Foresight

By Tobias Haupt

Keep your eye on the ball. Mark your player. Stay focused. The ancient wisdom of a global sport asks us to pay attention. It breaks the game down into single events: the pass, the shot, the challenge. But what if that knowledge contains its own limitations? What if our eye for detail fails to see the bigger picture? And what if the key to success lies somewhere else?

This is how I began to see what is missing in the data-driven tools that coaches and players are using today. No one doubts their power: thanks to breathtaking advances in tracking technology, we can capture three million data points in every game. We can measure every aspect of a player’s athletic performance.

But how does an ocean of data help us to understand the game as a whole? How does it help coaches and players to unlock the last line of defence? How does it help them to win?

It was these questions that inspired my colleagues and I to take a step back and take in the bigger picture – to imagine a tool that could see the context of every pass or run, capture the movements and spaces away from the ball, and not only record what did happen but also suggest what might have happened.

In other words, we wanted to discover what the human eye cannot see when it focuses, second by second, on the action. We wanted to design algorithms that could decode the 99 percent of data that was going to waste.

What we have found is a goldmine: a dynamic, multidimensional picture of what happens across the pitch, in and around the action, away from the ball. A symphony of movement and possibility that our algorithms see and understand in real time.

What we have built is a platform that offers not only sharp analysis of the raw data but a deep and rich intelligence that can strengthen the philosophy of any coach and the decision-making of any player. 

Until now, data analysis has focused exclusively on execution: how often a player completes a pass, shot, or challenge. Our algorithms go deeper. We integrate two further dimensions – perception and decision – which reveal how players are seeing the game around them and making decisions. Instead of measuring single events, we are building game intelligence.

Game intelligence begins on the training ground. We offer affordable collection of tracking data – including precise limb recognition – across the whole pitch.

We help coaches to work on the KPIs that they themselves have chosen and modified according to their individual understanding of football. If they want to improve the team’s ability to make successful deep runs behind the opponents’ last line of defence, our platform allows them to analyse all the movements, spaces, and possibilities that are happening across the pitch.

Behind a series of events, our platform sees the whole story. Instead of individual notes, we can automatically recognise the whole symphony.

This allows coach and player to address the more difficult questions: why did we opt for the safer pass when a more dangerous option was available? Together, they deepen their understanding of what is happening across the pitch. With time, the club develops a philosophy, a way of playing, that every coach, player and member of staff understands.

The opportunities for recruiting and developing talent are immense. Clubs can refine their search criteria to find the players who will excel and flourish within a particular philosophy. Players with the right set of skills have a greater chance of reaching their full potential; hidden gems in lower leagues are no longer ignored.

In short, our platform brings together scouting, training, and tactics, democratising talent identification and producing a strategy for the team’s growth.

The players’ trust is vital: they need to see and understand how AI-driven tools can help them to grow as athletes and team-mates. At GAMECODE.Ai, we want them to know that their personal data is safe; it is they who decide how to use it. Today’s young players grew up with the digital revolution and are ready to exploit what AI can offer them.

As the impact of AI becomes more prevalent across the football industry, all stakeholders – starting with clubs, leagues, and player associations – should work together to ensure the necessary standards and guidelines are in place to drive the successful implementation of a variety of applications.

The integrity of our tool lies in its objectivity. By offering them a holistic analysis of how they behave across the pitch, on and off the ball, we help to liberate players from a subjective, emotional reading of their own performance. They can see themselves as part of a whole, raising their own value as they understand better what they bring to the team.

Coaches benefit from the same objectivity. Our algorithms contain no pre-conceived ideas of strategy or tactics. It is the coach and their staff who define their way of playing, their strategy, their KPIs. When they work with our tool, it responds to their needs.

As a team of professionals who love football, we want to help players reach their full potential and enjoy long and rewarding careers; help coaches deepen their knowledge and make better decisions; and allow clubs to invest in the future of their talent and build a culture of success through continuous improvement.

If algorithms are today’s gold – a vital key to success on the pitch – those who responsibly embrace AI in a spirit of curiosity are the ones who will prosper.