Moneyball comes to MLS - Billy Beane working with San Jose Earthquakes

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ESPNsoccernet - MLS - Carlisle: Beane brings "Moneyball" approach to MLS

But when it comes to soccer, such a strategy is up against what can be described as the Power of Too; as in too many players, in too many leagues, at too many levels in a game that has too many intangibles to easily render itself to statistics. But Beane contends that when it comes to soccer, such analysis is not uncharted territory.

"Let's face it, every business has metrics that can be used," Beane said. "It's just identifying the metrics that have the greatest weight and the greatest correlation to ultimately winning. It's a work in progress, and I say this with a tremendous amount of respect [for soccer]."


Indeed. On a recent trip to Europe, Quakes' GM John Doyle visited several British clubs, and was impressed by the precision and volume of data that was collected and analyzed. Closer to home, every MLS team has contracted with a company called Match Analysis to receive statistical and video breakdowns of every game. According to the company's president, Mark Brunkhart, the product has been used by some coaches and players to analyze their own week-to-week performance, as well as that of the opposition.

But the potential is there for additional uses as well. And in terms of player evaluation, the data, which records every touch a player makes in a game, reveals some interesting numbers. Although typical stats like a player's possession percentage are tracked, there is also one called shot creation, which records how many times a player was involved in an attack that led to a shot. (The runaway leader? David Beckham with over 11 shots created per 90 minutes. Among full-time players, the highest mark belonged to D.C. United's Christian Gomez at around 7.4 shots created per 90 minutes.)

Will Billy Bean be the Bill James of Soccer analysis? That I don't know, but I do know that the San Jose Earthquakes immediately move a step ahead of the rest of the league.

And if this works in a cashstrapped league like MLS look for the EPL, SerieA, Bundesliga, etc to try to grab him away from MLB. His contract is up soonish, and there are Billions more fans and dollars in top flight soccer.

Billy Beane could wind up shaking the ground of the world's most popular sport.