How data is pushing Twitter scouts and bloggers into football's big time

Increased use of analytics has opened club doors to a new and more diverse set of experts, including a teenager in Bengaluru who is working with Dundee United

Last week Jay Socik got a new job. As head of recruitment analysis at Luton Town, he will take responsibility for providing the manager, Nathan Jones, and his team with the data to sign the players to help continue the Championship club’s impressive, thrifty rise up the football pyramid. It has also meant a change to his Twitter account; a new, clean-shaven profile picture and the use of his real name.

It was through Twitter, as @blades_analytic, that the Sheffield United fan Socik made his name in football. It was also how he became a leading example of why the popularisation of analytics – the interpretation of data on every pass, shot and tackle on a football field – is transforming the game inside and out.

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from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/feb/27/how-data-is-pushing-twitter-scouts-and-bloggers-into-footballs-big-time