For a brief though memorable time, Carles Martinez was a rampaging fullback, hurtling up and down the wing for Southern District in HK and though he was passionate about playing the beautiful game, he was never under any illusions that ‘playing’ would last forever. Martinez always had his eye on alternative future careers within the game that he loves.
Martinez is, as keen academically as he was at crunching tackles, so while he was running across football pitches around Hong Kong, he continued his university studies and the result has seen Martinez eventually join Al Ain FC (United Arab Emirates) as Chief Analyst for the 2023 to 2024 season. The margins between success and failure in football are so fine that any form of competitive edge can make the difference between a resounding victory and a slight defeat and thus, the growth of sports data.
Al Ain take their levels and standards of professionalism seriously and currently are managed by Hernán Crespo, the legendary Argentine player who took to the field for famed teams such as River Plate, Parma, Inter and AC Milan, Lazio, Chelsea, Genoa and Parma as well as 64 appearances for the blue and white of Argentina.
Crespo’s rich experience on the playing field has lead to his current role of Al Ain’s manager and Martinez is so fortunate to be able to learn his trade from one of the truly global names in world football.
Al Ain, who were founded in 1968, have a rich history and are currently giants in UAE with 14 Pro Leagues and one Asian Champions league title amongst their trophy cabinet.
Al Ain are no run of the mill club and like all clubs, the impact off the pitch is as important as the results on the field. Amongst Al Ain’s board of directors are His Highness Sheikh Sultan Bin Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al Ain Club and Chairman of the Executive Committee as well as Zayed Al Nahyan, First Vice President of Al Ain Sports and Cultural Club, First Vice President of the Honorary Council & Chairman of the Board of Directors. Expectations are high.
Al Ain’s Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium is an architectural masterpiece which was first opened in January 2014 and seats up to 25,000. The design of the outer exterior is inspired by the base of a palm tree; a select part of nature that is core to UAE society and culture.
Al Ain are no strangers to continental football and are consistently esteemed members of a group of clubs who generally feature year in and year out amongst Asia’s elite sides.
In recent times, Al Ain have lost the 2005 AFC Champions League edition when Al-Ittihad defeated them in a 5–3 aggregate victory while in the 2016 edition, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors defeated Al-Ain in the final. Al Ain were continent champions in the 2002–03 edition which remains as their sole recent triumph.
Al Ain Versus Al Hilal
Al Ain are on the brink of making Asian Champions league history again though they have to face the current juggernaut of Al Hilal who have not lost in the last 40 matches and have won an incredible 34 straight matches (at the time of writing).
Al Ain will host Al Hilal in the first leg though all the preparation and data analysis won’t hide the incredible fact that Al Hilal are currently unbeaten in 18 away games; another unbelievable run and Neymar, the superstar Brazilian has been injured for a majority of the run.
The UAE club will be feeling confident especially as they defeated Al Nssr (with Ronaldo) in the previous round and famed opposition do not intimidate them; in 2018, they took on Real Madrid in the FIFA Club World Cup final (lost 4-1) after famously defeating River Plate in the semi-finals.
As football is such a game of twists and turns, it could be Al Ain who hand Al Hilal a famous defeat which would, in turn, make global headlines.
Transition from Player to Data Analyst
Martinez was happy to share advice on how he made the successful transition, from globe trotting player to his current role spending hours watching football for patterns of play, to bring the best out of Al Ain’s players and the team as a collective whole.
“I finished my football career 3 seasons ago at Barakaldo in Spain. I then had the chance to start as second coach at Cadiz U-23 and support the technical secretary of the first team with eye/ visual and data analysis. During my football career, I was studying sport science, psychology, football coach courses and the year before I finished playing, I studied data analysis with python.”
Moneyball and Data
Martinez is a fan of books, films and history and once spoke of how the book (and film) ‘Moneyball’ inspired him to follow his interest in sports statistics. Seemingly information is king for sports teams and millions, if not billions of dollars, are on the line and ‘Moneyball’ first drew the world’s attention to this phenomena.
“I watched the film when I was studying data analysis. It was very inspiring and to have a real case about how data analysis could change organizations and methodologies was very interesting.”
Statistics and data, like in all sports, is vital to collecting accurate performance / quantitative details which coaches can use to both bring the best out of their players and to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses in their opponents.
Data can allow the management to view if a player has an area of their game which needs more focus or even when their opponents are at their peak or lagging in a match so the possibilities and parameters are endless. Martinez stressed how data makes it possible for team’s to have a competitive advantage.
“There are many opinions about it and data depends the on the knowledge (not only in statistics and data analysis though also in football). My opinion is that data helps a lot! I can give you an example; if you try to analyze your next opponent in April, you can not see the last 20 games (there is no time between games).
Data can give you the information if you know how to extract it. It’s very important to see opponents and analyze them with “visuals/eye” because data can not give you some specific answers, but can help you a lot about many things that only with the ‘visuals / eyes’ you can not. My opinion is that balance is the correct way. Using the ‘Visuals/ Eye’ and data can give you good analysis about your team, your opponents and potential new players!”
Al Ain as a City
Al Ain as a city is the fourth-largest city in the UAE and globe trotting Martinez is happy with life in Al Ain, which borders Oman, and enjoys his current lifestyle.
“Life in UAE is easy and it is a very comfortable country with very kind people. Everybody helps you a lot when you reach the UAE. The country has amazing facilities and you feel that you are in the future when you visit Dubai. Al Ain is a very nice city and is very comfortable to work in and very familiar. It’s perfect for your daily life!”
Martinez has experience playing across the world and is able to compare and contrast all the different leagues and he is full of praise for the UAE Pro-League.
“The UAE Pro League is growing and improving and a prime example is the path of Al Ain FC in the Asian Champions League. The facilities of all the UAE clubs are very good and the football grounds are amazing. I feel UAE league is the correct way to keep growing and in making the league a reference in the region.”
For now, Martinez, has the ultimate analyst and data test against Al Hilal and how do you stop a team which has the likes of Kalidou Koulibaly, Salman Al-Fara, Rúben Neves, Nasser Al-Dawsari, Mohamed Kanno, Michael Delgado, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Malcom?
Well , Al Ain also have top quality players as well in the form of Hazem Mohammad, Soufiane Rahimi, Park Yong-woo and Bandar Al-Ahbabi amongst their ranks and will have a crucial home advantage.
As we are all aware, anything can happen in football and so Al Ain will be positive and optimistic that they can gain a result. This is the view that Martinez has had and he will no doubt hope this mentality continues to seep through his team especially with a serial winner such as Hernan Crespo in charge.
“Well, I think in the same way that I did when I was football player. I don’t start a competition thinking that I can not go as far as possible. We know that there are many powerful teams in this competition but we feel that we can compete and do our best. We have gone step by step since the start of the season and we don’t think about the future, only the next game.”
Memories
Martinez was only in Hong Kong for a brief period of time though has fond memories of his time playing in the HKPL and Southern fans will no doubt recall his dedication and devotion to the cause. Will Martinez ever return to Hong Kong in a professional setting and what does he specifically recall?
“I have many nice memories from HK. I want to go back there to remember the good times. It was a fantastic place! I remember the people that I met there and the FA Cup semi-finals. It was a very different and special experience in my life and I remember many things about that time. I hope to come back some day.”
Hong Kong was home to Martinez for a fleeting period of time though it was in HK where the seeds and foundations of his current dream adventures were laid as he trained during the day and studied hard at night.
Sports is fleeting and Martinez was forward-thinking enough to plan far ahead and is now reaping the benefits and maybe he will help bring the downfall of a currently unstoppable Al-Hilal.
How does a person make a full-time career in sports? Maybe it is all in the data.
