Artificial intelligence is becoming as familiar at football training grounds as bibs and banter, with clubs using algorithms to track player movement, predict fatigue, refine pressing triggers and scout teenagers before they have finished growing. A sample newsletter generated by ChatGPT captured the mood: "The algorithms are watching — and your xG just twitched slightly higher."
The latest example of AI's growing influence comes from Seattle Reign head coach Laura Harvey, who has admitted using ChatGPT to help determine her team's tactics. "I put in 'what formation should you play to beat NWSL teams?'" Harvey said. "And it spurted out every team in the league and what formation you should play. And for two teams, it went 'you should play a back five'. So I did." In a subsequent match against Orlando Pride, the Reign lost 1-0 but recorded a significant increase in expected goals.
Harvey is not alone in turning to AI for guidance. Word has reached Football Daily Towers that certain managers of unimpeachable credentials have been asked to buy and even select certain players on the advice of AI-derived algorithms. The technology is also making inroads into recruitment, with clubs using data to identify targets before they have fully developed.
VAR, however, remains the clumsy cousin of this tactical revolution, still grappling with what "clear and obvious" actually means. But love it or loathe it, AI is not leaving the pitch anytime soon. As the algorithms take a firmer grip on decision-making, the game may never be quite the same again.
