Introduction

Hi, I’m Harry

Thanks for being here. I’m a football performance analyst. My route in started with a performance analysis module at Cardiff Met, and went on through Swansea City and China to leading a team at FIFA.

1. Start

   Cardiff Met

   

   Performance analysis module, then the university’s second team.

2. 2015

   Swansea City

   

   First full-time role. Nine head coaches in four years.

3. 2019

   China

   

   Club and national-team analysis in Beijing and Shanghai.

4. 2020

   FIFA

   

   From assistant analyst to leading a team.

01

What’s in an issue

The Debrief is a weekly email, with the articles behind it here on the site. This is Debrief 01. From Debrief 02, each issue brings a new lesson, a resource to practise with, and updates from the analysis world and from my own work. Every article stays on The Debrief, so you can read back through them whenever you like.

01 · A lessonOne idea from the game, explained

Example: a moving board from How teams build from the back.

02 · A resourceSomething to practise with

TASK · MATCH REPORTBuild Your First Match ReportGuide · PDFTemplate · PowerPoint

Example: a free task from The Portal.

03 · An updateFrom the analysis world and my own work

Example: Media I consumed this September.

02

Where to start

If you’re new to this, start with Get Started in Football Analysis. It’s a free guide and workbook in The Portal. It sets out what the job involves, the four skill areas it takes (technical, tactical, communication and relational) and how an analyst thinks about a match. Then it gives you six tasks to work through. At the end you score yourself again and see where you’ve moved.

1. Task 01

   Score your skills

2. Task 02

   Watch one team with one question

3. Task 03

   Describe one moment

4. Task 04

   Build a one-page report

5. Task 05

   Back it up with clips and numbers

6. Task 06

   Get it ready to submit

03

Coming up

Every issue looks at a different part of the game or the job, and ends with a task you can submit. Each week pairs one lesson with one resource, so you read about an idea and then practise it.

1. 01

   Break it down

   A part of the game, explained with moving boards.

2. 02

   Practise it

   A free resource from The Portal to work through.

3. 03

   Submit it

   A task to finish and send in.

Debrief 02

What goes into a match report

Debrief 03

How to read a team’s pressure

Debrief 04

Why teams use width

Each one comes with a resource to practise it.

04

Around the site

Cheers,
Harry