In an interview with BBC Sport, Foster noted “We went into the shoot-out as well prepared as possible. We have had things to look at over the last couple of days and before the shoot-out, you can see me looking at an iPod with Eric Steele. It had actual video on it and showed where players put things. Eric brought it when he came to the club. I have never seen anything like it. It is a fantastic tool for us.”
via iPod helps Manchester United win the Carling Cup.
Loving gadgets and loving soccer thought this was an amusing story despite my lack of interest in the Carling Cup final (why couldn’t they both lose? seriously even being an Arsenal fan and hating all things Tottenham I still think I would rather have seen ManU win the worthless trophy with their kids). Anyway, the only thing I wanted to say is that I am surprised by the lack of tech that has gotten involved in top flight football, given that there don’t seem to be restrictions a la the NFL in American football on showing video on the sidelines (hence all the guys up top calling down) I would think goaltenders, substitutes and players during injurying stannding around moments would be getting some video updates or using some other type of tech aids. Even the locker rooms seem low tech, you would think they’d have lots of video setups at the big clubs, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.
In reality the iPod didn’t really have much to do with the win, the English can’t seem to hit their penalties and Sir Alex was wise enough to lineup 5 foreigners.
Update: a good comment on the use of technology in soccer to checkout, that said I still think the use of video for breaking down games takes a much lower profile in terms of percieved value in soccer than in many US sports that seem to get into this stuff a lot (for better or worse).
Actually many of the bigger clubs have invested in video software for training purposes including GPS technology that shows whose playing hard and who is loafing. The issue seems to be that television for soccer tends to lag behind but I have to give props to ESPN during last summer’s Euro Cup where they unveiled their 360 degree views that gave viewers what amounted to a 3D picture of the field. Unfortunately, that hasn’t really caught on as I would have liked.
I’m a soccer/tech sort that used video extensively when I coached back in the 90′s but am dismayed at the lack of progress here in the States with coaches using video as a learning tool. Maybe this story might spur (sorry) some of them to use their Iphones for something other than storing their Girls Gone Wild videos
I’ve been surprised (not always upset) that the television in England hasn’t jumped on all the gimicks of digital imaging and breaking down plays that the US has. Some of these were complete jokes (the glow puck in hockey, thanks Fox) but others like the first and ten line worked and caught on and are now the default in all but the lowest level of college broadcasts.
I’ve noticed that Serie A has used some tech such as putting up a distance circle when someone takes a free kick (although I haven’t seen this recently) and I have seen the distance run stats popping up in Champions League broadcasts – not saying they need to change or add crap to the game but its interesting to see the vast differences in broadcast styles from ESPN here to foreign feeds. That said I really hope ESPN doesn’t get EPL rights for the US anytime soon… well thats a different story.
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I really liked your blog with the Man Utd mention.
I try to follow as much Premier League football news as I can from Sao Paulo, Brazil.