Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
Expected Goals
- The Story of How Data Conquered Football and Changed the Game Forever
- Narrated by: Simon Darwen
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
99p for the first 3 months
Expected Goals
Buy Now for £13.00
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
Summary
Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2022
Football has always measured success by what you win, but only in the last twenty years have clubs started to think about how you win. Data has now suffused almost every aspect of how football is played, coached, scouted and consumed. But it’s not the algorithms or new metrics that have made this change, it’s the people behind them.
This is the story of modern football’s great data revolution and the group of curious, entrepreneurial personalities who zealously believed in its potential to transform the game. Central to this cast is Chris Anderson, an academic with no experience in football, who saw data as an opportunity to fundamentally change a sport that did not think it could be changed. His aim: to infiltrate the strange, insular world of professional football by establishing a club whose entire DNA could be built around data.
Expected Goals charts his remarkable journey into the heart of the modern game and reveals how clubs across the world, from Liverpool to Leipzig and Brentford to Bayern Munich, began to see how data could help them unearth new players, define radical tactics and plot their path to glory.
Featured article: Best football audiobooks
Whether you belong to a football club, are a Premier League fan, or simply just interested in learning more about the football world, our list of the best football audiobooks captures what draws so many people to makes ‘the beautiful game’. Here’s our list of the best football audiobooks to hit play on, brought to you by your favourite sportswriters and international football superstars....
More from the same
What listeners say about Expected Goals
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- A Ghiglieri
- 08-10-22
Marvellous
An excellent insight into the ever evolving landscape of how data is changing the game
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr N Metcalfe
- 28-04-23
Really interesting
If you are interested in football this is well worth a listen. I would highly recommend it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- harveyhoo
- 14-12-23
Expected brilliance
Fascinating listen. Just as I’d expect from Rory. So knowledgeable, insightful. A brilliant book for true football fans
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Webbi
- 04-11-22
Interesting and informative
A cold, complex and often dull subject given life by the stories of real people struggling to be heard making huge changes to the game we know and love.
Glad I listened to it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mc250
- 22-05-23
Really enjoyable
This isn't a deep dive into technical metrics but it's a really well written story about how data in football got to this point. Great book, definitely recommended.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Rocket
- 24-12-22
Fascinating, really enjoyed it
I really enjoyed this despite a slightly flat section partway through. Mostly though, well narrated and very interesting. There were no shortage of 'Oh really?' moments.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr T.
- 05-02-23
Fascinating listen
Great book. Well read and really interesting. You don’t have to love football to listen. But it will help.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 13-10-23
Really Interesting Insight
Really fascinating insight into some of the characters involved in the story of data in football. I really enjoyed how each chapter had its own story while the thread of the story of Chris Andersen ran through the whole book. I do feel like, as is the case in all the other football/data books I've read (all referenced in this book), data claims some victories that can be attributed to other factors somewhat. It comes to the conclusion that we're still some way away from the full impact data can have on the game, which I suspect will be proven correct.
I also really enjoyed the narration.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Declan O'Brien
- 04-10-22
Outpreforms its XG
An interesting, engaging take on a quiet revolution. Only downside being the laborious telling of the Sally and Anderson tale. Full of lots of nuggets of information and insight.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- NiallB
- 14-11-22
Maths and Football
If you like technical and statistical side of Football, you will really enjoy this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!