Every good analyst must carry out at least these ten tasks in their working week to make life easier for their technical staff and the players in the team. The analyst is a fundamental part of the staff who must always be aligned with the coach’s proposal in order to get the most out of his work and to make it as useful as possible.
These ten tasks are as follows:
1. Prepare a next match video
In this video you will see your own and your opponent’s actions that have been positive and also actions to improve. Not only images from the match can be presented, but also from training. It is important during the video sessions to reinforce the good actions/behaviors/patterns and also to emphasize the team’s areas for improvement.
It is necessary to choose well how we present it, that is to say, what psychological strategy we use to present the images, either with the typical sandwich technique, where we give positive information, information to improve and finish with positive information.
2. Match recording and live analysis
On match day it is usual to record the match with a camera and do a live analysis. This analysis will be of vital importance when making decisions, especially at half-time, but also throughout the match, both in the first half and in the second half.
We can see if the opponent’s plan is what we expected or not. If it is, whether we are doing well what we have prepared or what we need to improve. If not, to readjust and avoid making ourselves vulnerable.
3. Ensure communication with the bench during the match.
With the permission obtained by the regulations to have a communication channel between the bench and the outside, it is important that, before each match, it is ensured that the communication channel is functional. It will be another tool that facilitates the coach’s task in making the best possible decisions during the match.
4. Contribute from your point of view in the half-time talk with the staff.
The analyst goes down to the dressing room at half-time and discusses his impressions with the rest of the staff, as the view of the match is made from different points of view. It is not the same to watch the match from the ground or from the heights, where everything can be seen more clearly.
Not only will you provide your point of view, but you will also be able to provide images of the first half, as we have already mentioned in point 2 that a live recording of the match is produced.
5. Transmitting the match to the coach and staff
At the end of the match, the analyst will be in charge of sending the recorded match to the coach and the rest of the staff so that they can watch it and draw their own conclusions and then share them, highlighting what the team has done well and what needs to be improved in order to transmit it to the staff and capture it in the next video analysis of the following week. It will also serve to outline the plan for the following week.
6. Post match analysis
Once cold, an analysis of the match is carried out, paying attention to the details that the coach wants depending on the team’s game model, the game plan and the details that the coach or a player asks for.
This analysis is usually the one that gives us a more rational vision of the team’s performance, as the emotions that are produced at the moment of the game have lowered their intensity.
7. Drawing up reports
We will also take advantage of this to draw up reports. In this sense, we will need to look at data and statistics.These reports can be collective or individual, of the match in general or of specific aspects.
Here it will depend a lot on what we are working on, what the technical staff wants or is looking at and what, as analysts, we consider important to keep in mind and keep an eye on week by week.
8. Use external platforms to collect more data
This is where raw data and platforms that provide us with post-match data come into play. This is where platforms such as Statsbomb, Wyscout, Instat, Mediacoach… come in.
This data will help us to complete the previous points, that is to say, this data can help us to understand the images of the post-match analysis; it will allow us to enrich the reports we are preparing and, in addition, it will provide us with new data to analyze next week’s opponent.
9. Statistical control
Statistics are also important in football. This point is closely related to point 7. In order to make reports, statistics can help us to improve the understanding of these reports.
Here, statistical control can go beyond the events of the game itself and we can also focus on aspects of physical preparation, player injuries…
10. Create a database for future analysis
By compiling all the data that we can extract from each week’s analysis, not only from matches but also from training sessions, we can create a database that will help us, in the future, to find answers to new questions that may arise.
These are the main tasks an analyst has to do during a competition week. This does not mean that he/she does not have to do more, as he/she must always be available to the demands of the coaching staff and the team. Thanks to this good predisposition, you will be closer to achieving the final objective.
Goal hug.