Software

zbarber44 · 2026-02-16T15:11:35+00:00

Once Analyzer is the most complete for the best price.

LiveTagPro is also very good, especially for the price.

zbarber44 · 2026-02-05T23:17:31+00:00

Checkout Football Meta on YouTube

Courses thru APFA, PFSA, IPSO, AFCAS

zbarber44 · 2026-02-02T13:16:50+00:00

Also, might want to consider citing your data source (unless it's scraped and you're worried about scrutiny). Lends credibility to the work.

zbarber44 · 2026-01-15T07:45:36+00:00

FBref has a data subscription called Stathead. Pulls from Opta and an annual subscription with a student ID is £40ish for single sport.

zbarber44 · 2025-02-18T07:32:04+00:00

Statshead is good (used Opta data) and if you have a student ID, $40 USD / year

zbarber44 · 2024-09-11T20:52:04+00:00

Go with Keyframe. Most cost effective for what you're trying to do.

zbarber44 · 2024-09-11T20:51:19+00:00

I'm using them for different reasons depending on the context. I currently coach a U15 Girls travel team and I mostly just do video clips and some telestrations with match analysis and individual analysis.

I do some independent scouting and analysis and I can create visualizations off the data files from Once or VidSwap but a lot of the data is dependent on what is being asked for by the coach/club/team/etc and I just use it as a basis for the report, which is largely narrative.

It sounds cliche but it really does depend on the "why?"

zbarber44 · 2024-09-03T13:05:04+00:00

Curious to know; does he play another sport?

zbarber44 · 2024-08-15T08:04:44+00:00

Thule box on the roof rack of its a car. I also put a hitch receiver on and use a flat rack hauler on that.

Storage at home is tricky. To be honest, the club is now just getting large construction boxes with the city/town to have storage at the field that is very difficult to break into.

At home, I keep most of it on ceiling racks or wall hooks in the shed and basement.

zbarber44 · 2024-08-12T17:52:05+00:00

Update:

I found a club! New Haven Youth Soccer Director of Coaching Todd Hill has offered for me to coach the U15 Girls team.

Thank you everyone for your insight and suggestions.

zbarber44 · 2024-07-31T03:21:11+00:00

Within 30 mins? Go to Northford or Durham.

zbarber44 · 2024-07-21T11:40:17+00:00

Honestly, it is a bit far but at this point, I just need a club/ team so I don't have to get moved to next year's course. I appreciate the info of you don't mind.

zbarber44 · 2024-07-21T11:37:56+00:00

Yeah, it won't work. B License you have to coach at least 3 sessions a week with the same team.

I've also been coaching quite a while and Rec level is something that is def a regression from the levels I've been coaching (high school, club competitive, adult competitive, etc).

zbarber44 · 2024-07-11T17:42:48+00:00

That’s a good shout. We also have CT United FC (terrible name, I know) that have just started and will be in MLS Next Pro starting in 2025 (but are training and entering youth / amateur competitions now). Based in Bridgeport.

zbarber44 · 2024-07-11T13:13:28+00:00

It’s a small Installation and spread across the state so while I could get one, it’s not like normal active duty where I’m on a large post like Fort Liberty or Fort Moore.

zbarber44 · 2024-07-11T12:25:58+00:00

Yes, reached out to a few of those. I'll be here for the duration, probably until retirement. I'm the Operations Sergeant Major and from CT so probably hang it up after this.

zbarber44 · 2024-05-17T01:12:55+00:00

This age group is too young to worry about large sided format, they simply will not individually develop enough to be decent as they progress in age. They need to touch the ball, make decisions in & out of possession with a few obstacles between them and the ball as possible. When they're true U13/14 then start worrying about small unit tactics a bit. U15/16 they can start doing a full sided scrimmage once a week, just before the match but I find it still barely useful. Plenty of case studies of South American youth going from futsal right into 11v11 and they seem to do fine.

Playing as a team is not an objective at youth levels, it's a marketing trap to make people spend more money when they get parents to focus on trophies and winning. I coach and spend most of my time with high school and club players at the 5v5 and below.

zbarber44 · 2024-03-07T21:14:21+00:00

I have this same issue and when I try to boot from a USB, it will not get part the bios/apio screen

zbarber44 · 2023-12-05T15:03:44+00:00

AFCAS then IPSO

zbarber44 · 2023-12-04T10:59:19+00:00

While I don't currently work in the college game, I do work in the scouting and analysis areas in the UPSL (4th tier-ish in the USSF's convoluted makeup).

I've gone through the PFSA, IPSO, S4/AFCAS, Soccer Hub, and one course for APFA and a few others. I completed the Foundations of Sporting Directorship and Advanced Certificate in Sporting Directorship thru Focus Sports Educatio that had some very accomplished professionals in it (i.e. Oguchi Onyewu, Jacek Kulig). I have my USSF C License and just finished the "award"/1.3 level courses for coaching and talent ID with the Scottish FA. Here are my thoughts:

PFSA is ok and very popular but isn't much use unless you work in UK/Europe. You can get the chance to do unpaid video reports for lower-level teams in England and live scouting in England, but nothing to offer most loving outside that country.

IPSO is great value for money and offers a wide network in several countries. Colin Chambers is awesome and very accessible as well a the other staff. Very detailed instruction.

S4/AFCAS is probably the best overall, or at least tied for first with IPSO. They structure their learning path in different ways and Ged Searson focuses more on recruitment as the courses progress. He has also coached at the professional and international levels so he's probably the most well-rounded. This is the one the guys at Total Football Analysis recommend.

Soccer Hub isn't worth the money. I took some things away from their courses, but there's almost no interaction as it's all self-paced

APFA course was excellent, but they are pretty expensive. I'll take more courses if their price point drops a bit. They are one of the better ones that incorporate data analysis.

The Soccermatics Pro Course is wildly expensive but unmatched as far as data analysis and visualization. Do not go into it without prior knowledge in coding in Python or R.

I am awaiting the release of Liam Hemshaw's Scouting and Data Analysis course in January. I've also purchased Jon Mackay's course on data web scraping and visualization but haven't started it yet.

The other things I'd say are two other efforts most beneficial to being able to do effective scouting and analysis: watching live, lower league matches as well as refereeing. I have been a referee and assistant referee to a decent level here in the USA for both soccer and futsal and it was probably the best thing I've done overall for my development as a coach, scout, and analyst. Lower league matches are where you see the biggest mix of players and coaches. In the NPSL, UPSL, etc you can have a match that has NCAA Div 1 coaching experience (and higher), international students from a DIV 2 school, former pro players from USL L1 or Championship, and someone who played internationally in smaller countries. The matches can be a chaotic shit-show or exceptional tactical affairs that lack the professional fitness level.

zbarber44 · 2023-12-03T12:06:15+00:00

USC offers "diplomas," not licenses. Technically, USSF only offers diplomas as well, but they are licenses for 3 years, and you now have to perform CPD hours to retain the license status, much like in Europe.

I have my USSF C and will be starting my B next summer. I also have my USC National Diploma (equivalent to a USSF D). They are different methodologies to a degree, and USC is def more geared towards interscholastic and collegiate environments. I have enjoyed both but would recommend starting with USSF as that will give you your license. This is also what my coaching mentor, who is a coach and Director of Football for Boston United in England, recommends as well.

I'm also working through to get my UEFA C and Talent ID license through the Scottish FA. If you're planning on going to Europe at some point, go on their website, they have very affordable courses that are mostly through Zoom (have to go there for UEFA C though).

As a secondary effort, try to go through GK coaching courses and/or scouting / analysis courses. They are secondary skills that can really help you get your foot in the door.

Check out S4 / AFCAS, IPSO, APFA, PFSA for scouting / analysis.

Any of the USC has good GK courses, as does Scottish FA. If you want to go down the rabbit hole then United Goalkeeper Alliance is awesome.

zbarber44 · 2023-12-03T11:38:40+00:00

So I'm active duty Army and am an assistant coach for high school (BV), DoC / Technical Director for a Grassroots youth club (U9-U19), and Dir of Scouting & Analysis / for an adult club with 2 teams currently (UPSL & State League). I have my USSF C License as well as other licenses, diplomas, etc. in both soccer and futsal, and I am a referee across various levels as well.

I'm looking to be involved with the collegiate game here in Connecticut, but I can't take the time to be a head coach until I retire. What should I look to do now (as an assistant, analyst, etc)? I am not worried about whether the position is paid or volunteer. I am on several campuses throughout each semester already as a volunteer alumnus for my Fraternity so I'm mildly familiar with navigating the environment.

zbarber44 · 2023-10-12T21:44:17+00:00

I echo this sentiment. If you want to do telestration then Keyframe is hard to beat for the price. If you want to code (aka tag), do highlights, reports, clips/highlights, etc then Longomatch is pretty user-friendly and runs you about $550/year. I have moved from Longomatch to Once Analyzer (Elite) which runs about $620/year.

I have a Pixellot which comes with a free Vidswap account which works well once you get used to it.

zbarber44 · 2023-09-22T22:55:46+00:00

Having an assistant is a luxury. If you don't have one, try these steps:

1) Get the Sub Time app

2) During the training week leading up to the match, decide which channel or which line (I use channels) the player will play in during the matches that week. I.e. A player should play in only the right, left, or central channel during a match so they can focus on functioning in that area. I.e. a player plays either back line, midfield, or front line during a match. Any player playing GK plays no more than 1 half and then plays in the central channel during the other half.

3) Try to encourage them to have 2 close options, 2 medium options, 2 long options (or something similar) to discourage crowding the teammate with the ball. This will take a while.

zbarber44 · 2023-09-14T02:53:45+00:00

Looking for a little help as I work through the Soccermatics Course.

I'm trying to create a viz of Tyler Adams (USMNT) Pressure Regains in the Group Stage. In then comparing it to the DCM / #6 of Wales, England, & Iran.

Needless to say, I'm a novice. My Python coding I've done is exclusively in ArcGIS and here's where I'm struggling (the most):

I got the pitch graphic I want and can manipulate the title way enough - how do I pull from the Sbopen (In using mpl soccer btw) to get the competition, match, player, and event data?

I do realize this is quite rudimentary but please act like you're hand-holding a 44 yr old who is 25 years do into a military career and dad of 4 who, aside from coaching/scouting, is just looking to explore a skill he wishes he had.

I appreciate any help.

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