I Talked to the Theoretical Physicist Who Helped Save Liverpool

I finally got in touch with Liverpool’s former Head of Research, Ian Graham. We talked about how the club used his and his team’s data to win every possible trophy, how the rest of the sport is still way behind, and plenty more:

"The thing that really interested me was how little the Liverpool model has been successfully adopted," Graham told me. "So which teams have successfully adopted the Liverpool model? Brighton and Brentford: what do those two teams have in common? From the top, it's data-driven strategy -- everyone has to answer to the evidence, and if they're not answering to the evidence, they're out. Brighton and Brentford were League One clubs a decade ago when the current owners started investing in them.

"Then you've got clubs like Barcelona. They have the Barcelona Innovation Hub, but on the football side, they just operate like any other club when it comes to signings because, fundamentally, the people on the football side do not care. Their ego and their football expertise is what drives their decision-making."

Enjoy your weekends, everyone.