Tour and Clinic at St. George’s Park

February 4, 2020 by knystrom

Today we made the three hour bus trek to the Staffordshire countryside, just north of Birmingham, to visit St. George’s Park: the home training ground to all 27 of England’s National teams.

The park was built in 2012 with the aim of boosting the performance of English football on the international level. Despite being home to the English Premier League and considering itself a “footballing nation,” England has only produced one World Cup title between its senior male and female teams, with that lone title coming from the men’s team in 1966. The complex is world-renowned for its high quality facilities and for the great team building environment it provides.

The first stop on our tour was the locker room, which included a vast open space, large lockers, automatic showers and a flat screen television which the players utilize to review their practice and match film. Our guide explained to us the emphasis of making everything as convenient as possible for the players while they train at the park.

Next on our tour was the rehabilitation and sports science suite, which contained an underwater treadmill, a rehabilitation pool, and a hot/cold tub. Something that is crucial to the English National team’s success is that their players are actively taking care of their bodies in order to stay healthy and maximize their training results. Having this state of the art facility is certainly an advantage.

England’s Locker Room (Bob in foreground)

We were soon after lead to the indoor futsal court. Futsal is a variation of soccer that is played on a small, hard surface pitch with less players and a heavier ball. Futsal is a game which requires decisions to be made instantly, at a pace even faster than the game of soccer itself. This fast pace variation of the game is extremely helpful to the development of England’s players.

After our introduction to futsal, we were led to the park’s official indoor and outdoor pitches, where the professional level teams train and play matches. The indoor pitch, however, is rarely used due to the advanced heating technology under the pitch that allows field temperatures to be regulated and rapid draining to occur. The technology is so superb that using information from weather forecasts, the staff can emulate gameday conditions. In addition to this, the field itself is modeled after Wembley Stadium and the grass is cut strategically depending on the opponent. We learned that tall grass limits the speed at which the ball can travel from player to player, and therefore it is desirable to play a match against a faster team with high grass rather than trimmed grass.

The final destination on our tour was a practice pitch. Here, we were introduced to some basic drills to develop our skills. Soon after, the ball was rolled out and we played a full scrimmage against each other. Everyone seemed to enjoy the competition and the opportunity to get some exercise surrounded by the greenery, which is something we have missed in urban London.

It was a tremendous experience to tour St. George’s Park. While we toured the state of the art facility, we learned about the core values which the English team prides itself on. These values include discipline, respect and preparation: all of which are values that extend beyond the realm of sport.

Watford Match at Vicarage Road

February 1, 2020 by knystrom

Today we traveled out to Vicarage Road Stadium in Watford to watch Watford FC take on Everton. The weather was warm, a great day for a football match. The stadium was nearly sold out as black and yellow filled the stands. It was a beehive, but as you looked around there was one packed section of royal blue (the Everton colors). Once the game began, Watford took the lead early with Adam Masina scoring in the 10^th minute, and then they continued to dominate as Roberto Pereyra expanded Watford’s lead to 2-0 in the 42^nd minute. The Watford fans were ecstatic while the Everton fans had gone completely silent. Everton wasn’t out though, and they managed to score twice in extra time before the first half ended. Yerry Mina put the ball in the back of the net for Everton both times. Songs rang out from the visiting section, silencing the home crowd into stunned submission. Coming out in the second half, Watford still seemed to be a marginally in control given that Everton was playing a man down for the majority of the second half. (Fabian Delph was sent off for receiving two yellow cards. We seemed to be heading for a draw until Theo Walcott capitalized off a Watford turnover and a few nice passes on the counterattack to score the game winning goal for Everton in the 90^th minute. There was nothing more that Watford could do with 5 minutes of extra time due to Everton adopting a very defensive playing style for the remainder of the game. Home supporters were left speechless after the game winning goal and many of them began to yell out in anger and disappointment. The away victory pushed Everton to 9^th in the premier league table, while the devastating loss dropped Watford down to the 19^th slot (out of 20). Given their unfortunate position in the table thus far, Watford seems a candidate to be relegated to the Championship after the conclusion of this season unless the club can find a way to dramatically turn things around. Overall this was a fantastic experience for our group because it allowed us to once again experience high level English football, however, this time we were able to do so from the unique vantage point of sitting two rows back from the pitch, and with two teams whose playing style was more rough and opportunistic than the skillful, methodical style of a team like Manchester City.

Vicarage Road from our vantage point in the stands

Action on the pitch of Watford v Everton

Southampton FC Academy Tour

January 28, 2020 by knystrom

Today, we traveled by bus about two and a half hours southwest to to the Southampton FC Training Complex in Southampton, where we met up with the Academic Director of their youth academy. After convening in a classroom for a brief introduction to the club, its academy, and the values and skills that they try to impart on their young players, we were brought outside to walk around the complex. We saw training sessions taking place with some of the Under-18 and Under-16 players, and we were able to take in the sheer vastness of the training campus. It seemed as if there was a training pitch in every direction! Unfortunately, we were discouraged from taking pictures around the grounds, but Bob did get the okay to snap a few. After some time spent watching the impressive technical ability of the players, and learning which of those players had the best shots at going pro (keep your eyes out for Kegs Chauke and Ramello Mitchell in the coming years!), we moved on to the main building of the complex.

Ryan (Flanagan) talks with the Academic Director of Southampton FC

Once inside, we were given a tour of the facilities available to the Southampton first team and youth squads. We saw the conference room, workout facility, first team dressing room (where we met Yan Valery), boot (cleat) room, and first team dining area, which was incredibly nice and had a great view of the whole grounds. Unfortunately, we were relegated to eating lunch in the youth team dining area, but there were still loads of delicious options, even though the setting was not quite as fancy. After stuffing ourselves, we journeyed back toward the training areas, and along the way we managed to get a glance of Danny Ings–Southampton’s key forward, in the midst of the best season of his life–lacing up his boots for a session! We made our way into the massive dome that houses yet another training pitch, and inside we got to watch the Under-10s practice. Quite honestly, those kids were probably better than any one of us. It is amazing to see how quickly these academy players develop the skills of the game.

Finally, we returned to the classroom where we began the day to get more explanation on the goals and programs touted by the academy from a few more staffers, including the coach of the Under-18 team. We learned about the life of an academy player, from the way they balance football and school, to the international trips they make, to the structure of a professional contract and where they might go once they have proven their worth as a footballer (or failed to do so). Southampton strives to eventually have a first team that features 50% players who came up through their own academy, an ambitious goal that clearly shows how serious the program is. We ultimately left the complex having had a fantastic time seeing firsthand what a unique and incredible academy Southampton has.

The whole team in Southampton’s massive indoor dome

Trip to Manchester

January 18, 2020 by knystrom

Yesterday we had the opportunity to see a top-tier premier league match in Manchester when Manchester City took on Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium. The day started with an early wake up followed by a stressful run through the unfamiliar national rail section of Euston station in downtown London. Luckily, everyone in the group got through the turnstiles with enough time to get comfortable for the two hour high-speed train journey ahead of us. When we arrived in Manchester, we had some time to explore the area. Most of the group used this time to see the National Football Museum. Connor Kelly said the museum “…was helpful for someone who is new to the sport. It had all sorts of cool artifacts from some of the first ever jerseys to a replica of the original World Cup.”

Jerseys from the 80s at the National Football Museum, including one from the Chicago team of the NASL

After the group was finished at the museum, everybody met to be a part of the fan march. This was where a huge group of Man City supporters, led by a marching band, walked from a park in central Manchester, all the way to Etihad stadium. The atmosphere was exciting and it felt like we were part of the locals supporting their team. Etihad Stadium had a more futuristic atmosphere than Villa Park or even Tottenham Hotspur stadium. The huge spires around the stadium dominated the skyline for miles. The difference was night and day compared to the old school structure of Villa Park, and despite the Tottenham Hotspur stadium being newer than the Etihad, the ultra modern design of Manchester City’s home ground was more physically impressive than Tottenham’s, in my opinion. One commonality between the three was the loud and involved fans cheering for both of the competing teams. At every game we have been to so far, all of the fans have all provided a high-energy environment to the match, and Etihad was no exception.

Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium before the game against Crystal Palace

The game kicked off at 15:00 and right away, the underdog Crystal Palace club overwhelmed Manchester City with impressive defense and Palace found themselves with a 1-0 lead at the end of the first half. Towards the end of the second half, we saw one of the most exciting 10-minute stretches of the whole season. Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero scored back-to-back goals at the 82nd and 87th minutes, to give City a 2-1 lead. Then just three minutes later Palace deflected a shot off of a Man City player and tied the game for a final score of 2-2. It was an incredibly entertaining game and a final score that very few people would have predicted. After the game ended, city fans were distraught and rushed out of the stadium while the Palace fans stayed around to chant and send off their team. We then left the stadium and walked back to our station and caught our train back to London.

Introduction to Stats Perform

January 16, 2020 by knystrom

With only a short ride on the tube, we arrived today at the offices of Opta/Stats Perform. We were all well-dressed and looking smart, ready to be introduced to a team of hyper intelligent men and women whose careers are centered around the analysis of sports. No, we’re not talking about the crew that you see on ESPN or Pam Oliver on the sidelines of NFL games, rather a group of computer nerds (meant with the utmost respect) in a tiny office. Though it’s not the most glamorous of sports analysis-related careers, they do a lot of behind the scenes work that make the experience that much better for viewers, betters, and sports organizations as a whole.

What do they do?

Using refined data collected from a complex system of military grade data tracking systems they create data that is applicable to sport analysis. From this, a user of their data is able to understand in-depth stats that optimize and help one understand the game better.

Where are people scoring and missing shots?

Build a roster of superstars with the stats that best fit the team.

Discover the best method of attack and the opposition’s weak points.

Watch film broken down by every single event that happens in a match.

Most football clubs have realized the effectiveness of this product and have adopted stats analysts into their programs. Arsenal, for example, has hired in-house stats analysts to operate solely within the club. This poses a few questions regarding the use of this data technology and its implications for the game:

Will this give Arsenal a long-term advantage?
Is there a possibility that Arsenal may manipulate statistical data for economic gain?
Will this be the trend for other football clubs in the near future?
Given the expensive nature of this project, will there be a disparity between more wealthy teams and less wealthy teams?

What a wonderful opportunity it was to listen to our speaker Peter. He proved that nerds don’t get as much credit as they should for being so cool and for making sports even more entertaining than what they already are.

Peter gives us an overview of Stats Perform

Learning About Arsenal with Simon Inglis

January 10, 2020 by knystrom

The sport and globalization class had the opportunity to learn about the famous English football team Arsenal. We had famed Football Historian Simon Inglis talk to us about the history of football in London. We learned about the origins of football, from when it was less a sport than a community event, with goals being town landmarks. We also learned more specifically about the history of Arsenal Football Club, taking note of the difference between what they consider their heritage (like their red jerseys with white sleeves) and their actual history, which they overlook at times (like when they were mysteriously promoted to the First Division despite finishing fifth).

Simon going over the history of Football

Mr. Inglis was very generous with his time–after talking with us for about an hour and a half, he rode the tube with us and gave us a tour of Highbury Stadium (Arsenal’s former ground, now an upscale housing complex). You can still see the old facade of the stadium, but it has been gutted other than the entrance. It is clear that the stadium was meant to stand out with its bright colors and art deco style, yet blend in to the neighborhood with its relatively low profile and proximity to other houses. It was really amazing to be standing in a place with so much history, now nothing but a group of apartments.

Next, we went and ate at a small cafe, a traditional thing for fans to do before a game. The atmosphere was certainly a bit mediocre, but the food was cheap, hot, and tasty, the perfect combo for a fan looking to warm themselves up for a cold-weather match. The owners were kind and churned out our food in no time–an impressive feat considering the size of the group.

We capped the day off with a tour of the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal’s current home. We got to see the director’s entrance, the executive suite and restaurant, the owner’s box, the players’ dressing rooms (both home and away), the trophy case, and even a pitch-side view! Needless to say we had fun, and occasional tidbits from Simon made the experience far better than the average tour. All in all, it was an exciting day!