How data and AI is shaping football

This podcast interviews Paul Power, Skill Corner's Director of AI, about how football clubs utilize data in player recruitment and analysis. The discussion covers Skill Corner's methods (using AI to analyze player movement from broadcast footage), Paul's career journey influenced by Michael Cox's blog and the book "Moneyball," and the impact of data on on-pitch decisions. Specific examples include how data confirmed the effectiveness of Pep Guardiola's tactics and helped Everton refine Lukaku's positioning. Listeners gain insight into the evolving use of data in football, from simple metrics like final third entries to more sophisticated analyses of defensive actions and player movement, highlighting the shift from measuring distance run to assessing the quality of movement and its impact on preventing opponent actions.