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A decade of performance analysis development
Q&A with Simon Wilson, Head of Performance Analysis at Manchester City FC
Sports performance analysis has come a long way since Simon Wilson began his career as an analyst in 2002 when then only a small number of English teams were using any type analysis software. Nearly 8 years on and 15 FA Premier League clubs including Manchester United and Arsenal as well as leading clubs such as Real Madrid, Olympiacos and MLS Cup Champions Real Salt Lake use Prozone services to improve team performance and inform their training methods. Simon has been involved from the very start and now heads up a team of 7 performance analysts employed by Manchester City. They work across all levels of the club from the 1st team down to the academy. So who better to ask about how things have developed over the last decade?
How has performance analysis changed over the last 10 years?
"Massively – a full time job as a performance analyst didn’t exist in football 10 years ago. In the last few years there has been a real maturing of the industry as coaches, managers and club executives have begun to recognise the value of accurate performance analysis."
What’s your role at Man City?
"I head up our Performance Analysis Department – we have 6 full time analysts working across all our teams. It’s always been my goal to provide breadth and depth of support to the club at all levels."
What are the key areas you focus on?
"We split our analysis into four key areas – post-match, pre-match, recruitment and player development. We have one analyst that owns each area and focuses on that. As a group we know that 50% of work is analysis, and 50% is the delivery of the insights we provide. We must have detail in our analysis and energy in our delivery."
How do you get your players involved?
"We encourage our players to take ownership of their own performance. Our insights help them to understand their game better and how they’re performing against their desired standards. I’m now noticing that younger players who’ve had exposure to match analysis software are regular users."
How does your analysis affect coaching?
"We support our coaches by giving them accurate information that they can base their work around, and we’re lucky enough to work with people across the club with the intelligence and imagination to build sessions that use the information to meet the needs of the team."
Where do you see the future of performance analysis?
"I think we'll see a movement towards a more ‘player centred’ approach that profiles the exact needs of the player and the interventions needed for their development. When you consider that most clubs spend upwards of 75% of their turnover on their players, I think there will be an increased need for effective due diligence through analysis during the recruitment process."
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