Spotting patterns in football: An easy step-by-step process

Posted on by

After two weeks of trying to calculate the very best way to study football and improve myself as an opposition scout, I gave up. Or at least I gave up trying to find the perfect method. There is no perfect method.

So I asked myself a different question: What is the single main thing I need to improve on?

I boiled it down to this:

Pattern recognition that leads to predictive insight

Put another way this meant spotting patterns in football. With that in mind what could I do to make some progress?

I knew I needed something to meet the following criteria:

  • Quick. Done in 15 minutes or less.
  • Simple. No charts or spreadsheets.
  • A visible and visceral sense of improvement. I knew from previous experience that if my brain started to think it was wasting its time, it would give up.

And so with a little help from ChatGPT I came up with five drills. Each was short. Each required nothing more than match footage and my laptop. And each came with the sense that it would produce some sort of benefit. Below I’ve outlined the first one. I may write similar articles later on the others. But for the time being this is the only one I’ve tried.

Using drills to spot patterns in play

Pick a 3-5 minute clip of a match. Try to use footage from during the game rather than set pieces. Then watch it all the way through without stopping.

Now go back to the beginning and watch the clip again. Then three further times. On each viewing look for the following:

First look: The goalkeeper and backline

Second look: The Central Midfielder positions and rotations

Third look: Watch the wingers and their relationship with the FB

Fourth look: Watch the reaction of the opponent (pressing, or dropping off)

After you’ve done this note what is consistent across each category. Summarise it in a sentence or two. You can even list any strengths and weaknesses you spotted along the way.

I did this using some clips I’d created from York City’s game away to Rochdale last season.

I picked York because they like to play out from the back. And they were one of the dominant sides towards the end of the National League season. But you can pick any game, even some highlights on YouTube will do.

It was amazing what you could see by looking at one specific area of the game.

At the end of the process, I had insight into what York City’s tendencies were. But also who were their key players. And who were their potential liabilities. I also had a useful list of strengths and weaknesses longer than I expected from such a short period.

But this is best explained by seeing it in action. If you’re like me you’ll want to see an example with pictures and notes that make it easier.

So I’ve used still images below to walk through the process, featuring the notes I made while I did so.

To read the rest of this article, and see the notes I came up with, including strengths and weakness, check out my Substack page. All my articles are free to read and are available on Substack a little earlier than here.