Liverpool are the first Premier League club to sign up for StatsBomb’s new 360 tool, which will enable users to track the in-game location of players across thousands of events.
Analysis tools have exploded in popularity over the last few years, and the Reds’ eagerness to pay up for this new service – within the first 48 hours of its launch – shows how vital they now are.
CEO of StatsBomb, Ted Knutson, has revealed to Sky Sports the new 360 tool’s arrival comes after feedback asking for data on line-breaking passes to help find transfer targets.
“[It is] something we get asked for a lot. They come out in this data. Passing lanes and ball receipts in space come out in this. The actual distance of defenders from the player. If you need to replace David Silva then these things are pretty useful,” he said.
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Knutsford went on to say not all football clubs are embracing the statistics revolution, with some coaches seeing it as a distraction. “Half of football now recognise they need this stuff. The other half will get there,” he added.
“Even inside the football clubs where we had owner support, you would go into the coaches and they just don’t want to listen to you. ‘Why are you here? This is hassle for me.’”
We at Empire of the Kop are happy Liverpool are ahead of the curve on this one, with statistics and analysis never being more important to how teams set up.
With so much information out there, it would be ignorant to stay on the fence and rely purely on rudimentary rankings and what the coaches have seen with their own eyes.