How Data Science Keeps Liverpool Ahead in Football’s Tactical EvolutionLiverpool’s Data-Driven Future Built on Physics and PrecisionLiverpool have never been afraid of pushing boundaries. On the pitch, their intensity has defined an era. Off it, a quiet revolution has been taking place — in algorithms, models and metrics, built by minds more likely to be found at a physics conference than a football dugout.
As The Athletic reported, the Reds have doubled down on their commitment to data-led decisions with the appointment of Laurie Shaw — a former head of AI at City Football Group. Shaw, who holds a PhD in computational astrophysics from the University of Cambridge, joins a team that already reads like the staff room of a Russell Group university.Spearman’s Pitch Control and Scientific VisionAt the core of Liverpool’s data philosophy is William Spearman, the club’s director of research.
A Harvard-educated particle physicist, Spearman brought with him an outsider’s clarity and an insider’s obsession with space — not the cosmic kind, but the tactical, fluid, unpredictable kind that defines football.As The Athletic explain: “Replace ‘particles’ with ‘players’ and a similar approach can be used to understand a team’s influence on a football field. It was Spearman who led the charge on an elegant ‘pitch control’ model.
.. showing that you can accurately measure how much control each player, and team, has across each region of the pitch.
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