“For professional coaches or even simple hobby kickers. Many football fans will easily find the way to a tactical wizard by an automated game analysis on the computer. Sophisticated methods allow an easier assessment of the actors’ performance. For this purpose, basic performance parameters of the players are determined from pure movement data (including the ball) as well as uncovered hidden patterns in team movements and passing game for the untrained observer. This knowledge ruthlessly exposes the weaknesses of the next opponent, substantiates the feedback conversation with the analyzed player, and gives every discussion an unprecedented depth.”
@ NachtDieWissenSchafft 2014
(Leibniz Universität Hannover)
That’s the idea. But how does it work?
The movement information of the players required for the analysis is determined with the help of so-called tracking systems. The positions of the players (and the ball) on the field are determined at any time. While in the professional field mainly highly accurate but also expensive camera systems for video-based object tracking or the so-called “chip in the ball” (radio-based) are used, our solution should be applied to lower-cost techniques in the form of GPS loggers and / or smart cameras / smartphones. The (potentially) accepted inaccuracies during the object tracking are compensated by the developed of an analysis software. This software processes the trajectories of the players (and the ball) and generates information that enables or supports an analysis of the entire game, a team or a single player. In addition to today’s standard analyses, e.g. covered distance, “heat maps”, the formation of a team or a pass analysis, it also offers more advanced analyses in the domain of pattern recognition. The latter do not only measure the players’ performance but also reveal their typical behaviors or a team’s tactic.
