Tottenham’s new chief scout Rob Mackenzie has previously explained how to use data properly in transfers and that should give an insight into how he will look to help Ange Postecoglou in the windows ahead.
Spurs now have a very different look off of the pitch with changes made by new chief football officer Scott Munn. All three new faces in the recruitment team have arrived from Aston Villa in the shape of technical director Johan Lange, chief scout Mackenzie and head of football insights and strategy Frederik Leth.
Thirty-eight-year-old Mackenzie has returned to Tottenham where he was head of player identification for 19 months back in 2015/16 before being snapped up by Derby. Before his first spell at Tottenham, Mackenzie was part of the recruitment team at Leicester City that would help overhaul the Foxes to the point where they won the Premier League in 2016, the season after he left for north London.
Mackenzie’s analytical approach was part of the teamwork that brought in players like Riyad Mahrez for £500,000 from Le Havre in the French second division and laid the groundwork for N’Golo Kante to arrive from Caen months after his departure. Mackenzie also went to scout Jamie Vardy at Fleetwood Town and played his role in the arrival of Esteban Cambiasso from Inter Milan in 2014. The then-young scout also tracked Anthony Knockeart before Leicester signed the winger for a small fee from Guingamp.
During a series of interviews with Sky Sports in 2017, Mackenzie spoke about how to use data in transfers but only to a certain degree.
“Data is neutral, reliable and it allows you to assess a significant number of players in a time-efficient manner,” he said. “It provides a platform for you to identify players and benchmark expected performance levels. It also allows you to compare similar profiles, help establish what else is available in the market and therefore work out who the most valuable players are to your club.
“Having access to data and career biographies of players in competitions across the world is certainly empowering, but as with any resource available to you, it is important to acknowledge the level of insight that it can and cannot provide and place that into much needed perspective when making decisions. Anything in isolation tends to be insufficient.
“If I’m honest, I think I might have placed more emphasis on data alone in previous years but I have learned to understand that there is so much more to the probability of a player being a success at your club than their statistical output in isolation. In order to minimise the risk associated with signing a player the process should involve piecing together all the information you have collated in a manner that allows you to assess the suitability of a given player in direct relation to the remit set by management.”
He added: “In recent seasons we have seen clubs sign players with notable stats but it is important to remember there is a person behind the numbers. If their attitude towards a new challenge is not as reliable as their performance history, then the move may not succeed.
“I recall looking at a player who, among other things, scored 27 goals and provided eight assists in 40 games during his last season prior to a transfer. Since moving, however, he has followed that up with only seven goals and seven assists in 56 games at his new club.
“Is it that the player has suddenly become poor? Or is it more likely that he is experiencing a totally different challenge in his life? A new country, a new competition, higher expectations among better players and the pressure of a big transfer – maybe he’s struggling to adjust?
“Either way he has arguably fallen short of expectations. But while the player’s recent performance data might suggest he’s struggling, he is the same person and in theory, he has the same level of ability as before, yet the outcome is remarkably different.”
For Mackenzie, you have to go beyond data to work out how players might adapt to a step up and what their character is like.
“When signing a player you are initiating a significant change in someone’s life,” he said. “So it is almost as important to anticipate how they are likely to approach the new challenge they will be presented with as it is to understand their current level of performance.
“With that in mind, you aspire to gain an understanding of their character. What motivates them? What stage of their career are they currently at? And perhaps more importantly, what does a move to your club represent to the player from these perspectives?
“Irrespective of a player’s statistical profile or positive live scouting reports if there is not a good fit across the board then the risk associated with a player not succeeding at your club can often be quite significant.”
