Beyond Expected Goals: Analyzing and Implementing the Next Phase of Soccer Analytics

Luke Bornn - Co-Founder and Chief Scientist, Zelus Analytics

Lucy Rushton - General Manager and Head of Technical Recruitment and Analysis, D.C. United

Jaeson Rosenfeld - Analytics Advisor, FIFA

Raul Pelaez - Co-founder and CEO, ailite

Ted Knutson (moderator) - CEO and Co-Founder, StatsBomb

 

It was a long journey for the soccer analytics community to bring foundational metrics like expected goals to mainstream consciousness and understanding. Soccer fans around the world now expect to see analytical tools such as expected goals on match broadcasts, video games, and online discussions. Soccer analytics has evolved beyond shot- and event-based data as the game's brightest minds seek to quantify value everywhere on the field at all times. Significantly, improved understanding of player aging curves and valuation models has radically shifted recruitment strategies and talent flows, with clubs across Europe and the Americas buying younger and younger. In this new phase, women’s soccer has seen unprecedented levels of investment in television deals, talent, and analytics departments. This panel collects soccer's key thought leaders working in a wide variety of spaces to push the beautiful game's analytics to new frontiers.