Manchester United make behind the scenes appointments for department to become ‘the best in sport’

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Manchester United have made behind-the-scenes appointments in their data department to become the best in sport in that area, according to reports.

Fans of Manchester United have bemoaned the club’s structure behind the scenes with too much emphasis over the past two summers being on Erik ten Hag’s recommendation on signings.

Lisandro Martinez, Antony, Sofyan Amrabat and Andre Onana have all played for the Dutchman previously which has led to some fans being concerned about a lack of an overarching plan at Old Trafford.

These recruitment issues have been flagged up for years now with managers coming in with a different philosophy and different ideas of players they should sign. However, it looks like the club is attempting to change this narrative.

United’s appointment

According to the Manchester Evening News, the club have made a range of hires over the past few months in an attempt to make the Red Devils have the best data department not just in football, but in sport.

Dominic Jordan joined the club as director of data science last year and hires of Nick Grimshaw (senior data scientist), Alex Kleyn (decision scientist) and Chris Shumba (head of data operations) followed.

“I won’t disclose too much about my average week. However, I will say that we are on a mission to build the best data platform in sport, not just football,” Shumba, one of their new appointments as head of data operations told the BBC.

The Red Devils were behind their Premier League rivals in terms of their data department but these recent appointments are understood to have levelled the playing field, according to the report.

Exciting times for United

Liverpool, United’s biggest rivals, were one of the shining lights in terms of data science and using this expertise to dominate football and recently Tony Bloom and Brighton & Hove Albion have excelled in this aspect, too.

If, as they say, the data side of the club has been improved to match some of the league’s big hitters then this can only be a good sign for recruitment and also the key decisions around the club.

When Ineos and Sir Jim Ratcliffe take over the sporting decisions at the club, whenever that may be, the hope will be that they can make the best-in-class appointments in key areas who can then work with these data scientists for the betterment of the club.