Welcome to Opposition Scouting & Analysis by The Association of Professional Football Analysis!
James-Clarke-Reed
Head of Business Development at Twenty3
Carlon Carpenter
Video & Tactical Analyst at StatsBomb
Gary Curneen
Tactical Performance Analyst at Lou City & Founder of Modern Soccer Coach
Carl Edwards
Head of Analysis at Rotherham United
Oliver Gage
CEO of The APFA
Jeremy Steele
Managing Director of Analytics FC
Tim Keech
Co-Founder of MRKT Insights
Sophie Bone
Head of Analysis at London City Lionesses
James-Clarke-Reed
Head of Business Development at Twenty3
Carlon Carpenter
Video & Tactical Analyst at StatsBomb
Gary Curneen
Tactical Performance Analyst at Lou City & Founder of Modern Soccer Coach
Carl Edwards
Head of Analysis at Rotherham United
Oliver Gage
CEO of The APFA
Jeremy Steele
Managing Director of Analytics FC
Tim Keech
Co-Founder of MRKT Insights
Sophie Bone
Head of Analysis at London City Lionesses
The first task for this module is to create a post in the comments section at the bottom of this page. The comments are used throughout the course to voice thoughts and opinions on different aspects of opposition analysis, and to interact with others taking the course.
Please write a short introduction which includes the following:
Details about yourself
The club you currently work for (if applicable)
Your aspirations in the football industry
The reason you decided to enroll in Opposition Scouting & Analysis
What you aim to take away from this course
The second task is to research what computer software you’re going to use to produce an opposition report in full. Common formats are:
Microsoft Power Point
Keynote
Pages
Microsoft Word
A professional looking report will need to include pictures, diagrams, graphs and possibly other visualizations. Please consider this when performing some research. Remember, nothing’s final, and the opposition report to hand in for evaluation will be the final task for the course.
Details about yourself: My name is Gerd – I live in Austria and I am currently working in youth development for a Club in Graz / Austria.
Your aspirations in the football industry: I want to be more professional everyday – never ending learning process. Helping teams to perform to the max.
The reason you decided to enroll in Opposition Scouting & Analysis: I think knowing the opposition can help a lot to play into the right areas.
What you aim to take away from this course: Look at the right things to help the team.
Details about yourself:
My name is Paige Dewar- Forster, I live in Massachusetts, USA. I am currently working as a Director of Coaching and a head coach for a u16s/u19s team and this summer I will be part of the coaching staff for a WPSL team and taking lead on opposition analysis.
Your aspirations in the football industry:
My goal is to make it into the pro levels, likely on the women’s side of the game. I would love to continue to learn from others and eventually be well equipped to be a head coach at the top level.
The reason you decided to enroll in Opposition Scouting & Analysis:
I have recently earned my A licenses and I took an interest in the analysis module of the course. Knowing how important analysis and scouting opposition is becoming in the game, it is important to me to keep up to date and become competent in this side of the game.
What you aim to take away from this course:
I would like to be better versed in understanding the main importances of providing a high level scout analysis to player and coaches. I would like to understand and look at the game from a different lens to enable me to be as confident in this areas than I am in others.
Thank you!
Details about yourself:
– My name is Jake Mercer and I live near Toledo, Ohio, USA. I am currently a scout and staff member of Toledo Villa FC in USL League 2.
Your aspirations in the football industry:
My goal is to eventually perform a career pivot into the soccer industry. I currently do scouting as a volunteer and I would like to find a job as a full time scout/analyst. Long term, I would like to become a Technical Director for a professional club.
The reason you decided to enroll in Opposition Scouting & Analysis
The reason I enrolled was to help build my skills as a scout. I created my own scouting template but I would like to learn if there is something more replicable and efficient for my reports. With the USL2 being a short, 12 game season, any timely opposition reports could prove to be a marginal gain over an opponent in our division.
What you aim to take away from this course:
I would like to fully know what information is provided in opposition reports and come up with an efficient, replicable process to provide this information to coaches within my club.
I’m Abderrahman and i’m currently based in Morocco, i don’t work for a club currently and honestly i don’t have an exact goal in the football industry, i’m open to various opportunities in scouting and analysis. The reason why i decided to enroll in this course is to increase my knowledge in this area, football games are quite chaotic and i want to know what necessary information professional analysts focus on and extract from the opposition’s games to benefit the coach and the players in order to prepare for their next game.
Greetings,
My name is Ahmed Aly, and I hold a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the American University in Cairo. While I currently have no direct experience in the football industry, my deep passion for the sport and my growing knowledge through various statistics and programming courses undertaken at the university, along with several certificates in football performance analysis have fueled my desire to build a football career.
I aspire to work as a performance analyst or a coach, focusing on understanding the game’s tactical and strategic elements. I enrolled in this course to sharpen my analytical skills and better understand team dynamics. I aim to use this course to gain practical insights and methodologies to help me excel in my future roles within the football industry.
Greetings,
My name is Ahmed Aly, and I hold a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. While I currently have no direct experience in the football industry, my deep passion for the sport and my growing knowledge through various statistics and analytical courses undertaken at the university, along with certificates in performance analysis in football, have fueled my desire to build a football career. I aspire to work as a performance analyst or a coach, focusing on understanding the game’s tactical and strategic elements.
I enrolled in this course to sharpen my analytical skills and better understand team dynamics. I aim to use this course to gain practical insights and methodologies to help me excel in my future roles within the football industry.
I’m currently an associate head coach in the women’s program at Binghamton University. My aspirations in the football industry are to continue building my knowledge and to take advantage of every opportunity to do that. I’m excited to enroll in this course to improve the quality of our opposition analysis prior to matches. I think improving the work I do in that area can provide my team meaningful advantages on match day. I’m hoping to take an organized work flow away from this course. I sometimes feel like our opponent scouting process isn’t as methodical as it could be and I’m looking for ideas to implement best practices in that area.
Hi there,
My name is Reuben and I am currently studying a masters course in Sports Performance Analysis within the UK. After completing my studies, I aspire to work within an academy setting at a professional clubs, then leading to working within a first team environment within a club. I believe by taking this course, I will be able to gain useful knowledge which can help to improve skills which I currently have. I believe opposition analysis is a key aspect of the match analyst role which can contribute strongly towards a team’s success. From this course, I plan to take away skills and techniques which are used within modern practises as a performance analyst.
My name is Aidan Dowd and I am based in the United States. My aspirations are to become a scout or analyst in football over in Europe. I decided to take the course to better understand the best ways to present material, as well as what analytical techniques are used.
Details about yourself: My name is Chris, my current role is AC at Wayne State College (Neb.)
Your aspirations in the football industry: I aspire to continue to develop in my current role as AC and to possibly be a HC at the NCAA level.
The reason you decided to enroll in Opposition Scouting & Analysis: To gain a deeper knowledge of scouting and to have a more streamlined method for delivering the information to our players.
What you aim to take away from this course: A different point of view on how to look at a match and to take the information obtained and provide a detailed report to the players.
My name is Daniel and I am based in the United States. I currently work as an analyst for a club in MLS, and look forward to using this course as an opportunity to improve how I communicate findings to coaches and players throughout our club. I aspire to being a good teammate.
My name is Kobe currently based in the UK. In the future I’d like to be a football scout in the industry, either as an opposition analyst or recruitment analyst. I’ve chosen to enroll in opposition scouting and analysis to further gain knowledge about the role and what the modern practices are.
Hi there,
My name is Michael, I am based in Sydney, Australia, and I coach at a club at youth level in the NSW National Premier League. My aspirations in the football industry are to become a coach/analyst at a professional level, and the reason that I decided to enrol in the course is to extend my analysis knowledge explicitly within the context of analysing opposition. My aims for the course would be to learn how to apply opposition analysis to training design and pre-match preparation against given opponents, and to have a comprehension of this at a strong level of proficiency.
My name is Muhammad, I am a coach under 18 years old in Azadegan Club, and I got a coaching degree from the English FA, and I want to coach at a high level of football, and for this reason, I participated in this course so that I can learn new things about football.
Hi.
i’m Francesco, from Rome (Italy). i’m a scout, UefaB coach licensed and match analyst. i’m currently working for SSL as first team scout, before that i was part of FIFA Agent’s group to discover player. I also helped player with individual tactical analysis. The aspiration is to became a Sport Director or Head of scouting for top clubs.
i’m always improving my knowledge and my database during the year.
I enrolled the APFA course to enhance my recruiting and analysis’s process and to acquire new skills to support Sport DIrector and team day by day.
My name is Daniel, and I currently live in Virginia, United States. I currently work at US Soccer as a network performance analyst and recently worked for Virginia Tech Men’s Soccer. My aspiration in the football industry is to work as the head performance analyst at a professional club and eventually transition into front-office work. I’ve decided to enroll in the course as I want to keep growing my skillset in this field & felt like I needed the most work in opposition scouting. The main thing I hope to take away after taking this course is being able to put together an opposition scouting report and finding the best ways to make it presentable.
Greetings
I am Morena Moloi, from South Africa. I am a holder of an exercise science certificate and have mostly worked as a strength and Conditioning coach currently getting into analysis as it’s a growing field.
I am giving my services as an analyst at one of the traditional universities in South Africa. The aspiration is to be involved in professional football and continuously be in touch with the development through recruitment.
I enrolled to enhance my football knowledge and improve the processes that make an analyst work much more effectively and how to support the technical team by contributing to the weekly schedule, and planning of training sessions with Match day in mind.
How to structure and communicate the findings both towards players and the technical team.
My name is Rónán Curran, I am a UEFA B qualified Coach. I am also a Teacher but I am leaving this career to pursue a career in the game coaching professionally.
I am currently working with Derry City U20s as an assistant coach.
My long term goal in the football industry is to coach at the highest level possible and work with the highest level of coaches and players in the game in a variety of different countries, cultures and club philosophies.
I enrolled on the course and with APFA as this is an area of the game that greatly interests me and I would like to learn more about and potentially go into this line of work on my coaching journey. It would also greatly help my coaching on the pitch. I chose the APFA after hearing great reviews and being very impressed with their professional set up.
Some of the key things I am looking to takeaway from the course is how to create an informative, concise and precise opposition scout report and learn how to apply opposition analysis to my coaching.
Details about yourself:
– My name is John Horstman. I currently live in the St. Louis area. I am moving to Cincinnati for a new role in youth coaching. I currently hold my USSF C License.
The club you currently work for (if applicable):
St. Louis Scott Gallagher IL
Cincinnati United/ Cincinnati United Premier (upcoming)
Your aspirations in the football industry:
My long-term goal is to lead a professional youth academy as Technical Director or to find a way to break into assistant coaching/Player Development/Analysis in the professional game.
The reason you decided to enroll in Opposition Scouting & Analysis
– I enjoy learning more about the game and being able to break down the game into every aspect under tactical, technical, analysis and individual development. As a youth coach I would like to have an advantage in opposition analysis to always be 2 steps ahead of the opponent. I would like to dive deeper into it to gain more knowledge and understanding of it.
What you aim to take away from this course:
To gain a further understanding of analysis and what it means to be analysis the opposition. Creating new ideas and learning how to present/explain my ideas and findings.
Hi my name is Jacob. I am a recently retired professional player (in Finland and in USA) and am jumping fully into the coaching world now. I will be joining the staff at the University of Louisville in the United States. I have coached various youth teams as well as being a Head coach for a professional club my final year in Finland while I was still playing. I have always done opposition analysis for every opponent I was going to play to help myself for my upcoming game but also to practice for when the time came to retire. It was always very informal though with just jotting notes on paper basically so am looking forward to seeing how it is properly done!
Hi, My name is Raghu, from Virginia, United States. I have worked with players ranging from the grassroots level to the travel to the collegiate level. I have compiled opposition reports before, however I would like to take these course to see where I can improve upon. I aspire to be a soccer coach at a professional level, and I am hoping this course will help me understand and read the game much better to help with the decisions that I would have to make as a coach.
Hi my name is Sophie, I am originally from the UK, but have spent significant time working in the football industry across all levels in the US and Mexico.
I have just finished up working with a youth academy (U8-U16 Boys) in Mexico, and also own an online video coaching platform, providing video coaching and analysis to players of all levels.
Being as coach at heart, I have always had to carry out analysis tasks throughout my career in various forms (recruitment, talent ID, opposition analysis, team performance) as well as having completed various other analysis courses along the way. I am hoping to take away new ideas, up skill myself with new work flows and new ideas for ways to present findings.
Hi, my name is Lewis and I currently coach at grassroots level. I am aiming to become a performance analyst in the professional game. Although I have analysed opposition and compiled reports before, I’d like to improve my knowledge of presenting reports to a professional standard.
Hello,
My name is Matt and I am from Utah in the United States. I recently retired from coaching at the youth level after 17 years. I spent time at 4 different youth clubs with in the state with 5 years as an Age group DOC and an Assistant DOC. I still am always hungry to study the game and better my understanding of what is happening and am toying with the idea of providing a contracted service of analysis for clubs in the area. I enrolled in the course after really enjoying the attacking modern game module and look forward to participating in this one. I hope to grow my understanding of reading the game and then communicating that to coaches and players for their growth and development.
Hello,
My name is Pawel and I am from Poland. I got into the analysis industry when the pandemic hit and I was really dragged into it.
Nowadays I work for two semi-amateur clubs based in Poland and Switzerland. I help them with my tactical output and creative set pieces. I took this course so that I could better tailor my presentations with a kind of “less is more” approach and learn one or two things.
Hi Everyone,
My Name is Darren Rhodes.
Im a student at UCFB, studying a degree in Talent Development. I am also the Lead Academy Scout for Preston North End.
My Career Goal is to become a recruitment analyst, so I’m trying to upskill as much as possible to help me reach that goal.
I do already have qualifications in Opposition Analysis, but wanted the chance to help APFA in the upcoming euro 2024 tournament as mentioned in their webinar, I feel this would be invaluable experience for me as I look to progress my career.
Hi all. My name is Cameron Oliver. I am not currently working at a club but at a provincial sporting organization in Canada. I recently completed my post-grad degree in Sports Performance Analysis and aspire to work as an analyst for a National team. I decided to enroll in the Opposition Scouting & Analysis course to expand my knowledge in an area essential to the role of a performance analyst. My goals from this course are to develop new techniques and learn how to structure industry-like reports.
Hello, my name is Reece Edwards, and I am currently working as a football journalist with the aspiration of becoming a Performance Analyst at the professional level. Though I do have some experience in compiling scouting reports for a couple of clubs, I am hoping to further my understanding of the process via this course.
Hello everyone! I’m Mohamed Fathalli, 28 years old from Tunisia. Unfortunately, I don’t have any work experience with any club. I started writing football content for YouTube channels one year ago on Fiverr, and since then I decided to explore anything that might help me land an official job in the football world. We all dream of working in something we love, and what’s better than football? That’s why I am taking this course and will probably take others. As a script writer, I enjoy writing players and teams’ analysis, that’s also why I decided to enroll in this course so I can have a more professional approach when it comes to my writing. Also, we don’t have similar courses here in Tunisia, so to get something that can prove my qualification in the football field would mean so much for me! I can’t wait to finish this course and why not jump on another one in the future!
Hello, my name is Justin DeSousa. I currently coach for a grassroots club called Hollywood FC in Hollywood, Florida. I am the head coach for a U10 team and Men’s team. I also recently started as an opposition analyst for the Florida International University Women’s Soccer program.
My aspiration is to eventually work in professional football either as a coach or analyst. I decided to enroll in this course because I wanted to ensure that I deliver high quality analysis to the players in both of the organizations I work at. Especially as one of my roles is specifically as an opposition analyst.
From this course I look to ensure my reports are at as high of a standard as possible, while also being as effective as possible.
Hello,
I am Mihajlo Ivkovski, from Skopje, Macedonia. I have a multiyear experience in analysing basketball and baseball games, working for Synergy Sports and I would like to broaden my experience in analysing football games. Although I don’t have professional experience as a football analyst, I have passed few courses about football analytics and I follow on regular basis the latest trends and events on social media, concerning the football analysis. I chose the course “Opposition Scouting & Analysis” because it covers great variety of topics, regarding the analysis of opponent teams and individuals, that will help me to pave my way to a professional engagement in the football analysis industry, because I aspire to become a comprehensive football analyst who will help clubs and companies that need experts in the field of football analysis, to achieve their goals.
Hello, my name is Krešimir Gregurić. I am currently working as a tactical analyst at NK Varaždin, a club competing in the SuperSport Croatian Football League. My aspiration in the football industry is to continually grow and push my boundaries of tactical analysis in football.
The reason I decided to enroll in the Opposition Scouting & Analysis course is to deepen my understanding of the game and to enhance my analytical skills. I believe this course will provide me with advanced techniques and knowledge, enabling me to contribute more effectively to my team’s success.
From this course, I aim to gain a comprehensive understanding of opposition analysis, which is crucial in modern football. I am particularly interested in learning about new methodologies and technologies used in scouting and how to effectively integrate this information into our team’s strategy. This will not only improve my professional skills but also provide NK Varaždin with a competitive edge in our league.
I’m eager to embrace this learning opportunity and to apply these insights in my role, further contributing to the success of NK Varaždin.
Hello, my name is Jovan and I am coming from Serbia. At the moment I am without club and I use this situation to learn and improve. Previously I was working in UAE as assistant coach and also as analyst. I have strong passion to improve my self in this area because my roles are link with this area and I am hoping to become best possible version of my self as an analyst.
Hi, my name is Klemen Ružič and i’m from the Slovenia. I working at NK Jadran Dekani as a coach with u11. I want to continue learning and growing as a coach and see where it takes me. My passion is football and my aim is to work in profession football club one day. I end some other analyst courses and would like to learn something new and get new skill.
I’m Liam Lacy and I currently work as Head of Player Development at IMG Academy in Florida. Within my current role I am responsible for Performance Analysis across the program. I want to continue to improve my own processes and ability to analyse games / practices to be able to help guide other coaches and our players within the Academy. We are fortunate to have access to a variety of platforms, products and data sources but could do more with this to drive individual development and improve overall team performance, specifically targeted at our older age groups (U19).
My name is Estevan. I recently started working part time at a local football club as a coach with ages ranging from u8 – u16. I am a recent college student where I got a degree in mechanical engineering. However my true passion is football and would like to be involved in the professional industry. I decided to enroll in this course in order to gain an insight on how analysts work and how data is integrated into scouting reports. My biggest aim for this course is to keep learning new techniques and ideas and for learning how to structure reports.
My name is Larus. I am not currently working for a club. I’m doing a master’s degree in applied data science and have been playing a round with football analytics for a year now. My aim is to work for a club in the future and I think this course is a step in the right direction. What I would like to take away from this course is to see how clubs do opposition scouting and analysis at a professional level.
Hello, my name is Ryan Sierakowski. I currently play professional football for the Richmond Kickers in Richmond, VA. My aspirations are to continue to play at the professional level, but once I am done playing I would like to be. a collegiate or pro football coach. I decided to enroll in Opposition scouting and analysis to increase my understanding in how to effectively scout and analyze opponents and be able to utilize that in my playing and coaching career.
My name is Hugh. I am a coach of a U16 boys team in Rockord, Illinois, and also assisting with Rockford University this fall. I am doing this course to improve my ‘eye’ for watching the game and also to learn and improve how to scout opponents in a useful way. This will help inform my coaching and also individual and team development.
Hi everyone, my name is Rob and i’m from the UK. Previously worked in the betting industry as a football researcher then recently worked as a scout for Blackpool. Would like to get more involved at a club in future and looking to find out as much as possible how clubs approach things. Have some experience as a player scout but haven’t done any opposition analysis so taking this course to learn a new skill.
I’m Nick Ross, a professional football player with Sacramento Republic FC. I am originally from Scotland where I played in the Scottish Premier League for 7 years before moving out to the US to play in the USL Championship.
After I finish playing I would like to stay in the game if possible whether that be through coaching or something more technical. I enrolled in this course to see what scouting/analysis looks like at the professional level and to see if it is something I’d like to pursue in the future.
I am Karlee Pottorff Hoover. My job title is Baylor University Women’s Soccer Analyst. Our players’ ages range from 18-22. This course is education for my BU Analyst position. My intention for this course is gaining a basic understanding of analysis work and opposition scouting.
Hello everyone,. My name is Aaron Dowsett I grew up in Wales before moving to America to play college soccer. I am now the assistant coach at a Juco school called Neosho CCC. I want to continue learning and growing as a coach and see where it takes me. I enrolled in this course because I want to improve my analysis skills on opposition, last year we did scouting reports on teams but I feel like I need to get better in this area. I am looking forward to taking away as much information as possible from this course. I used Word for my reports last year, but this year we are going to use powerpoint and aim to give a 15 minute presentation to the players the day before the game.
Hi everyone, my name is Mikey Lopez. I’m originally from Mission, Tx, but currently living in Birmingham, AL where I play professionally. I currently play for Birmingham Legion FC, and I am in my 11th year as a pro. I have spent 5 years in the MLS, playing for SKC and NYCFC, and have spent 6 years in the USL, 1 year in San Antonio and the rest in Birmingham. I have also had the pleasure and fortune to represent the USA in the 2013 u20 World Cup.
Once my playing career is over, I want to stay in the game. I would love to become a coach because I believe it is the second best thing of being a part of the sport other than being an athlete. So, I believe that this course would help me achieve viewing the game from a different perspective and learning the game from a different tactical lens. Other than the long-term view, I also think that this course would help me gain a competitive advantage in the short-term by understanding what current opponents may present on the weekend, and learning how to expose that. I am really curious and excited in taking this course and seeing the advantages and knowledge that I will gain from it.
Hi everyone, my name is TJ. I grew up in North Carolina, but moved to Ohio for college around 7 years ago. I am currently a coach at the D-II collegiate level in Ohio at a school called Cedarville University. I played NCAA D-II soccer (at the school at which I am now a coach) from 2016-2019 and had a summer of PDL (now USL 2) experience in there as well.
As of now, I am a teacher full-time and an assistant college coach part time. My hope in the future is to break into coaching full-time at the NCAA DI or DII level. I am taking this course primarily because I am interested in improving my ability to analyze future opponents and present that information in a professional manner. A large part of my job as a coach this fall with Cedarville will be preparing opposition scouting reports so I would love to do that in a way that is professional and most helpful for our team.
The two things I would most like to take away from this course are an established process for opposition scouting to aid my workflow and tools and ideas for how to produce professional opposition scouting reports.
Hi everyone, I’m Rudie Imran Masih from Singapore. I used to be a player in my country’s professional league and a national youth player. Currently I’m in SAF and have been in service for almost 25 years. I have recently graduated from Barca Innovation Hub completing my Football Tactical Analysis and Advance Course. I’m looking forward to this course for continuous learning. I look forward to meeting all of you too (if possible). I’m currently liaising with my country’s Football Association (FAS), to see how i can value add to the organization.
I’m Alejandro Guido, a professional soccer player with experience in leagues like Liga MX, MLS, USL, and US national teams. I’ve played for clubs like Club Tijuana, LAFC, and SD Loyal. I’m also a licensed coach, obtaining my professional coaching license from the Mexican Federation and a B license from US Soccer.
Throughout my coaching journey, I’ve had the opportunity to work with esteemed institutions such as LAFC academies, Xolos academies, MLS next club teams in San Diego, and high school soccer programs. Representing the United States in various youth national teams and the full men’s national team has given me a well-rounded perspective on the game.
I’m passionate about coaching professionally in MLS and Liga MX, so I’ve enrolled in the Opposition Scouting & Analysis course. Mastering scouting and analysis techniques will give me a competitive edge in the industry. I’m eager to deepen my understanding of opposition scouting, learn effective analysis methods, and extract valuable insights from match data.
By honing these skills, I aim to make informed tactical decisions, develop winning game plans, and contribute significantly to the success of my future teams. With my playing experience, coaching background, and unwavering commitment to improvement, I’m confident in making a meaningful impact as a professional and youth soccer coach.
Hello everyone.
I’m Roger Bonet, but everyone knows me as “Ruxi”. I’m 28 years old, born in Valls, Catalonia (Spain). I’m professional football player, currently in FC Tulsa in USL Championship. Before I played also professional in Finland, Iceland and Spain.
I’m UEFA A coach pending of validation and also psychology degree student. I have been coaching youth teams around the world U11, U12, U14 and U15 as an assistant coach and head coach. I would like to become a professional coach in the future, but I’m also interested and I have acquired some knowledge about other roles like sporting director or CEO thank to the Johan Cruyff Institute.
My reason to start this course is to accumulate as much knowledge as possible to become a better coach. To become a good coach you need to be good in many faces, one of them for example is to analyze the opponents and most important bring the right and concise information to the players. That’s somehow what I’m aiming to take away from this course.
Hi everyone,
My name is Tommy McCabe and I am currently in my fifth year as a professional soccer player for FC Tulsa. Before turning pro, I received my bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and while playing I received a Masters degree in Sports Management from Georgetown University.
I have an ambition to work in soccer on the technical & sporting side after I finish my playing career. Just like qualities of players and the game itself continue to evolve, so do the requirements off the field. As someone who wants to make the most of my playing career while also preparing for an eventual transition away from playing, I feel experiences like this APFA course will make me a more well rounded person in soccer and potential candidate for jobs.
Data and analytics have become a major part of every department in soccer, and having people that can interpret data and then translate into clear and concise presentations regardless of topic (in this case opposition analysis) I think will be an important skill to have moving forward. I hope to have a clearer understanding of how to analyze opponents. More importantly, I hope to be able to learn how to create presentations that are accurate and easy to follow for players and coaches while also fitting into the unique structure of a club’s game preparation.
I am Ahan Jain and I currently am a analyst at Davidson College (D1, A10). I would love to be a sporting director for a European club one day. I decided to enroll in this course to learn more about opposition scouting and analysis for the upcoming college season, and how to create a professional report.
Hello everyone,
My name is Emanuele. Even though I am originally from Italy, I am currently located in the United States (specifically, Washington DC area). I have played and watched soccer all my life, and it is a great joy to be able to be involved with the game professionally. I currently work for the Juventus Academy DC Metro (professional youth soccer academy).
My aspiration in the football industry is to keep evolving in my knowledge, craft, and expertise. In the long term, I plan to take additional steps in my coaching career and move from youth to the professional level. I have decided to enroll in this course mostly because I love tactical analysis. Dissecting the game bit by bit has always intrigued me, and it has helped my coaching career tremendously. Here, I hope to gather new skills in this area so that I might use them in my current environment and future ones.
I am especially looking forward to observe how the format, presentation, and style of professional opposition reports will be unpacked in the modules. I can’t wait to get started!
My name is Eric Kinzner. I am 20 years old and I am halfway through my fourth season as a pro. I grew up playing in the Seattle sounders academy and on youth national teams. I then went on to sign with the sounders second team, Tacoma Defiance. I later moved on briefly playing on loan at FC Tucson in USL 1 and I am now with the RGV Toros in USL Championship on a permanent move.
Since moving on from the Sounders organization, taking responsibility for my own development has become that much more important. The focus of these independent clubs is not to nurture talent but that doesn’t mean I am done growing as a player. My hope is that this course can raise my soccer IQ, teach me how to be intentional when watching film on opposition, and to possibly give me skills that will translate after I am done playing.
Hello everyone, my name is Tristan and I have been interning with Austin FC’s academy for the past year. I have been doing video analysis and droning for all age groups, along with opposition analysis. I am eager to work within a first team setup, but have enjoyed what I have done on an academy level so far. I want to set up analysis procedures that help all our age groups and will bring them as much information as efficiently as possible. Long term, I would be interesting in being a technical/sporting director, but the medium term goal is to work with a first team. As I have done a lot of opposition analysis for the academy, I want to hone and improve my skills; since it is a key part of my job, I want to be able to do it as effectively as possible. I am eager to takeaway some key practices and procedures from this course that I can use when we start next season.
Hey guys, Evan Lee here living in Greenville, South Carolina. I currently am in my 8th year as a professional player and have been playing for the Greenville Triumph for the last 5 years. As far as my goals in the game of football, they are a bit clouded at the moment. The one thing I know is that I want to be in the game for the rest of my life. The business side of things interest me, the coaching side is pushing my the hardest right now, but I also am interested in more of a GM role within a team. The main reason I am doing this course is because knowledge is power, understanding different areas of your professional can only benefit you. I do not have a specific goal for this course, I am curious as to what my primary takeaway will be.
Hello, my name is James and I am a youth coach for various age groups for the Arkadelphia Soccer Association in the state of Arkansas. I see opposition analysis as a skill set that I can add to help me to become a better coach and in doing so allow me to better prepare players as they work and grow through their development to whatever level that may be. As I work through the course, I hope to gain a better understanding of how to go about scouting other teams, in a general sense, but also to gain knowledge of specific things to look for that I might not have considered before.
Hello, my name is Alex, I’m from from Switzerland. I have just finished my university studies and I want to try to work as a football analyst at a club, which is why I’ve enrolled in this course. I’ve already got a solid grasp of data analysis and understanding of tactics, both of which I’m really passionate about, and now I want to learn to be able to do professional football performance/scouting/etc analysis.
Hello, my name is Akira Fitzgerald and I am currently a player/GK coach with the Richmond Kickers in USL League One. This is my 13th year as a professional player, 3rd year as a member of a technical staff and I recently completed my US Soccer B License.
I hope to work at the highest levels of the game on the professional side but am very interested in all levels of coaching soccer. Working as a coach in the professional game has helped me understand the rhythms and demands of the job as well as making it clear that I enjoy coaching and want to learn more about the game which is the main reason I wanted to enroll is this course. Another reason I wanted to enroll in this course was because I currently have to give opposition scouting reports to our GKs and want to know how to be more efficient, clear and professional in my delivery.
My name is Sina Olyaei and I’m currently the Head Coach of the U12 Lower Merion SC. My long term aspiration is be a top. Premier League manager. I decided to enroll into this enroll to expand my knowledge in the football world where I will be able to influence others. I aim to be able to break down the phases of play within football and be able to provide a solutions to counter the opposition tactics. I’m currently a UEFA B candidate and I believe enrolling into this course will help me in the UEFA coaching licence.
Hi, my name is Ozzie Ramos and I am a current player for Central Valley Fuego FC in USL League One.
After recently obtaining the USSF C License in the offseason, i’ve decided to enroll in the Opposition Scouting and Analysis Course in order to gain further insights on report structures as well as key data points that can be used to better understand opposing teams tendencies.
Being a current player, and respecting the differences between being a player and technical staff member, I am hoping to take advantage of these resources so that when I decide to transition out of playing, I will have already respected a development process on the coaching side, and the transition will feel much more natural.
Hi,
My name is Luke Morris. I am currently employed by the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball but have always had an interest in soccer. I am one of our minor league video coordinators and I help on the analysis side quite often. I am taking this course to further my knowledge of soccer and how to analyze the game but also because I often find value in learning about the analysis of sports beyond baseball and applying that to my work with the Yankees.
Hi,
My name is Alex and I am a current student at the University of Derby. Do to my university course being on performance analysis, my career goal is to work within the industry. I have decided to enroll in this course to gain knowledge on analysis, which can help me with my studies and help expand my knowledge.
Hi,
My name is Giovanni and from the US. I am currently an assistant coach at Long Island University Division I women’s team. I am responsible for our team analysis and upcoming opponent’s analysis. I have been growing more and more interested in performance analysis and how it is changing the game. I enjoy the in-depth information on reviewing tactics, strategies and player performances during games. I want to learn more and utilize these skills more efficiently in our program. Most importantly, to become a better coach while also being adaptable to the ever changing game.
My name is John Zuidema and I’m currently working for Temple University’s Men’s Soccer team as a video and data analyst, while also coaching for a local club in the Philadelphia area. My goal is to someday coach professional football, but eventually return back to youth coaching. I enrolled in this course to develop better thoughts on best practice within opposition analysis and how to better present information.
Hi
My name is Nikolay and i’m from Bulgaria but now i’ m currently working in Iceland in IBV as a U19 Head coach and assistant coach of the first team. Before that i worked in several Bulgarian clus as a coach. I hold UEFA A licence. My ambition in football is to be a head coach of a men’s team soon.I decide to join the course because the analysis and the tactical part of the game is my passion. I hope to gain new knowledge from the course and see different perspectives.
Hi, my name is Milen and I live in US. I am professional soccer coach at Princeton FC. I work with various age groups- U11, U12 and U17. I hold an UEFA B Licence and I’m currently enrolled in USC Premier Diploma. I enjoy working with youth players and I am also interested in moving to the next level- college and professional .
I think collecting as much info on opponent, analyzing it, recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent, offensive and defensive behaviors, key individual players strengths and weaknesses, etc is vital in the preparation for a game. I’m looking forward to expand my knowledge in that department and improve my decision making leading up to a game and during games.
I am Kenny and Im a recent sports coaching graduate ftom the university if essex.
I am trying to get some analyst jobs in football and I want to have more data analysis knowledge to help with my coaching and also to one day work in a club as an analyst or a coach.
I enrolled this course since i believe it would give me more insight to this line of work and also to improve my tactical understanding of the game.
I hope i can learn from this course and use my skills to get a role and excel with it.
Hi, my name is Gabe and I am currently working at an academy level.
My aspirations in football would be to work at the professional level, either as an opposition analyst, or on the first team coaching staff (head coach or assistant coach)
The reason I decided to enroll in this class is to be able to maximize my learning experience and hopefully use this as a reference point to be able to get closer of my dreams and continue to learn.
I would like to learn the ins and out of analysis and how I can better improve my understanding of the game.
My name is Oscar Felipe and I coach at the New York Red Bulls on the Youth Program and am an Analyst for Albion Soccer Club from San Diego, California.
I recently finished a Master’s in Big Data applied to Soccer and I had the opportunity to learn new tools and strategies, besides improving my skills and knowledge within Data Analysis.
I’m pursuing a career in the Analysis field to develop and grow myself.
Hi,
My name is Tom Gorman and I’m a youth soccer coach, analyst, and university student in Oregon, USA. I coach at a OVF Alliance in Oregon right now. I have experience coaching as a video and performance analyst in USL League Two and a coach in USL-Academy.
I want to work at the highest level of soccer as a video analyst or coach in the future, but I’m first looking to grow my skill set and gain more experience in elite soccer after I graduate. I’m taking this course because I want to gain a better understanding of how elite teams use analysis to scout the opposition.
Hi my name is Jan-Erik Leinhos and I’m currently playing for One Knoxville SC in the USL League One. Previously, I played for Louisville City FC and in college at Marshall University. I’m 25 years old and originally from Germany, Kassel. After my playing career, I’d love to be part of a coaching team at a club as a scouting, tactical, or performance coach. I think I’d enjoy working in the background for the head and assistant coach and providing additional information about whatever is needed.
During my time at Louisville City FC I met Gary Curneen, who did an amazing job for the team and the coaches at the time. I was impressed by the way he provided a presentation when we struggled to score goals and since then I was on the hook and started looking for a way to get going.
I hope to learn skills on how to work with data efficiently and get a better understanding of which data is useful and which is not. Ultimately, I hope to learn the basics of what data analysts are doing on a day-to-day basis to then create my own pathway after that.
Hello, my name is Nick and I live in England. For over 10 years I have held various marketing related roles at a couple of different Premier League clubs, a national association and a few sports related organisations. Marketing, however, is not my passion, it was purely a means of getting a career within the football industry.
And whilst I have always been an avid and inquisitive football observer – including obtaining my UEFA C Coaching license and holding a few positions as a community football coach – it has only been in recent years where I’ve began to focus my passion into specific areas, namely tactics, coaching, analytics, scouting, recruitment and football writing.
I have therefore been learning, both independently and via courses, to expand my knowledge and experience across all of these fields, with the view of changing career. I decided to enroll on this course as I want to improve my opposition analysis and learn how to build a professional standard report.
Hi, my name is Brandon Mays and I am currently an analyst at Minneapolis City SC in USL League Two. I’ve been working with them for about a year now, primarily doing data work for the club. I really want to make an impact on other’s love for the game. My goals are to get more involved in the coaching side of the game and eventually be able to pursue this full time, whether in an analysis or coaching role. I decided to enroll in the course as it aligns with my goals, it allows me to learn from experts, and explore new ways of doing things. I want to help create more structure around my processes and gain insight into analysis at a high level. I really want to grow as an analyst and provide more valuable insight to the organizations I serve.
Hi, my name is Zak Gordon, and I have numerous current roles in professional and youth football. Currently, i’m an assistant coach for Monterey Bay FC in the USL Championship, as well as MLS Next academy director and U19 MLS Next head coach for Sacramento United in California. My aspirations are simply to gain experience at every level possible, and have as much of an impact as possible on the lives of the players that i’m privileged to work with. I’ve enrolled in the course as the content and structure seems interesting, and i’m also eager to learn more and expand my knowledge base, as well as improve myself as a coach.
Hello, my name is Brandon Iannelli, and I am the head coach of RI Rogues FC in the WPSL. I am also the first assistant coach at Johnson & Wales University Men’s Soccer program in addition to other roles in the local youth soccer landscape. I just recently completed my Master’s Degree in Soccer Coaching, and my mission is to break into first division football. I am excited to expound on the knowledge I have gained from my peers in regard to opposition scouting, and I am hoping that this course provides the details necessary to analyze an opponent on an impactful level in order to gain competitive advantages.
Details about yourself:
– My name is Nedim Gracanin, and I am originally from Bosnia & Herzegovina. I came to the US as a child, and grew up in the St. Louis area. I recently moved to Tulsa. I currently hold my USSF B License and a Bachelors in Education (Physical Ed & Health).
The club you currently work for (if applicable):
– Tulsa Soccer Club (boys ecnl)
Your aspirations in the football industry:
– Ideally, my long-term ambition is to lead a professional youth academy as Technical Director or to find a way to break into assistant coaching in the pro game. The first step would be a second or third assistant in the USL.
The reason you decided to enroll in Opposition Scouting & Analysis
– I enjoy learning different aspects of the game and having an edge over other coaches if possible. We don’t have opposition analysts in the youth game, and I have some of my own ideas, references, starting points to analysis. But I would like to dive deeper into it to gain more knowledge and understanding of it.
What you aim to take away from this course:
– New ideas, ways to present, add to my own analysis templates, gain deeper understanding of opposition analysis.
Hello, my name is Ismaila and I am looking to break into the football industry either as a data analyst or opposition analyst. The reason why I decided to enroll in the course is because I wanted to learn more about the tactical/analysis side of the game so that I can hopefully join a club one day as an analyst. I’m looking forward to learning about how to scout the opposition and learn their strengths and weaknesses as well as put that analysis into formal reports.
Hi, my name is Ricky Johnson. I am from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and am looking to enter the football industry. My ideal role in the future would be as a tactical analyst. About four years ago, I started to take great interest in the tactical side of the game. Since then, I have spent a lot of time learning about tactics. I now want to turn what has been a hobby of mine into a profession. After taking this course, I hope to understand how analysts function within a club and what goes into creating their reports, as well as expanding my general knowledge of the game.
Hello, my name is Theofanis Booras & I am the Technical Director for a youth soccer club in Massachusetts. Additionally I have worked with various collegiate programs around the New England Area. I currently hold my UEFA B Diploma and plan to begin my UEFA A this upcoming Spring. My ultimate goal is to make it into professional football management. While I don’t have a distinct passion for analysis, I believe it is useful and valuable to have a good understanding of it and how I can maybe apply it to my teams/programs in the future.
Hi, my name is Michael Fitzharris. I am originally from England but I am currently a student at the University of Florida. I am breaking into the football field and want to have analyst skills. I believe that these analyst skills will help me in the future when I have graduated from college. What I hope to gain from this course is the skills to be able to identify an oppositions weakness and also have the the correct tools to share this data with a team.
Hello, my name is Dom and I’ve recently left my first role within football as First Team Analyst at AFC Rushden and Diamonds. I am an aspiring recruitment analyst, however I enjoy opposition analysis just as much as I do recruitment. I decided to enrol in this course because although my main goal is to become a recruitment analyst, I believe it is always important to be well-rounded and have a good understanding and holistic view of all areas of high performance.
From this course I hope to gain the skills to be able to start looking for a new role within the sport and develop my understanding of opposition analysis.
Hello! My name is Harry, and I am currently working as a Casual analyst for the Rangers Women’s First Team. Prior to this role, I had the opportunity to intern within the academy at Rangers, which allowed me to gain valuable experience and knowledge in the field of performance analysis.
As a performance analyst, my ultimate goal is to work at the highest level in the industry. However, my immediate focus is on continually improving and adding value to my current role. To that end, I have decided to sign up for this course in order to develop my skills and gain the ability to create comprehensive and effective opposition reports.
Hey there! My name is Erin Carrillo and I am currently an assistant coach with Utah State women’s soccer. I was previously at the University of Oregon working with their women’s team but got the opportunity to go to Utah State almost 2 years ago. I have also coached club teams, USL, and NAIA men’s soccer. My ultimate goal is to gain a lot of experience and then pursue being an assistant coach in the NWSL. The reason I decided to take this course is that I have been fortunate to work with a US National team scout and want to see what else I can implement into my own scouts for my team. Everyone does things differently so evolving my work is super important to me which is what I hope I can gain from this course.
Hi, my name is William Deally and I am currently working for PFF FC as a Data Collection Analyst. My goal is to have a career with a football club as a performance or recruitment analyst. I am taking this course to improve my skills as an analyst and continue to learn as much as I can to prepare me for my career. I hope to take away the ability prepare thorough reports on opposition’s tactics and tendencies. This course will help in my goal to provide analysis to a player in the Ekstraklasa as his personal analyst.
Hi there, my name is Liam Murphy and I’m a B Licence Coach and Team Analyst here in Brisbane, Australia. I work at Brisbane Roar FC with the Senior team as their analyst. Since the team is small, I cover a range of roles within analysis including opposition analysis, training review, post match review and individual player reviews. I also coach at Brisbane Strikers which is a semi-professional (Div 2 equivalent) club with their U15 boys team. Whilst doing this, I have also completed my Masters of Sports Coaching having graduated this year.
It’s my aim to be able to work full time in football whether as a coach, analyst or even both. Given there are limited opportunities to do so here in Australia, I am aiming to move overseas (US or UK) to join a professional environment.
I decided to join because there are a lack of quality resources for analysts to learn from in the public space. Youtube and Total Football Analysis Magazine (which I used to write for) have been my main learning sources. I also joined to grow my network within the Analysis industry so I can learn from others. By the end of this course, I’m hoping I will be able to generate a high quality opposition report that incorporates data but also develop a stronger process for opposition analysis.