How AI could power Three Lions to World Cup glory

England are on the cutting-edge when it comes to using artificial intelligence in the men’s international game.

The Three Lions’ plans for the World Cup’s upcoming summer are supported by AI, which includes assisting players with penalties and improving players’ health as well as addressing their opponents’ tactical flaws.

England’s staff includes groups of analysts, data scientists, and internal software development teams in addition to the coaches and physios who sit alongside head coach Thomas Tuchel on the bench.

They use a variety of AI tools, some built by themselves or purchased from outside tech firms, to analyze data, discover intriguing information, and make presentations for meetings to make complex information understandable for coaches and players.

The idea is that England’s players can then choose better tactics for the field, including how to handle penalties.

Rhys Long, who has been the FA’s head of performance insights and analysis since 2016, explains that AI can reveal some trends for where opposition players have placed their penalties.

Where has every player in every squad committed every penalty since they were 16 when we have 47 teams’ worth of information to profile at a World Cup?

We used to gather penalty-taking data from five teams. That can now be reduced by about five hours using AI. Then our goalkeeper and I have a five-minute conversation about saving a penalty.

In theory, Jordan Pickford’s water bottle’s penalty list is now more precise and in-depth than ever.

And so far, they have been impressive.

Conor Coady, a member of England’s squads for Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup, says, “The penalty stuff really opened my eyes.”

Before the Euros, there was a diagram up on the board that would show you where you were more likely to score, and they would then give you detailed information about where you should go.

The visuals are based on both the opposition’s guerrilla style and their preferred ball-striking methods, such as if they dive to the side more frequently.

They said, “It’s on us, it’s on us,” and “Coady says,” so they put the pressure on you to decide where to go. We needed it, I suppose.

Players’ willingness to use the data and comprehend the information provided to them is essential to the success of such analysis.

Long claims that “players are becoming much more adept at interpreting their own data.”

“We’re trying to make sense of a lot of information,” the statement read. To have a productive conversation with a coach and then a player, you must filter all that information down.

AI football software has advanced in recent years to the point where it can now track tens of thousands of on-field movements and events every second, tag tactical patterns during live play so that analysts can find them on video for in-game adjustments and half-time feedback, and create graphics instantly.

Spain, France, and Argentina have won the most recent international competitions, and they will be among the favorites next year. However, it is widely believed that England, Germany, and the USA are using AI to gain a competitive advantage.

Allistair McRobert, a professor of performance analysis at Liverpool John Moores University, says, “England has a big resource and has heavily invested in this.” Behind the scenes, across all of their teams, from junior to senior, they have data engineers, data analysts, and performance specialists.

We collaborated with one of the analysts at England to develop tactical knowledge.

England uses AI to monitor players’ well-being, not just for on-field purposes.

According to Long, “AI is surfacing things up; it can look at what is having an impact on a player physically, tactically, or technically.” It might discover something in the player wellness data that is having an impact on their training.

The player needs to be consulted with a doctor, physiotherapist, coach, or specialist analyst to ensure that we get the most out of them.

“It took days to try and accomplish everything really quickly.” It’s now taking several hours. Future events may require minutes.

Every morning, you wake up and there is a wellness area where you fill out an iPad form. Coady describes the process.

“How did you fall asleep?” What were your feelings this morning? You’re tired, are you? And then you comment something like, “My hamstrings are sore from yesterday’s training.” The staff then provides training, food, and session setting for you during the day.

Every day, new AI tech companies are being created, and one piece of software can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds for national federations.

According to Long, “It’s not about using every brand-new AI toy just for the sake of it,” going after each new one. What you need to do is to determine whether it will actually improve performance.

Some of the less wealthy nations may be left behind because of the high costs involved.

Tom Goodall, an analyst for Iceland, predicts that AI will close the gender gap. For instance, “England has essentially unlimited resources, money, and staff.” The polar opposite of that is us.

Because I’m the only full-time analyst working here, money is tight. We have a lot of trouble taking a chance on a priceless piece of technology.

Additionally, the future impact of AI is a big deal.

It’s important to remember that Long says, “It’s not a silver bullet. AI will greatly improve efficiency, but it will depend on the presence of sportspeople who are well-versed in using this new technology.

We won’t replace people; rather, it will improve their ability to make decisions. AI won’t choose the team or play the game.