Marka Ragnos Posted June 13, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted June 13, 2023 (edited) Do you think espionage or "espionage" (all depending on how you define that loaded word) exists in the world of professional football? * To what extent, where, how, why? Is it a form of corporate spying -- or something else? How might it cross the line into criminality or civil liability? Are there famous football spying scandals of the past that stand out to you? Besides this one. Does it happen in the transfer market? Match-day line-ups? Game plans? Are there legal forms of "soft spying" that concern you? Is there spying in plain view? Is it just part of football? Can it be policed? Is it policed? Do we protect against it enough? Are security procedures strong enough? On an ironic tangent -- and this is admittedly a longshot -- might football scouting sometimes be a cover for other kinds of misdeeds or even, well, actual espionage? * Why this topic now? It's been raised on Villa social media in some persistent ways that got my attention, and I've been concerned about it, too. Quote English soccer was rocked (or delighted, depending on who you ask) this past week with allegations of spying against manager Marcelo Bielsa of Leeds ahead of his team’s match against Derby County. One police investigation, one legendary press conference, and an infinite amount of banter later, we’ve got a good old fashioned soccer scandal on our hands. Let’s dive into it. Edited June 13, 2023 by Marka Ragnos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post rjw63 Posted June 13, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted June 13, 2023 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marka Ragnos Posted June 13, 2023 Author VT Supporter Share Posted June 13, 2023 25 minutes ago, rjw63 said: Too many -- and never enough. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentVillan Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 Definitely happens, there are plenty of stories about it. But not sure football is a sport where you’d get a massive edge from it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 Didn’t someone hide in bushes at a training ground to see what the opposition were planning a while back? Can’t remember which team it was. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icouldtelltheworld Posted June 14, 2023 Share Posted June 14, 2023 45 minutes ago, ender4 said: Didn’t someone hide in bushes at a training ground to see what the opposition were planning a while back? Can’t remember which team it was. Was Leeds under Bielsa, pretty sure it was before a game against Derby which gave the fixture a bit of edge when they met in then play offs, which in turn arguably helped us get promoted! Still don't think we'd have beaten Leeds in the play off final 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa_nz Posted June 14, 2023 Share Posted June 14, 2023 Crystal palace had a pamphlet with our starting line up before the game in the lambert era 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted June 14, 2023 Share Posted June 14, 2023 2 hours ago, villa_nz said: Crystal palace had a pamphlet with our starting line up before the game in the lambert era Yeah it was crazy to think there was someone close to the manager who leaked the XIs the day before the game on here 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted June 14, 2023 Share Posted June 14, 2023 As a fan of the NFL I've always wondered what the PL does in terms of watching film, don't think it's there yet but where we say we have lange and his analyst team are we analysing ourselves, scouted players or are we analysing the opposition too? In preparation for playing say Brentford does someone at villa watch 50 hours of footage on them looking for patterns of play? Or do we still just scout them traditionally? I'd have thought it'll come for set pieces first and then in to general play, film teams are coming, people who just watch hours and hours of games and break down how other teams play So my answer is no, Im not sure teams even spend enough time watching and analysing what's available to them to then be bothered about trying to get training footage etc Bielsa was a one off 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightoffyour Posted June 14, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted June 14, 2023 3 hours ago, villa_nz said: Crystal palace had a pamphlet with our starting line up before the game in the lambert era They only had to look at VT to get it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted June 14, 2023 Share Posted June 14, 2023 7 hours ago, KentVillan said: But not sure football is a sport where you’d get a massive edge from it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted June 14, 2023 Share Posted June 14, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaJ100 Posted June 14, 2023 Share Posted June 14, 2023 Tapping up is universal now I think. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StewieGriffin Posted June 14, 2023 Share Posted June 14, 2023 16 hours ago, villa4europe said: In preparation for playing say Brentford does someone at villa watch 50 hours of footage on them looking for patterns of play? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlobalVillan Posted June 17, 2023 Share Posted June 17, 2023 On 14/06/2023 at 13:41, villa4europe said: As a fan of the NFL I've always wondered what the PL does in terms of watching film, don't think it's there yet but where we say we have lange and his analyst team are we analysing ourselves, scouted players or are we analysing the opposition too? In preparation for playing say Brentford does someone at villa watch 50 hours of footage on them looking for patterns of play? Or do we still just scout them traditionally? I'd have thought it'll come for set pieces first and then in to general play, film teams are coming, people who just watch hours and hours of games and break down how other teams play So my answer is no, Im not sure teams even spend enough time watching and analysing what's available to them to then be bothered about trying to get training footage etc Bielsa was a one off Teams spend absolutely HOURS watching videos of their opponents. Coaches and managers do a hell of a lot of homework these days and players have whole training sessions dedicated to working as a team to counter what they discover in their research. Nothing is left to chance these days. Not by any half decent coaching team anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts