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

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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 videos Total 26 minutes

Breaking the Mold: How the Oakland A's Revolutionized Sports with Data 5 minutes
Inside the Moneyball Strategy: The Science of Finding Undervalued Talent 4 minutes
The Mathematical Revolution: How the Three-Point Shot Changed Basketball Forever 4 minutes
Adapting to the Revolution: How the Three-Point Shot Transformed Player Development and Team Building 5 minutes
Beyond the Goals: How Corsi Transformed Hockey Analytics 4 minutes
Beyond Instinct: PDO, Regression, and Optimizing Goalie-Pulling Strategies 5 minutes

4 readings Total 190 minutes

Welcome reading 5 minutes
Complementary Resources on Oakland Athletics: The first team to leverage the power of data 90 minutes
Complementary Resources on Three is More than Two: The basketball revolution 50 minutes
Complementary Resources on The Hockey Data Revolution: The power of volume 45 minutes

2 assignments Total 60 minutes

Becoming Professional: The Advent of Analytics in Baseball and Other Major American Sports 30 minutes
Becoming Professional: The Advent of Analytics in Baseball and Other Major American Sports 30 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 videos Total 24 minutes

Pioneering Data Collection in Football: Charles Reep's Revolutionary Approach 4 minutes
The Scientific Revolution: Valeriy Lobanovskyi's Data-Driven Coaching Methods 4 minutes
From Analog to Digital: The Evolution of Video Analysis in Football 4 minutes
The Rise of Event Data Tagging: How Opta and Prozone Revolutionized Football Analysis 4 minutes
The Analytics Revolution: How Two English Clubs Changed Football Forever 4 minutes
Data Revolution: Set-Piece Mastery and Performance Optimization 4 minutes

3 readings Total 130 minutes

Complementary Resources on Early Football Data Analysis — The First Disconnected Developments 45 minutes
Complementary Resources on The Increasing Availability of Video Footage: How data became more common 30 minutes
Complementary Resources on Case Studies on three Football Clubs 55 minutes

2 assignments Total 60 minutes

The Football Data Revolution: The Rise of Data-Driven Clubs 30 minutes
The Football Data Revolution: The Rise of Data-Driven Clubs 30 minutes

1 discussion prompt Total 10 minutes

The Football Data Revolution: The Rise of Data-Driven Clubs 10 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 videos Total 31 minutes

The Evolution of Football Data Providers: Opta, StatsBomb, and the Rise of Event Data 4 minutes
Beyond Events: Tracking Data, Advanced Metrics, and Vertical Integration in Football Analytics 6 minutes
Early Adoption and the Shift to Data-Driven Recruitment 5 minutes
Data-Driven Multi-Club Models and Future Trends 6 minutes
Media's Integration of Analytics and Its Impact on Public Perception 5 minutes
Social Media's Impact and the Challenges of Statistical Discourse 5 minutes

3 readings Total 210 minutes

Complementary Resources on The Main Companies: Hudl, Opta (StatsPerform), StatsBomb, Impect, SkillCorner, Respo.vision and others 60 minutes
Complementary Resources on The Main Clubs – Early Adoption and Evolution of Data Analytics in Football 75 minutes
Complementary Resources on The Role of Media: How public discourse shapes analytics 75 minutes

2 assignments Total 60 minutes

The Important Actors: Who Has Driven the Development in the Modern Data Era 30 minutes
The Important Actors: Who Has Driven the Development in the Modern Data Era 30 minutes

1 discussion prompt Total 10 minutes

The Important Actors: Who Has Driven the Development in the Modern Data Era 10 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 videos Total 19 minutes

The Origins and Evolution of Expected Goals 4 minutes
Foundations of Possession Value Models 4 minutes
Key Possession-Based Models and Their Applications 5 minutes
Pitch Control: Introducing Tracking Data and Spatial Modeling 6 minutes

3 readings Total 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 progression 45 minutes
Complementary Resources on Pitch Control: Introducing tracking data and spatial modeling 115 minutes

2 assignments Total 60 minutes

The Academic Advancements: What Papers and Concepts Have Pushed the Field Forward 30 minutes
The Academic Advancements: What Papers and Concepts Have Pushed the Field Forward 30 minutes

1 discussion prompt Total 10 minutes

The Academic Advancements: What Papers and Concepts Have Pushed the Field Forward 10 minutes

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Instructor

Marisa Sáenz

Real Madrid Graduate School Universidad Europea

48 Courses 6,651 learners

Offered by

Real Madrid Graduate School Universidad Europea

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