City Football Group (CFG) [Owner of Melbourne City]

[belaguttman]

The guy that owns SAP comes from Hoffenheim, a small German town with a local football team. He bankrolled a transformation and now they are in Bundesliga 1 and playing in Europe. Hopefully it might mean they come here to play too.

[Falastur]

Could someone (almost certainly younger than I am) tell me what that all means in plain English?

CFG have previously tried to produce a comprehensive datadump of player data from the major stuff like goals scored, shots blocked through pass completion and number of touches all the way down to the ridiculously pedantic, such as which way or how fast players run when the ball changes possession 20 metres away from them. They wanted to essentially provide a building block for budding performance analysts and then essentially say "OK internet, impress us". Their vision was not too dissimilar to things like the iPhone app store and so on, providing a base for independent developers to produce their own software based on City's telemetry, and then produce it in conjunction with the club. The idea therefore was that in 5, 10, 20 years' time, CFG will be at the forefront of player analysis and not only would it benefit them in scouting/opponent analysing/player improvements but it would turn into a marketable product with clubs from around the world buying into the CFG analysis network hub. They did start releasing data at one point, but after a while it faded away - I never kept track of it so I don't know what tangible benefits they gained from the first attempt, though I'm sure they got some.

This appears to be the 2.0 version.

For the record, here's an article on the original attempt (from its unveiling):

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2012/aug/16/manchester-city-player-statistics

Edited July 7, 2015 by Falastur

[Tesla]

CFG have previously tried to produce a comprehensive datadump of player data from the major stuff like goals scored, shots blocked through pass completion and number of touches all the way down to the ridiculously pedantic, such as which way or how fast players run when the ball changes possession 20 metres away from them. They wanted to essentially provide a building block for budding performance analysts and then essentially say "OK internet, impress us". Their vision was not too dissimilar to things like the iPhone app store and so on, providing a base for independent developers to produce their own software based on City's telemetry, and then produce it in conjunction with the club. The idea therefore was that in 5, 10, 20 years' time, CFG will be at the forefront of player analysis and not only would it benefit them in scouting/opponent analysing/player improvements but it would turn into a marketable product with clubs from around the world buying into the CFG analysis network hub. They did start releasing data at one point, but after a while it faded away - I never kept track of it so I don't know what tangible benefits they gained from the first attempt, though I'm sure they got some.

This appears to be the 2.0 version.

For the record, here's an article on the original attempt (from its unveiling):

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2012/aug/16/manchester-city-player-statistics

In.

[Murfy1]

Good details about the technology deal:

 

Man City Hopes Data Driven Acquisitions Can Reduce Transfer Spend

 

Steve McCaskill 

July 13, 2015, 12:26 pm

 

Man City are about to spend £49 million on 20 year old Raheem Sterling but hope data analysis will make future transfers much cheaper

One of football’s longest running transfer sagas appears to be reaching a conclusion after Manchester City agreed a £49 million transfer fee for Liverpool’s unsettled winger, Raheem Sterling.

If the deal is completed, it would be the second largest purchase by a British club and would make Sterling the most expensive English player of all time.

But only last week, City Football Group (CFG), parent company of Manchester City, New York City and Melbourne City, was outlining how it believed data-driven player acquisition and monitoring could make it cheaper for Man City to buy quality players and develop home-grown talents.

Data-driven acquisition

To this end, it has agreed a multi-year partnership with SAP to use its technology from the “boardroom to the pitch”, to monitor trends in the world of football and serve the four clubs that comprise the ‘City Football Group’.

“This partnership is crucial for what we are trying to do as a group. We are a football businesses that that is thinking differently,” said Brian Marwood, football administration officer at Man City. “We believe that by partnering with significant global partner like SAP we will have the opportunity to lead in football.

“We are trying to create footballers for the future. It’s becoming more science and data driven, We’re searching for the next trend. We can do that by co-innovating with SAP.”

CFG currently has scouting information on 380,000 players and hopes that by analysing this data, it can spot star players earlier in their career and save money. Sterling is just 20 years old and has just three full seasons of senior football under his belt, yet already commands such a significant transfer fee.

Player data

When you consider that English players are traditionally over-valued, signing Sterling would appear to be a contradictory strategy to the one Man City hopes to employ in the future.

“Top talent at every age is becoming more expensive,” added Marwood. “Being first in the market is key.”

But despite CFG’s wealthy owners investing so much in other club’s players, it also wants to develop its own at the Etihad Campus – the new home of Man City’s youth teams – and use data to monitor its squads.

CFG uses cloud technology to store 2,000 coaching sessions and 900 matches to generate game plans and is also using technology, such as heart rate monitors, GPS and sleep monitors to assess injuries and player health.

From next season, the Australian A-League will allow player tracking, the first competition to allow such technology, which will provide CFG with data from Melbourne City that can be used across all of the group’s clubs. CFG expect more leagues to follow suit, providing it with an additional set of data to make decisions.

As part of the deal with SAP, the German firm’s technology will be used in every day management of the clubs, such as finance, HR and marketing, using analytics to improve processes and communication tools to convey concepts and data across all four territories.

The HANA-based Sports One for Soccer will also be used to manage the team, players and create gameplans for opponents, using the data collected along with other databases from the likes of Opta and Prozone.

 

http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/projects/man-city-sterling-transfers-sap-17233

[Tony999]

"CFG, parent company of Machester City, New York City and Melbourne City".

Guess we are not last after all as no mention of Yokohama Marinos

Edited July 13, 2015 by Tony999

[malloy]

"CFG, parent company of Machester City, New York City and Melbourne City".

Guess we are not last after all as no mention of Yokohama Marinos

That is because CFG is not the parent company of Yokohama. It merely owns a minority stake.

[belaguttman]

"CFG, parent company of Machester City, New York City and Melbourne City".

Guess we are not last after all as no mention of Yokohama Marinos

We are still the shit sibling of CFG

[jw1739]

We are still the shit sibling of CFG

I'd still rather be the youngest son of a rich parent than the eldest of a poor one.

[cadete]

One of the CFG club's plays in the most watched League in the world, the other plays in the World's most important City yet for some reason PPL wonder why we are the minor sibling of the three when we play in a league where guys like Ramsay are capable of playing 128 games (83 of these were not for us as well).

Edited July 14, 2015 by cadete

[KSK_47]

One of the CFG club's plays in the most watched League in the world, the other plays in the World's most important City yet for some reason PPL wonder why we are the minor sibling of the three when we play in a league where guys like Ramsay are capable of playing 128 games (83 of these were not for us as well).

Well to be fair, I believe the statement from CFG when we were purchased was that they planned on turning this club into a powerhouse of Asia (or words to that effect). So I dont think its unreasonable for people to have high expectations.

[cadete]

Well to be fair, I believe the statement from CFG when we were purchased was that they planned on turning this club into a powerhouse of Asia (or words to that effect). So I dont think its unreasonable for people to have high expectations.

Thats fair enough...

I just find the constant use of the "Third Sibling" analogy PPL keep posting on here annoying as I dont really know what PPL expect when it comes to the CFG Peeking Order. I think some PPL are being way too idealistic when they mention they kind of Marquee Players who want to play football in the world's most alive City in New York compared to training in Bundoora at the bottom of the globe.

Its understandable PPL are annoyed with Koren is our marquee for another Season but at least the club has now cut adrift most of the Heart Duds that had existing contracts and the recruiting this off season has been as tuned to being successful in the A-League as we have seen from City or Heart.

Edit - The coach on the other hand...

Edited July 14, 2015 by cadete

[jw1739]

...and to be playing in a squad severely limited in quality by FFA's heavy hand on numbers, salary cap, number of foreign players etc. It's a team game, and you don't show up to advantage if you're surrounded by duds.

[KSK_47]

Thats fair enough...

I just find the constant use of the "Third Sibling" analogy PPL keep posting on here annoying as I dont really know what PPL expect when it comes to the CFG Peeking Order. I think some PPL are being way too idealistic when they mention they kind of Marquee Players who want to play football in the world's most alive City in New York compared to training in Bundoora at the bottom of the globe.

Its understandable PPL are annoyed with Koren is our marquee for another Season but at least the club has now cut adrift most of the Heart Duds that had existing contracts and the recruiting this off season has been as tuned to being successful in the A-League as we have seen from City or Heart.

Edit - The coach on the other hand...

Definitely. As you know my opinion is that if you are going to be the best in Asia with a HAL team, you will not be able to do it by having the best squad in Asia so you will need the best coach and staff in Asia. 

I do agree that to think we would be anywhere near the priority of Man City or NYC is pretty funny, but I can see why people think we have been ignored. I certainly have days were it feels like that (watching the final home game of last season is a good example of when I felt like that)

[cadete]

Since Heart began I have always felt our biggest problem has not been so much the quality of the bulk our starting eleven rather when we have had to use squad players for injuries and subs and as Full Backs... the obvious exception being Season Four which was just horrific on all accounts.

Kalmar, Hoffman, Ramsey, Murdocca... whenever these guys came on the impact on the team was almost immediate likewise when Midfielders with poor defensive abilities were asked play as Full Backs and it does seems like the club are finally trying to fix this issue.

 

Edited July 14, 2015 by cadete

[Falastur]

Another article on the SAP deal, this time from the Beeb. Sorry about the formatting: I'm on my phone and can't fix it easily. I'll sort it out when I get home, unless a mod wants to do so first.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33277924

 

Manchester City's data-driven vision for players and fans

By Bill WilsonBusiness reporter, BBC News

• 7 hours ago
•  
• From the sectionBusiness

Technology is a major part of the coaching set-up at Manchester City

"You gotta roll with it," blares out Liam Gallagher as the Oasis hit combines with the rain thundering onto the roof of Manchester City's indoor academy pitch.

The racket threatens to drown out coach Simon Davies.

The City Under-21 assistant coach is using digital technology to explain to a bunch of slightly unfit reporters how he wants a coaching drill involving the use of overlapping players to develop.

And just as Mr Davies successfully cuts through the surrounding noise, so the club is attempting to cut through the increasing business "noise" - all the playing and supporter data it is endlessly accumulating and managing.

The club, which has been at the forefront of data analytics, has signed a new deal to help it make sense of all this data.

The City Football Group (CFG), which comprises Manchester City, New York City, Melbourne City and Yokohama Marinos, has entered into a global, multi-year marketing and technology partnership with German software giant, SAP.

Big goals

"The intersection between sport and technology might change the landscape about what we do in the future," says Ferran Soriano, chief executive of both Man City and CFG.

At the more prosaic - but financially important - level, CFG says the SAP deal means it will be able to operate more interactively as a global football business.

Premier League clubs track practically every step by players on the pitch

All four clubs will be "speaking the same business language" by using the same systems, and swapping best practice when it comes to marketing, for example, as well as enabling the quartet to stay efficiently inter-connected.

However, on the more visionary, and, as Mr Soriano says, "emotional" fronts, CFG believes the SAP tie-up will be of huge value in revolutionising both their playing and fan operations.

All Premier League clubs have data analysts, as do many in the lower divisions, with stats crunched on everything from the distance covered by a player in a game to the number of crosses played with either foot.

In fact, every step on the pitch is monitored now.

Thousands of hours of club training sessions are logged

Similarly, away from match day, thousands of hours of training data is accumulated, while injury, dietary, sleep and medical data is also harvested and studied.

Assisted by SAP, which worked with the successful German 2014 World Cup-winning squad, the teams will use the insights derived from this data to produce everything from individual player coaching and training programmes, to tactics tailored to counter each opposition team.

But CFG, which is owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group, believes that all this sports data could eventually be condensed and a whole whole new way of playing emerge.

'A better game'

"Technology will allow us to play better football," says Mr Soriano, who formerly worked at Spanish giant Barcelona.

City Football Group hopes that SAP will help it to use its data to achieve playing breakthroughs

"We are going to work together in finding new ways of understanding the game, and designing a better game to help us win."

That vision of creating a new way of playing - a new Total Football or tiki-taka for the future - is shared by colleague and former player, Brian Marwood.

He won a league title with Arsenal in 1988/89, and is managing director of the football group's City Football Services. He oversees the recruitment, development, training and management of hundreds of players in Manchester and at other global training centres.

"We have a great opportunity to lead in football, and are searching for the next trend. which will keep us ahead of everyone else," says Mr Marwood.

A research and innovation programme for all four clubs is being created

"We have got a team of people trying to find out what the next 10 to 20 years of football will look like. We want to be ahead of the game."

To that end, a research and innovation group for all four clubs is being created.

'Talking points'

Another major goal is to use data to enhance the fan experience.

CFG believes that with SAP's assistance they can change the way supporters of the group's four teams access and consume football data.

Tom Glick, president of New York City FC says that CFG will be looking to enhance the viewing experience of fans, whether "glued to the action" at the stadium, or sitting at home watching on TV.

Manchester City fans are to be given closer insights into player performance

"The task of finding new ways to get this information to the fans starts now," he says. "We will be asking them what additional information and data about the game and players they would look to see - what is important to them."

The first innovation in this area will be a large digital statistics wall installed at Man City's Etihad Stadium from next season, which will show player and match statistics from the previous game.

"I can see the attraction in providing supporters with access to match data, particularly among the younger tech-aware generation in their teens and twenties," says Kevin Parker, secretary of the Man City supporters club.

"We have all got an opinion on how our players are playing during a game and whether a particular player - for example Fernandinho - has worked as hard or not as it appears to fans at the game," he says.

A fan leader says enhanced data can lead to increased enjoyment of the game for supporters

"Or you can confirm whether David Silva or Yaya Toure have played those key passes that you thought they had. That can all add to the whole spectacle and enjoyment of the game, and provide talking points."

But he warns that "some of the more vociferous elements at a match might get on a player's back" if their match data was not impressive.

He also says data overload might be a danger, particularly if chewing over match statistics at home overshadows the experience of attending a game in the flesh.

"Any data has to be handled and presented in the right way," he says.

Meanwhile, the next step in enhancing that data collection for the group of clubs will be this October, when Melbourne City FC take to wearing player monitors during Australian league games.

"We believe we are doing something that has never been done before, around the world," says group chief executive Soriano of the tech route ahead.

"We have to take risks, innovate, make mistakes."

[Tesla]

CFG currently has scouting information on 380,000 players

Confirmation that CFG use the FM database for scouting?

It was pretty obvious when Sven was in charge of City, and it's been public information for many years that Everton pay good money for access to it so no surprises that other EPL clubs are in on it as well.

[johnno cpfc]

And will all this wonderful technology be used to analyse Melbourne City Players performance ? In stating this i would expect some players to lift  there performance this coming season nudge nudge wink wink!!

 

[Tesla]

And will all this wonderful technology be used to analyse Melbourne City Players performance ? In stating this i would expect some players to lift  there performance this coming season nudge nudge wink wink!!

 

Will probably tell us Hoffman is the best player in the team.

[bt50]

Will probably tell us Hoffman is the best player in the team.

#tekkers

[HEARTinator]

Don't need fancy pants software to tell you that shit is shit IMHO.

[belaguttman]

One of the CFG club's plays in the most watched League in the world, the other plays in the World's most important City yet for some reason PPL wonder why we are the minor sibling of the three when we play in a league where guys like Ramsay are capable of playing 128 games (83 of these were not for us as well).

I'm certainly not expecting equal investment to Man City or NY, in fact our rules prohibit that. What I'm expecting is a sign of a clear vision on the field and in our recruiting with a level of creativity applied to recruiting that isn't required in the EPL.

I'd still rather be the youngest son of a rich parent than the eldest of a poor one.

... unless my rich parent was Gina Hancock!

[Shahanga]

Don't need fancy pants software to tell you that shit is shit IMHO.

That's true.

This approach sounds a bit like the "fuzzy logic" approach I came across during the 90s.  Basically you look at whatever it is with as many data sets as you can to try to figure out what's going on.  Its not to find the end members (they are bloody obvious to all), its to pick out the more subtle things that might be there in the data but aren't immediately obvious.  To be frank, I think this sort of approach is more likely to help us than Man City.  When they need to bring a player who is in the best 30 in the world (to make an impact beyond what they already had) you are going for people who stand out by most methods.  For us though, we are after a player who is not rated by the market but is a hidden gem (eg Broich etc), there is a lot more chance that a player who could carve up the A League is going to get unveiled by this method.

I can only add that I presume this wasn't up and running when we signed Koren?  Here's hoping anyway.

[johnno cpfc]

Don't need fancy pants software to tell you that shit is shit IMHO.

You and i know that but do the people that run the club ?

 

[HEARTinator]

That's true.

This approach sounds a bit like the "fuzzy logic" approach I came across during the 90s.  Basically you look at whatever it is with as many data sets as you can to try to figure out what's going on.  Its not to find the end members (they are bloody obvious to all), its to pick out the more subtle things that might be there in the data but aren't immediately obvious.  To be frank, I think this sort of approach is more likely to help us than Man City.  When they need to bring a player who is in the best 30 in the world (to make an impact beyond what they already had) you are going for people who stand out by most methods.  For us though, we are after a player who is not rated by the market but is a hidden gem (eg Broich etc), there is a lot more chance that a player who could carve up the A League is going to get unveiled by this method.

I can only add that I presume this wasn't up and running when we signed Koren?  Here's hoping anyway.

The more you re-analyse the data by different categories the more likely you'll find a result - just by chance. Still requires a smart decision by a human somewhere.

[Shahanga]

Not just a smart decision Heartinator, also needs the right data recorded.  As my first boss said "shit in, shit out".

[Info@VW]

Real Madrid training at CFA today.

[Thrillhouse]

lol club could of offered members the chance to go or atleast let us know they'd be training there, let down again

[silva10]

Just seen that the game between us is live on Sky here in the UK

Hopefully a 6-6 draw lol

 

[Murfy1]

We may be owned by City but we are not a mini Manchester, Melbourne boss declares

 

July 20, 2015

Michael Lynch

 

Manchester City has yet to supply its Melbourne affiliate with a big-name player, and no-one has yet made the journey in the other direction. But the synergies between the two clubs are developing quickly off-field.

Melbourne has just hired a director of marketing, Nick Becker, formerly based with the City Football Group in Manchester.

And the A-League side has dispatched a number of its medical and support staff to the UK  for a series of briefing sessions on how the Premiership giant does things.

On the commercial front, the traffic may mostly be from Manchester to Melbourne, with City's main sponsor, Etihad, now also backing Melbourne. But the Australians have introduced one of their sponsors, soft drink company CoCo Joy, to the parent company and the Sydney based business has now become a partner with City Football Group.

Melbourne CEO Scott Munn has been meeting his City counterparts for the past two weeks, but says that while the City brand is a big umbrella under which to shelter, the Australian team is determined to build its own identity.

"Getting the image and the brand out there, building an identity is important and it's fantastic to have the executive and their operational team out here," he said.

"We are part of the City Football Group but we are not a mini-Manchester, we are very clear on that.

"We want to take the parts we love but we maintain our own identity in Melbourne."

Munn says that he and the parent company are happy with the progress Melbourne is making after a season under City's control.

"Our metrics on social media are incredible. We grew 150 to 160 per cent  last year. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are really growing exponentially. Season tickets were up over 11,000 – we grew 70 per cent. 

"The goal for us is 14,000. We are very bullish we will get there. We improved significantly on the field last year, up from last to fourth, and lost to the ultimate winners who were the best team all year.

"This year we have to make another step forward."

Melbourne's medical and physio team are picking brains in Manchester this week. "We had an horrific run with injuries and that's something that we are working on.

New head of sports science Ed Leng is now with the side, arriving from Tottenham Hotspur.

"We have got Nick Becker starting this week as director of marketing. It's the first time in our history that we have had a director of marketing. He was City's marketing manager in England. Nick will bring us a real focus on match day attendance and season tickets.

"We grew significantly in the football department last year; we spent a lot of money on resources. This year we have certainly grown again in medical and off-field support in medical and marketing."

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/soccer-we-may-be-owned-by-city-but-we-are-not-a-mini-manchester-melbourne-boss-declares-20150720-gig79p.html

[Jimmy]

Don't ever leave Murf. I'd never read half these articles without you.

[belaguttman]

Those comments are good to read Murph, its really clear that both medical services and marketing have been 2 poorly performing areas in the past

[jw1739]

So it's "season tickets" now and not memberships?

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nickbecker

Edited July 20, 2015 by jw1739

[Kiro Kompiro]

It always was Jw.

[hakz7]

"Goal for us is 14,000"

Yeah...good luck with that.

[Luke]

"Goal for us is 14,000"

Yeah...good luck with that.

Have faith 

[belaguttman]

It always was Jw.

Yes, at least the franchise is being honest in their description of the product. Melbourne City isn't a club but a franchise, and we are customers not members

[Murfy1]

"The goal for us is 14,000"

 

Reminds me when Munn said "We were after 7500 in terms of membership and 10,000 in terms of average attendances" about Melbourne Heart's first season in 2010-11 (numbers we didn't achieve until last season).

 

Hopefully with some new thinking the club can more hastily grow the membership base.

[belaguttman]

I doubt hat many of those who signed on with the promise of a 19 game stint from David Villa (not a core promise) and who went to subsequent games will renew this season.

[n i k o]

"We had an horrific run with injuries and that's something that we are working on."

 

Makes sense now why they've bought so many injured players this preseason. Practise. 

[Shahanga]

So it's "season tickets" now and not memberships?

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nickbecker

Hopefully that's a sign the flow of bullshit will stop.  I've always believed its best if you call a spade a spade and have respected people who've done it.

Calling us "members" but then ignoring us was not a great look.  Might as well let us know where we stand.  

Given we are customers, give us a product we want to buy.