Chapter 153 Data is King

"Come on, everyone, let's do it to celebrate this victory!"

As Yang Huan raised the wine glass in his hand high, everyone at the scene stood up and raised their glasses.

Except for the players and non-drinkers like Charlene Lahiri, everyone else drank Tsingtao beer imported from China.

Although it is still mid-February and the weather is very cold, after drinking a glass of beer, I can only say in one word: refreshed!

More importantly, Yang Huan found the familiar taste of his hometown.

"I have a life creed!"

After drinking a glass of wine, Yang Huan waved his hand and motioned everyone to sit down.

Everyone sat down, but still looked up at him and listened to him speak.

"I believe that everyone should do at least one thing in their life that is different from others. Only then will life be meaningful. If we do things that others have done before, and they are all the most ordinary and common things, just like eating and sleeping, then what is the meaning of life?"

After Yang Huan finished speaking, almost everyone in the audience showed a hint of enlightenment.

"Well, Master Huan, well said!"

"That makes so much sense, it really hits the spot in my heart!"

Some people also expressed disbelief, as if such words were not something Yang Huan would say at all.

For example, she found it difficult to understand Horikita Maki.

Could it be copied from a book or a website forum?

"Thank you, Ms. Charlene Lahiri!" Yang Huan pointed at the beautiful Charlene Lahiri.

Suddenly there was a burst of cheering and shouting at the scene.

"She checked for me and found out that in the history of English football, no team from the third tier has ever won the FA Cup."

When Yang Huan said this, he deliberately paused.

Everyone in the audience fell silent, and each of them looked solemn.

"In more than a hundred years of history, no one has ever done this!"

Many players showed a hint of desire on their faces.

"We are in the quarter-finals and we only have three games left to achieve a feat that has never been done before and will probably never be done again, creating a new history of English football!"

Yang Huan's right hand up three gesture made many players present nod their heads.

There was a burst of extremely warm cheers and applause at the scene.

"Okay, Master Huan, we must fight hard in these three games!"

"Yes, even if we fight to the death, we must win!"

"We must win. If we win these three games, we will make history!"

"It's so exciting. This kind of opportunity doesn't come easily."

"If we don't fight now, when will we fight?"

Yang Huan stretched out his hands and signaled the players to be quiet.

"I won't say much. The competition depends on everyone. I just have one thing to say..."

Yang Huan faced all the players, coaches, and staff present and raised his glass high again.

“…Please, everyone!”

All the players, coaches and staff stood up immediately, raised their glasses and drank with him!

Every time Yang Huan invited people to dinner, Wangjiang Pavilion was always bustling and lively.

This is very rare in high-end restaurants in Europe.

All the guests who come to Wangjiang Pavilion have become accustomed to this kind of thing; after all, it is a Chinese restaurant.

As for Chinese food, if the dinner party is not lively, what’s the atmosphere?

Many guests even looked forward to meeting Southampton players and employees, or seeing the staff of WeChat company.

This is also a very honorable extra gain for them.

The reason why Yang Huan likes to treat people to dinner is that he firmly believes that it is the same everywhere in the world. In order to build good relationships, treating people to dinner is essential.

Haven’t you seen that Manchester United also often organizes dinners for players and employees?

After eating and drinking, Yang Huan hooked his finger at Charlene Lahiri.

The girl followed him out of the lobby reluctantly and came to the open-air restaurant area outside.

When the weather is cold, few guests are willing to come here to enjoy the breeze, especially at night.

"Hey, next time, call out, don't hook your fingers. If someone doesn't know, they might think we are just two..."

Charlene Lahiri tightened her thick down jacket, feeling a little cold and a little angry.

This guy is getting more and more outrageous. He simply treats himself as a servant who can be summoned and dismissed at will.

"What do you think about us two?" Yang Huan looked at her with a smile.

The faint light from the lamp posts along the Test River cast a shadow on her face, as if it was coated with a layer of light film.

The cold wind blew across her face, causing her bangs on both sides of her face to sway slightly.

Gradually, a faint blush appeared on the fair face.

Almost everyone worships her as a goddess, but few people know that she is much more beautiful in real life than on TV.

Charlene Lahiri was stared at by his eyes without moving. At first, she pretended to be fine, but gradually, she felt very uncomfortable. Her face turned redder involuntarily, and her body felt hot as if she had drunk alcohol.

"Just tell me what's going on. If you keep looking at me like that, I'll leave!" The tone sounded more like she was acting coquettishly.

Yang Huan laughed cheekily, "Sorry, my biggest weakness is that I can't stand pretty girls. Since you are so pretty, I couldn't help but take a few more glances at you!"

Wow, you just look at it, and you say it so openly and confidently?

Charlene Lahiri had an urge to beat him up.

"If you have something to say, just say it!" In the end, she couldn't bear to hate him.

I was even wondering in my heart, when he praised me for being beautiful, was he sincere?

"It's not a big deal actually." Yang Huan decided not to look at her anymore, so that she wouldn't think that he was flirting with her with his eyes all day long.

"You know a lot of people. I want to set up an analysis team in Southampton recently. Do you know any experts?"

When it comes to serious matters, Charlene Lahiri also regained her usual competence and calmness. "Analysis team?"

"Analyze the opponent before the game, analyze the game and the players on both sides during the game, and summarize the game after the game. In addition to the game, there is also an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the team, and even some professional advice on transfers."

Charlene Lahiri understood. "You mean analyst, or research coach."

There are such people in almost all Premier League teams, just in different positions.

For example, when Mourinho was coaching Chelsea in the early days, Villas-Boas was one of his analysts.

Mourinho is the head coach who attaches the most importance to data analysis. Many people even believe that once he loses his data analysis ability, his aura as a famous coach will no longer exist.

Another person who attaches great importance to data analysis is Barcelona's head coach Guardiola. His coaching team has 24 people, many of whom are professionals specializing in various data analysis.

"Yes, analyst, but I want to set up an analysis team to serve the team."

Although many analysts nominally work for the club, they actually work for a head coach. Once the head coach is fired, they will also be fired.

But what Yang Huan wants is an analysis team that serves not just the head coach, but everyone in Southampton, including tactics, games, training and even transfers, which are all areas that the analysis team needs to cover.

“Is there anyone suitable?”

Yang Huan was also troubled by this.

There would definitely be no problem in asking Zhu Liangcheng, Wang Lin and others to develop a set of analysis software.

The real question is, how can an outsider develop an application software for insiders?

Also, football analysis is not just those cold data. If you want those, turn left when you go out, OPTA under Sky TV can provide them. There are also some other football analysis companies in Europe that can provide such data.

A true football analyst must not only be able to deal with those cold and tedious data, but he must also understand football, especially if he has played football himself, because only those who have played football can understand the ins and outs of some seemingly strange actions of the players on the court, and thus better evaluate a player.

To be honest, there are not many people who meet these requirements.

What Yang Huan wants now is to set up an analysis team. At least it needs a few people to be called a team.

"There are many such people you mentioned, such as Everton's James Smith, Moyes' most capable assistant; Liverpool's strategic director, Frenchman Damian Comolli, Wenger's former assistant; Mike Forde, Chelsea's director of player data analysis, and Kevin Frege, Manchester City's chief data analyst."

Charlene Lahri knows all the analysts of these Premier League teams by heart, and it is obvious that she has put in a lot of effort.

"Many people don't know that the reason why Manchester United sold Stam was not because of the autobiography, but because Ferguson's data analysis team told him that Stam was no longer good, so he decided to sell him, but the Dutchman shined in Italy."

“Few people know that the first thing the Abu Dhabi consortium did after acquiring Manchester City was to set up a data analysis team of 12 people, led by Kevin Frege.”

Hearing this, Yang Huan shrugged, "Okay, I admit that we are behind in this regard!"

Data analysis is indeed Southampton's weakness, which also makes the coaching staff have a heavy workload.

This is mainly because Southampton did not have such an analytical team before and was a team in the English League One, so it was ignored.

Yang Huan has so many things to do, so it is normal for him to ignore such trivial matters.

Fortunately, it’s not too late to pay attention now.

Charlene Lahri didn't expect that Yang Huan would take the initiative to admit his mistake.

“Is there any good expert I can recommend?”

“In fact, the application of data in the field of football is still very superficial and not professional at all!”

Charlene Lahri expressed her own views, "In the United States, many data analysts in the NBA and football teams are top students from Harvard University or MIT, some of whom have PhDs. Compared with them, the current level of football data analysis may not even be as good as that of junior high school students."

"Including OPTA and Prozone?" Yang Huan was a little surprised.

These are the two top data analysis companies in the football field.

But Charlene Lahiri nodded affirmatively, "Yes."

Yang Huan was somewhat moved by what he heard. "How much do you think it would cost to build the best data analysis team that can rival the NBA and the American football team?"

"For clubs like Manchester City and Arsenal, the annual investment is about 2 million pounds, but if you want to reach the level of the United States, it will cost at least 4 million pounds. The whole set of equipment alone is very expensive."

Yang Huan had an idea in mind.

In the eyes of many Premier League teams, an investment of four million pounds is indeed very high. Instead of setting up an analytical team that requires long-term maintenance and investment, it is better to use this money to recruit new players.

Therefore, teams including Manchester United and Manchester City do not take it very seriously and are even reluctant to ask for the money.

But Yang Huan believes that data analysis will play an increasingly important role in the field of football.

At least there is one thing he is very clear about, that is, in 2014, even some amateur fans would talk about data, heat maps, running route maps, etc. when discussing football.

In professional circles, I am afraid that the application of data will be more in-depth.

This represents the future trend, and whoever is ahead will have the advantage.

The future of professional football will be an era where data is king!

"I know two experts in this area. One is Marcus du Sautoy, a professor of statistics at Oxford University. I interviewed him when I was writing a report before. I think he is an authority in this field in Europe and even in the world. He is also a die-hard football fan and played football when he was young."

"Southampton?" Yang Huan was surprised. Could it be such a coincidence?

Charlene Lahiri laughed, "You are so conceited. I am a die-hard Arsenal fan."

"Wow, doesn't he hate us now? How could he agree to come?"