TRAINING
able to filter and interpret the data being
gathered. Upon checking in at El Sadar,
one of Perez's first suggestions was that
a Big Data Department be created. This
proposal was approved and the department
is currently headed up by Sergi's colleague,
Juantxo Martin.
"In our training sessions we use GPS
technology to monitor metrics like the
distance covered by the players, high-
intensity efforts, maximum speed, impact,
accelerations, decelerations, etc. It can
also be used to monitor things live, which
is useful when it comes to players carrying
knocks. We compare this data with that
collected during matches, which we
monitor using GPS and Mediacoach, the
video-analysis platform that LaLiga offers
its 42 professional clubs," reveals Pérez.
"Mediacoach also allows us to see how our
opponents are doing. This means that, at
the start of the week, we're able to give
the coach a report containing data on the
opposition to predict certain features of the
game: how high up the field the opposition
defend, data about their attacking play
and width, the areas of the pitch in which
they make the most recoveries, how many
shooting chances they have per game, etc."
The use of Big Data is so established
within the modern game, and at Osasuna
in particular, that the information provided
by Mediacoach is also used by Los Rojillos
in player recruitment. "If we're looking for
a particular type of player, we can pull up
all of their information within five minutes,
as long as they've been playing in LaLiga.
For example, we looked at Chimy Avila's
data before signing him" noted Perez.
Indeed, Chimy Avila has been one of the
standout performers in the first half of the
LaLiga campaign and his case represents
yet another example of how Big Data is
changing the face of the beautiful game.
VALENCIA CF:
Javier Miñano remains at forefront after
30 years, two Champions League crowns &
World Cup winners' medal
The introduction of Big Data in the world
of football and its progress hold no secrets
for the Valencia CF coaching staff. Albert
Celades took up the reins at Mestalla at the
beginning of the current campaign in what
is his first taste of management in his own
right at an elite club, following his previous
spells at Real Madrid and with the Spain
youth teams.
The team's impressive statistics speak
for themselves and are the result of the
combined efforts of a coaching staff that's
proved itself capable of getting the very
best out of a squad that clinched Copa del
Rey glory in 2019. One of the members of
Celades's backroom staff is Javier Miñano,
a prominent fitness coach within Spanish
football, Vicente del Bosque's right-hand
man for many years and a tactician who's
also worked under Rafa Benitez and Toni
Grande, amongst others. Miñano has been
operating at the very top of the game for
three decades (at Atletico de Madrid, Real
Madrid and with the Spanish national team)
and boasts an enviable trophy haul that
features two Champions League crowns
and a World Cup winners' medal, secured in
2010 in South Africa. We're clearly talking
about a master in his field who's currently
plying his trade at Valencia, who are at the
forefront of the game when it comes to
fitness training and, in particular, Big Data.
"During my career, I've carried out a
scientific study, a doctoral thesis, and
then with the emergence of the GPS
technology, I found myself faced with such
an overwhelming amount of data. You
collect lots of information and it's difficult
to interpret and the only possible approach
was a scientific one," says Miñano, who
has first-hand experience of the break-
neck speed at which fitness training has
developed since he began back in 1989.
"Perhaps the biggest revolution I've
witnessed in all these years was when I
was at Real Madrid, with the release of a
program called AMESCO through which
we started to receive information about
the effort put in by all of the players during
matches. That was nearly 20 years ago now,
but we only had the option to follow one
player at a time. Based on that information,
we indirectly tried to assess the demands
of the competition in general terms," he
recalls. The modern-day GPS devices
are able to accurately measure a player's
performance, both in games and training
scenarios. "This allows us to identify the
actual demands and give the players what
they need," he adds.
"Another of the most significant changes
I've witnessed is the increase in the number
of games. Playing twice a week greatly
alters the training programme compared
to having one match per week. The whole
training schedule is targeted at ensuring
that the player is in the best possible shape
on those two matchdays," explains Miñano.
As the number of games and physical
demands placed on players have increased
over the years, there has been a parallel
rise in awareness about the importance of
fitness training, through the influence of
science and technology. "The player has
a far more acute sporting culture in every
sense and takes better care of themselves.
This applies not just to the conditioning
training but also to their personal care
regimes, including rest, weight and their
diet, etc.," says Miñano, an influencer who's
made the invisible aspects of training
essential for all those involved in LaLiga,
which is at the forefront of developments
when it comes to optimising player
performance and, as a result, the standard
of the Spanish game.
RCD.Mallorca gym session
RCD.Mallorca jump power test
Valencia CF training session
