Scouting the Opponent

Scouting can be a very tedious and arduous task. The obvious part of scouting is getting set plays, defensive and offensive corners and freekicks that were shots or crosses into the box. For my latest scouting on Carolina Railhawks, I wanted something more in depth that would help me learn the names of players and their personalities. I decided to tag most of the individual touches of each player for Carolina and link those situations to a grade- O+ ( offensive positive) D+ Defensive positive and O- (Offensive minus) and D- and defensive minus.  I also drew key passes for attacking players. This gave me a lot of information their attacking tendencies and team shape.

So how long did this process take: tag all touches by Railhawk players, draw key passes, and of course tag all goals, shots, crosses, and all set plays? Well, thanks to the genius of Interplay-sports software, running time of the game. The import from  the server took longer than the analysis itself.  I was surprised at how well I knew the Railhawks team by tagging most of their player's involvements on the ball.  By right clicking on a player I was able  to sub a player in and out of the game.

The last step was to choose the clips I wanted to show the coaching staff in showroom and make a presentation for them.  I have drawing tools in Presentation mode to highlight areas of the field and make some pictures to show attacking and defensive team shape.

Next team up, Edmonton.....  Stay tuned for how to see key situations of individual players of  opponents in multiple games.  The process takes seconds with the "Match Selection" feature in Presentation mode. Also, hear from the technical director of the Atl. Silverbacks and Fox Sports 1 analyst, Eric Wynalda.  How does he see the practical use of video analysis within a team and insights into the Champions League final..

The Atlanta Silverbacks introduce the "Video Coach"

The Atlanta Silverbacks of the North American soccer League, NASL, introduce the role of the
"Video Coach"
http://www.atlantasilverbacksfc.com/team/coachingstaff

The Professional soccer team based in Atlanta, Georgia, The Atlanta Silverbacks, have taken a huge step in video technology by introducing a "video coach" to the full time coaching staff. Technical director,  Eric Wynalda has quickly discovered that a video coach is an essential role for any professional team.

 Bert Leonard is no stranger to video analysis technology and some say he has been a pioneer for practical use of video technology for  soccer in the USA at all levels and has also put his stamp on Mexico and Costa Rica.

For the Atlanta Silverbacks, Bert, not only films training sessions, but he also imports and analyzes/codes all components of the training sessions live such that immediately following a training session, assistant coach Ricardo Montoya, can go into the office and say, "show me the 3rd progression of the match related part when the attacking team was was numbers up ." Bert clicks Match related, progression 3 in the Interplay-sports software and there it is. Also, "show me the goals we scored today in all phases of training." Bert presses goals and there they are as well as the position of  where the shot occurred on the field.

But is this information practical and useful? Bert says, "Absolutely.  It is all in how video is transferred from the coaching staff to the players. What player would not want education on correct attacking and defensive team shape. Also, my latest project is goals scored in training. This is the ultimate goal in the match, but we do look at how we score goals in training and compare those to the matches. What was the shot position of the goal on the field and from where are we generally scoring goals in training and are the forwards actually the ones scoring them in training?  It is one of those out of of the box things that needs attention.  The comparative of goals scored in training in all phases and the actual matches will give a lot of information about the demand and effectiveness of the training sessions. 

So talk to me about Live analysis and why?

That's an easy one. Why not? The interplay-sports software I use is made for live analysis. Why do the analysis after the game when I can have it right away for the coaching staff and players. I often show Eric Wynalda and the coaching staff key clips at halftime of matches. It could be that showing the build of a great chance or goal could lead to an important tactical change or reveal a tendency from the opponent.  Also, it is fun to read the game and tag video live. It challenges me to find key sequences and even grade individual players when they did well or grade them on plays that need improvement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRkhtU33FJU&list=UUqCtUpRwi3uUx_Z3fAZJiOQ

Need we say more!!! 

Check out Bert's next blog and hear quotes form  the coaching staff of the Atlanta Silverbacks on 

Bert's role as "Video Coach" .....