"Within the last clubs I trained, they are further in the field of data, this is due to the rapid growth of data and development of the clubs."
Besnik Hasi is an experienced player and coach in Belgian football, both as a player and a coach he has already piled up quite a record in our Belgian league. Besnik Hasi played for Genk, Lokeren, Cercle Brugge and RSC Anderlecht. As a coach, he was active for RSC Anderlecht for many years, both as an assistant coach and head coach. He wanted to give his view on the evolution of data.
At his most recent club (Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia), they spent a lot of time using video analysis to prepare for the game against the next opponent, Hasi says:
"I look at the opponent's strengths and weaknesses on a regular basis through the statistics of how they score goals, of expected goals, and other statistics. We also watch the opponents' games twice and then we make an analysis which we present to the players."
When drafting analyses of other clubs, Hasi and his staff also pay particular attention to the most dangerous players of the opponent to have a clear overview of his strengths and communicate them to the team.
During his career as a professional football player, Hasi did not come into contact with anything data-related. Thus, he has seen the evolution and compares the two periods.
"We used to be players who went to the coach to ask for information about certain data, whereas now everything is posted or can be viewed via an app. I am a trainer who attaches great importance to distances covered, whereas other trainers may be more focused on other aspects.”
Hasi has been a trainer in Belgium, Greece, Poland and Saudi Arabia. He does notice that in all countries the use of data is increasing. In Anderlecht, not only matches but also training sessions were consistently filmed and analysed. The last clubs I trained, are more advanced in their data adoption, this is due to the rapid growth of available data and development of the clubs.
