16 Oct Does Changing the Coach Really Improve Performance? An Analysis of the 2023/24 LALIGA EA Sports Season
Introduction
In professional football, it’s common for teams going through a rough patch to replace their coach, hoping to improve performance. But does this decision actually lead to noticeable improvements? A recent study published in the International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport analyzed how coach changes affect team performance in LaLiga, concluding that although there’s an initial positive effect, the improvements aren’t always as significant as expected. Below, we’ll compare the results of that research with the data from the 2023/24 LALIGA EA Sports season to see if the trends hold.
Previous Research: A Look at the Impact of Coach Changes
In the study titled «The effect of coach dismissal on team performance and match physical demands in Spanish professional soccer leagues», four seasons of LaLiga (2015/16 to 2018/19) were examined to see if coach changes improve team performance (points won per match) and physical effort in matches (distances run at high intensity). The results showed that teams tended to improve in the first four matches under a new coach, with an increase in points per match from 0.68 to 1.35. However, this improvement was neither large nor consistent throughout the season. You can access the full study here: https://doi.org/10.1080/24748668.2023.2278370.
Analysis of the 2023/24 Season: Is the Pattern Repeating?
This analysis focuses on the current LALIGA EA Sports season (2023/24), where several coach changes have also taken place. Following the methodology of the original research, we compared the points won and physical demands before and after the coach changes.
Key Results
- Points Performance: In the 2023/24 season, teams that changed their coach saw an average increase of 0.37 points per match after the change. While this improvement is positive, it’s lower than the increase seen in the original research, where the jump was 0.68 points per match. This suggests that the impact of changing the coach has been more moderate this season.
- Physical Demands: The physical effort metrics also showed improvements after the coach changes:
- Distance covered at more than 21 km/h increased by an average of 157 meters per match.
- Distance covered at more than 24 km/h increased by 73.9 meters per match.
Is Changing the Coach Enough to Guarantee Better Performance?
In the original research, the improvements in performance weren’t large enough to claim that changing the coach guaranteed better results in the long term. Given that in the 2023/24 season the improvements in points and physical effort are even smaller, while in some specific cases the coach change might have had a positive impact, if we look at the overall data, coach changes don’t seem to be a definitive solution to significantly and sustainably improve a team’s performance.
Conclusion
Just like in the original research, the data from the 2023/24 season suggests that coach changes create a short-term positive effect, both in terms of points won and in the physical effort of the players. However, the improvements aren’t big enough to guarantee a lasting impact. This suggests that while changing the coach may revitalize a team in the short term, it’s not always the solution that clubs might expect to produce considerable and sustained improvement over the season.