Thread by @VenkyReddevil

I have had questions from a few people in recent weeks as to how I got started with analytics in football. I don’t think I am qualified to advise people as there are people out there who can guide you better but I will share a few accounts that you can follow to observe and learn

Before I go in detailly, if there is one piece of advice I would give to people looking to pursue a career in this field:

Trust me, it takes a lot of effort and time but if you are really serious about this just be patient and do not stop doing what you are doing already.

I have a different day job (that is not data analytics related) and football analytics is something that I do additionally ( like most people in this platform are doing ) because I have a huge passion for football and specifically data analytics.

Football data analytics has grown exponentially over the last few years and there is so much you can do with data available. You can choose to create content about tactics, you can choose to create visuals, you can build tools for scouting etc.

I started with basic visuals and then slowly started writing scouting reports and then now I am learning different tactical concepts. There is no single resource that can help you with everything. It’s about how you look at different resources and choose the one that suits you.

Through this journey, I have observed what different people do and I have taken inspiration from a lot of people to create my content. I will list out a few people who are very good at this kind of work and you should be definitely following them if you aren’t already.

Utd Arena (@utdarena) - I think it’s quite obvious that UA is the best in the business. Like so many others, there is so much I have learnt just by looking at his work. If you are looking to understand the granular details in the game, he is your guy.

Mark Thompson(@EveryTeam_Mark) -When Mark writes, you read. I have reached out to Mark so many times over the last few months to get his feedback and suggestions on my visuals and he has always been honest with his opinion. That has really helped me understand a few things better

Alex Stewart (@AFHStewart) - For someone like Alex, who is involved with the big boys, you would not expect him to have time to give feedback. He did something for me that motivated me a lot to do more.He regularly gives his suggestions whenever I reach out to him for feedback.

Jon (@jonollington) - Jon is one of my go-to guys for visuals. I wish I had become friends with him sooner. If you are into python, Jon is your guy and if you are bored just keep staring at his visuals and from that moment on you won’t be. Jon is also good at predicting things😉

Mark Wilkins (@biscuitchaser) - As someone who is comfortable using R, I find Mark’s work very useful. Follow him if you want to get started with football analytics using R. He explains, in his blog, how to create some of the very basic visualisations.

Sam (@GoalAnalysis) - Sam is excellent at what he is doing. His visuals are top-notch and I wish I can present my work like how he does. He frequently writes threads about different young players(from La Liga esp.) and if you want to know more about new players, Sam is your man.

Eric Laurie (@EricLaurie) - One thing I am yet to learn is the different tactical concepts in the game and trust me there is so much to learn and I would go to Eric for that. His articles, visuals, threads explaining tactical philosophies is just too good and he is a must-follow

Abhishek (@MishraAbhiA) - Abhi helped me a lot, especially with R, during my initial days. Off late, he is also into detailed pieces that can help understand players better (CFM). He has sound knowledge in R. So follow him if you want to get started with R Programming

Expected Chelsea (@ExpectedChelsea) - He is one of the most humble guys you will ever meet. Just goes on about his job silently. Has always helped me whenever I have reached out to get his opinion on something. He is a must follow if you are looking for Chelsea related content

Ninad (@NinadB_06 ) - King of Tableau and one of the nicest guys on this platform. I know a lot of people who are looking to learn Tableau, Ninad is your guy if you want to get proficient in Tableau. I have had the chance in the past to interact with him and it was very useful.

Soumyajit (@Soumyaj15209314) - I can create a separate thread for Soumyajit. He really is a King. Some real quality work on his account and you are missing out on learning a lot if you aren’t following him. I know a lot of people who have had the chance to learn from Soumyajit.

Kai(@__ElJdP) - Another one of those really smart guys who produces some excellent content on here. Mostly Barca-specific but the content will be worth your time.

Piotr (@pwawrzynow) - Piotr is a footballing genius and if you need proof look at his pinned tweet. I got the chance to closely follow the tool he was building and I can say one thing - he is very hard-working and knows what he is doing. Regret later or follow him now.

Dom (@DomC0801) - Do I have to talk about Don Dom? He has an amazing eye for finding the best players. There is so much you can learn from him including Video analysis, Tableau etc. I have reached out to him at times to get feedback on my work and he has always been supportive.

Omar(@topimpacat) - If not for Omar, I would not have come to learn about Possession Value. Very good at Tableau. Trust me, he is capable of building another Tableau-like software through Tableau and Excel. I came to know about a few movies as well through him.

McKay (@mckayjohns) - I really struggled to get started with analytics work as I did not know where to start and how to start. I am really so glad that McKay has solved that problem now and has helped a lot of people to get started with football analytics through his tutorials.

Anmol (@slothfulwave612) - We are all busy creating visuals, Anmol is busy building packages. Anmol is really smart and an out-an-out python guy. He has not only helped himself by developing the soccerplots package, he has helped thousands of others and that is something.

Maram (@maramperninety) - I got to know through Maram that you can do wonders using just Microsoft Powerpoint. My interaction with her has been minimal but I got to know some interesting things. If you want to create magic using Powerpoint, she can help you with that.

Victor (@victorrenaud5) - If beautiful visualizations were the art, Victor is the artist. I could keep looking at his visuals all day long everyday. It’s amazing how he perfects every visualization. If you want to learn to create some art, Victor is your man.

Eoin (@Eoin_OBrien_) - Head of R Programming on twitter(Haha). Eoin, like many others, was very helpful to me when I struggled to get started with visuals and analytics. He is not very active these days on twitter (for obvious reasons) but am sure he will help you.

Nandy (@nandy_sd) - Nandy does not tweet visuals and analysis frequently, but when he does, do not miss it. He is really innovative with his work. His work about Freedom Rating is a must read. He has also helped quite a few people on here through his Tableau tutorials.

Matt (@trevillion_) - First of all I have to apologise to him and I promise him I won’t watch Barnsley again. He is another one of those rare good guys on twitter. He is gonna go places so join me in the ‘Trevillion gang’ before it’s too late and his visuals are a beaut!

Ashwin (@AshwinRaman_) - We all want to be Ashwin but the truth is we can never be Ashwin. For someone who is very young by age, I have not seen anybody so mature as him. He has sound knowledge on various topics and that is one of the reasons why you should be following him.

Marton (@MartonBalla_) - I might have already said this. I wouldn’t be here if Marton hadn’t reached out to me months ago. He was the first one to notice my work and approach me to do some work for @TotalAnalysis. Off late, he has been doing some excellent blogging as well.

Toni (@ToniBila17) - Toni is not usually very active on here but I wouldn’t be what I am if not for his constant feedback and constant support over the last 8 months. I am sure Toni has played an important role in helping a lot other people to get started in analytics.

Zach (@ZachLowy) - When I first looked at Zach’s account, I thought to myself how is somebody capable of having this much knowledge on these many leagues, players, etc. He was also the person who gave me the opportunity to write for @BTLvid. I hope I can learn more from him.

There is really no one thing that is important. Everything ( R, Python, Tableau, Tactics, etc) is important and learn at your own pace. Decide what you want to do , find out what are the challenges in it and plan to overcome the challenges in your own way.

One final advice would be to just be polite when you ask for help from someone and always give credit to people who helped you in your journey. Before you ask for help, try every possible way to solve the problem at hand yourself.

I am sorry if I have left out someone but these are some of the guys that have had a major impact in my journey and I am sure they can impact your life too. Please feel free to tag anyone if you think has been really helpful to the community.

Thank you for reading the thread if you have come this far.