December 19 – It is the first incarnation in English football of baseball movie Moneyball’s premise that the use of smart data during the game can win matches. Manchester City will be the first Premier League team to use live data in the dugout during the match to brief players and hone tactics.
Premier League rules have been relaxed this season to allow small technology devices at pitch side, Man City, working with the Official Cloud Software Provider, SAP, have developed a solution that adapts their already existing SAP Challenger Insights mobile app to a live match situation.
Currently the app is used by both men’s and women’s teams as part of their pre-game preparations.
City’s analysts load up tactical plans and opposition insights on to tablets in the lead up to games which are used in training and pre-match.
The updated app will build and plan set-pieces, communicate in-game tactical changes and deliver up-to-the-minute insights on the opposition using football data feeds. The software will also predict the best time to make substitutions depending on how the game is progressing.
“The partnership between Manchester City and SAP continues to push the boundaries of what is possible with technology,” said Bernd Leukert, Member of the Executive Board of
SAP SE, Products & Innovation. “As one of the first teams in the English Premier League to bring data onto the touchlines, the Club can now access the most complete view of an opponent’s setup during a match to optimize training, preparation and performance.”
Man City’s players have been responsive to the insights according to club captain, Vincent Kompany.
“The players love using SAP Challenger Insights; it gets me ready for the game and gives me a greater understanding about the players I’ll be coming up against,” he said.
Contact the writer of this story at paul.nicholson@insideworldfootball.com