Leeds United’s director of football Victor Orta believes that a moneyball strategy would never work in football and says the Whites' recruitment strategy is close to achieving the perfect mix of factors.
The Whites have enjoyed a stellar start to the season under Marcelo Bielsa and have been identified as one of the early contenders for promotion at the end of the season.
Orta, who had taken much flak from fans for lacklustre recruitment before Bielsa arrived, turned down the chance to return to Spain with Deportivo La Coruna earlier this year.
He is continuing his work at Leeds and believes a baseball style moneyball strategy that would solely depend on statistics when it comes to recruitment would not work out in football.
“The most important thing about data is that it should be read carefully”, Orta told SCISports in an interview.
“One tried to duplicate the film and book “Moneyball” in football. In Moneyball, a baseball team was put together based on data.
“This would never be possible in football since it is the least repetitive sport in the world, in my opinion. Sports such as baseball, basketball and American football are more repetitive than football.
“However, data can be of great value in the football industry. A mix of data, and knowledge and expertise of the scouting department is the perfect combination."
Orta in fact believes that Leeds are close to having the perfect recruitment recipe.
“I would say that data should be the secondary source of information that can give the confirmation.
"I am happy to say that we are close to reaching that perfect mix at Leeds United."
Orta worked for Sevilla before arriving in England with Middlesbrough and is now aiming towards unearthing the best talents for Leeds.
