Team USA sports science guru transforming Everton FC

[anjelikaferrett]

Seems like a load of made up b*ll*cks to me. Emperors New Clothes springs to mind. And from Team USA, who never ever do drugs like those dreadful Russians.

 

[Tubey]

Fantastic news - if we're going to dope, we need to do it professionally. Great move by the club.

 

[The Esk]

Good to see the ambition at Everton to be the best in this area and to be able to attract someone of such high profile to make it happen. We already had a pretty good start on a lot of the league in this area so hopefully we'll see rewards over the long term. Anyone know if the appointment of Vint was something lined up by Moshiri pre him taking the reigns? @The Esk

Not that I'm aware of mate.

 

[The Cowboy]

So this guys name is Vint

Not Clint, not Vincent

VINT..

VINT??

ffs

Erm, that's his surname?

 

[The Cowboy]

Good bit of blue sky thinking from Everton.

 

[Muggins]

I don't see a lot of harm being done here. The guy talks the talk. Give him a fair chance is the right thing to do based on his experience.

old Bobby bicycle may have done some good for the club yet.

 

[SerenityNigh]

Seriously though as a guy who tinkers with data for a living I am not sure how much value he can really give.

A good player is a good player. I dont care if Kone is leading the league in 3rd Phase intercepted dribble returns. He is gash.

I think the point is seeing good players before everyone else does. Everton can go the Manchester United route and pay hand over fist for the players wanted, but unless Moshiri wants to lighten his pockets this seems a preferred method.

I like to look of this Venkman.

 

[SerenityNigh]

There's a lot of animosity towards these guys in the AFL. It's not just about the peptide issue. Now, granted, the AFL & PL are far apart as far as codes go, but the Sports Scientists have embedded themselves quite well into the game. Situations where a guy on the boundary with a laptop can override coaching decisions are commonplace.

Let's hope he's a better type of scientist than we've got here

As long as he doesn't make Everton DFL, can't hurt, can it?

 

[SerenityNigh]

I'm a big believer in using stats and analytics to identify players who may be under the radar. However, being able to apply analytics to identifying potential in young players seems really difficult. For instance, in the sport of baseball analytics and stats pervade every part of that game but their young player draft is still complete guesswork. Every year kids get drafted in the first round and never amount to anything while others get drafted in the late rounds and end up being superstars.

I applaud Everton for trying something new but I'm not sure how successful it will be.

Failure rate in baseball's amateur draft is high, but failure rate for for different rounds has observable trends. Players drafted earlier tend to be more successful. That's not surprising (would be surprising if it weren't so), but the value difference between early and late picks is quite predictable (more so in baseball than football, if I recall correctly.)

But everyone knows the good prospects are good and the others are more risky. On the team level, teams gain advantages when they fail less than average, and that's the sort of advantage Venkman is trying to leverage.