Welcome to the free trial of our Data-Driven Opposition Scouting & Analysis course!
We’ve made a small number of the course modules available to view in full so you can experience the course before signing up, as well as the first few paragraphs of every module. Feel free to navigate through all of the modules as much as you’d like, but to make things easier the full modules available are:
Module 1 – Introduction
Module 2 – Best Practice & Industry Standards
Module 6 – Passing Networks & Player Relationships
Throughout this course we’ll use real, professional football data-sets from providers like Stats Bomb, Wyscout & Stats Perform (opta). These providers are used by most professional clubs around the world, meaning we can help deliver a more realistic educational experience. If you’re not familiar with these companies, please take some time to watch the videos below.
For a more fun learning experience, throughout this course we’re going to take on the role of the opposition data analyst for Arsenal as they progress through the rounds of the 2019/2020 F.A. Cup.
We’ll use this journey to investigate at the strengths and weaknesses of Bournemouth, Sheffield United, Man City & eventually our opponents in the final – Chelsea. Throughout the course we’ve designed tasks and exercises to investigate different aspects of these teams using data.
We’ve also got video interviews and insights from professional Data Analysts to add to the learning experience.
Ross Mitchell is the First Team Opposition Analyst at Celtic FC, a top Champions League club. Prior to Celtic, he was working for the Scottish National Team youth squads and Middlesbrough FC in the English Championship.
Even more exciting, and a sign of the power of the APFA’s education system, Ross took our Opposition Analysis course and was issued his certificate of completion in April 2020. Ross has now come full-circle, and is considered an industry leader in Opposition Analysis and we’re delighted to have him help us deliver education!
Marc O’Neill is a First-Team Assistant Coach-Analyst at Columbus Crew in the USA. An MLS Championship winning Analyst, Marc has also spent time with Hibs in Scotland & the English Premier League’s Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Association of Professional Football Analysis has worked hard to build relationships with these well-respected companies and staff to provide a best in class educational experience. Please respect this hard work and do not share any of the data sets provided in this course with anybody else.
An Opposition Analyst at a professional club is almost certainly comfortable with a number of programs linked to video and statistics, and it’s likely an Analysis Department will use something more complex than Microsoft Excel to perform their day-to-day data analysis.
To make things easier, the tasks in this course can all be completed in Excel (Microsoft) or Numbers (Apple/Mac). If you’re comfortable with more advanced software like Tableau or Power Bi, or you can code using R., Python or another programming language, feel free to use these as you see fit.
The main priority for this course is to help us organize our thoughts and ideas, and provide a structure and way of thinking about the use of data in opposition analysis.
The videos, tasks and articles included in the course modules have been designed to expand knowledge for any learner, no matter their level. The best learning experience will be achieved by watching, reading and taking part in all of the tasks, wile making notes and joining in discussions to share ideas in the comments sections.
Now we’re more familiar with the companies and professional experts we’ll be working with throughout the course, it’s time to get to work.
TASK 1
All of the tasks throughout the course will be highlighted in a green box like this. They will usually require you to download some data and answer some questions or produce a chart. Sometimes we may ask you to use the comments section below the modules to interact with other learners or post your thoughts on a topic. A huge strength of the APFA is our community of Analysts, so please take an active part in the commenting process when asked to do so.
The first task in this module is to post a couple of sentences about yourself. What club do you work for if any? What are you hoping to get from this course? And what are your aspirations for your career in football?
TASK 2
As mentioned above, you’ll be asked to compile a series of charts and answer some questions as you travel through this course. At the end, you’ll submit your work to be reviewed by a professional Analyst before a certificate of completion is issued. You can use whatever format you’d like to showcase your work, but we’d recommend ‘screenshotting’ or embedding your charts into Powerpoint or Keynote and making it into a semi-formal presentation.
The second task is to create this workbook and it’s first, introductory page. Add some details about yourself similar to the first task.
Once these tasks are complete, please move on to the next module.
Responses