"I'm curious, Dr. Satoi, there's a problem."

While walking back to the training building with Marcus Du Satoi, Yang Huan asked about the doubts in his heart.

"Why is the football circle so uninterested in data?"

I believe this is also everyone's doubt.

Since big data can solve so many problems, why no one does it?

Marcus Du Satoi shook his head and smiled, "You are wrong, Master Huan, it's not that no one does it, but that there have been many people doing it for a long time. But compared with other industries, the level of data analysis is still too behind."

"Let me tell me." Yang Huan was very interested.

He is aware of his shortcomings and deficiencies, and he has always been very self-aware.

Since it is something you don’t understand or not, then leave it to those who understand and understand it.

Or, just work hard on your own to figure out what it is.

Marcus Du Satoi organized the answer to this question in his mind, because he found that it was very troublesome to answer.

"The football circle has actually been doing data analysis and high-tech things. After Wenger took over Arsenal, he attached great importance to data. Let me give you an example that I know."

"Framini, you should know this player, Master Huan?"

Yang Huan nodded. The French midfielder had just played at Arsenal and left AC Milan in Italy.

"When Wenger decided to introduce this player, it was because he heard that Flamini could run 14,000 meters in one game. This number was amazing, so he went to investigate. After confirming that Flamini's large-scale running was not a blind bump, Arsenal introduced the player."

Yang Huan had never heard of this, and he thought it was quite interesting.

"As well-known, AC Milan has a world-famous Milan laboratory. They were able to win the Champions League, and this laboratory made great contributions. Even earlier, the Brazilian national team and Nike in the United States had an organization that cooperated with this aspect of research."

Speaking of this, Marcus Du Satoi's conclusion is already very clear.

The data introduced by football has actually been done a long time ago, and has even developed to a certain level.

"Master Huan, do you know how many relevant data you need to collect in one game of OPTA?"

Yang Huan shook his head this time because he had never had any contact with OPTA.

"More than 1,500 items, and it's getting more and more detailed. In the past, everyone only cared about some relatively superficial things, such as ball possession rate, shooting times, running distance, passing times, etc."

Speaking of this, Marcus Du Satoi couldn't help but laugh.

"I still remember that at the earliest, OPTA's data was calculated by observers sitting in the stands or sitting in front of live TV. It was counted using the most primitive and inefficient manual methods, and there were many errors."

Yang Huan couldn't help but smile. It turns out that the OPTA Data Company, which sounds very tall, still has such a history?

"Later, after they were acquired by Sky TV, they received sufficient funds to develop, and then continuously improved their software and hardware, and developed special analysis software, which allowed them to obtain more and more refined data."

"So, there are mobile heat maps, pass route maps and so on."

The journey is like a mountain, and Yang Huan does not know everything.

He really didn't get into the data field of the football industry, and he could even be said to be ignorant of everything.

The data that ordinary fans could see in the past was at best just a few items, but OPTA had to collect more than 1,500 items of data in one game, which shows how deep the water is here.

As long as you pay, you can get the advanced data of OPTA.

"Dr. Satoi, as you said, data has been rooted in the professional football field for so many years, and has developed several data service companies like OPTA, but why do you still feel that it is out of date?"

Marcus Du Satoi nodded and smiled, "Because these are just data."

Now, Yang Huan began to understand a little.

"The data provided by companies like OPTA is indeed very detailed. It gives us a lot of data, but what can these data indicate? This requires us to analyze it."

"The data is dead, but the analysis is alive."

"To give the simplest example, there is a striker who is very good at scoring goals, he is far ahead of the league's scorer list, but his team has a very bad result."

"If you only look at the player's data, you will find that he is a top scorer because he can win many shots in every game, and then the number of shots can be converted into a goal, etc."

"But if you analyze the entire team more deeply, you will find that in order to pursue his own goals, the player's crazy shots will lead to the lack of threat to the team's overall offense and cannot operate smoothly."

"Also, there is a midfielder who intercepts and steals the data very eye-catching, and the running coverage of each game is also very large, but his team has done a bad job in defense. The media and fans have blamed the defense line, but what about it?"

"If you analyze in depth, will there be another kind? This player's personal ability is indeed very strong, but his team and tactical awareness are very weak. He ran all over the field, had no sense of position, and could not appear in front of the defense line to provide a strong protective barrier when the team needed it, and casually expose the defense line to the opponent's artillery fire."

Yang Huan really understood completely now.

Marcus Du Satoi's meaning is very clear, and the data is not important, because you can buy all these things.

What is really important, or in other words, the key link that determines whether the data is useful lies in analysis.

"According to the two examples I just took the first step, and only analyzed the data on the surface, you will definitely find that the players are too good and the team is too bad. So many teams invest heavily in introducing this player. As a result, they found that it was wrong and the players were not used well, and they became so-called parallel products."

"If you analyze it more deeply, you will find that the problem is not that simple, and you will be closer to the reality."

"So in my opinion, the reason why many people say that data lies is because the data they get is too one-sided."

“This is a sign of lack of data!”

After hearing this, Yang Huan nodded constantly. This statement was indeed very convincing.

Especially in the United States, NBA, football, golf, baseball, tennis, etc., a large number of professional competitive sports projects are increasing their investment in data analysis, which is enough to illustrate the prospects of data application.

Professional competitive sports have one common pursuit, and that is the result!

All aspects of football are always about scoring goals.

Goal-oriented, everything is quantitative.

And as long as it is quantitative, there is room for big data to be used.

“Then why do many football clubs ignore data?”

Marcus Du Satoi only wanted to answer the question Yang Huan just asked at this time.

"There are two situations. One is that they think the data is not credible, and the other is that they lack the courage to invest. They think that it is better to introduce stars than to invest so much. So we see that almost every team in the entire Premier League is buying data from OPTA, but they are just buying."

"AC Milan tasted the sweetness and won the Champions League, but the next year it immediately attacked the Milan laboratory and suspended all scientific research projects. The reason is very simple. Their management believes that the current level is sufficient, and continuing to invest in scientific research is a waste."

"These people just want to have a rough understanding of the data of the aspects they are interested in, and never thought of building a system project to scientifically analyze the entire team and the entire football field, because the latter has invested too much!"

"Football excludes data and high technology, not because of its closure and conservatism, but because of money!"

"In the United States, NBA, major leagues and baseball clubs have higher incomes than football, so they have enough financial resources to invest in research and development in this area."

Yang Huan completely understood this moment.

Just the same sentence, no one in this world compares to anyone who is stupid.

It was as if the founders of OPTA saw that Americans began to introduce data into the NBA and NFL, they immediately started in the Premier League, and it didn't take long in the middle.

But now, the gap between the data analysis capabilities of European football and the data analysis capabilities of several major professional sports leagues in the United States is really not that big.

Ultimately, it's a matter of money.

The two of them chatted and walked along the way, and before they knew it, they came downstairs of the training building.

Because the new training building is still being renovated, the office of the Data Analysis Center is currently on the first floor of the old training building.

Yang Huan plans to rebuild an independent building for them to work.

There will be the data heart of Southampton in the future.

"Master Huan." Marcus Do Satoy stopped. "When Charlene told me that you were very interested in the data, I didn't believe it at first because Southampton was just an League One team, but I knew you, I believed it."

"I believe that no one in the entire football circle can know the future of data better than you."

Yang Huan nodded constantly. WeChat and game companies attach great importance to data collection and analysis.

He knows the magical uses of big data more than anyone else.

In the past, he ignored football, but now, he is determined to catch up.

"But I still want to remind you, Young Master Huan, the data of football and Internet companies are different, because it involves people, and people are the most complex, so we need experts in human science, physiology, nutrition, etc. to collaborate and analyze together and many fields."

This means that the more manpower you invest, the more R&D funds you need.

"OK, I understand!" Yang Huan clapped his hands hard.

"Don't worry, Dr. Satoi, I have explained that you will have as much funding as your data center in the future. As long as you think you need it, you can apply for funding for research. I will support you!"

"Thank you, Master Huan!" Marcus Du Satoi immediately thanked with a smile.

But Yang Huan waved his hand and shook his head, "Don't say thank you for it first, I haven't finished it yet."

Marcus Du Satoi immediately listened carefully.

"Although I will provide strong support in funding and in all aspects, I will see the results. Southampton will not stagnate just after a good start, just as AC Milan is doing. As long as I am here, I will do my best to support your research and development."

"But, I have to see the results!"

"I understand, Master Huan!" Marcus Du Satoi nodded immediately and agreed.

"Please rest assured, we will not let you down."

This is true for all scientific research projects around the world. There is no hope, or for those scientific research projects that will never achieve results, no one is interested in them.

Or to put it simply, scientific research is also an investment.

Marcus Du Satoi seemed to be afraid that Yang Huan would not believe it, so he immediately smiled and pointed to the data center office.

"I think, Master Huan, you should come in and have a look. Dr. Howard Hamilton has good things!"

It looked like a naughty little guy offering treasures.

Yang Huan couldn't help but smile, "Good thing? What is it?"

“A very wonderful product is very helpful to us!”

After saying this, Yang Huan was really interested.
Chapter completed!