Artificial intelligence assists football clubs with tactics: 'We are not aiming to remove the human element'

Artificial Intelligence Helps Football Clubs with Tactics: 'We are not out to remove the human element'

Newly founded company has secured FC Copenhagen, Brøndby, AaB and Randers FC as clients.

Randers FC is one of the football clubs that uses Aalborg-based company Alais software. (Photo: © Bo Amstrup, Bo Amstrup / Ritzau Scanpix)

By Jesper Knox ([email protected]) 15 minutes ago

Today, Super League resumes its winter break and the country's top football players will return to the field.

The focus is on winning, so several top clubs have allied themselves with a small North Jutland IT company named Alai. Among the clients are big clubs such as FC Copenhagen, Brøndby IF and AaB.

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> The computer sees the entire game, so it can help the coach during the game.

> Alan Khorsid, co-founder of Alai

The company was founded just half a year ago by three students from Aalborg University. In connection with their thesis at the university, they developed a program that makes it easier for clubs to review game data and adjust tactics during the games.

- The computer sees the entire game, so it can help the coach during the game, says co-founder and director Alan Khorsid.

- Our program can, for example, identify gaps in the defense that the opponent can exploit if they are not discovered, he explains.

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A more secure analysis

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Super League club Randers FC is one of those that have subscribed to Alais analysis program.

Nikolaj Meier analyzes the club's games, and he sees the program as an important tool.

Randers FC is one of the football clubs that uses Alais software to analyze the games. (Photo: © Christine Nørgaard, DR)

- You get numbers from reality. The program gives me a control measurement over both what I see, and what I may not see. It gives a more secure analysis of the game, he says.

Even though the three founders of Alai have only worked full-time since the summer, they have big ambitions.

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The human aspect

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But what does it mean for football that a piece of artificial intelligence watches over the coach's shoulder and makes decisions about what the players should do?

Alan Khorsid emphasizes that Alai is not out to make anyone on the coaching staff redundant.

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> Football is a beautiful game, even when mistakes are made.

> Alan Khorsid, co-founder, Alai

- Our goal is to support their current work and make it even better, he says.

- We are not out to remove the human element from football. Football is a beautiful game, even when mistakes are made.

The same opinion is held by analyst Nikolai Meier from Randers FC.

- At our club, it is not the people on the coaching staff who sit with the program. We use it for analysis, and it is not all the things the program shows that can be reacted to during the game, he explains.

- There must also be room for us to interpret the data that the program shows us. Otherwise, our job will be rendered superfluous, says Nikolai Meier.

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Interest from England

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But even though the plan is not to empty the coaching staff and let artificial intelligence decide what the football players should do, the ambitions of Alai are still high.

- I am sure that we will raise the standard of football, initially here in Denmark, says Alan Khorsid.

Several clubs in the Premier League, the top English league, have already shown interest in the company's software.

- We hope that the program can be released in all the major leagues and that we can help clubs make the best decisions, says the director.

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