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Soccermatics: Mathematical Adventures in the Beautiful Game Pro-Edition
Soccer is the most mathematical of sports--riddled with numbers, patterns, and shapes. How to make sense of them? The answer lies in mathematical modeling, a science with applications in a host of biological systems. Soccermatics brings the two together in a fascinating, mind-bending synthesis.
What's the similarity between an ant colony and Total Football, Dutch style? How is the Barcelona midfield linked geometrically? And how can we relate the mechanics of a Mexican Wave to the singing of cicadas in an Australian valley? Welcome to the world of mathematical modeling, expressed brilliantly by David Sumpter through the prism of soccer. Soccer is indeed more than a game and this book is packed with game theory. After reading it, you will forever watch the game with new eyes.
What's the similarity between an ant colony and Total Football, Dutch style? How is the Barcelona midfield linked geometrically? And how can we relate the mechanics of a Mexican Wave to the singing of cicadas in an Australian valley? Welcome to the world of mathematical modeling, expressed brilliantly by David Sumpter through the prism of soccer. Soccer is indeed more than a game and this book is packed with game theory. After reading it, you will forever watch the game with new eyes.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published May 5, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
May 5, 2016
I need to be honest up front - my first reaction on seeing this book was 'Let someone else review it.' I have zero interest in football, and don't understand why anyone cares about such a dull activity. But then it struck me that what better test could a book have than being tried out by someone without an interest in the theme, and I'm glad I stuck with it, because I really enjoyed it despite myself.
This is because David Sumpter may be using soccer as a hook for mathematical explorations, but the book is far more about the maths than the anything-but-beautiful game. So, for instance, the first chapter begins with the distribution of football results during a season, but quickly expands from that to explore the Poisson distribution and its much wider applications. If it weren't for the deeply irritating introduction, which is sickeningly enthusiastic about football, and a tendency to tell us far too much about players, pundits, teams and managers that mean nothing to me, I would have given the book five stars.
Even the football-oriented parts can be engaging to the non-fan. I don't care if Manchester City is better than Liverpool and I have no idea who Messi is, but when Sumpter abstracts from overpaid individuals and team loyalties, there is some distinctly interesting stuff about, for instance, patterns of flow on the pitch or the way a Mexican wave travels around a stadium. And there was certainly amusement to see that one of the football 'experts' Sumpter criticises predicted that Leicester would be relegated from the premier league in 2015/16, when, just before the book was published, they ended up as champions.
I also found Sumpter's last section really engaging. Here, he spends some time on an experiment to see if the effective use of data and mathematical models can make betting on football games more of a science than an art. Sumpter stresses that gambling is potentially dangerous and that the bookies make sure they come out on top overall - but he demonstrates that with the right mathematical approach you can possible beat the system by a few percentage points. There's almost a feel of the TV series Hustle about this attempt to take on the bookies and beat them at their own statistical game - and Sumpter puts his money where his mouth is, staking the advance for this book (at least, a part of his advance, or he was ripped off by his publisher).
Did reading Soccermatics turn me into a football fan? Absolutely not. I can see the point of enjoying a kick around, but I can't understand why anyone finds football or footballers interesting. However, Sumpter's book has persuaded me that there is a lot more to running a football team than herding musclebound athletes - that, in principle at least (it's not obvious how much teams actually apply these methods) mathematical models can improve team tactics and result in better performance - and that mathematical modelling can be just as interesting when applied to the football pitch as it is when used to analyse the movements of a flock of birds or a shoal of fish.
There may have been a few small sections I had to skip over, when I felt that Sumpter was getting too carried away with his obvious love of the game, but mostly, as the subtitle hints, I enjoyed my mathematical adventures in the 'beautiful' game.
This is because David Sumpter may be using soccer as a hook for mathematical explorations, but the book is far more about the maths than the anything-but-beautiful game. So, for instance, the first chapter begins with the distribution of football results during a season, but quickly expands from that to explore the Poisson distribution and its much wider applications. If it weren't for the deeply irritating introduction, which is sickeningly enthusiastic about football, and a tendency to tell us far too much about players, pundits, teams and managers that mean nothing to me, I would have given the book five stars.
Even the football-oriented parts can be engaging to the non-fan. I don't care if Manchester City is better than Liverpool and I have no idea who Messi is, but when Sumpter abstracts from overpaid individuals and team loyalties, there is some distinctly interesting stuff about, for instance, patterns of flow on the pitch or the way a Mexican wave travels around a stadium. And there was certainly amusement to see that one of the football 'experts' Sumpter criticises predicted that Leicester would be relegated from the premier league in 2015/16, when, just before the book was published, they ended up as champions.
I also found Sumpter's last section really engaging. Here, he spends some time on an experiment to see if the effective use of data and mathematical models can make betting on football games more of a science than an art. Sumpter stresses that gambling is potentially dangerous and that the bookies make sure they come out on top overall - but he demonstrates that with the right mathematical approach you can possible beat the system by a few percentage points. There's almost a feel of the TV series Hustle about this attempt to take on the bookies and beat them at their own statistical game - and Sumpter puts his money where his mouth is, staking the advance for this book (at least, a part of his advance, or he was ripped off by his publisher).
Did reading Soccermatics turn me into a football fan? Absolutely not. I can see the point of enjoying a kick around, but I can't understand why anyone finds football or footballers interesting. However, Sumpter's book has persuaded me that there is a lot more to running a football team than herding musclebound athletes - that, in principle at least (it's not obvious how much teams actually apply these methods) mathematical models can improve team tactics and result in better performance - and that mathematical modelling can be just as interesting when applied to the football pitch as it is when used to analyse the movements of a flock of birds or a shoal of fish.
There may have been a few small sections I had to skip over, when I felt that Sumpter was getting too carried away with his obvious love of the game, but mostly, as the subtitle hints, I enjoyed my mathematical adventures in the 'beautiful' game.
February 11, 2023
On paper, I should have loved this book.
I grew up watching soccer and still plan my weekends around important games. Also, I went to school to study Pure and Applied Mathematics and even published a paper a while ago expanding on the research I did while I was still in undergrad (epidemiology/population dynamics).
Given this book intersects two of my most enjoyable pursuits, how could I possibly explain the bad rating?
To start, it reads too much like a collection of pop-sci blog posts that are too shallow in content for the more specialized reader and don't provide substance to explain its choices. Remember that one textbook or professor back in university that would drop some theorem or corollary on your lap to explain some result, and then say - "the proof is left to the reader", or if he/she was an insufferable jerk, "the proof is obvious, and left to the reader..."
In a less rigorous way, that's this book. The author will cite how he simulated some phenomena using math but never delves deep enough into the theory to try and set us at ease that the assumptions he made or the model he used make sense for the problem at hand.
And that's the other thing that annoyed me about some chapters more than others, is that if you are sufficiently crafty and make enough assumptions as to what you should or should not take into consideration, then there'll be no shortage of applied models that can be used to describe some isolated aspect of football, whether it's passing, intercepting, moving around the pitch, etc.
If you always assume normality or the un-relatedness of events, then the world's your oyster!
Then there is the cherry-picking of results that are just a no-no in any science discipline. It's fine if you develop a model to try and make sense of a complex process, but if you then choose specific iterations of this model where the result happens to align with your theory, then that's a red flag for me.
You will see lots of the above, where a specific match is used to attempt to validate some models but no other statistics are presented to see how it aligns with the theory on a more general basis.
All of that, I suppose, could be forgiven if we tell ourselves that this was written for a more general audience. But I attempted to read the latter chapters with my Sunday morning football fan hat on, and found it "meh"...
And there's just no excuse for that, there are plenty of examples out there of successful writing by Mathematicians addressing a more general crowd - Steven Strogatz, Marcus du Sautoy, Simon Singh, just to name a few.
If you want to learn more about the rise of analytics in football or hidden economic forces that govern it, you can do a lot worse than Expected Goals or Soccernomics.
I grew up watching soccer and still plan my weekends around important games. Also, I went to school to study Pure and Applied Mathematics and even published a paper a while ago expanding on the research I did while I was still in undergrad (epidemiology/population dynamics).
Given this book intersects two of my most enjoyable pursuits, how could I possibly explain the bad rating?
To start, it reads too much like a collection of pop-sci blog posts that are too shallow in content for the more specialized reader and don't provide substance to explain its choices. Remember that one textbook or professor back in university that would drop some theorem or corollary on your lap to explain some result, and then say - "the proof is left to the reader", or if he/she was an insufferable jerk, "the proof is obvious, and left to the reader..."
In a less rigorous way, that's this book. The author will cite how he simulated some phenomena using math but never delves deep enough into the theory to try and set us at ease that the assumptions he made or the model he used make sense for the problem at hand.
And that's the other thing that annoyed me about some chapters more than others, is that if you are sufficiently crafty and make enough assumptions as to what you should or should not take into consideration, then there'll be no shortage of applied models that can be used to describe some isolated aspect of football, whether it's passing, intercepting, moving around the pitch, etc.
If you always assume normality or the un-relatedness of events, then the world's your oyster!
Then there is the cherry-picking of results that are just a no-no in any science discipline. It's fine if you develop a model to try and make sense of a complex process, but if you then choose specific iterations of this model where the result happens to align with your theory, then that's a red flag for me.
You will see lots of the above, where a specific match is used to attempt to validate some models but no other statistics are presented to see how it aligns with the theory on a more general basis.
All of that, I suppose, could be forgiven if we tell ourselves that this was written for a more general audience. But I attempted to read the latter chapters with my Sunday morning football fan hat on, and found it "meh"...
And there's just no excuse for that, there are plenty of examples out there of successful writing by Mathematicians addressing a more general crowd - Steven Strogatz, Marcus du Sautoy, Simon Singh, just to name a few.
If you want to learn more about the rise of analytics in football or hidden economic forces that govern it, you can do a lot worse than Expected Goals or Soccernomics.
January 12, 2020
Enjoyed this book but to be honest would have liked more maths in it! I am a university maths graduate so not everyone might feel the same way.
One thing that is noticeable is that some chapters are better than others. A chapter on the maths behind Mexican waves seemed like filler. The later chapters are much better. The Analysts Section, which was written after the first edition and talks about more recent technical advances and analyses, is especially interesting, as are the chapters where Sumpter gambles his own money and uses mathematical techniques to try and beat the bookies.
Definitely worth a read but, unfortunately, as Sumpter points out himself, a lot of the most interesting mathematical insights into football are kept secret by the clubs that discover them. Hopefully one day Sumpter will be able to release a book on these.
One thing that is noticeable is that some chapters are better than others. A chapter on the maths behind Mexican waves seemed like filler. The later chapters are much better. The Analysts Section, which was written after the first edition and talks about more recent technical advances and analyses, is especially interesting, as are the chapters where Sumpter gambles his own money and uses mathematical techniques to try and beat the bookies.
Definitely worth a read but, unfortunately, as Sumpter points out himself, a lot of the most interesting mathematical insights into football are kept secret by the clubs that discover them. Hopefully one day Sumpter will be able to release a book on these.
December 26, 2022
Quisiese saber más estadística, lo hubiera disfrutado más
June 2, 2016
http://www.themaineedge.com/style/soc...
One of the things that first drew me into sports fandom was the prevalence of numbers. Professional sports count a lot of things; as a kid with a proclivity for math and a lot of time on his hands, it’s no surprise that I would embrace that side of things.
It was baseball at first – and baseball remains my first love – but my fascination with these numbers slowly grew to encompass other professional sports. The explosion in advanced metrics in more recent times has only fueled that wonky fire that was built so many years ago.
But what if the numbers involved a sport I didn’t much care about? A sport like soccer?
Bringing soccer and math together is the sole goal of David Sumpter’s new book “Soccermatics: Mathematical Adventures in the Beautiful Game.” Sumpter combines a depth of mathematical knowledge and a lifelong love of football to offer up a whole new way to look at the world’s favorite sport.
In Part I – “On the Pitch” – Sumpter spends time exploring the notion of how math can be used to further understand the action on the field. He introduces a number of mathematical models aimed at illustrating the patterns that help make the greatest players great. He also looks in depth at the vast array of measurables scattered throughout the action and devotes time to determining what they mean in terms of on-field value and how individual brilliance can skew predictive methodologies.
In Part II – “In the Dugout” – Sumpter turns his analytical eye onto the tactical side of the game, looking at the sorts of influences that can be exerted by a team’s manager and how their decisions can both directly and indirectly impact a particular game. He also digs into game plans and schemes, as well as the probabilistic effects of these choices.
And in Part III – “From the Crowd” – the author takes yet another step back from the pitch, focusing now on many people surrounding the soccer realm. He explores the nature of fandom and models the social dynamics of crowd behavior. In addition, he takes a look at the huge gambling industry built around the game and the statistical necessities that come with running book on such a massive sporting enterprise.
You wouldn’t think that heavy math with charts and graphs galore would necessarily be a strong fit with die-hard soccer passion, but the truth is that “Soccermatics” brings the seemingly-disparate worlds together neatly. Sumpter has found the sweet spot between the two, using his love of one to elevate the engaging nature of the other and vice versa.
I have only the vaguest familiarity with soccer – it has never captured my attention – but even a general sports fan with a passing knowledge of the game will see recognizable names. Plus, Sumpter’s love of the game is infectious – it’s impossible not to be drawn in. Add to that the fact that my attraction to the wonkier side of sports never really went away and I’m in. While I may not be onboard with all of the specifics, it’s all quite fascinating in the general sense.
Whether he’s talking about the outlier brilliance of someone like Lionel Messi or the repercussions of managerial decisions or the depths of knowledge plumbed by the gambling establishment, Sumpter brings methods of mathematical understanding to all aspects of the game.
“Soccermatics” is a fascinating book, an intelligent work that strives to reflect the minute intricacies of the game by way of the numbers while never condescending to or overwhelming the reader. Soccer fans and math lovers will be thrilled, but in truth, a general understanding of both is really all you need to enjoy this one.
One of the things that first drew me into sports fandom was the prevalence of numbers. Professional sports count a lot of things; as a kid with a proclivity for math and a lot of time on his hands, it’s no surprise that I would embrace that side of things.
It was baseball at first – and baseball remains my first love – but my fascination with these numbers slowly grew to encompass other professional sports. The explosion in advanced metrics in more recent times has only fueled that wonky fire that was built so many years ago.
But what if the numbers involved a sport I didn’t much care about? A sport like soccer?
Bringing soccer and math together is the sole goal of David Sumpter’s new book “Soccermatics: Mathematical Adventures in the Beautiful Game.” Sumpter combines a depth of mathematical knowledge and a lifelong love of football to offer up a whole new way to look at the world’s favorite sport.
In Part I – “On the Pitch” – Sumpter spends time exploring the notion of how math can be used to further understand the action on the field. He introduces a number of mathematical models aimed at illustrating the patterns that help make the greatest players great. He also looks in depth at the vast array of measurables scattered throughout the action and devotes time to determining what they mean in terms of on-field value and how individual brilliance can skew predictive methodologies.
In Part II – “In the Dugout” – Sumpter turns his analytical eye onto the tactical side of the game, looking at the sorts of influences that can be exerted by a team’s manager and how their decisions can both directly and indirectly impact a particular game. He also digs into game plans and schemes, as well as the probabilistic effects of these choices.
And in Part III – “From the Crowd” – the author takes yet another step back from the pitch, focusing now on many people surrounding the soccer realm. He explores the nature of fandom and models the social dynamics of crowd behavior. In addition, he takes a look at the huge gambling industry built around the game and the statistical necessities that come with running book on such a massive sporting enterprise.
You wouldn’t think that heavy math with charts and graphs galore would necessarily be a strong fit with die-hard soccer passion, but the truth is that “Soccermatics” brings the seemingly-disparate worlds together neatly. Sumpter has found the sweet spot between the two, using his love of one to elevate the engaging nature of the other and vice versa.
I have only the vaguest familiarity with soccer – it has never captured my attention – but even a general sports fan with a passing knowledge of the game will see recognizable names. Plus, Sumpter’s love of the game is infectious – it’s impossible not to be drawn in. Add to that the fact that my attraction to the wonkier side of sports never really went away and I’m in. While I may not be onboard with all of the specifics, it’s all quite fascinating in the general sense.
Whether he’s talking about the outlier brilliance of someone like Lionel Messi or the repercussions of managerial decisions or the depths of knowledge plumbed by the gambling establishment, Sumpter brings methods of mathematical understanding to all aspects of the game.
“Soccermatics” is a fascinating book, an intelligent work that strives to reflect the minute intricacies of the game by way of the numbers while never condescending to or overwhelming the reader. Soccer fans and math lovers will be thrilled, but in truth, a general understanding of both is really all you need to enjoy this one.
April 14, 2019
Incoherent structure, irrelevant mixing of several concepts from maths to football to biology to social behaviour to even career counseling. Telling signs that it's author's first book. He improved significantly with his second book 'Outnumbered', which is a must read. This work though, can definitely be skipped by people who are either interested in maths or football or even just in books.
June 30, 2019
Simply brilliant !!
January 23, 2025
Du football et des maths, quoi de mieux pour commencer l'année ? Intéressant d'allier les deux disciplines, un livre de passionné. Bien souvent, c'était beaucoup trop matheux à mon goût et le fait de faire des mathématiques avancées x de la tactique footbalistique en anglais n'est pas forcément un de mes points forts.
N'a pas changé la manière dont je vois le jeu de manière FLAGRANTE car je suis une romantique du pied ballon qui veut absolument croire que la beauté du football réside dans sa mysticité, mais séduite par le concept, différent de ce qu'on lit d'habitude.
3/5
N'a pas changé la manière dont je vois le jeu de manière FLAGRANTE car je suis une romantique du pied ballon qui veut absolument croire que la beauté du football réside dans sa mysticité, mais séduite par le concept, différent de ce qu'on lit d'habitude.
3/5
March 2, 2020
Oikein mainio kirja jalkapallosta ja siihen liittyvästä matematiikasta, varsinkin tilastotieteestä ja todennäköisyyslaskennasta mutta myös monista muista. Sumpter osaa yhdistää jalkapallomatematiikan hienosti myös muihin aloihin kuten biologiaan. Erittäin nopeasti luettava kirja, eli popularisoinnissa on onnistuttu.
July 9, 2017
Absolutely fascinating book that takes a really novel approach to football.
April 15, 2020
David does an excellent job at breaking down complex problems into simple terms. This is a really well written book with plenty of humour along the way!
April 20, 2020
Fun, entertaining, and mathematical approach to soccer.
September 9, 2020
Understanding football from the angle of mathematics. A good read.
September 2, 2016
Overall very interesting for both the game's "aficionado" and the mathematically-oriented geek (I consider myself a lot of the first and a bit of the second). It strikes a perfect balance between football and math and manages to explain hard-to-grasp concepts from passing patterns and pressing strategies to how bookmaker odds are defined.
January 4, 2017
Fantastic book! I only have a mild interest in football and little understanding of mathematics and statistics, yet found this book fascinating. I'd recommend this to any football fan to widen their understanding of the game, but in the same token I would recommend the book to anyone who dislikes football too; reading this book helped me realise how intrinsic mathematics is to football.
March 20, 2018
I really like football. I've studied Maths to a reasonable level. I really liked The Mixer, Soccernomics and Inverting The Pyramid. In theory, this ticks all the boxes, and was very promising based on the concepts. Yet despite some reasonable insights, it felt like the idea of Maths in football came first, and it was up to Sumpter to put try and find some ways to 'explain' football, rather than an enthusiastic blogger who was able to use more resources in putting together a book. There were also some rather basic issues with some of his presentation.
What was commendable was that this did at least approach the subject in a mathematical fashion, and generally avoided the trap of showing off the maths for something that could be explained much more simply. Sumpter did have to win me over however, as the opening was rather tedious. One such example was a lengthy description about a simple piggy in the middle, another was using a simulation that proved a defender could stop an attacker getting to the goal-line first, provided the defender's starting position was closer to the line than the attacker. There is a place for this sort of maths, but I didn't feel it added a lot to an accessible work on maths in football, and gave me a negative impression from the start. He also made questionable assertions, such as goals being independent events (whereas I have read that goals are more likely a)later in the match and b)if more goals have been scored in the match previously).
The other significant weakness was using individual matches as an attempt to justify certain ideas, with a triumphant sounding phrases like 'and Italy went on to win this game 2-0,' only missing Point Proven tacked on the end. Sumpter knows statistics, and on the betting section later on, he even alludes to individual matches involving a lot of luck. Yet earlier on there are diagrams of passing networks in individual matches presented as significant in deciding a match. One match is 'noise' in the world of stats, and using a higher threshold for mimimum passes for an unsuccessful England side, compared to a lower threshold for a more successful USA side, felt like manipuating the stats to fit a narrative, the opposite of good statistical testing. He also uses the extreme value theorem to calculate how rare Messi's season goal tallies are, extrapolating rather than interpolating, which is less robust in statistical testing.
There were some genuinely interesting insights however, particularly the effect that leaders of the team have on other players - teammates will physically follow the natural leader in terms of positioning, which is more than just a good leader being a motivator. There were mathematical analyses of the creation of space in attack, explaining the theory behind the consensus of how to be successful. Convex hulls seemed at first to be a bit of a gimmick, but if they can mathematically show the influence of Carlos Tevez off the ball, they demonstrate it is more than just an error in perception, and might also show a player's defensive influence that isn't as obvious to the naked eye.
Yet something early in the book led me to question whether maths really can be used by performance analysts to change the game. Sumpter talked about the movements of fish being purely instinctive, but the most effective way of dealing with predators. Perhaps the top footballers are like those fish, operating instinctively but in a way that maximises effectiveness, and it remains to be seen just how effective the performance analysts can be in changing the game.
I wonder whether the lack of novelty was what I found disappointing, and that had an unreasonable expectation of how insightful this might be to someone familiar with these ideas - keen historians may not be so enamoured by a neat introduction to World War Two. But the frustrations were more than just boredom, it felt like Sumpter had relaxed his mathematical rigour to write a book that was readable, rather than robust. And when he speculated why using a tweaked ELO ranking couldn't beat the bookies, I felt like screaming 'BECAUSE THEY USE A MODIFIED ELO SYSTEM TO CALCULATE WIN PROBABILITIES TOO!' (it could be they don't, but it seems pretty likely)
What was commendable was that this did at least approach the subject in a mathematical fashion, and generally avoided the trap of showing off the maths for something that could be explained much more simply. Sumpter did have to win me over however, as the opening was rather tedious. One such example was a lengthy description about a simple piggy in the middle, another was using a simulation that proved a defender could stop an attacker getting to the goal-line first, provided the defender's starting position was closer to the line than the attacker. There is a place for this sort of maths, but I didn't feel it added a lot to an accessible work on maths in football, and gave me a negative impression from the start. He also made questionable assertions, such as goals being independent events (whereas I have read that goals are more likely a)later in the match and b)if more goals have been scored in the match previously).
The other significant weakness was using individual matches as an attempt to justify certain ideas, with a triumphant sounding phrases like 'and Italy went on to win this game 2-0,' only missing Point Proven tacked on the end. Sumpter knows statistics, and on the betting section later on, he even alludes to individual matches involving a lot of luck. Yet earlier on there are diagrams of passing networks in individual matches presented as significant in deciding a match. One match is 'noise' in the world of stats, and using a higher threshold for mimimum passes for an unsuccessful England side, compared to a lower threshold for a more successful USA side, felt like manipuating the stats to fit a narrative, the opposite of good statistical testing. He also uses the extreme value theorem to calculate how rare Messi's season goal tallies are, extrapolating rather than interpolating, which is less robust in statistical testing.
There were some genuinely interesting insights however, particularly the effect that leaders of the team have on other players - teammates will physically follow the natural leader in terms of positioning, which is more than just a good leader being a motivator. There were mathematical analyses of the creation of space in attack, explaining the theory behind the consensus of how to be successful. Convex hulls seemed at first to be a bit of a gimmick, but if they can mathematically show the influence of Carlos Tevez off the ball, they demonstrate it is more than just an error in perception, and might also show a player's defensive influence that isn't as obvious to the naked eye.
Yet something early in the book led me to question whether maths really can be used by performance analysts to change the game. Sumpter talked about the movements of fish being purely instinctive, but the most effective way of dealing with predators. Perhaps the top footballers are like those fish, operating instinctively but in a way that maximises effectiveness, and it remains to be seen just how effective the performance analysts can be in changing the game.
I wonder whether the lack of novelty was what I found disappointing, and that had an unreasonable expectation of how insightful this might be to someone familiar with these ideas - keen historians may not be so enamoured by a neat introduction to World War Two. But the frustrations were more than just boredom, it felt like Sumpter had relaxed his mathematical rigour to write a book that was readable, rather than robust. And when he speculated why using a tweaked ELO ranking couldn't beat the bookies, I felt like screaming 'BECAUSE THEY USE A MODIFIED ELO SYSTEM TO CALCULATE WIN PROBABILITIES TOO!' (it could be they don't, but it seems pretty likely)
February 15, 2021
Not a bad book overall but clearly the author David sumpter is a mathematical genius and I'm not. He really looked into some of the mathematical explanations that go on to explain why certain teams play in a certain way or why certain things happen in games . He's really looking to try to see the patterns that sit behind the painting. I totally agree with that but I guess you just have to be of a certain intellectual capability to be able to appreciate all the effort that clearly went into this. And once again I lack that intellectual capability certainly at a mathematical level. Having said that there were some really interesting sections in the book. The very bit at the end was about gambling so I would just take that whole chunk out. I know gambling is a big thing in the football industry but it just didn't interest me at all. Anyway enough of my rambling here are some of the best bits from the book:
The fact that the patchwork of zones in barcelonas 4: 3: 3 has a similar symmetrical beauty to their passing network is not a coincidence: it is a mathematical necessity.
Compared with the average left back in the Premier League: Baines was contributing substantially more when the ball was further up the pitch, but substantially less when the ball was in his own half. Any team interested in signing Baines would need to have a strong left sided centerback who could cover while Baines created chances further forward. Building a team is about fitting all the pieces together. A dream team : )
The two minutes in which Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero brought the title to the blue side of Manchester for the first time in 44 years: the half time sound of you'll never walk alone, followed by liverpool's three goal comeback in Istanbul: these may all partly be explained by logic and reason, but they will always retain an element of legend to them.
Another equally remarkable story revolves around the three separate Dynamo Kiev sides of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s that triumphed in Europe. They were managed by a dude called lobanovsky: the remarkable property of football was that the efficiency of the subsystem was greater than the sum of the efficiencies of the elements that comprise it. He was the first to realize their team's performance can become more than the sum of its individual parts. Get your brains around that sentence if you can : )
On the pitch, Michel’s style demanded the same intense degree of teamwork and pressing as did lobanovsky's. However while lobanovsky exercised tight control over his players, michels accepted that he was working with stars who all happened to be millionaires. AC Milan strikers Marco van basten and Ruud gullit had to be motivated to play as part of the team. To create the right atmosphere, Michels would take his players on our long walks in the countryside, helping them bond and so that he could observe their personal chemistry while that was happening.
Many of the mathematical models I've developed in this book have drawn analogies with animal movement: the space creation of Barcelona and the schooling formation of fish, the hunting of Lions and the narrowing down of space by Holger badstuber, and the superlinear team of ants . And it seems that sports researchers are starting to think the same way that I do. Models of animal behavior are being adopted as models of team performance: we can use the way we study the coordination and movement of animals to improve the coordination and movement of footballers.
My favorite moment was when Stevie Gerrard in an attempt to get level back in the game at 1/2 down sent one of his trademark 40 yarders flying into the KOP stand, nowhere near the goal. The KOP responded with a “what the ******* what the ******* what the ******* hell was that”? It was a spontaneous reaction, singing a song usually reserved for wayward shots by the opposition, to show a humorous appreciation of the frustrations of their captain. The crowds joke was subtle but it was made almost in synchrony by the thousands of fans. Gerard still annoyed with himself slowly lifted his hands and ironically applauded the KOP. Hilarious.
The fact that the patchwork of zones in barcelonas 4: 3: 3 has a similar symmetrical beauty to their passing network is not a coincidence: it is a mathematical necessity.
Compared with the average left back in the Premier League: Baines was contributing substantially more when the ball was further up the pitch, but substantially less when the ball was in his own half. Any team interested in signing Baines would need to have a strong left sided centerback who could cover while Baines created chances further forward. Building a team is about fitting all the pieces together. A dream team : )
The two minutes in which Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero brought the title to the blue side of Manchester for the first time in 44 years: the half time sound of you'll never walk alone, followed by liverpool's three goal comeback in Istanbul: these may all partly be explained by logic and reason, but they will always retain an element of legend to them.
Another equally remarkable story revolves around the three separate Dynamo Kiev sides of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s that triumphed in Europe. They were managed by a dude called lobanovsky: the remarkable property of football was that the efficiency of the subsystem was greater than the sum of the efficiencies of the elements that comprise it. He was the first to realize their team's performance can become more than the sum of its individual parts. Get your brains around that sentence if you can : )
On the pitch, Michel’s style demanded the same intense degree of teamwork and pressing as did lobanovsky's. However while lobanovsky exercised tight control over his players, michels accepted that he was working with stars who all happened to be millionaires. AC Milan strikers Marco van basten and Ruud gullit had to be motivated to play as part of the team. To create the right atmosphere, Michels would take his players on our long walks in the countryside, helping them bond and so that he could observe their personal chemistry while that was happening.
Many of the mathematical models I've developed in this book have drawn analogies with animal movement: the space creation of Barcelona and the schooling formation of fish, the hunting of Lions and the narrowing down of space by Holger badstuber, and the superlinear team of ants . And it seems that sports researchers are starting to think the same way that I do. Models of animal behavior are being adopted as models of team performance: we can use the way we study the coordination and movement of animals to improve the coordination and movement of footballers.
My favorite moment was when Stevie Gerrard in an attempt to get level back in the game at 1/2 down sent one of his trademark 40 yarders flying into the KOP stand, nowhere near the goal. The KOP responded with a “what the ******* what the ******* what the ******* hell was that”? It was a spontaneous reaction, singing a song usually reserved for wayward shots by the opposition, to show a humorous appreciation of the frustrations of their captain. The crowds joke was subtle but it was made almost in synchrony by the thousands of fans. Gerard still annoyed with himself slowly lifted his hands and ironically applauded the KOP. Hilarious.
January 22, 2023
La divulgación científica que utiliza el fútbol como ejemplo para explicar matemáticas
Fútbol es fútbol, se dice. Pero es mucho más, fútbol también es matemáticas, o al menos una manera apasionante de aprenderlas.
Escuadra, parábola, triangulación. ¿De qué estamos hablando? La mayoría dirán que de fútbol. Pues bien, sí, pero también de matemáticas. Y es que como demuestra el matemático David Sumpter en este libro, se puede aprender mucho viendo un partido de tu equipo favorito.
Para empezar, podemos aprender estadística. Apostando, o analizando los pases realizados de un jugador cualquiera. Podemos aprender geometría analizando las triangulaciones del Barça actual o del Ajax de los setenta. Los modelos matemáticos nos podrán ayudar a entender cómo funciona la cooperación sobre el césped o, gracias a los cánticos de la grada, saber cuál es la clave de un fenómeno tan en boga como el contagio social o, en términos más actuales, la viralización.
Y es que por difícil que parezca, las matemáticas han tenido y tienen una importancia crucial en el desarrollo del juego. Una de las mayores revoluciones futbolísticas de los últimos años fue la introducción de los tres puntos para el equipo ganador como mecanismo de incentivo para favorecer el fútbol de ataque. Y nada mejor para entender los modelos probabilísticos que hacerlo a partir de los millones de microapuestas que se realizan a lo largo de cada minuto de un partido sobre los asuntos más descabellados.
Escrito por un experto matemático amante del fútbol, este libro no sólo es una manera diferente, entretenida y curiosa de aprender matemáticas, sino que permite al amante del deporte disfrutar del juego viéndolo desde una nueva y apasionante perspectiva.
Fútbol es fútbol, se dice. Pero es mucho más, fútbol también es matemáticas, o al menos una manera apasionante de aprenderlas.
Escuadra, parábola, triangulación. ¿De qué estamos hablando? La mayoría dirán que de fútbol. Pues bien, sí, pero también de matemáticas. Y es que como demuestra el matemático David Sumpter en este libro, se puede aprender mucho viendo un partido de tu equipo favorito.
Para empezar, podemos aprender estadística. Apostando, o analizando los pases realizados de un jugador cualquiera. Podemos aprender geometría analizando las triangulaciones del Barça actual o del Ajax de los setenta. Los modelos matemáticos nos podrán ayudar a entender cómo funciona la cooperación sobre el césped o, gracias a los cánticos de la grada, saber cuál es la clave de un fenómeno tan en boga como el contagio social o, en términos más actuales, la viralización.
Y es que por difícil que parezca, las matemáticas han tenido y tienen una importancia crucial en el desarrollo del juego. Una de las mayores revoluciones futbolísticas de los últimos años fue la introducción de los tres puntos para el equipo ganador como mecanismo de incentivo para favorecer el fútbol de ataque. Y nada mejor para entender los modelos probabilísticos que hacerlo a partir de los millones de microapuestas que se realizan a lo largo de cada minuto de un partido sobre los asuntos más descabellados.
Escrito por un experto matemático amante del fútbol, este libro no sólo es una manera diferente, entretenida y curiosa de aprender matemáticas, sino que permite al amante del deporte disfrutar del juego viéndolo desde una nueva y apasionante perspectiva.
August 27, 2023
Buku ini mencoba memodelkan sepakbola ke matematik, hasilnya: cuma dapat sedikit.
1. Sisi geometrik sepakbola: Rantai gerendel gelandang-bek Inter Milan era Helenio Hererra, segitiga sudut kanan Liverpool 70-80an, dan sudah pasti tiki-taka. Disebutkan juga soal aliran bola terdesentralisasi Spanyol yang mengalahkan Pirlo-centralized nya Italia di Euro 2012. Penyebutan contoh-contoh yang terlalu dipaksakan
2. Pemain yang hebat secara intuitif mengaplikasikan Hukum-hukum sains. Penulis terinspirasi tendangan salto Zlatan dan menceritakan keterkaitannya dengan Hukum Newton. Terkait rekor gol Cristiano dan Messi, penulis mengaitkannya dengan distribusi nilai ekstrim probabilitas, yaitu sebaran deviasi ekstrim dari rata-rata kumpulan nilai, dapat digunakan untuk menentukan kemungkinan pecahnya rekor. Semakin dicari-cari hubungannya.
3. Bahwa berdasarkan studi “counterattacks offer the best opportunities to score” didasarkan pada pada saat terjadi, pemain bertahan bergerak jauh dari posisi standarnya dan jumlah mereka tidak mencukupi untuk menghadang serangan ke arah gawang. Berapa banyak tim jaman sekarang yang konsisten menerapkan counterattack?
4. Pembahasan setelahnya malah kurang matematis: tentang bagaimana Louis Val Gaal dan Valery Lobanovskiy memacu semangat bersama dan disiplin bersama, meminimalisir individualitas pemain.
5. Dan ujung-ujungnya bagaimana cara memprediksi hasil pertandingan sebagai bahan taruhan. Bukan dengan matematika, tapi dengan wisdom of the crowd, rata-rata prediksi yang masing-masing saling independen.
Terlihat penulis tidak punya cukup banyak referensi dan data untuk dianalisis.
1. Sisi geometrik sepakbola: Rantai gerendel gelandang-bek Inter Milan era Helenio Hererra, segitiga sudut kanan Liverpool 70-80an, dan sudah pasti tiki-taka. Disebutkan juga soal aliran bola terdesentralisasi Spanyol yang mengalahkan Pirlo-centralized nya Italia di Euro 2012. Penyebutan contoh-contoh yang terlalu dipaksakan
2. Pemain yang hebat secara intuitif mengaplikasikan Hukum-hukum sains. Penulis terinspirasi tendangan salto Zlatan dan menceritakan keterkaitannya dengan Hukum Newton. Terkait rekor gol Cristiano dan Messi, penulis mengaitkannya dengan distribusi nilai ekstrim probabilitas, yaitu sebaran deviasi ekstrim dari rata-rata kumpulan nilai, dapat digunakan untuk menentukan kemungkinan pecahnya rekor. Semakin dicari-cari hubungannya.
3. Bahwa berdasarkan studi “counterattacks offer the best opportunities to score” didasarkan pada pada saat terjadi, pemain bertahan bergerak jauh dari posisi standarnya dan jumlah mereka tidak mencukupi untuk menghadang serangan ke arah gawang. Berapa banyak tim jaman sekarang yang konsisten menerapkan counterattack?
4. Pembahasan setelahnya malah kurang matematis: tentang bagaimana Louis Val Gaal dan Valery Lobanovskiy memacu semangat bersama dan disiplin bersama, meminimalisir individualitas pemain.
5. Dan ujung-ujungnya bagaimana cara memprediksi hasil pertandingan sebagai bahan taruhan. Bukan dengan matematika, tapi dengan wisdom of the crowd, rata-rata prediksi yang masing-masing saling independen.
Terlihat penulis tidak punya cukup banyak referensi dan data untuk dianalisis.
December 16, 2024
Took too long to read this. Good read. The math is accessible and clearly explained when not (though I wish more discussion on the Poisson distribution was done). Can become "dry" to a reader who is not a football fan, as I am, because even I had to remind myself "why" I was interested in this. A decent book, but could have done with a colored version to make the graphics "pop" and be clearer. Might do well with an online companion to actually interact with and play with these models and articles, in real time. Would be even great to be able to import your own data or pull data online to slurp into an analysis or model to see for yourself. Still, I think you would need the math background and mindset to appreciate this.
Reading this, realized early on, I'm not really a "betting man." Which seems to be the same for the author. I suspect people are not reading the book to reason about the game but to "figure things out" to make better betting decisions. If so, do not think this is the book for you, since the author did not seem to win that much. I do like that the book drifts into the most interesting aspect of using math to explain football; viewing a team as a complex superorganism, discussing relationships, and finding patterns. I think the math reveals more about the game, and make it a more rich topic. I don't view stats as starving the game of passion or reducing it to something formulaic. It becomes beautiful and interesting since it is not the game we are discussing but human behavior and decision making having interesting emergent aspects. Read the book, when it gets to be a slog, take a break, and come back to it later.
Reading this, realized early on, I'm not really a "betting man." Which seems to be the same for the author. I suspect people are not reading the book to reason about the game but to "figure things out" to make better betting decisions. If so, do not think this is the book for you, since the author did not seem to win that much. I do like that the book drifts into the most interesting aspect of using math to explain football; viewing a team as a complex superorganism, discussing relationships, and finding patterns. I think the math reveals more about the game, and make it a more rich topic. I don't view stats as starving the game of passion or reducing it to something formulaic. It becomes beautiful and interesting since it is not the game we are discussing but human behavior and decision making having interesting emergent aspects. Read the book, when it gets to be a slog, take a break, and come back to it later.
May 8, 2020
Imagine a Don from Oxford, a mathematician, a fan who is crazy about football and Liverpool, a coach of U10s, an individual who believes he is the next Alex Furgerson, a person married to a Swedish lady who once correctly predicted all 13 matches in the Swedish football pools - a literally one in a million feat, and an author who has written dry books suddenly approached by Bloomsbury to write a book on soccer based on mathematical theory. This is David Sumpter.
When the latter takes place, for him it is a dream come true and he goes berserk! He looks at geometry, crowd and team movement, why three points a game changed soccer, when the wisdom of crowds works and when it doesn't, why the 6 second rule for counter pressing is paramount and presents the latest in analytics. But the absolute best two chapters are when he decides to take on the bookies with his own money using plain mathematical logic. From statistics, he shows that bettors have an in built bias again betting for a draw (understandable), and a bias for consistently underestimating the favourite - we somehow believe than an upset is going to happen when it does not. He made money exploiting these biases!
When the latter takes place, for him it is a dream come true and he goes berserk! He looks at geometry, crowd and team movement, why three points a game changed soccer, when the wisdom of crowds works and when it doesn't, why the 6 second rule for counter pressing is paramount and presents the latest in analytics. But the absolute best two chapters are when he decides to take on the bookies with his own money using plain mathematical logic. From statistics, he shows that bettors have an in built bias again betting for a draw (understandable), and a bias for consistently underestimating the favourite - we somehow believe than an upset is going to happen when it does not. He made money exploiting these biases!
February 2, 2022
I'm making an effort to understand the game of football (soccer) at a deeper level. Having a mathematics background myself it only made sense to get a start with this book and I am glad I did.
The author takes a look at more than just the statistics of the game but at such subjects of movement and flow within the game and comparing it to studies of packs of fish and how well ants work together. The underlying moral of the comparison, for me, is tight unity of a team equals successful endeavors in any environment.
I took away a lot of information that will help me further my knowledge of the game and it's intricacies. What the book is not, though, is a book for handicapping methodolgy. it will give you insight in ways you can go about doing this, including a few formulas, but that is about it.
i highly recommend this book to anyone looking to get a greater understanding of what does and can go on during a football match particularly if they are inclined to look at it with a hint of scientific observation.
The author takes a look at more than just the statistics of the game but at such subjects of movement and flow within the game and comparing it to studies of packs of fish and how well ants work together. The underlying moral of the comparison, for me, is tight unity of a team equals successful endeavors in any environment.
I took away a lot of information that will help me further my knowledge of the game and it's intricacies. What the book is not, though, is a book for handicapping methodolgy. it will give you insight in ways you can go about doing this, including a few formulas, but that is about it.
i highly recommend this book to anyone looking to get a greater understanding of what does and can go on during a football match particularly if they are inclined to look at it with a hint of scientific observation.
September 16, 2020
Es un libro muy entretenido, con un acercamiento matemático al fútbol, recogiendo muchos estudios al respecto y tratando de comprender dinámicas, movimientos y estrategias. Las matemáticas agrupan las estadísticas para ofrecer una interpretación de lo que está pasando en el campo.
Las matemáticas demuestran que los modelos de un aspecto del mundo se pueden transferir y aplicar a otro. En este libro no solo hay fútbol, sino que Sumpter se basa mucho en sus propios estudios del campo de la biología, aplicando al fútbol colectivo comportamientos colectivos del reino animal.
No profundiza casi nada en la parte técnica de sus modelos, más bien solo muestra los resultados y conclusiones a los que llega y permite dar un vistazo a las posibilidades que ofrecen. Pero ese es el estilo y el objetivo del libro, un poco de divulgación sin meter las manos en la masa. Si deseas esto último, Sumpter aporta un buen puñado de referencias con las que sí podrás hacerlo.
Las matemáticas demuestran que los modelos de un aspecto del mundo se pueden transferir y aplicar a otro. En este libro no solo hay fútbol, sino que Sumpter se basa mucho en sus propios estudios del campo de la biología, aplicando al fútbol colectivo comportamientos colectivos del reino animal.
No profundiza casi nada en la parte técnica de sus modelos, más bien solo muestra los resultados y conclusiones a los que llega y permite dar un vistazo a las posibilidades que ofrecen. Pero ese es el estilo y el objetivo del libro, un poco de divulgación sin meter las manos en la masa. Si deseas esto último, Sumpter aporta un buen puñado de referencias con las que sí podrás hacerlo.
May 16, 2017
Once again I dive into one of my current obsessions, soccer. But this time I temper it with something I dislike a great deal, math. Math and I have had a long history of never understanding each other and constantly looking for ways to avoid figuring out our differences. But in pursuit of my new love, I decided to team up with my nemesis to win over the heart and mind of the beautiful game.
(That sounded better in my head) Mr. Sumpter does a terrific job of showing how mathematics applies to the world around us, and by using his love of soccer, he shows the in's and out's of statistics and numbers in the game. He also explains the geometry of formations and how as the game changed, the way it was played changed.
All in all, it deepened my current obsession and is quite the enjoyable read if you are a fan of either subject.
(That sounded better in my head) Mr. Sumpter does a terrific job of showing how mathematics applies to the world around us, and by using his love of soccer, he shows the in's and out's of statistics and numbers in the game. He also explains the geometry of formations and how as the game changed, the way it was played changed.
All in all, it deepened my current obsession and is quite the enjoyable read if you are a fan of either subject.
February 10, 2018
Soccermatics: Mathematic Adventures in the Beautiful Game (2016) by David Sumpter is a fine read that looks at how math can be used to explain and improve football. Sumpter is a professor of Applied Math in Sweden who does quite a lot of research helping football teams.
The book looks are how graphs can be used to look at team passing. There is a very well named chapter 'How Slime Mould Built Barcelona'. There is a section on betting markets and strategies that can be used with them. The book also has a section on how statisticians and mathematicians are being employed now by football teams.
The book is well written and has good explanations of the math involved. For anyone interested in the use of math in sport or in football the book is well worth a read.
The book looks are how graphs can be used to look at team passing. There is a very well named chapter 'How Slime Mould Built Barcelona'. There is a section on betting markets and strategies that can be used with them. The book also has a section on how statisticians and mathematicians are being employed now by football teams.
The book is well written and has good explanations of the math involved. For anyone interested in the use of math in sport or in football the book is well worth a read.
May 2, 2021
En el prólogo el autor menciona que espera que el libro te enseñe algo, desafortunadamente, creo que se queda en algunas cosas divertidas que puedes mencionar cuando estás viendo el fut con los amigos en el bar. Lo que más disfrute fue leer sobre los diferentes experimentos y papers de matemáticas que se han publicado y que el autor utiliza para hacer analogías con el futbol. También cuando diseña y corre el modelo de apuestas para intentar ganarle a las casas apostadoras. Por otro lado, el capítulo de la chilena de Zlatan me hizo querer dejar de leer el libro, es una pregunta de examen de secundaria, poco más. Como un primer approach a lo que está haciendo la gente para entender mejor el fut -en el sentido de moneyball- es un libro divertido.
December 27, 2018
Un gran libro que explica la relación entre el fútbol y las matemáticas, más en concreto, la probabilidad, y como ésta puede ser utilizada para predecir los resultados de los partidos, el funcionamiento de un equipo y la distribución de pases, me pareció interesante también como se relaciona con la táctica y las redes de pases, nos deja ver qué hay haya fuera un gran campo de trabajo para los matemáticos en el mundo del fútbol, mención especial también al capítulo que relaciona al fútbol con la biología, el trabajo en equipo. Muy recomendable si te gustan tanto las matemáticas, probabilidad y el fútbol.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 26, 2020
I read this one for work, since I now work on a soccer product and have known next to nothing about soccer for my entire existence up to now. In making some fairly significant dents in my astounding ignorance of the beautiful game, though, this book also confirmed some negative suspicions I've long held regarding my mathematical aptitudes. Fortunately, the author is a friendly, engaging teacher on both accounts. For those with an interest in soccer, betting, or applied statistics, I would recommend this book as a concise tour of all three subjects. It's not a master work of literature, but it is a practical guide to its subject matter.
February 21, 2025
Man! I do not understand why this book is rated this low here; should've been at least a 4.10! Of course, it has its dull parts, but even they are quite informative and have a lot to glean information and fun techniques from!
Loved this book. As a lifelong and passionate Football (Soccer) fan with a skill set and passion in Data Analytics/Data Science/Statistics, I took a lot of inspiration from the statistical modeling techniques used in Football described in this book. Dr. Sumpter also explained the modeling methods well; however, I believe he should have gone into more depth or basic details about the logic or origins behind how a modern measure (e.g., progressive passes, xG, etc.) emerged and who worked on it to craft such a methodology.
But I understand; this is more of a general overview, a fun ride for enthusiasts through Data Science in Football. More importantly, it is a fun ride from which enthusiasts can glean a lot of useful information and apply in real life for their sports interests and beyond!
Dr. Sumpter, by going into the history and logic behind the techniques used, could have made a full-on "Introductory Guide for Data Professionals to Break Into Sports Analytics"; I hope he makes one, but for now, his YouTube channel and other social media profiles (including his "Soccermatics" website) are quite fine to work with!
I cannot recommend this book enough to fans/enthusiasts of Sports Analytics and Sports Statistics, like myself - especially those who love the fun side of mathematics and quantifying abstract ideas and patterns to understand life better.
Loved this book. As a lifelong and passionate Football (Soccer) fan with a skill set and passion in Data Analytics/Data Science/Statistics, I took a lot of inspiration from the statistical modeling techniques used in Football described in this book. Dr. Sumpter also explained the modeling methods well; however, I believe he should have gone into more depth or basic details about the logic or origins behind how a modern measure (e.g., progressive passes, xG, etc.) emerged and who worked on it to craft such a methodology.
But I understand; this is more of a general overview, a fun ride for enthusiasts through Data Science in Football. More importantly, it is a fun ride from which enthusiasts can glean a lot of useful information and apply in real life for their sports interests and beyond!
Dr. Sumpter, by going into the history and logic behind the techniques used, could have made a full-on "Introductory Guide for Data Professionals to Break Into Sports Analytics"; I hope he makes one, but for now, his YouTube channel and other social media profiles (including his "Soccermatics" website) are quite fine to work with!
I cannot recommend this book enough to fans/enthusiasts of Sports Analytics and Sports Statistics, like myself - especially those who love the fun side of mathematics and quantifying abstract ideas and patterns to understand life better.
November 1, 2017
This is a book about ‘sports analytics’. Not a novel like Moneyball, but a book more focused on the method side. Clearly something for a math geek like myself;)
I must say that I really liked reading this book. First of all, it is well written. Content wise, you will get an idea on such things like soccer KPI’s, visualizations, prediction models, ...
I learnt quite some interesting ideas and concepts from this book. It also triggered me to read some other content and even purchase some others books.
Overall, I think this book justifies five stars.
I must say that I really liked reading this book. First of all, it is well written. Content wise, you will get an idea on such things like soccer KPI’s, visualizations, prediction models, ...
I learnt quite some interesting ideas and concepts from this book. It also triggered me to read some other content and even purchase some others books.
Overall, I think this book justifies five stars.
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