Football, as a sport, has been loved and followed by millions of fans across the globe with many aspiring to play the sport at a professional level. However, only a meagre percentage make it to the elite level. But, there’s more to football than representing the game as an athlete. So, what are the options? Football provides a range of career opportunities from coaching to data analysis.
To give us a better insight into one such arena, we invited Vignesh PG, Lead Video Analyst - Reliance Foundation Young Champs to our recent webinar. In the session, Vignesh explained how one can become a football video analyst and gave us an in-depth understanding of the components of a football analyst and the diversity the role demands.
Vignesh began by giving a gist of the history of performance analysis by talking about the journey of Charles Reep, the pioneer of performance analysis in football. Vignesh also briefly touched upon the evolution of football video analysis through the eras:
- Handwritten notes watching the match
- Handwritten notes from listening to the commentary
- Digital videos being introduced to analyse the performances
- Artificial intelligence & automatic algorithms to analyse and predict pathways to better performance
He explained the importance of video analysis is two-fold:
- Leads to effective communication
- Reassessment of the on-field situation by helping one interpret match moments better
Vignesh then gave an insight into the technical components of football analysis:
- Training week analysis:
- Record training and prepare players
- Attain the objectives and track the progress by videos/statistics
- Communicate and provide all the information
- Pre-match analysis
- Conduct team meetings to revise strategies for the coming match
- Review the opposition team on various aspects and further elaborate on the matchday plan
- Show training clips/relevant information to back the strategies and planning
- Live game analysis
- Live coding of the game and provide key points.
- Share short reports on key aspects of the game and relevant input during the halftime meeting.
- Carry out communication between the bench & analysis team to strategise play on the pitch.
- Post-match analysis
- Post-match report on the principles of the game – attack, defense, transition from defense to attack & transition from attack to defense to the technical team.
- Individual analysis reports on players with a focus on individual development.
- Statistical report of the matches.
Wondering whether you might be cut out for the role? Here’s how Vignesh explained the roles and responsibilities of a football video analyst:
- Record matches and training sessions
- Pre-match team and opposition analysis production
- Live match-day coding
- Edit match footage and produce post-match reports
- Update statistics and video databases for trend analysis
- Update training databases and logs post each session
- Produce content for classroom sessions (usually for the academy) and team debriefs
- Ensure the upkeep of all filming and video capture equipment
- Provide analytical ad hoc duties as requested by the team management
- Deliver feedback to staff and players
- Creation of reports on various aspects of performance
- Interpretation, analysis, and dissemination of performance data
The session was wrapped up by defining the ideal skill set to become a good football analyst:
- Knowledge of the sport
- Building relationships with coaches
- Effectively reacting to feedback
- Data consciousness
- Presenting your analysis reports
- Analytical hard skills
In conclusion, the subject includes a broad range of scope and demands what goes into becoming a video analyst in a football club.
In case of queries or if you have any suggestions for webinar topics, please feel free to connect with us on Instagram/Facebook or email us at info@rfyouthsports.com