28 August 2019, by: Grant de Smidt

EXCLUSIVE: MARITZBURG UTD’S PERFORMANCE ANALYST PAUL LAMB TALKS ABOUT HIS JOB, THE PSL AND COACHES IN SA

Ever wondered how much detailed analytical work the PSL clubs do? Look no further as Grant de Smidt sits down with Maritzburg United’s Performance Analyst Paul Lamb about his job and everything that comes with it.

In this insightful interview, Lamb touches on some of the best coaches and players he’s worked with and much more.

My job is basically threefold – opposition analysis, performance analysis and recruitment. For the first part, it’s about knowing all there is to know about the next opposition and then compressing that into a 10-minute presentation for the players. On the Performance side, it involved filming all the training sessions having discussed with the coach what he wants to get out of each session and what he wants to see from the players. Then reviewing the session and making clips for the players of things to improve.

On the recruitment, it involved sourcing video and information on some of the players we get offered from around the world to see if they fit our style of play. Also, helping to identify in which positions the team is lacking and then identifying transfer targets. We use data and video and keep our own database of players we are looking at bringing in.

I think any serious club needs an analyst. Most of the top clubs worldwide have 10-15 staff in their analysis department, divided across the three requirements above –performance, opposition, recruitment. Here, in South Africa, most clubs have one analyst to do all of the work. Considering it covers your own performances, the team you play against and recruitment of players, it is must-have for any serious club.

It was a massive relief, both for the football club and personally and for the city itself. It’s really a city that gets behind its football team. To give an example, when we played Polokwane City last season in coach Eric Tinkler’s first home game in charge, we were seven points from safety and in bottom place. Yet, we had a full stadium and it was our home form has pushed us on to survival. We scored in the last minutes against AmaZulu, Bloemfontein Celtic and SuperSport United with the supporters pushing us on.

I initially worked at a football data collection and analytics company called Prozone in 2011. I was there for two years. Then in 2013, I had the chance to join Ajax Cape Town as their analyst. I was there for around four years up until the end of the 2016-17 season. Then Fadlu Davids took over as the full-time head coach at Maritzburg United, and I had worked with his brother, Maahier Davids, at Ajax Cape Town. He had been Ernst Middendorp’s assistant at Free State Stars too, and moved with him to Maritzburg.

Knowing the quality of Maahier’s work from Ajax and at Stars, and having seen the final few games under Fadlu at the end of the previous season, I could see they were onto something good at Maritzburg United with their playing style and the group of players so did not hesitate when they approached me to come on board.

Yes, the 2017-18 was an historic season for the club – our highest ever finish and our first ever cup final. It was a culmination of factors. There was a good crop of young players who were at similar stages in their careers, and there was a hunger and ambition to achieve something. That, in conjunction with a very young technical team who were really pushing the boundaries of the players, was a good mix.

Then, there was the 100% availability of players with no players missing a single game with a muscle injury the entire season, and very few training sessions missed by any of the squad. There was a holistic training methodology which incorporated tactical, technical, physical and psychological in every single exercise. Towards the end of that season, we were playing some great football. If you’re training every day with all the players working on a playing style will see the relationships of the players improve, both in offensive and defensive play.

We had six different formations we could play with very flexible players – perhaps the most flexible team in the history of the PSL. We could switch shape 3-4 times per match, and alter our approach from game-to-game. It’s a credit to the whole technical team, but also to the players for grasping those ideas. Crucially, we could change formation without losing our principles or playing style.

Credit must really go to Fadlu Davids for that, but also to Maahier Davids who was the mastermind behind the periodization of the training – in conjuction with our excellent conditioning coach, Burger Van der Merwe – to ensure we could play at such a high tempo whilst having zero muscle injuries.

It was a few factors. We had a tough start and really struggled for goals. It’s well documented that we lost Lebohang Maboe to Sundowns, but a big off-field presence in captain, Bevan Fransman also departed. We also lost Evans Rusike in the previous January transfer window.

Whilst we were happy for those players to move to big clubs, you see in European football how teams struggle when they lose their top attacking players – Ronaldo at Real Madrid, Luis Suarez at Liverpool and perhaps Eden Hazard at Chelsea this season so far.

Replacing your match-winners is the hardest thing in football. They make the difference with a goal or assist at crucial times. In addition, we got replacements quite late due to the delay over Yannick Zakri’s work permit and Keletso Makgalwa joining once the season had already started.

Defensively, our record was amongst the best in the league, but we just didn’t score enough goals. That was the main reason.

The club wanted me to bridge the gap between the previous coach and the new coach. That was important for continuity within the technical team and in terms of our playing style. I’m very grateful to the club.

All three are fantastic coaches. Coach Fadlu Davids had a very high-octane, proactive and aggressive style of play, with and without the ball. In terms of analysis, his was very short and specific, often using training session footage and he also used videos of the top international sides to show players about the latest trends.

Coach Muhsin Ertugral was a bit more reactive and counter-attacking in his style, but our position at the bottom of the log forced his hand in that regard. His style is less aggressive without the ball. On the analysis side, he focused a lot of players’ technical aspects and took more of a teacher approach, with greater time spent.

Coach Eric Tinkler finds a balance between those two in his playing style. He is still very attacking, but also pragmatic and likes to attack whilst retaining defensive stability. On the analysis side, he was one of the first coaches to embrace that aspect when he was at Bidvest Wits, so he is very clued up. He focused a lot of the team shape in and out of possession and is often specific to certain zones on the field.

It was important for us to increase the depth and competition in the squad. We had a lot of movement in and out during this transfer window. We need to turn draws into wins and to do that, you need strong game-changing options on the bench. That was pivotal for us during the run-in last season. We now have two players fighting for every position and it’s a competitive group pushing each other every day in training.

All three are modern players in that they contribute in all four phases of the game (possession, opposition possession, defensive transitions, attacking transition). They are very versatile, capable of playing in three or four positions.

It was great to see the work they would put in at training and the understanding that the three of them had in the rondos and small-sided games. I wish them all the best and all three have the potential to go to the top.

In the short-term, I want to be part of the technical team here that wins the club its first trophy. The chairman, the supporters and the city deserve that. Whilst on a smaller scale, I compare us to Newcastle United, who have not won a trophy in several decades but get a full stadium every week and have the entire city behind the team.

In the long-term, say 10 years from now, I would like to be a Sporting Director for a club like Monchi (formerly at Roma and now at Sevilla) or Michael Zorc at Borussia Dortmund. South Africa is behind the world’s top clubs in this area. When a team changes coach, they often change their playing style and sign eight or nine players. Then he gets fired, and the next coach does the same. Whereas with a sporting director, you have a club philosophy and style of play and sign players and coaches who suit that.

An example is a big club signing a prolific striker from a smaller club. That striker may have scored all his goals on the break in a struggling, counter-attacking team, and then goes to a big club where he faces deep defences and he struggles. If you are constantly changing your style of play and the type of coach you employ, it leads to a lot of wastage of finances on the personnel you need to release.

I did the Mentorship and Expert Meeting with Raymond Verheijen and the World Football Academy last year and intend to continue doing personal development courses.

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