Werder manager skeptical
Werder Bremen doesn’t just want to rely on working with data when it comes to transfers. “I can rule out for us that we only sign players based on data. It is very important to us that we do not overestimate anything in this regard,” said professional football and scouting manager Clemens Fritz to the portal.dyke room“. “We don’t sign a player without ever seeing him play,” emphasized the 41-year-old.
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The work of professional clubs with technical aids is becoming increasingly important when looking for players. Most clubs employ analysts who evaluate matches based on data or look for potential signings. “Of course we have competitors and therefore do not want to say exactly how we work and what we do,” said Fritz. ” What I can say: We have different data providers and not just one that we work with.”
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The long-time Werder captain gave an example: “For example, if you find a player who has a 78 percent pass rate, then you don’t know whether he always plays the balls backwards or rather diagonally or vertically.” Also In addition, risks and imponderables remained. “It can also happen that a player does not have such good data, but is then evaluated completely differently in video or live scouting. You always have to see what kind of football is played in which system at the previous club. If the coach demands that long balls be played, then the pass rate mentioned will automatically not look so good. That’s why there can always be the opposite way, that the live impressions are different from the data,” said Fritz.
When it comes to scouting in Bremen, you “can’t cover all the markets in the world” like other clubs. “They have a live scout in almost every country who deals exclusively with the local market. That’s not possible with us. That’s why we’re trying to use data to get the important information, so that after a subsequent video scouting we can travel to a specific country for live scouting,” he explained.
Liverpool FC and Manchester City are considered pioneers in the scene, but smaller clubs are also increasingly relying on data. “I don’t see us as a copy of FC Brentford or FC Midtjylland. We’re going our own way – like many other clubs,” said Fritz and made it clear: “We don’t work quite as data-driven as other clubs might do from a distance.” Werder had signed seven players in the summer transfer window that just ended , but only paid a fee for Jens Stage. The midfielder came to the Weser from FC Copenhagen for 4 million euros.
When asked about the approach to the personal situation of Oliver Burke, who Werder brought in from Sheffield United on a free transfer, Fritz revealed: “We knew with Oliver beforehand that he had great values in terms of speed, but also in terms of his overall physique. When an opportunity to switch to us crystallized, we looked at it again very explicitly. The values were very good, you have to say that quite clearly.”
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