Football tactics derived from AI? ‘The algorithms are watching’

CHATFD

Is nobody safe from the cold, dead hands of artificial intelligence? Certainly not if you’re in the business of attempting to write a borderline humorous weekday mailshot. Take this, punched into a smartphone, belched out by ChatGPT in mere seconds after the instructions: “Write 100 words on AI in football in the style of the Guardian’s Football Daily email.”

Ah, football and AI — the game’s newest double act. From tracking player movement with eerie precision to whispering tactical tweaks into analysts’ ears, artificial intelligence is now as common at training grounds as bibs and banter. Clubs crunch mountains of data to predict fatigue, refine pressing triggers, even scout teenagers before they’ve finished growing. VAR, of course, remains the clumsy cousin — still learning when ‘clear and obvious’ actually means clear and obvious. But love it or loathe it, AI isn’t leaving the pitch anytime soon. The algorithms are watching — and your xG just twitched slightly higher.”

Eesh. A not unworthy effort, but perhaps not one to show the suits [we’ve read worse – Football Daily Ed]. Maybe short on the usual top-level honks, but the temptation to allow the machines to take the strain is strong across many trades. Accountants quiver at the speed AI can produce a spreadsheet, many management consultant types swear by AI for its assistance in doing whatever it is management consultants do. OK, the examples so far in the creative sphere have been forgettable, particularly AI music. Faux-Americana “band” Velvet Sundown are a pale imitation of the most milquetoast stuff that gets on the 6 Music playlist but it has been, as the tech bros might say, a bit of a disruptor within the music industry.

So what about football? Surely not when Tony Pulis is currently being resurrected as the Valeriy Lobanovskyi of getting it launched. Well, think again. This week, the Seattle Reign head coach Laura Harvey admitted that she had used ChatGPT to help determine her team’s tactics. Harvey admitted: “I put in ‘what formation should you play to beat NWSL teams?’ and it spurted out every team in the league and what formation you should play. And for two teams, it went ‘you should play a back five’. So I did.”

In one game, against Orlando Pride, the Reign lost 1-0 but achieved a significant increase in expected goals … the performance metric that just won’t go away. Neither will AI, with word reaching Football Daily Towers that certain managers of unimpeachable credentials have been asked to buy and even select certain players on the advice of AI-derived algorithms. Truly, the game is gone. As well as up. Love it or loathe it, AI isn’t leaving the pitch anytime soon.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We miss nothing. I’m happy with the quality of the team. But I’m also convinced by the strategy and policy we have … I am a firm believer 21 or 22 players are enough. But you have to keep them fit as we did last season. We are struggling to keep them fit this season for, in my opinion, obvious reasons” – Arne Slot, who left several first-team players out of his Milk Cup squad in midweek, (sort of) rows back on his comments about a lack of squad depth at Liverpool before Saturday’s game against Aston Villa.

I’m sure I am stepping out of my lane here (I’m an A&E doctor here in Canada and a keen amateur triathlon participant when I can). But surely the match schedule you mentioned for Crystal Palace as being ‘Manchester City, Arsenal, KuPS Kuopio and Leeds in a novel Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday Premier League, Fizzy Cup and Tin Pot triathlon’ (yesterday’s Football Daily) is actually a quadrathlon, which comprises four events (typically swim, cycle, kayak + run). I’ve never tried one, and my Quebecois wife says I couldn’t do the kayaking leg if my life depended on it” – Adam Simpson.

Re: Sid Lowe’s interview with Espanyol head coach and former bus driver Manolo González (yesterday’s Quote of the Day). I assume he sets his team out with a low block: he’s known for parking the bus. Sorry. Kudos to Sid for writing a long piece without stooping to the obvious: Señor, you’re a better man than I” – Pål Jørgen Bakke.

The reference to Rory Delap (yesterday’s Football Daily letters) reminds me of an amusing incident at Stoke in February 2011. West Brom, who usually lost there, had equalised in the 87th minute. Happy with the point, they began to play out for a draw. It was a wet evening and Delap had been hurling the ball into the Albion box all night following careful use of a towel provided by the ball boy. After the equaliser, Albion got a throw midway in the Stoke half and Steven Reid called for the towel. After spending some time carefully drying the ball he threw it five yards to the nearest Albion player and received a return pass” – Les Andrews.

Reading of the difficulties (and expense) of buying tickets for the Geopolitics World Cup (yesterday’s Still Want More, full email edition) triggered a memory that took me back to the summer of 1966. My dad and his friend decided at the last minute that they fancied watching the opening match (England v Uruguay). They drove to London (from Portsmouth) in the afternoon and paid at the gate to get into the ground. He wasn’t very impressed (fairly dull 0-0 draw) and the next morning announced that he wasn’t going to bother going to any more games. I am 70 years old and this does seem incredible, so on my wife’s advice I checked with my brother that he also recalled this excursion. He did and furthermore reminded me that on the day of the final my dad (an enthusiastic player but only occasionally picked to play cricket), was a surprise selection due to a shortage of available players (I wonder why) and so didn’t even get to see the final on TV. So for him, the World Cup really was over” – Steve Beaton.

Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … Steve Beaton, who gets a copy of A History of Football in 100 Objects from the Guardian Bookshop, which has loads of other great football reads, too. Get shopping! Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.

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