United appoint Dominic Jordan as director of data science
- Thread starter Tom Van Persie
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Who? And what?
Likely another meaningless appointment with no impact on the general direction of the club. Appointments for everyone.
Who needs owners who'll buy you all the best players in the World if you have Dominic checking your data
I think this is more of a club appointment rather than OGS getting someone new in. This guy will probably create new systems to benefit analysis in scouting and performance if anything. He’ll be the guy showing them how it works and how they use it.
I can't tell if this is sarcastic or not.
It actually signals a big shift in the direction of the club.
We need a tactical overhaul, not more data..
That said, if we suddenly start playing good football and actually creating chances, no doubt he will be credited
That said, if we suddenly start playing good football and actually creating chances, no doubt he will be credited
Charlie Roadnight worked with Dom for a year and according to him, he pushed the data team forward successfully whilst adapting to COVID lockdowns. He holds high standards for his team whilst encouraging learning, collaboration and creativity. Dom has transformed the team's ways of working and has set a path for the company to succeed within Data Science. It was felt as the leader of the team, Dom was open to feedback and listened to the team's opinions. He would recommend Dom as a leader who can make change happen and as a mentor who helped him to grow professionally
Jeff Summerson believes he's a great guy.
So yeah.
Jeff Summerson believes he's a great guy.
So yeah.
Two things on this:
1) this is modern football and I am glad Manchester United are (apparently) heading towards more intelligent data driven analysis
2) It's understated how important Ian Graham is at Liverpool - he was hugely responsible for the uptick in their transfer business since 2012, and has a PhD from Cambridge himself
1) this is modern football and I am glad Manchester United are (apparently) heading towards more intelligent data driven analysis
2) It's understated how important Ian Graham is at Liverpool - he was hugely responsible for the uptick in their transfer business since 2012, and has a PhD from Cambridge himself
Jordan believes data can be used to improve a wide range of areas, from player recruitment to analysing patterns of play.
“There is so much potential for data science to benefit the club, from assisting with player recruitment, automatically analysing patterns of play right through to using computer vision to extract information from video feeds in real time,” he said.
“At first it’s a question of determining which problems are the most important for the club and tackling those to deliver quick but effective results. Over time as you embed good practice, the problems become harder – hence why building a great team is critical, to keep the club ahead in the data space.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/footbal...hester-uniteds-big-new-signing-mathematician/
“There is so much potential for data science to benefit the club, from assisting with player recruitment, automatically analysing patterns of play right through to using computer vision to extract information from video feeds in real time,” he said.
“At first it’s a question of determining which problems are the most important for the club and tackling those to deliver quick but effective results. Over time as you embed good practice, the problems become harder – hence why building a great team is critical, to keep the club ahead in the data space.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/footbal...hester-uniteds-big-new-signing-mathematician/
Ah, sounds like exactly what we need to sort out our midfield issues
Oooh brainy
Always good that we are creating fresh roles separate from the first team. It gives us a better chance of maintaining periods of success regardless of who owns the club or who is managing us if there is a workable angle and continuity there.
Always good that we are creating fresh roles separate from the first team. It gives us a better chance of maintaining periods of success regardless of who owns the club or who is managing us if there is a workable angle and continuity there.
Data and Tactics are more linked than you think. Essentially, if you do the numbers on how often "get it in the mixer" actually works, you can take your strategy and go from there, for instance.We need a tactical overhaul, not more data..
That said, if we suddenly start playing good football and actually creating chances, no doubt he will be credited
It is (I believe) a huge part in why so many corners are taken short nowadays. Corners, statistically, are awful, and a large number of goals AGAINST teams come from corners you had yourself. Case in point vs Everton
Counter attacking is more productive than attacking a low block, and with Corners and your oppositions centre backs up (usually slower guys) mean that a lot of teams simply recycle possesion now instead of risking anything.That’s the spirit!
Good. Although you have to wonder if this is something we should have done ages ago. Does anyone know if our rival clubs have similar roles in place already? And how long they’ve had them in place?
Exactly this,Data and Tactics are more linked than you think. Essentially, if you do the numbers on how often "get it in the mixer" actually works, you can take your strategy and go from there, for instance.
It is (I believe) a huge part in why so many corners are taken short nowadays. Corners, statistically, are awful, and a large number of goals AGAINST teams come from corners you had yourself. Case in point vs Everton
You are correct in saying teams are more likely to score taking a corner short than lumping it in. Also managers like Sam Allardyce, despite his crude tactics at times, were masters at exploring data and using it to their advantage. For example, Big Sam used to get his analysts to work out where the ball would get cleard from a corner the most - he would then put his second best crosser of teh ball in that area ready to recycle the ball back into the box after a corner, he would do that for the third phase too.
Theres a brilliant book called 'Football: The Numbers Game' which highlights all the stats behind football and explores how data can be used in the right context to give teams the edge.
United already have a vast data team and Ole is a very data led manager, but adding to the team with someone of such calibre can only be a good thing for me.
Next hire. Someone who can sort out our fecking throw-ins…
The issue with % success/productivity rate of a certain play is that you dont want to become predictable. Unpredictability is one of the best traits to have when most teams are so well organised. I want to see us develop our tactical flexibility and respond to in game scenarios, in my opinion that's why we never seem to play well for a whole 90 mins.Data and Tactics are more linked than you think. Essentially, if you do the numbers on how often "get it in the mixer" actually works, you can take your strategy and go from there, for instance.
It is (I believe) a huge part in why so many corners are taken short nowadays. Corners, statistically, are awful, and a large number of goals AGAINST teams come from corners you had yourself. Case in point vs Everton
Any appointment and attempt to improve the set up is welcome though.
Liverpool have 6.
The earliest I can remember us having a data analytics suite is 2011-2013 or so I guess. I have these vague memories of walking past door at the club down the road from old Trafford they have the dinners at which had data analytics team written on it, but that memory might actually be from the video clips of Phil Neville, Giggs etc that got released when Giggs got given the job temporarily...
Pretty much this. I work in retail business and take and analize tons of data… temperature, humidity among many others. Data is the king.
and theydo it real time to impact current games
Rory Delap as a coach.
Apart from player recruitment, I would assume it helps with coach/manager recruitment too?
Steve Jobs, the legendary Apple founder and CEO had a favorite saying that defined his hiring philosophy, for decades: “A players attract A players.B players attract C players.”
(By "player" he didn't mean a footballer, he meant any member of any organization)
When your club is run by Ed Woodward, Murtough, and Fletcher- all obviously B players at best- you should expect that they will only be able to attract people who are "C". You need leaders who are A players, not just for their own quality, but also so that they bring other excellent people.
p.s. The reason B players don't attract A players is not just that A players don't want to work for or with B players, but also: B players do not like to hire A players even if they can - they are intimidated by working with better people, whether that is conscious or subconscious defense mechanism, it is something that is very real
(By "player" he didn't mean a footballer, he meant any member of any organization)
When your club is run by Ed Woodward, Murtough, and Fletcher- all obviously B players at best- you should expect that they will only be able to attract people who are "C". You need leaders who are A players, not just for their own quality, but also so that they bring other excellent people.
p.s. The reason B players don't attract A players is not just that A players don't want to work for or with B players, but also: B players do not like to hire A players even if they can - they are intimidated by working with better people, whether that is conscious or subconscious defense mechanism, it is something that is very real
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Nice. We need to modernize or we will get left further behind. City have been investing a ton of money in data scientists, recruiting several people during the past 2 years.
In wider circles they’re also sometimes called Refs/VAR crew.
Glazernomics has seen United have a skeleton staff in all departments. Its why we are so bad as finding hidden gens these days.
First day on the job:
Go outside.
I mean this could be revolutionary or it could be somebody picking up a big wage just to tell ole the off the ball stats on Football Manager
Probably its somewhere between the two and how the data analysis is used in decisions is the real key
Any memes of Ole's face when Dom explains to him how geospatial analysis can improve our patterns of play resulting in a better xG-xGA differential that will increase the likelihood of sustained periods of good form?
Let's hope he uses his background in geospatial analysis to improve our defending from corners
I'm going to enjoy the Caf opinion on why this appointment is meaningless