Source: Daily_Mail
'Moneyball' can inspire Premier League success, insists Billy Beane
Billy Beane, the man behind the Moneyball phenomenon, has dismissed the notion that his principles cannot be adapted from baseball to other sports. [LNB]'Moneyball', first published in 2003, documents the early part of the last decade when Beane's Oakland A's found a way to compete against teams with much bigger budgets by finding undervalued players through ground-breaking statistical analysis. [LNB]The book was a worldwide success and recently has been turned into a film, with Hollywood star Brad Pitt playing Beane, making the latter famous in more places than the general manager of the A's would otherwise expect to be. [LNB] Groundbreaker: Oakland Athletics' manager Billy Beane (centre)[LNB]And the 49-year-old bats away suggestions sports like football, rugby and cricket are immune to Moneyball's benefits. [LNB]'Every business has metrics that correlate to success,' he said. 'It's just finding them and which ones are the most valuable and which ones do you invest in and which ones you get a return on.'[LNB] In particular, Beane is fascinated by European football. He is a friend of Damien Comolli, a Moneyball proponent and director of football at Liverpool.[LNB] The Merseysiders share an owner, John W Henry, with the Boston Red Sox, the Major League Baseball team who have perhaps been most successful in applying the lessons of Moneyball - winning two World Series in the last seven years, the first after an 86-year gap. [LNB] Fan: Liverpool director of football Damien Comolli[LNB]And he identifies a growing appetite among club owners for investment in players to be backed with science. [LNB]Beane said: 'People who buy franchises, whether it be in the Premier League or an NFL football team... they want rational reasons for why things are done and the old gut-feel approach in business is no longer going to sell.'[LNB] If Beane knows the kind of statistics which will help spot what he calls' 'inefficiencies' - important undervalued qualities in footballers - he is not telling but he predicts the breakthroughs have already been made by the kind of people who made similar discoveries in baseball.[LNB]'There's a group of people out there that probably aren't in the game, or are dying to get into the game, or have somebody sponsor these ideas,' he said.[LNB] As evidence for the existence of this army of geeks, he points to the example of Bill James. James was a pioneer of the new baseball statistics in self-published books which have proved more accurate in predicting performance than the traditional measurements which have featured on baseball scorecards for over a hundred years. [LNB]He added: 'For some fans, their passion for their team comes out in the investigation of the sport, trying to make their team better by virtue of mining this data. [LNB]'I guarantee that all through England, Europe, the United States, there is a group of people who are doing these things like Bill James and they're just waiting for a sponsor.'[LNB] Stats the way to do it: The Reds hope Moneyball's theory can win them trophies[LNB] Listening to him talk, it is hard to disagree with Michael Lewis, the financial journalist and author of Moneyball, who has predicted a future in football for Beane. [LNB]According to the New York Times, Lewis claimed Beane's dream would be for the A's organisation, in which he has a stake and who already own San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer, to buy a European football club. [LNB]His friendship with Comolli and his frequently-stated admiration for Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger point to an ambition to make Moneyball pay in football. [LNB]Asked about his future he said: 'It's hard to say right now. I've got a lot of interests - one of the reasons why I'm over here is I love Premier League football. [LNB]'I love European football. I love the business of it as much as anything - it's the biggest sport in the world. The business itself is interesting to me but I've grown to love the sport over the last decade.'[LNB] Liverpool defender Aurelio hails return of 'massive' Gerrard for United clashMould-en oldie Giggs beats Beckham and Drogba to Golden Foot award in MonacoMartin Samuel: No Rooney? Time to earn your ?6m, FabioThe money, men and machines that made England the best cricket team in the world[LNB]
