hide Columns You’ll be able to show and hide all columns and overlay text in sorters with one click. When you choose to hide individual columns, they’ll stay hidden.

Write Better Instance Notes If you’re a big user of instance notes in the sorter, then we have a couple of enhancements. The first one is that you’ll soon be able to commit an instance note and quickly move

timeline for each of them.

to the next clip in one hotkey.

Enjoy Better Playlists

If your Instance notes are too long to fit in the column width

identify an organizer or a sorter. It’s a curated ordered list of clips that you might use to prepare for a presentation or for

that you’ve chosen, you’ll soon have the ability to view the entire instance note as well.

sharing with your players via Hudl.com.

Edit the Clip Row

Over the last 12 months, we worked hard to improve

name and timeline, but you’ll also have the ability to modify

in v.11 of Sportscode, along with some brand new ones.

Hudl Magazine

View Proportional Instance Text

from. By selecting a game and clicking “Import match data”,

playlists—they now include many features that users loved

22

it to.

The original timeline, row name and instance number of the

We use “playlist” as a generic term in Hudl Sportscode to

tools that you might use if you’re making use of other purposes.

of the playlist, and select which database you want to send

Import Live Data

Replay, a new line will be created on the Hudl Sportscode

Improve Data Exports from a Matrix

is

organizer, click the database button that’s in the top toolbar

You can now split single clips into two separate clips.

timeline. This feature works over the internet, so it only

Just like action buttons in an output window, these elements

this

All you have to do is select the clips in your sorter or

LIVE

Hudl Sportscode timeline.

window in exactly the same way that you’d embed code

Generally

Send Clips to Database

Split Clips

Thanks to our latest enhancements to Hudl Sportscode,

a code window in ‘report mode’ on all timelines in a folder, or

The other enhancement is the ability to point your own matrix also to different timelines for different games. Both of those

We’ll be simplifying data visualization in Hudl Sportscode

games without needing to first use time-consuming workflows

design your own matrix. For example, adding columns based

to both the video package that matrix was generated from but

presentations or sharing to other members of your team.

you can now analyze and find key moments across multiple

a matrix in Sportscode in CSV format. There are a couple of

custom reports, across your custom selection of games.

a specific package structure that was optimized for fast analysis across a whole season, rather than just being a

We’ve improved the functionality of how you export data from

The name that you see for those clips comes from the row it. Some users use that in presentations and overlay texts, or even for grouping different clips and presentations.

Hudl Magazine

September 23 2

Performance Analysis Key to Success for Suntory Sungoliath Rugby Learn how these five-time champions of Japan use technology to streamline their performance analysis process to improve player and team performance, both in training and at matches.

Suntory Sungoliath are a giant of professional rugby in

“If you get a good analyst, they can make my job as the head

Japan, with a long history of success in the Japanese

coach, but also other coaches’ jobs, so easy because of the

Top League.

detail that he can extract when he’s coding,” said Haig. “And because he’s looking at our footage all the time, he can see

Suntory head coach Milton Haig has more than 20 years of

things that sometimes we don’t pick up. We’re lucky to have

international coaching experience, including stints with New

a world-class analyst with us.”

Zealand Maori and Counties Manukau in his home country, and as head coach of an emerging Georgian national team

Jun Sudo is the head analyst for Suntory and uses Hudl

at two World Cups, all before linking up with his current team

Sportscode to code training sessions and matches, providing

in Japan.

feedback to both the coaching and playing team. The speed of Hudl Sportscode and integration with other products, such

He has a simple but clear goal for his current side: “Perform

as Hudl, streamlines a job that’s very technical in nature.

well and end up winning the championship.” The head coach is also adamant that the way they analyze their performances

“I live code all training sessions and games for our club, and

is crucial to their chances to succeed.

what you upload on Hudl.com for review is completely in sync with the files you create on Sportscode, so you have

“In terms of how statistics and video analysis help us, it’s

a seamless workflow,” said Sudo. “Now, the new version of

crucial—it’s a vital part of our operation,” said Haig. “Analysis

Sportscode lets you upload the timeline itself, and then lets

is a vital part of whether we will be successful or not, and how

coaches download the materials quicker, which allows us to

we interpret the information, how we gather the information,

share information much faster than before.”

and then how we translate that information to performance on the field are all key components.”

As a former professional player and now widely experienced coach, Haig has a strong grasp on the kind of information

Suntory uses video analysis throughout their weekly routine,

that’s advantageous in high-performance environments.

from daily training sessions through the live analysis on

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Hudl Magazine

September July 2021 2021

match day. This means that the role of the analyst is now

“Analysis is a foundation component to any kind of

extremely important in the modern era of professional rugby.

professional organization for rugby or sport in general,” said

Hudl Magazine

September 2021 25

Haig. “What coaches have to decide is how deep they go in terms of looking at the information that’s provided, because you only really want to get the information that you can understand. If I was a coach starting my career, I wouldn’t hesitate to use analysis tools, and certainly an analyst with

Suntory use Hudl Sportscode to code a range of instances from training sessions, including around 20 different areas, that are then shared automatically with players and staff throughout the club for feedback and analysis purposes.

the right equipment to be able to optimize performance.”

“First, we upload the codes we created on Hudl Sportscode

When you look at when games are won, it’s not just about

check them on whichever device they choose, anytime and

the day they’re played—it’s the training from Monday

to the Hudl online platform, then the players and staff can anywhere they want,” said Sudo. “These codes are also in

to Thursday.

sync with the computers at the clubhouse which means the

For Haig and his coaching staff, the week begins by

during practice, feedback can be delivered instantly, and that

players can review their performances at any time. Even

formulating a strategy to tackle the next opponent on the Japanese Top League schedule.

“The first thing I do when I sit at my desk in the morning is look at our next opponent next week,” said Haig. “We look at their patterns of play, the style of how they play, the certain

can help the players improve their skills directly.”

Rugby consists of several specific and unique areas of play, for example, the set piece areas of scrums, lineouts and

“ In terms of how statistics and video analysis help us, it’s crucial —it’s a vital part of our operation.”

restarts. These can be broken down effectively using codes taken from Hudl Sportscode.

threats that they have in terms of their attack, and also at how they defend. This allows us to form a picture to then come up with a solution of how we are going to play the next opposition.”

“I spend a lot of time looking at our stats, but among the most

our practice. Later, I share a video package with the coaches

important would be our set piece quality,” said Haig. “How

and players.

accurate we are from our scrums, lineouts, and kickoffs, how the opposition organize themselves, how we can counter

“Video plays a pivotal role in looking at different parts of

their shape, and also how well we are carrying the ball across

our game, at the areas that we’re doing really well, but also

the gain line.”

highlighting some of the things that we’re not doing so well,” said Haig. “Because you can slow things down frame by frame

Tackle completion is another key statistic for the Suntory

with video, it allows us to absolutely see detail quite clearly

team. “I’m a bit of a stickler for tackle completion,” said Haig.

and to translate information into corrective performance at

“It’s really important as, you can measure the winning or

training, and then hopefully into high-performance once we

losing of a match against this metric. In a winning game, you’ll

get to game day.”

more often than not find you’re in around the late eighties to early nineties for tackle completion.”

“If the players understand their role at any given minute within the game structure, that’s really important, and we

To feed into analysis software, you first need footage,

can see that through video analysis. Helping players correct

ideally high quality footage. Suntory have a live capture

role performance, which then becomes team performance, is

setup that links directly to Hudl Sportscode for the analyst

absolutely key to winning matches.”

to code live.

“I’d say it’s all coming down to video analysis now,” said “For practice, we set up a live capture and use a drone,”

Sudo. “There’s not a day we don’t see or use the video

said Sudo. “I need to give feedback as quick as possible,

footage. Video analysis is fundamental to what we do.”

sometimes immediately. So I code a live video feed during

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Hudl Magazine

September 2021

Hudl Magazine

September 27 20

Providing elite users with market-leading practices for high performance workflows on key global trends in recruitment and performance analysis.

16 S E P T

HIGH P E RFORM ANC E GLOBAL T RE NDS IN RE C RU IT M E NT AND ANALY S IS Hudl Sportscode is central to all of the live analysis efforts for

way as ours, so we can see how they are playing and feed

Suntory during the match.

back those insights to our coaching team.”

“I use Sportscode to share feedback and the live feed with

Sudo spends the remaining available time during the match

the coaches,” said Sudo. “I also try to finish coding everything

coding instances for post-match reporting, which is uploaded

for the team during the game.

to Hudl so the players and coaches can view footage instantly after the game.

“So, as an analyst on match day, I focus on coding. I use Sportscode to share feedback and the live feed with the

For Suntory’s head coach, it’s clear that video analysis is

coaches. Sportscode is great for me as an analyst as it

fully ingrained into the processes of professional rugby.

17 O C T

T E AM IDE NT IT Y AND GAM E M ODE L: DE V E LOP M E NT T O IM P LE M E NT AT ION 21 O C T

P RE -M AT C H OP P OS IT ION ANALY S IS : T HE K E Y T O U NLOC K ING P E RFORM ANC E ADV ANT AGE

25 N O V

P OS T -M AT C H ANALY S IS: W HAT IS M E AS U RE D C AN BE M AN AG ED 02 DEC

S T ADIU M AND T RAINING IN FR ASTR UCTUR E T O S E T Y OU U P FOR S U CCESS 16 D E C

S C OU T ING AND RE C RU I TMEN T: T HE FU T U RE S T ART S T O DAY

allows me to set my criteria freely and definitely because the analysis is always backed by video images.”

“In regard to video analysis, we would spend maybe 80% of our day looking at video, whether it’s our training, whether it’s

The head analyst will code a number of instances and

opposition analysis, or whether it’s our games,” said Haig.

feedback to the coach’s box, which allows Suntory’s

“The ability to look in-depth at instances like running lines for

coaching staff to analyze the game with data-backed insights

players, tackle completion, ruck play, all sorts of things that

during the match.

we do as normal tasks during a rugby game. The analysis

04 NOV

LIV E ANALY S IS : FROM INS IGHT T O IM P AC T IN T RAINING AND GAM E DAY

13 JA N

T HE P OWE R OF E DU C ATIO N IN P LAY E R AND T E AM DE VELO PMEN T

helps us pinpoint information that we can then give to the “I code set pieces, backs play and of course individual’s skills

players to improve their performance or an overall team

for our players,” said Sudo. “I will also code ball possession

performance, which is absolutely vital.”

Register now to watch live or on-demand at hudl.com/go/webinar/hpw

metrics and the opponent’s performance metrics in the same

28

Hudl Magazine

September 2021

Hudl Magazine

September 29 20

Fenerbahçe Beko Adopt Hudl Sportscode to Maximise Performance Analysis Turkish Super League powerhouse Fenerbahçe Beko are now looking

for the competitive advantage that will take them to the next level, in both domestic and wider European basketball competitions.

“There’s millions of details that you need to show the players to improve their flaws,” said Can. “One of the basic principles is game time reactions. We record some of our practices and scrimmages to break down and show our players, because showing things such as accurate floor spacing is really important in basketball games. Technology is one of the most important parts right now to prepare our When speaking to Fenerbahçe Beko assistant coach Erdem Can, he was clear in the motives of his team: “Our organization wants to be the best.” Success has never been a problem for Fenerbahçe, who have earned nine national championships and one EuroLeague title in the last decade—the challenge now is now to optimize player and team performance and plan for the future.

“If you have a big man, you need to show him his footwork or his defensive mistakes, or if you’re talking to your guard you need to show him how to use the shot clock defensively like his body positioning, angles or again, footwork,” said Can. “There are three things that are vital in the game of basketball: one is spacing, second is timing, the third is execution, and if you don’t make your players digest these details, you cannot improve. So what we try to do is basically try to teach all our players visually to master these fundamentals.”

Strong team performances begin out on the training court, and so does technology for Fenerbahçe.

30

Hudl Magazine

September 2021

players, judge their individual effectiveness, and crucially to provide visual memory.”

Coach Can sees how feedback plays such a critical role in both coaching and performance, and how technology can help engage his players via video analysis and objective statistical analysis using data. Hudl Sportscode is the software that Fenerbahçe Beko have recently added to their program and it’s already having a strong effect on generating quick and accurate statistical insights.

“Sportscode gives us the luxury of analyzing opponent teams and generating statistics that we can use and make our players digest,” said Can. “From there, we can create our own strategy, plus make our players watch themselves and give them a library of clips to study around their individual performance—this is precious.

Sportscode is helping us a lot because technology is one thing, but there’s also being practical, which means we must be as quick as possible in our analysis.

With the technology, everything is right at our hands and reachable, be it reports or libraries of clips.”

Hudl Magazine

September 2021 31

“With the technology, everything is right at our hands and reachable, be it reports or libraries of clips.”

Installing a whole new set of analysis software into a club can

of the staff are new members and some of them have no

seem daunting, especially in a club the size of Fenerbahçe,

experience about video editing, and all of us had no idea

but Can and his staff found both the installation and

about Sportscode.

onboarding education process relatively easy.

“After two weeks of your support, we were well organized “To be honest, in the beginning, it seems pretty complex,”

and right now we can do all of it, prepare sessions and

said Can. “It seems like a lot of buttons to push and labels

everything. So without your support this was impossible

to add to the code window, but once you get inside, you

and the surprising thing is I didn’t expect that. That’s a quick

realize that this is really effective and easy. As an assistant

adaptation from us, so the software is so practical, but also

coach right now I’m not cutting the games, but I talk with

your support was a really important thing.”

our video coaches and they agree with me, this software is much easier to use than the others. The reaction time is fast

Looking forward to their next campaign, Can and Fenerbahçe

and totally different because we used to take more than an

are excited for what their new analysis offering can bring to

hour to prepare our game analysis—opponent analysis even

their already strong and successful club.

longer—but now during the game, one of the video coaches is watching the game and at the same time cutting that, and

“I always say the same thing: in order to be the best, you

then it’s ready in a few minutes.”

have to follow the best,” said Can. “All but one of the NBA teams are using Hudl Sportscode for a reason and having

Can also appreciated Hudl’s staff being present and at

this now is very logical. We’ve already been late to having

hand during the onboarding process. “This was really very

Sportscode, but for me it’s the standard, it’s needed. So

important as we only have myself and two other remaining

at the end of the day we pick this, as the best part of the

from the previous coaching regime,” Can said. “The rest

basketball world is using this and we want to follow this.”

The club has plans to extend the use of analysis software to operate beyond training environments and into live match scenarios, which is a key functionality of Sportscode.

“Eventually we will use it for all these parts, like matches for sure,” said Can. “We will use it to prepare game reports and also the ability to live edit during games is really important.

One of our two video coaches will make the live cuts during the game and provide halftime analysis to the players.

Players need to understand visually—it’s very difficult to convince otherwise if you compare with say, verbal terms.

You need to give them something visual that they need to see and the quicker you make this, you get a quicker reaction and better reaction. It’s priceless again for us, and Sportscode is making this.”

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September 2021

33

“ Those who turn their back to data will lag behind.”

During his time with Sevilla, Monchi discovered future international Spanish stars such as Sergio Ramos, Jesus Navas and Jose Antonio Reyes, while also finding a number of profitable bargains in the form of Adriano, Julio Baptista, Ivan Rakitic and Seydou Keita.

The Concentric Circles Theory But how does Monchi execute his scouting strategy? One key factor is his “concentric

The Scouting Philosophy of Monchi

circles theory”.

philosophy behind setting up FC Sevilla’s sporting direction and his key theory of concentric

to be strong in a certain sector,” explained Monchi.

Sevilla Director of Football Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo, better known as “Monchi”, outlines his circles for scouting players.

“In terms of the scouting department, I’ve always had an obsession,” said Monchi.

“I always thought that the more times we were able to watch a player, the easier it would’ve been to make decisions. So we worked and realized what I call the ‘concentric circles theory’. Concentric circles, from the smaller one to the bigger and then the bigger. Basically, we were building a framework that allowed us to dominate a certain range.”

Applying this theory to Sevilla’s scouting department, Monchi started with a small sector of countries to cover, before expanding out further. “If there were three of us the first year, why would we cover the whole world when it was impossible? We tried

“For example, in Spain, Portugal and France to begin with. When there were five of us, we tried to add Italy, England and Belgium. We did that, growing to what we are

In 2000, after Sevilla were relegated from La Liga, Monchi was appointed Director of Football for the “Rojiblancos”. He was given two objectives by the board: develop the club’s youth system and implement a vast scouting policy inside and outside of

today, dominating around 30–35 major leagues in an exhaustive way. We always tried covering and knowing what we were able to, in order to have good knowledge.

Knowledge is the basis for all scouting work.”

Spain.

Monchi’s first strategic move was to professionalise the academy and focus more on player development, rather than purely on results. “When you work with younger teams, there’s always this dichotomy, this division between result and development,” said Monchi. “I’ve always been firm on this. I’ve always been very consistent in

The Secrets to Being a Successful Director Part of Monchi’s philosophy is that football is a sport, but it’s also a game, in which there’s an important component: luck. Part of his daily work is to minimize this luck component as much as possible.

showing people that the most important thing was player development. The results come later, because the more the player improves, the better the results will be.“

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September 2021

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September 2021 35

“I think I had the luck of always having a good connection

Monchi. “But this is the future. That is, the data analysis and

with the manager,” said Monchi. “Always knowing what every

the implementation of this analysis in the decision-making

manager needed in every moment, even if I made mistakes

process is key.”

many times, I think it was key to nurture the players. In the

is not ‘What do we need this year? A right-wing, a defensive

With scouts unable to travel to games live, Sevilla are using

No, we work on all eleven positions on the pitch and each of

online scouting platforms to keep on top of targets.

end, a sporting director sells players at a good price only if

Commitment to using digital platforms for video and data

they perform well. If they don’t perform well, then as good as

analysis in sport is now seen as vital to gaining a competitive

I may be, I can’t sell them. To allow them to perform well, to

advantage. Monchi and Sevilla strongly agree in the power

play well, it’s important to only sign players that fit perfectly

of video and data in football.

Monchi. “I just ended a meeting with club management to

“Those who turn their back to data will lag behind,” said

and strikers.

to the profile that the manager wants.”

Why Signings Go Wrong “When do signings go wrong? When you’re not able to understand what the manager wants, things start to go bad and the performance is not good,” said Monchi. “There’s

Monchi. “In the future, clubs will sign players, managers, mathematicians and physicists, engineers, and analysts.

We’re already doing it. In this department, we’re working to create our own platform to analyse data. There are people that don’t know about football, but they know about data.”

something fundamental to me, I’ve always been a ‘locker room’ sporting director, very close to the players, to the people. But sometimes we forget they’re people.

Implementation of Video and Data But how does data generated from Sevilla’s R&D department

“Footballers are people and you have to be very close to

translate to actual tactical insights? To understand this, one

them and try to help them, know them, and give them what

must understand the difference between objective and

they need. All of this is part of my way of working: work hard,

subjective data.

have good coordination with the manager and stay close to the players.”

“What we’re trying to do is to match them up, to combine two types of analysis,” said Monchi. “On one side, the objective

Data in Scouting A successful Director of Football such as Monchi hangs his hat on the quality of academy players that graduate into the Sevilla first team, and the amount of successful or profitable transfers the clubs makes. A key force behind all this success? Data, a resource that’s becoming increasingly

data, and on the other side, the subjective analysis of video. We’re trying to work with both tools, trying to achieve

thanks to platforms like Wyscout, we have platforms where

September 2021

companion, it’s not hard at all.”

Gnagnon will be back, we have Kjaer. We won’t need to sign centre-backs, okay? But all of a sudden, somebody comes and pays Koundé’s release clause. Of course, if you didn’t work globally you may find yourself without scouted centrebacks. The long term work allows you to act in the short term.”

Monchi cites two key examples to solidify Sevilla’s long term

Long Term vs. Short Term

scouting strategy.

Using data analysis correctly can provide insights and metrics

“Julien Escudé, we signed him back in 2005. When we

that are very helpful in scouting players and identifying

signed him he wasn’t playing, he was out of the team, but we

transfer targets. Sevilla have a great track record of buying

knew him already. Kanouté, when we signed him, he wasn’t

and developing talent at a bargain price.

playing at Tottenham, he was Mido’s reserve, but we knew him from his previous clubs. So, the ability to react in the

“The long term allows you to dominate the short term,” said

short term is given by your long term work.”

Monchi. “Let me explain. When you work globally, you work with all positions and with all profiles, as we work. Our work

there,” said Monchi. “If we measure bananas on one side and apples on the other, things will get complicated. We’re

percentages. So, we’re doing a good job. We’re still in an

Hudl Magazine

long, and with a platform like Wyscout as a travelling

have Diego Carlos, we have Koundé, we have Sergi Gómez,

“The important thing is to measure apples here and apples

Monchi has now introduced an R&D department to Sevilla,

was unthinkable until five years ago, inconceivable,” said

selecting those players that we’ve been watching all year

think we’ll need to buy a centre-back, okay? Because we

the next level of objectifying video and data analysis.

objectifying video analysis, that is the most subjective

and analysts employed at the Andalusian club. “This

in which we are now, April and May, scouts are finishing

in the short term. Why? Imagine that next summer we don’t

possibly with the measure used by video analysts being the

we can manage our data.”

with mathematicians, physicists, specialized engineers

“Basically, the work is the same as always. In the phase

this base knowledge, this information, allows you to react

typify all positions on the pitch in order to then measure them,

A quick comparison between fruit allows us to understand

‘It’s a good player, etc.’, and that was the data. Nowadays,

analyse the last positions that we still had to analyse: wingers

“Right-wing, left-wing, more offensive, more defensive. So,

scouts. What are we trying to do? We’re trying to characterise,

“Data is key, right? It’s fundamental,” said Monchi. “We always

data. It was a Word document where the scout used to put

working allows us to work at 100% almost all the time,” said

them with different profiles.

match the objective analysis. To do this, we’re training our

same used by data analysts.”

the year 2000, when I started, there was only one form of

“We are probably among the less affected areas, as smart

midfielder and a striker. Let’s work on these three positions.’

perfection—that would be the subjective analysis to fully

crucial for clubs at all levels of football.

had data, before it was small data and today is big data. In

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The Impact of COVID-19 on Scouting

one. Ultimately, data is 100% objective, it only looks at intermediate phase, but I think that we will manage to have a platform that will give us a lot, it will save us time, save us money, and reduce risks.”

Hudl Magazine

July 37 2021

Hudl’s Link with University of Derby Prepares the New Wave of Performance Analysts The University of Derby have one of the leading performance analysis courses in the United Kingdom, consistently helping graduates into elite-level clubs and organisations.

Dr. Andrew Butterworth is a senior lecturer in performance

“The relationship between the club and the university

analysis at the University of Derby and has guided

is imperative for us as a department to maintain the high

numerous students under his tutelage. For example, eight

standards of analytical provision we deliver to both the first

undergraduate students and two postgraduate students are

team and the academy,” said Warner. “The interns play a key

working with EFL Championship side Derby County FC. The

role in supporting the full time analysts day-to-day processes,

University also has strong links with Leicester City FC, The

while being challenged to adhere to the high levels of detail

FA (based at the proximal St. George’s Park), as well as a

expected by the department.“

range of local sides including rugby and cricket.

Current second year student Chloe Dhillon feels the “Our course gives the students the ability to see things

same way about the career opportunities on offer through

from both ways around,” said Dr. Butterworth. “At university,

this course.

it’s the opportunity to teach some of the theory behind performance analysis and coaching within the modules that

“The relationship between the university and professional

we do, which is a great opportunity for them to learn what

clubs helps a lot as it shows what’s to come when we finish

theory sits behind the practice. Then we have a huge number

our degree,” said Dhillon. “If you already have the experience

of opportunities to apply their studies practically in real life

beforehand, then you’re kind of a step ahead in our discipline.

professional environments.”

If you can show you can already work efficiently in a

Hudl Academy is the free online learning resource that

“Coming out of university with that certification is something

allows a user to master a range of analysis tools at their

that most people don’t have, and it’s something that we are

own pace. There are progressively more advanced

getting through our degree. It’s something different and

modules for mastering software such as Hudl, Wyscout and

also extra qualification that can be placed on our CV and

Hudl Sportscode.

LinkedIn pages.”

Every performance analysis student at Derby will end the

Each student in the performance analysis course is provided

course as level 3 certified with Hudl Academy. For Dhillon,

with their own individual Hudl Sportscode license to use

the Hudl Academy content effectively complements her

on their personal computers, to pair with the licenses that

course work.

are available in the university itself. This was especially useful during pandemic circumstances when study was

“Hudl Academy certifications are really useful to have on top

often remote.

of our degree work because it’s like a top up. It’s also really beneficial to learn outside of the box as well,” said Dhillon.

“Pre-COVID, the fact that every student could have their

“You learn by using Hudl practically, as well as what we do

own license on their own personal machine, proved an

in the classroom. The platform is really easily laid out, and

incredible tool for us,” said Dr. Butterworth. “It means the

it’s easy to pick up where you left off, and also there’s lots of

students are able to work from home more effectively on their

support on the Hudl support page. As I’m at the start of my

assessments, and on upskilling themselves on the software

performance analysis journey, having that confidence from

platforms available to them. Ultimately it means the students

the Hudl Academy courses helps a lot.”

are more competent in using the software, and that serves them really well moving forwards into applied roles that can

Fellow second year Stephanie Moran feels the same way.

be secured upon completing their studies.”

“Having a level 3 Hudl Academy certification means we are more likely to be employed after university,” said Moran.

professional environment, then you’re part of the way there.”

Derby County Head of Performance Analysis Ben Warner echoed the thoughts of Dr. Butterworth.

The University of Derby takes advantage of a two-pronged offering from Hudl for their leading course of study: software learning resources.

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“During the pandemic, some of our learning is being

“We encourage our students to be creative in how they

completed remotely. So the fact that we were able to continue

deliver their analysis, to innovate, and not be afraid to try

all that teaching online [was] a major help to us.”

things to ultimately improve overall.”

For Dhillon, the ability to use her own personal license has

A real success story of this course is Michael Cooper, now a

been valuable to her development as an analyst. “Beforehand

full time performance analyst at Derby County.

I was only using the licenses at university,” said Dhillon. “But now I have my own license, it’s so much easier to explore

“Simply put, if it wasn’t for the relationship between the

Hudl and Hudl Sportscode in my own time. So it’s not just

club and the university, I wouldn’t be where I am today,”

about using the software for what we need it for, it’s about

said Cooper. “The internship provided me with invaluable

being able to explore other options as well.”

experience of putting into practice the theory that I was learning at the time, into an applied setting. Not only that, but

Dr. Butterworth stated the importance of knowing that this

also being tested to work under strict time constraints and in

course isn’t just about performance analysis, but analysis

a high pressure environment that an elite setting requires,

combined with coaching application as well.

helped me develop skills that I could use in university when faced with multiple deadlines.

“It’s really important that we teach the students the context of where performance analysis takes place within coaching and

“All in all, the experiences I gained during the internship,

the coaching process and the ability for us to give them this

paired with the knowledge I was taught on the course,

context is important,” said Butterworth. “When the students

built the foundations for me to obtain a full time role within

go out and apply this ideology in the industry or on an

the industry.”

internship, they know how to communicate with coaches and athletes, they know how to deliver their performance analysis in ways that are applicable to them.

Multilingual Learning Resources Now Available for Wyscout Our resources can already boost your scouting, analysis and recruitment

workflows. Now we’re offering this educational support to even more users.

Wyscout tutorials are the very first support tutorials Hudl has

“It’s great to give the possibility for our Wyscout users to

translated into other languages. We’re starting this process

easily find what they need with just a few clicks,” said Giulia

with Wyscout because so far in 2021, more than 75% of

Menini, one of Hudl’s product consultants. “It took huge

Wyscout support phone calls and emails we’ve received

teamwork to build and translate all the materials, but helping

came from users in countries where English is not the

customers in their time of need and in their language adds so

primary language.

much value to our daily support.”

We’re excited to start providing our Wyscout self-service

“Not everyone is comfortable with English tutorials, so we

resources in users’ primary languages.

have translated our Wyscout support tutorials, so our users from all over the globe can understand better how to use

Wyscout tutorials are now available in nine different

our products,” said Fix Compain, one of Hudl’s product

languages:

consultant managers. “It’s very important for us to allow our

Dutch,

French,

German,

Greek,

Italian,

Japanese, Portugese (PT) and Spanish.

users to bring analysis to the top, without language barriers.”

The support pages range from basic tutorials related to

You can try it out now. Simply head to hudl.com/support/

Wyscout account settings all the way to more advanced

wyscout and use the new language picker to select the

sessions that take a deeper dive into the most powerful

language you want.

Wyscout apps, such as advanced search and the scouting area.

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An accomplished player in his own right, winning the 1995

game or single competition. So it’s great that there are so

European beach volleyball championships to add to his

many leagues presented on the Volleymetrics platform and

silver medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Marko Klok

I don’t have to ask anybody unique for information when it is

knows what it takes to perform at the top level.

on the platform. Once you have contact with Volleymetrics as a club, you can use it as if almost the whole world is at

Analysis Is Crucial “Yes, it’s crucial as you use it before the game, but also in the

your laptop.”

moment,” said Klok. “You can always use it at any moment,

The Value of Volleymetrics

and during the game, still things are happening and changing

As a coach for both a national side and a club side, Klok sees

differently than you expect so that you have to adjust again

reaI value in using one video analysis solution for both roles.

and you need to direct information. Because you want to know how is the reception from the other team, you want

“I use Volleymetrics and I use it for both teams as it means

to have set percentage. It’s information that is available at

more data, more videos, more games,” said Klok. “Starting

every moment.”

with my men’s team, as before every season you have to make a new team or at least find a few new players. During

“One Platform Solution” Once upon a time in the volleyball world, it took a huge amount of effort to procure game and scouting footage, but now it’s all available in one central online hub.

“Before, I think you needed a lot of connections with other

Marko Klok

coaches, or contacts, so you could ask for video or scout files to be sent, or have to deal with scouts directly,” said Klok. “I also have different scouts in my teams from my playing days that I am still in touch with, who I can ask, but it’s complicated if you have to ask every time for every single

the season I also use the Volleymetrics platform to view different leagues and different games. The players with the Dutch women’s team play in a range of different leagues, so it’s good to be able to follow them using Volleymetrics during the season.”

As well as this, it’s absolutely crucial for opponent analysis.

“Of course, during competition, we have all the information from other games that are played by our opponents,” said Klok. “It’s a possibility for us to get all the information we want, which is a challenge, but now you have it all on one platform and that it makes it look so much easier.”

The Value of Analysis in Elite Level Volleyball

Now coaching the Dutch women’s national team and successful Swiss men’s club side Lindaren Volley Amriswil, Marko Klok gives us the rundown on the power of game analysis.

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43

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TALENT CENTE

Player Development

to the players simply? For example, how we would receive

At both the club and national level, long-term success is

about technique, it’s about angles, it’s about footwork that

always going to depend on the continual improvement of player development, which is easier with the use of Volleymetrics as an analysis tool.

“We started to use analysis in this way last season with the Dutch national team,” said Klok. “Our scout always records our practices and also does the scout work and then us as coaches can tag the player’s actions from these practices on Volleymetrics and they can watch it or at their own, or together with us. It’s good to have daily the possibility to check players’ situations, techniques, decisions they make.

So it’s not only useful during the games, but also especially for preparation of the next game.”

The serve and reception phase of play is extremely important in volleyball, a moment where strategic positioning must take place. This is a key area where Klok uses Volleymetrics to coach his teams.

“In the reception, we use Volleymetrics a lot as the reception starts many times from our kind of system that you play with,” said Klok. “And then you can take into account certain servers, jump, float or spin. What is the situation where the potential problems are so they can be isolated and displayed

the jumped float serve. This is mostly not about timing, it’s we can analyze. This is really helpful for many more basic skills, such as the set.”

Opponent Analysis When asked what his key objective is as a coach, Klok said, “To prepare his players as good as possible.” The best way to do that is to know your opposition through analysis.

“We want to know how the opponent plays and what our players can expect,” said Klok. “For example, which kind of services, how the server is running the attack. You can see more and more through video, to display the systems in which opponents will try to block defensive receptions. I don’t

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tell the players everything, but I need to know everything and then I can tell the players when necessary.

“My main goal for every player is to make them better players individually and to improve their skill set and especially [their] ability to read the game. So that’s our main goal, and then if I do this for every individual player, you can perform also as a better team. But this starts with each individual to make them better or at the best possible.”

“ Once you have contact with Volleymetrics as a club, you can use it as if almost the whole world is at your laptop.”

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Wyscout Data Is the New Oil In 2017, The Economist published a story titled, “The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data”. It’s no secret that data has become an integral part of high performance workflows in football as a result of the technological evolution in the past decade. With the margins of success in elite football becoming smaller and smaller in every aspect of the game, clubs are looking to unlock the power of performance data to make better informed decisions and mitigate the risk, both on the pitch and in the boardroom.

“Those who turn their back to data will lag behind.”

Monchi, Sevilla FC Director of Football

What is Wyscout data?

A Global Library of Data Wyscout democratizes access to tactical data, allowing clubs at all levels of the game the ability to view, analyze and interrogate data to inform key decisions. With 2,000 games tagged and 4 million new events added each week, Wyscout’s global library of video and data provides a valuable asset for football clubs. Wyscout collects accurate, play-by-play data from more than 300 competitions worldwide, allowing clubs to make every decision with objectivity.

The areas in which Wyscout data can be implemented are many, from scouting to player development and performance analysis. With a global range of countries and leagues covered, Wyscout data provides value to any level of club, whether it’s a first division team fighting for silverware, or a third-tier club with ambitions to take their organization to the next level.

Data in Scouting The aspect of the business with the highest risk of making bad investment decisions—which will ultimately have a negative impact on pitch performances and the club’s finances—is scouting and player trading. With the help of Wyscout data and API service, clubs can reduce risks by making datadriven decisions, limiting the number of unknown variables within a signing, while also providing decision makers with all the necessary information to make the right call.

“Is this player better than the ones we currently have? Does he fit into our team/league? Can he play our style of football?”

These are some of the key questions that clubs should answer before signing a player, and every question can be answered effectively with data. A professional and data-driven scouting workflow would include the usage of Wyscout APIs to create long lists of possible signings, following up the initial talent identification with remote and live scouting, data analysis, and a 360-degree view of players’ information.

“On one side, the objective data, and on the other side, the subjective analysis of video. We’re trying to work with both tools, trying to achieve perfection—that would be the subjective analysis to fully match the objective analysis.”

Monchi, Sevilla FC Director of Football

Custom KPIs & Data Visualization

Wyscout API 101

Decision makers in football are well aware that players who

So, how exactly does the Wyscout API work? Wyscout’s

performed on a certain level in a certain league are not

powerful platform database and stats are integrated with apps

automatically set to perform in the same exact way when

and external websites. Wyscout sends data feeds through a

they change club and/or country. Again, data can help clubs

standard API format, ensuring complete compatibility with

reduce risks by making sure that their transfer targets have

any digital platform. This allows clubs to create their own

the right skills to perform in a new context.

database, choosing the output format that’s suitable for their needs and taking the analysis beyond what is traditionally

Thanks to a wide range of team and player metrics—142 and

available. In other words, clubs can use data intelligence to

115, respectively—clubs can set up custom KPIs to create

further their understanding of performance.

data benchmarks that can reflect the team’s playing style, analyzing the players’ performances in a more accurate

Wyscout APIs are available in different packs that suit

context. For example, depending on the player’s role on

different levels of needs and workflows. From the DB Pack—

the pitch, clubs can give different metrics more or less

with player profiles, transfers information, and results and

importance to make sure the players’ contribution on the

basic matches from any competition—to the Events Pack,

pitch is clear, regardless of their position.

which gives access to data from any competitions, and includes events, metrics, stats, DB info, photos and historical

By using interactive dashboards provided by third-party

data. Different combinations and add-ons can be tailored to

business intelligence software like Tableau or Power BI,

suit any need.

clubs can leverage Wyscout data & APIs to compare and filter players’ performance, getting insights at a glance from a wide range of data from 300+ competitions worldwide.

Or you can choose to rely on the Hudl Pro Services team, our world-class consultancy service which can help clubs develop and implement bespoke processes to link the recruitment strategy to the team’s philosophy.

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How to Get Ahead of Your Competition with Data In our exclusive roundtable discussion, we spoke with some of the most innovative experts in sports analytics. Here we learn about their career experience and cutting-edge technical expertise.

2. Remove the Blindspots with Geographical Data

reason we work with multiple data providers is that we want

Cintia made the point that if companies plan to scale globally,

with different data providers. Therefore we must tender for

extensive geographical data is key, especially in terms of scouting.

“For performance monitoring and scouting, having a wide geographical coverage is fundamental,” said Cintia. “We discover new players from the beginning of their careers, and this is very valuable for clubs. Data has to be machine readable—it’s not obvious, unfortunately—and should cover all the aspects of player and club performances: from matches

1. Train Your Algorithms

to training load, financial aspects and media coverage.”

When it comes to boosting the accuracy of your analysis, the first step is training your algorithms by integrating data.

Cintia explained that with international players from all

Lorenzo Malanga, Head of Data Science at sports betting

continents and world leagues becoming more popular in

and data company Mercurius explained their process.

football, it’s now extremely important to have data available from leagues across the globe.

“What we do is find patterns in historical data in order to gain an edge over the betting markets,” said Malanga. “Hence, we

“Historical data allows us to find new players, and to extend

make use of Hudl data in our predictive algorithms to measure

the possibility of performance analysis and comparison,”

the skills of every team at every point in time. Without it, it

said Cintia. “As an instance, we found that the player with

would be harder to spot market biases and misjudgments.”

most goals scored in a single game is a Chinese female player. Now we know that it’s possible to score nine goals in

Of course, better data accuracy will relate to more profitable

a single match, it was in a game scored 16-0 to China over

outcomes, and will also allow an advantage over competing

Turkmenistan. This could seem kind of fun, but we can do

entities. But with predictions comes risk. Paolo Cinta, CEO

the same for plenty of similar metrics—it’s really valuable.”

and co-founder of player performance evaluation company PlayeRank shared his thoughts on the link between human

Extensive geographical data is also very useful in terms of

and machine skills.

influencing algorithms and comparing data between different leagues.

“The key is explanation, as machine learning techniques use data to automatically generate new algorithms, capable of

“We tend to model each league and country as a universe per-

performing a task they have been trained to,” said Cintia.

se,” said Malanga. “Of course, some analysis may benefit by

“Such algorithms tend to be black-boxes: they work, they

grouping together different leagues’ data. But in general, an

produce predictions, but the underlying motivations leading

extensive geographical data coverage would simply mean a

to that prediction are not completely transparent. This

wider set of leagues for which we train predictive algorithms.”

process of knowledge extraction and explanation enforces towards a continuous refinement for both.”

way to keep accuracy of predictions high. But what about the value of using data from past seasons? “The more past data, the better,” according to Malanga.

“We extensively make use of past seasons data to train our models and to backtest trading strategies,” said Malanga.

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September 2021

insight from it for clients, and different clients have licenses multiple data providers ourselves to increase our potential pool of customers.

“Also, we endeavor to set up our tools in a way where the details of the data are still available to the end users through our tools—for example, Hudl’s [Wyscout] ‘tags’ on event data can be used in our tools, to also empower the provider to innovate in their data, and for that to make its way to the end users.”

In terms of taking advantage of multiple data providers to get ahead of competitors, Cintia said, “[I] would say it allows us to image and develop better products.” Malanga concluded, “It allows us to mitigate the risk of corrupted data, plus it means we are able to capture a higher level of detail, as different companies have different data compiling procedures.”

In certain countries, football is now flourishing where it isn’t traditionally the primary national sport—and the level of play is rising along with its revenue. A key example is in Japan where the J1 League and DAZN have closed an exclusive deal for the next 10 years. When asked how important it is to enter these emerging markets, Meza said, “It’s definitely important as if coverage of J1 League opens up commercial opportunities to our clients, for example content providers like DAZN, then us having those leagues within our coverage means we can tap into those customers and share the revenue.”

Cintia also sees big potential for commercial benefit in emerging markets.

“We actually attracted the interest of some players from the Asian continent, and there is no doubt that many countries are fascinated by football, aiming at developing their clubs.

a cooperation between human and machine skills, heading

Having the most up-to-date and accurate data is the best

to provide technology to make use of the data and extract

“By having more data, we can make more experiments without increasing the risk of ‘overfitting’, i.e., the common curse of ‘remembering’ past data rather than ‘learning’ from it. There is also a clear alignment between technical and commercial values: the deeper the historical set on which we tuned our algorithms, the more credible and robust our strategies become to our clients’ eyes.”

3. Use Large Data Sets to Stay Ahead

We could be an opportunity for them, providing tools to speed

Wyscout data can be combined with multiple other data

competitions would become harder, but the whole sector

providers to provide added statistical benefits. Meza explained the value of working with multiple data providers from the perspective of Twenty3 Sport.

“For us it’s not about ‘combining’ the data to improve algorithms or models—in fact we keep data from data providers in completely different silos,” said Meza. “The

up the process of decreasing the gap. Both market and sport would gain from this, and consequently grow and expand.”

“Coverage and scale are good friends of data-driven processes—there’s no doubt about that,” said Meza.

“Tapping into that is crucial in providing value to customers, and therefore finding revenue opportunities.”

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September 2021 49

“Carragher watches the matches at home, then again when he arrives at the Sky Sports HQ in Isleworth on a Monday.

His preferred camera angle is the one that allows him to see all 22 players on the pitch at the same time.

“That’s a really big thing for me with analysis, because you can see what’s going on off the ball. I can see so much more

Gary Neville.

“Everyone knows Monday Night Football is more of a tactical

Carragher, who played 737 games for Liverpool during a 17year pro career, has worked on Monday Night Football since

this country. Rather than just saying, ‘he scored, he made a

retiring as a player in 2013.

mistake,’ we go into things a little bit deeper.

We caught up with the former England international to get

“It’s the closest thing I can take to being a player. It gives me

the lowdown on how he analyses matches, how he uses tech and the key part that Wyscout plays in this process.

The Closest Thing to Still Playing Carragher says his move into punditry was a natural one.

50

show and a little bit different than anything else we have in

“That’s the best way of explaining it—it’s almost like a debrief,

With footage and data from more than 450 competitions

the player can know that, but with my experience of being in those situations, I can look at them and ask if there was something they could have done differently.”

Monday Night Football also features a live Premier League game and Carragher is tasked with providing analysis at half-

underpin subjective opinion with video and data evidence.

“I use Wyscout a lot for my work with Sky Sports,” the former centre-half said. “There are so many new players coming into the league every season. We talk about pundits doing their homework, but it’s very difficult to be up to speed with every player who comes in and know their background.

“I’ve never claimed to know as much as maybe supporters of an individual club, who know everything about their club, players that come in and who they’re looking to sign.

time and after the match ends.

It’s a great tool when a player comes in to have a look at

“In the first half you spot little things, but you only have three

huge help.”

his characteristics, strengths and weaknesses. It’s been a

minutes at halftime, so if there’s a goal, that’s it, that’s done,” said Carragher.

Otherwise it’s a case of looking for “little details or trends in the game and building something together with the producer that you may use at the end of a game.”

because I know there is that much detail and prep that goes into it. You want it to be seen as the best show out there in terms of football.”

With more than 2,000 new football

How to Analyze a Game A major element of Monday Night Football is looking back

Night Football when it was Andy Gray, Match of the Day when

over the big talking points from the weekend’s matches and

Alan Hansen was doing that—and I was always interested

analysing them.

September 2021

their job?’ I don’t know for certain, only the manager and

and 550,000 players worldwide, Wyscout allows analysts to

a real buzz and I get a little bit of nerves before the show,

“I used to watch everything when I was a player—Monday

Hudl Magazine

Wyscout plays a crucial role in Carragher’s punditry and preparation.

“I basically go through every player and ask, ‘What is

he explained.

the role of Stuart Armstrong, who pushed him back, which

morning.

game with a manager and the detail he would go into.

in the tactical side of the game and the smaller details,”

there was something interesting with Jordan Henderson and

Why Wyscout Is Key

a Monday morning meeting would be like on the back of a

because of the forensic analysis of Jamie Carragher and

“Last night we looked at the goal Southampton scored and

“You’re trying to find something a little bit different and go

hopefully, for supporters, giving them an insight into what

Monday night on Sky Sports has become a must-watch

St. Mary’s.

kept [goalscorer] Danny Ings onside.”

would go when we were going through a game on a Monday

The Art of TV Analysis

worked on Southampton’s 1-0 victory over Liverpool at

from that.

that little bit deeper. As deep as I would say my coaches

Jamie Carragher

When we spoke to Carragher, it was a day after he had

games uploaded every week, Wyscout is a key tool in providing footage and data for Jamie’s TV analysis.

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September 51 20

“I was fortunate that I had a good football brain, in terms of understanding the game, so when a manager or coach spoke to me I quickly got what they were talking about. There were other players who were a lot better than me at other things, maybe technical-wise, or pace, height, but one of my strengths was reading and understanding the game and I think that helps me in the job I do now.”

With all this technology and data, Carragher says there’s a risk of the 24-hour surveillance of players, although he feels coaches and managers are aware of this.

“I think I’d find it hard having someone analysing my training session every single day. We all like a little day off, we all switch off now and again in training at different times. When “It’s really good for me if I want to highlight or look at one player, I don’t have to go through a full game, I can just go look at someone’s best actions on Wyscout. My role is more to provide the analysis of an action in a game and put myself in the shoes of a player, because that’s my experience.”

Evolution of Analysis Carragher made his professional debut as a player in the quarter-finals of the League Cup against Middlesbrough in

Brendan Rodgers—and says the level of analysis changed

90-minute session, but there may be a tactical part, maybe for 20 minutes, working on the front two, the back four, the whole team, 11 v. 11, and you’re looking at what you can take into the game.

Discerning Fans adept at analysing performance, but according to Carragher,

“What I would say is that fans are so much more educated

The world of video analysis and data science has moved on

fan blogs and I don’t think you need to have played the game

on the game now. You see them with social media, podcasts,

since he retired in 2013.

to have an understanding of the game.

“Players go in individually and get clips; everyone has

“Supporters in the past, maybe 20, 30 years ago, were seen

“A lot of coaches—in fact almost everyone in the Premier League—record training sessions and there is analysis on that, so it’s a lot more in-depth than when I was playing, there’s no doubt. Hopefully the players now don’t pick too much up of it and think they can take over from me on Monday Night Football!

52

A L E X IN G L E T H O R P E : IN S ID E L I V E R P O O L’ S A C A D E M Y

under Brendan Rodgers.”

Carragher said.

Hudl Magazine

September 2021

all firsthand.

better looking before the game and hopefully fixing it.”

fans have too.

will have two or three people who will look at the analysis,”

highlights from some of our latest episodes. Scan the QR code on this page to hear it

rather than looking after the game at what went wrong, we’re

“I think we’d moved to DVD by the time I’d come through, but

for analysis. And every club, certainly in the Premier League,

We’re now into our second year of this partnership, so don’t wait to catch up! Here’s some

are looking to bring that analysis on board before the game,

Not only have players, coaches and managers become more

laptops and iPads and phones, getting things sent to them

professional sport, with unique insights from leading experts in the game.

“When it’s serious tactical stuff, I totally get why coaches

significantly during his career.

it wasn’t as in-depth as it was towards the end of my career

The Training Ground Guru podcast, in association with Hudl, takes you behind the scenes in

managers use it for training, I don’t think they use it as in the

January 1997. In all, he played for four different managers at Liverpool—Roy Evans, Gerard Houllier, Rafa Benitez and

Hudl Hits the Airwaves

as maybe not having a clue about the game and that was wrong. You only have to look at fanzines to understand that.

The fanzine culture of supporters up and down the land has now gone on to their own analysis in some ways and they’re all analysing their own games.

“I know that better than anyone, with Liverpool being such a big club with such a big fanbase. There are so many people wanting to give opinions. It’s opinions, football, but I think the supporters now are a lot more educated in [...] what the teams are trying to do.”

Liverpool Academy Manager Alex Inglethorpe took us inside the club’s Kirkby training centre for the latest edition of the TGG Podcast. He explained the key principles that underpin one of the most successful youth programmes in English football.

L A U R E N C E S T E WA R T: R U L E S O F R E C R UI T ME N T AT M O N A C O

T H E R O L E O F T H E T E C H NIC A L DIR E C T O R R E V E A L E D

Laurence Stewart, the Head of Recruitment for AS Monaco, explains the core principles of the club’s transfer strategy.

Brighton Technical Director Dan Ashworth explaineds what the role involves and why he believes it’s so important.

B R I A N A S H T O N : L E S S O N S F R O M A L IF E IN C O A C HIN G

T H E F U T U R E G A ME

Renowned coach and coach educator Brian Ashton, MBE tells TGG the lessons he has learned from five decades in the profession.

Eddie Jones, Tom Vernon, Dave Reddin, Lorraine O’Malley and Karen Bardsley outline what they believe will be the big developments in football in the coming months and years.

Scan the code to listen online and subscribe to the podcast.

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September 2021 53

Totti Turns His Hand to the Scouting Game After reaching immortality in a legendary career with AS Roma and the Azzurri, Francesco Totti is now focused on another area of the beautiful game of football.

Francesco Totti played a glittering career on a full international

football world, making the most of my experience, while still

scale. As one of the world’s top players, he’s best known for

being competitive.”

leading Roma to Serie A glory in 2001 and also playing a key role in Italy’s 2006 FIFA World Cup victory. Totti also holds

Totti still never fails to surprise his fans, reinventing himself

the record for most goals ever scored for Roma in Serie A

and adapting to an evolving environment. During these

(second most of any Serie A player in history) and being

times, when technology has become so important, Totti has

the youngest club captain in the history of Serie A. These

decided to rely on Wyscout.

milestones hold him as one of the greatest Italian players of all time.

“During [the] talent identification and players’ evaluation process, we use Wyscout,” Totti explains.

However, when a playing career comes to an end, life after football is not at all obvious. After retiring as a player, Totti

Wyscout allows CT10 Management and IT Scouting to

worked in an executive role alongside Director of Football

analyze video and data from teams, matches and players,

Monchi, behind-the-scenes with Roma for two years. He’s

discovering new talents from more than 270 leagues

always said he wanted to remain in the football world, but

worldwide.

not on a bench as a manager like many other players do after retirement.

modern football world.

player management and player scouting. CT10 Management and IT Scouting are Totti’s two consultancy and assistance

With this in mind, Totti aims at discovering more than just

services for clubs and players based in Rome.

new talents—he wants to find the “new Totti”.

CT10 Management and IT Scouting aim to provide players

“I will scour Europe and the entire world if necessary,” said

and clubs expert guidance and assistance, from assisting

Totti. “My objective is to forge the best young talents,

player recruitment, to representation and intermediation.

providing them guidance and assistance in order for them to succeed. I’m already keeping an eye on young talented

“At this moment of my life I’m totally focused on scouting,” said Totti. “I wanted to create for myself a new career in the

54

Hudl Magazine

September 2021

Professional Development

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