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da esport bet： Article courtesy of David Tully at his excellent ‘Live4Liverpool‘ Website
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Considering that John W Henry and the majority of his partners at NESV knew nearly nothing about Liverpool FC before they began looking to purchase the club a couple of months ago, it did strike me as slightly odd that they quickly moved to appoint Damien Comolli as Director of Football Strategy after barely a couple of weeks as owners. It didn’t take long to figure out though that the appointment was inspired by advice given to them by Billy Beane, the Oakland Athletics Baseball Coach who pioneered the use of Saber-metrics. As a person who knows Beane, and has utilised similar statistical tools that Beane has used to such a great effect in baseball, Damien Comolli was the first person that Beane thought of when talking to John W Henry about a potential “General Manager” for Liverpool Football Club. Henry had been a fan of Beane even before the release of the critically acclaimed book “Moneyball” which showcases Beane’s approach to sport.
Beane turned down the position of General Manager at the Boston Red Sox but the Baseball team’s second choice Theo Epstein, a 28 year old Yale graduate with no Baseball experience, utilised Beane’s methods to great success acquiring some excellent players released by other team’s who were less appreciative of their statistically impressive abilities. Liverpool Director of Football Strategy Damien Comolli was asked for the first time today about whether his supported the idea of using statistics as a method for buying players:
“Massively. I strongly believe in it. What I hate is to be in a position where you have to make a decision on a player, but being blind. At the level we’re at, with the amount of money we spend on players and wages etc, the more information you have the more data you can collect, the better it is. . . The more information we can gather, the more information and data we collect which will help us make the right decision, the better it is. It doesn’t mean we’ll always get it right but it means we have to have the right processes in place to make sure we get it right.”
Interestingly enough, Comolli uses the example of the Boston Red Sox and the processes they use to scout talent:
“The Red Sox don’t always get it right, but at least they’ve got processes that, if they go to them, they lower the risk massively. That’s the principle of using statistics.”
No doubt, Comolli has studied the techniques of the Boston Red Sox and of Billy Beane and this was certainly a deciding factor in John W Henry and NESV appointing him to a powerful position in the club. One of the major concerns over Comolli’s appointment will be of course how his position interacts with the manager’s and the other staff at the club. He mentioned in his interview also that he had a good relationship with the manager at previous club Saint-Etienne but he had a falling out with the owners. Although no such falling out with the current Reds owners is likely as they are on the same page in regards to the overall long term strategy of the club, there will be times when his position could come into conflict with Roy Hodgson.
Going by what Comolli has said, it looks like the pair do currently have a good working relationship, and agree on the future direction of the club. Roy is certainly somebody open to new ideas and is at the forefront for new training techniques and tactics if his former roles with FIFA and UEFA are anything to go by. He is also used to working with Sporting Director’s after managing for long periods in continental Europe, but the crucial indicator as to whether it can be success will come in January. If Roy is still in charge in the New Year, there is every chance he will want to change the squad, but final decisions on transfers will be a collective decision according to Comolli. What happens when the manager wants a player but the Director of Football disagrees? Will Roy have the final say or do Comolli’s closer ties to NESV’s way of thinking make him the senior partner in the relationship? Hopefully no such situation arises but it could certainly be a complication as Liverpool look to rebuild their squad.
Read more excellent Liverpool blogs at the ‘Live4Liverpool’ website