With the Euro 2016 just over two weeks away, England announced a new, and unprecedented data sharing initiative with the Premier League. Their coaching and medical staff now has access to vital player tracking metrics, which they have never been able to use before. Dr. Ian Beasley, the head of the FA’s medical staff, and Gary Lewin helped to strike a deal with all of the Premier League clubs.
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England head coach Roy Hodgson, has very little time to cut down his provisional 26-man roster to 23, before his team heads to France. The Premier League data will now allow England to better understand who is fit enough to make the squad. They have access to statistics from training and matches throughout the Premier League season. This data will help Hodgson assess if players have progressed from injuries they might have sustained during the rigorous season.
As we have covered, many Premier League teams have bolstered their player tracking capabilities. The league as a whole has begun to truly value modern player monitoring, as a vital part of building successful teams. However, until recently the tracking that teams have been conducting was viewed as proprietary data. Now with the help of Hodgson’s friendly relationships in the Premier League, England has access to a vast array of data.
The FA will repay the Premier League’s trust by filming all of England’s Euro 2016 training sessions, as well as using GPS to monitor players throughout the tournament. For some clubs who have players heading into Euro 2016 with injury concerns, such as Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere, this new data could prove to be vital as they look to next year’s Premier League season.
After England’s World Cup hopes came up well short in Brazil two years ago, the FA made a greater push to gain access the vast amount of performance metrics Premier League clubs collect. Last year the technical director of the FA, Dan Ashworth, spoke to Sportsmail about the possibility of sharing this data.
“There’s some sensitivity around medical records and data but ultimately everyone’s interests are the same… We all want good young players coming through the academies. A successful England team benefits everyone. So why not have a situation where everyone would share the data?”
England is taking a huge step forward with their new performance data sharing deal, and it might not be long before this practice becomes the norm between professional leagues and national teams. However, if other countries cannot work out this type of deal on a personal level, the money involved should be incentive enough. The prize money at Euro 2016 has risen substantially from four years ago.
England will take on Russia in their first Group B match on June 11th, in Marseille. Before then, Hodgson and his staff will be able to assess the squad in greater detail than they ever have.