How Data Analysis is Changing Women’s Soccer

Today, we find many things that play a role in the continuous development of soccer, from high-tech cleats to improved youth academies and more. One of these things is data analysis and what it can do for the future of the sport. Technology is constantly advancing. Data analysis could play a massive role in advancing sports, especially soccer and women’s soccer, and in the success of those who use it or the failure of those who don’t. Let’s take a look at how the introduction of data analysis in women’s soccer could change the game.

The Lack of Data

One hardship women’s soccer faced when it came to data analysis was simply the lack of it. Before data analysis became more popular and was used in women’s soccer, it was pioneered in men’s soccer, leading to most available data being based on male performance.

This led to many data analysis platforms and professionals using the data gathered for men and their performance to build data or make conclusions on women’s soccer.

However, this would sometimes lead to inaccurate or unprecise results. This was when it became known that we needed to introduce data analysis and data collection to women’s soccer on a broader level.

How Data Analysis Can Help

There are many ways in which data analysis can help us change women’s soccer for the better.

For example, the stats provided by data analysis can give us a better understanding of why the scoring levels in a certain league are lower than others. It turns out this could be due to using certain materials other than grass in the fields or the unusual decisions that might exist in said fields.

Before using data analysis, such information wasn’t easy to find, analyze, or conclude. Nowadays, however, it has become much easier to analyze and find what needs to be done to improve performance in women’s soccer.

Another thing that we can use data analysis for is to make data profiles of each female player, which can be leveraged for pay and contract negotiations. This wasn’t possible before data analysis became more popular. Still, today, we see players like Manchester City’s Alex Greenwood entering contract negotiations with her team with her own profile, which proves how valuable she was to them. She was backed up with statistics like Goal Difference Added–a measure of a player’s total contribution to the game.

Data analysis could also help convince clubs why they shouldn’t let go of one of their players or why they should fight to sign a new player to their team. This developed method will give women’s soccer players more options to pursue when signing a new contract or renewing an old one–all backed up by data. Teams will now be provided with reports based on facts and data proving their players’ importance.

Data Analysis is Getting Famous

Luckily for us, we finally get to see an increase in the use of data analysis in women’s soccer. This increase resulted in another increase in data availability, meaning data analysis is now more accessible to teams and their players. This increase in usage made several data analysis platforms start offering their service to teams like StatsBomb, which offers free access to their IQ Analytics platform to many women’s soccer teams, especially the ones in top leagues. Other platforms and services like StatSports, Wyscout, and FBref also became more popular. This shows us that data analysis is needed now more than ever and will change women’s soccer.

Data Analysis is Changing the Game

There is no doubt that data analysis has already changed women’s soccer. It has become part of almost every aspect of the game. Data analysis can help teams understand more about their performance, including strengths and weaknesses. Plus, it can shed light on opposing teams’ strengths and weaknesses, letting coaches take a streamlined approach to game preparation.

It can also help teams and players learn more about each player’s performance and point to the areas that need improvement. Not only this, but data analysis will also help teams with training and realizing what the entire team needs to practice.

In addition, data analysis could also have potential in injury prevention. Data can help keep track of player health, and through data collection and analysis, athletic trainers can monitor player’s fitness and injuries.

These elements will change women’s soccer as we know it. Overall, data will help teams understand things about themselves and their competitors. With data analysis’s new methods and solutions, things will become more streamlined and more competitive. Not to mention, fans love statistics and facts. With data analysis, fans will get a closer look into their team’s and player’s performances.

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