Why Is European Soccer Still So, Uh, I Don't Know, Dumb?
A couple weeks ago, I moderated a panel at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference with the following people:
-Sarah Rudd, co-founder of src | ftbl, former head of analytics at Arsenal
-Ian Graham, founder of Ludonautics, former head of research at Liverpool
-Laurie Shaw, director of football data at City Football Group
-Jesse Marsch, former manager of Leeds United and RB Leipzig
We talked about the state of analytical thinking in European soccer and how you get Proper Football Men to listen to your nerdy ideas. I’m quite happy with how it all turned out; the four of them are all in brilliant, in their own specific ways. The panel went online earlier this week:
Also, I ranked all 96 teams in Europe’s Big Five leagues based on how many points they’ve won per dollar they spent on wages:
Per Deloitte's most recent accounting, Real Madrid brought in more revenue -- €831.4 million -- than any other club in the world. In Spain, Barcelona weren't far behind at €800.1 million, but then you drop all the way down to €364.1 million for Atletico Madrid in third and €214.3 million for Sevilla in fourth. Big clubs have the ability to spend multitudes more than their smaller competition -- it just isn't a fair fight.
And then I went on ESPN FC Live to talk about the rankings and the international break:
Enjoy your weekends, all.