smarterscout: The Why in Analytics
Dan Altman, creator of smarterscout, discusses the big issues underlying football/soccer analytics and sports analytics in general. Dan asks why we use data, why we measure the things we do, and why we choose certain analytical methods out of the many tools available. Drawing on his experience working with clubs in the Premier League, Major League Soccer, and other competitions around the world – as well as USA Olympic teams – Dan gets to the core of the questions every analyst faces.
Podcasting since 2020 • 7 episodes
smarterscout: The Why in Analytics
Latest Episodes
Q & A
Dan answers questions from listeners, followers on social media, and smarterscout.com users on a wide variety of topics: top-down versus bottom-up metrics, spotting potential in young players, hard-to-measure skills in defending, adjusting metr...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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26:31
Measuring style and skill
Contributions to winning aren't the only things that football/soccer clubs might want to measure. Playing style has an important role in recruitment, and specific skills like finishing and winning aerial duels can be the crucial raw materials f...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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23:51
Expected goals from ball progression and tactical applications
Each action during a match changes the probability of scoring, and these changes can become part of a model of ball progression. Dan explains how expected goals from ball progression can complement expected goal from shot creation, both in eval...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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19:56
Rating players with expected goals from shot creation
Breaking down goal difference into its component parts shows how expected goals from shot creation – the chance of scoring for each shot, estimated from historical data – can be the foundation for a model of the game. Dan explains how this mode...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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16:00
The building blocks of a model of the game
There's an infinite number of mathematical models that might explain the game of football/soccer, but how can we strike a balance between usefulness and simplicity? Dan considers the advantages and drawbacks of models using goals, and shots, th...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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18:28