How Did We Get Here?The Development of Analytics in Football

How Did We Get Here?The Development of Analytics in Football

This course is part of Maximum Performance and Technology in Sports Specialization

Instructor: Marisa Sáenz

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4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

Beginner level

Recommended experience

2 weeks to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

Beginner level

Recommended experience

2 weeks to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

Understand how analytics evolved from early pioneers to modern football data systems.
Explore how clubs use data for scouting, tactics, and competitive advantage.
Learn the foundations of event data, tracking data, xG, xT, and modern value models.

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This course is part of the Maximum Performance and Technology in Sports Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

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There are 4 modules in this course

This course explores how football evolved from intuition-driven decision-making to a fully data-powered sport. Learners will uncover the origins of sports analytics through the “Moneyball” revolution in baseball, the rise of shot-quality models in basketball and hockey, and the early pioneers who first applied scientific thinking to football. From Charles Reep’s handwritten data charts to Lobanovskyi’s cybernetic model, the course traces how ideas from statistics, engineering, and computer science gradually reshaped how the game is played and understood.

As technology advanced, video analysis, event data, and tracking systems transformed how clubs evaluated performance, recruited players, and designed tactics. Case studies show how modern clubs exploit data to find market inefficiencies and gain competitive advantages. By the end of this course, learners will understand the milestones, people, and technologies behind football’s analytics revolution — and how they paved the way for the sophisticated models used today.

Discover how American sports like baseball, basketball, and hockey pioneered data-driven approaches. This module highlights the game-changing impact of analytics, from the Moneyball era in baseball to the mathematical revolutions in basketball and hockey, revealing lessons that set the stage for football’s own data transformation.

What's included

6 videos4 readings2 assignments

6 videosTotal 26 minutes

Breaking the Mold: How the Oakland A's Revolutionized Sports with Data5 minutes
Inside the Moneyball Strategy: The Science of Finding Undervalued Talent4 minutes
The Mathematical Revolution: How the Three-Point Shot Changed Basketball Forever4 minutes
Adapting to the Revolution: How the Three-Point Shot Transformed Player Development and Team Building5 minutes
Beyond the Goals: How Corsi Transformed Hockey Analytics4 minutes
Beyond Instinct: PDO, Regression, and Optimizing Goalie-Pulling Strategies5 minutes

4 readingsTotal 190 minutes

Welcome reading5 minutes
Complementary Resources on Oakland Athletics: The first team to leverage the power of data90 minutes
Complementary Resources on Three is More than Two: The basketball revolution50 minutes
Complementary Resources on The Hockey Data Revolution: The power of volume45 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

Becoming Professional: The Advent of Analytics in Baseball and Other Major American Sports30 minutes
Becoming Professional: The Advent of Analytics in Baseball and Other Major American Sports30 minutes

Trace the journey of analytics in football, from early innovators to today’s most data-savvy clubs. Learn how advances in video analysis and event data tagging fueled a new era of evidence-based decision making, and dive into case studies of teams that have redefined success through analytics.

What's included

6 videos3 readings2 assignments1 discussion prompt

6 videosTotal 24 minutes

Pioneering Data Collection in Football: Charles Reep's Revolutionary Approach4 minutes
The Scientific Revolution: Valeriy Lobanovskyi's Data-Driven Coaching Methods4 minutes
From Analog to Digital: The Evolution of Video Analysis in Football4 minutes
The Rise of Event Data Tagging: How Opta and Prozone Revolutionized Football Analysis4 minutes
The Analytics Revolution: How Two English Clubs Changed Football Forever4 minutes
Data Revolution: Set-Piece Mastery and Performance Optimization4 minutes

3 readingsTotal 130 minutes

Complementary Resources on Early Football Data Analysis — The First Disconnected Developments45 minutes
Complementary Resources on The Increasing Availability of Video Footage: How data became more common30 minutes
Complementary Resources on Case Studies on three Football Clubs55 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

The Football Data Revolution: The Rise of Data-Driven Clubs30 minutes
The Football Data Revolution: The Rise of Data-Driven Clubs30 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

The Football Data Revolution: The Rise of Data-Driven Clubs10 minutes

Meet the companies, clubs, and media outlets that have shaped the landscape of football analytics. This module explores the rise of major data providers, the evolution of club strategies, and the powerful role media and public discourse play in driving the analytics movement forward.

What's included

6 videos3 readings2 assignments1 discussion prompt

6 videosTotal 31 minutes

The Evolution of Football Data Providers: Opta, StatsBomb, and the Rise of Event Data4 minutes
Beyond Events: Tracking Data, Advanced Metrics, and Vertical Integration in Football Analytics6 minutes
Early Adoption and the Shift to Data-Driven Recruitment5 minutes
Data-Driven Multi-Club Models and Future Trends6 minutes
Media's Integration of Analytics and Its Impact on Public Perception5 minutes
Social Media's Impact and the Challenges of Statistical Discourse5 minutes

3 readingsTotal 210 minutes

Complementary Resources on The Main Companies: Hudl, Opta (StatsPerform), StatsBomb, Impect, SkillCorner, Respo.vision and others60 minutes
Complementary Resources on The Main Clubs – Early Adoption and Evolution of Data Analytics in Football75 minutes
Complementary Resources on The Role of Media: How public discourse shapes analytics75 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

The Important Actors: Who Has Driven the Development in the Modern Data Era30 minutes
The Important Actors: Who Has Driven the Development in the Modern Data Era30 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

The Important Actors: Who Has Driven the Development in the Modern Data Era10 minutes

Unpack the academic breakthroughs behind today’s most influential football metrics. Explore the origins of expected goals (xG), the rise of possession-based value models, and the introduction of pitch control and spatial analysis through tracking data—concepts that continue to shape the future of football analytics.

What's included

4 videos3 readings2 assignments1 discussion prompt

4 videosTotal 19 minutes

The Origins and Evolution of Expected Goals4 minutes
Foundations of Possession Value Models4 minutes
Key Possession-Based Models and Their Applications5 minutes
Pitch Control: Introducing Tracking Data and Spatial Modeling6 minutes

3 readingsTotal 235 minutes

Complementary Resources on Shot-Based Value Models: The Evolution of Expected Goals (xG)75 minutes
Complementary Resources on Possession-Based Value Models: Understanding ball progression45 minutes
Complementary Resources on Pitch Control: Introducing tracking data and spatial modeling115 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

The Academic Advancements: What Papers and Concepts Have Pushed the Field Forward30 minutes
The Academic Advancements: What Papers and Concepts Have Pushed the Field Forward30 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

The Academic Advancements: What Papers and Concepts Have Pushed the Field Forward10 minutes

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Instructor

Marisa Sáenz

Real Madrid Graduate School Universidad Europea

67 Courses8,603 learners

Offered by

Real Madrid Graduate School Universidad Europea

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