Tottenham Hotspur coach Andre Villas-Boas has bucked his reputation as one of the most innovative managers in the game by declaring that he is not an unavowed fan of statistical analysis.
The 35-year-old earned his spurs working alongside Jose Mourinho at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan, where his role involved producing detailed dossiers on opposition teams.
However, the Portuguese says he has always been wary of the kind of empirical statistical analysis.
"I don't use it because I don't believe (in it)," Villas-Boas said.
"You always have to be very, very careful with statistics. It doesn't mean that we negate them completely; we just don't use them to the extent that people might think.
"We have a scientific department that deals with that, but we don't prepare our training or players based on the physical data we get from matches.
"The mind and how the player feels is much more important for us, rather than statistical data.
"For me it's useless but it varies from coach to coach. We all have different approaches."
Villas-Boas was speaking ahead of his side's trip to West Ham United in the Premier League on Monday, with Spurs seeking a victory that would lift them above Chelsea into third place.
Source: AFP
