By Paul Nicholson
November 27 – The leading North American match analysis and statistical provider for football (soccer) is expanding into the European marketplace with its suite of game and performance analysis tools. Match Analysis, based in the San Francisco area, is targeting clubs and leagues in a bid to “change the culture” of strategic and technical analysis.
Match Analysis’ core product is now in operation at every MLS club in the US and the company has recently concluded a long term deal with Mexico’s Liga MX where it will be installed in 40 grounds to provide video, statistical analysis, real time data compilation, player tracking and performance analysis for its clubs.
At the heart of the Match Analysis proposition is the K2 Panoramic Camera System that stitches together video pictures from three fixed camera to give a panoramic view of the pitch.
The match video is then relayed to Match Analysis’ data centre in the US where it is processed and then posted to a web-based system for club access.
The high resolution video is overlayed with software that allows the players to be tracked as well as allowing advanced visualisations of team positioning and individual passages of play, through to the extraction of specific game situations eg all corners, or the number of times the ball was played from defenders forward along the ground.
Players can be looked at individually and in relation to the team position to get a more rounded coaching picture of what is going on. And this is actually at the centre of what Match Analysis says is unique about its approach.
“We have a different take on analysis,” said Mark Brunkhart, president of Match Analysis. “In Europe performance analysis is based on studying the game and handing individual pieces of information to the manager that have been boiled down from a mass of data.”
Brunkhart says that this doesn’t give the manager the full picture of what is taking place in the game but generally gives him information about a specific player and the space he is operating in. His argument is that the coach needs to see the bigger picture of the game from the analysis, make his decisions based on his knowledge of the game, and then communicate that information to his team.
“We are not producing data for data’s sake. We are about producing a set of communications tools. We are giving a manager a mechanism to use his knowledge and get the players on the same page. You have to look at the whole picture,” said Brunkhart.
To this end the system is opened up so that all players can log in and see their own play on-line – every minute of every match, every touch. “To this end we are changing the culture of analysis. We see the player as the primary worker. We want to make sure all the people who should be looking at the video are.”
Based around a powerful online database, called Tango Online, the player logs in to an easy to use system that allows him call up matches and his own footage and stats.
“All the data links to video ad the video relates to data,” said Brunkhart. “The data asks the questions and the video gives the answers.”
Brunkhart accepts that in England in particular there are entrenched attitudes within clubs to how they analyse data, but suggests that if they want to progress then might want to open up a little to a bigger picture. He feels that mainland Europe might be more fertile ground early days.
Costs for installation vary depend on the package the club or league buys. “It can run from £2,000 for a six game package where the video is supplied by the club, for example a university team or an amateur team, or to £100,000 for a professional package,” said Brunkhart.
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