Soccermatics: how maths explains football | David Sumpter | TEDxUppsalaUniversity

Summary

The speaker recounts a personal journey from a young football enthusiast to a mathematician, exploring the unexpected intersections between the two fields. Despite lacking football talent, the speaker's passion for math led to a career studying animal behavior and social dynamics. The birth of his son, a talented football player, rekindled his interest in the sport, prompting him to delve into the mathematical aspects of football, such as randomness, player positioning, and game strategy. He discovered that mathematics could enhance understanding of the game and even aid in player selection. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the accessibility and joy of mathematics, not as an esoteric discipline but as a tool for gaining insights into the world around us.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker's childhood love for Liverpool Football Club and football in general was not matched by their skill on the field.
• 🧮 A passion for math and computers led the speaker on a journey of academic exploration and collaboration with researchers worldwide.
• 🐜 Studies of animal behavior, such as ants, fish schools, and bird navigation, revealed complex mathematical patterns and behaviors.
• 👏 The speaker investigated the contagious nature of human social behaviors, like clapping, and how groups coordinate their actions.
• 🔄 The speaker's son's football talent and the speaker's own involvement in coaching rekindled their interest in finding a connection between math and football.
• 🤔 The speaker discovered that about two-thirds of a football match's outcome could be attributed to randomness and unpredictability.
• ⚽️ Mathematical models were used to analyze player performance, passing patterns, and the best strategies for scoring goals.
• 📊 Statistical analysis was applied to determine the best strikers in the world and to understand team dynamics through passing networks.
• 🏆 The speaker's research into football strategies and game theory provided insights that could be used by Premier League Scouts and managers.
• 🔢 Mathematics, while present in everything, does not hold all the answers to life's complexities; it offers an edge in understanding and problem-solving.
• 💡 The speaker encourages seeing mathematics as an accessible and enjoyable activity, akin to a friendly game, rather than an exclusive pursuit for geniuses.

Q & A

What was the speaker's passion when he was 10 years old?

The speaker loved football, particularly Liverpool Football Club, and also had a passion for math and computers.

What did the speaker study regarding the mathematics of animal trails?

The speaker studied how small animals like ants can build massive transport networks, how they organize their traffic, and how they collect food.

What insights did the speaker gain from studying fish schools?

The speaker learned how fish schools can escape predators by interacting with just a few nearby neighbors.

How does the speaker describe the mathematical journey he took?

The speaker's mathematical journey involved studying various systems and building mathematical models to help understand them better, leading him to collaborate with researchers worldwide.

What changed the speaker's perspective on the connection between football and mathematics?

The speaker's son Henry's talent in football and his involvement in coaching led him to explore the mathematical aspects of the game.

What mathematical concepts did the speaker find in football?

The speaker found mathematics in football through randomness, vector fields of passing, player forecasts, passing and positioning, shots and goals statistics, passing networks, and game geometry.

How does the speaker relate football to strategy and game theory?

The speaker studied how strategy and game theory can be used to explain the evolution of football strategies and how managers use passing networks to scout the opposition.

What was the speaker's conclusion about the importance of mathematics in football?

The speaker concluded that mathematics provides an edge and a deeper understanding of the game, but it doesn't allow us to understand everything about the complex world of football.

What message does the speaker want to convey to his children and the audience about mathematics?

The speaker wants to convey that mathematics is not just for detached geniuses but is something everyone can and should be doing, like a kickabout with friends.

How does the speaker feel about the limitations of mathematics?

The speaker acknowledges that mathematics can't explain everything and there are many things in the world that we'll never understand, but it gives us a little extra understanding to win more matches than we lose.

What is the speaker's final thought on the role of mathematics in understanding the world?

The speaker believes that while mathematics is present in everything, it doesn't provide the ultimate answer to life's mysteries but offers valuable insights and advantages.