I’m back — and only a two-week delay this time. I’m thinking I’ll settle into an every-other-week cadence with these, but we shall see.

Anyway, I’m moderating a panel at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference next week. Should be fun. If you’ll be in Boston, let me know.

Ryan O'Hanlon @rwohan

I'm moderating a panel at this year's @SloanSportsConf. It's called "Soccer's Analytics Frontier", and yes, @OmarChaudhuri and I will be wearing the same outfit at the conference, too. Come say hi if you're in Boston next week.

4:53 PM ∙ Feb 23, 2023

---

62Likes4Retweets

Our panel is on Friday. Hopefully it’ll be available on the Internet for non-attendees at some point.

Everything Else

• Newcastle United are the richest sports team in the world — and they’re already way better than anyone thought they’d be. Uh … oh?

• Players get assigned positions when they’re teenagers, and then they just stick. Shouldn’t more managers experiment with midfielders at left back and strikers in the midfield?

• Oh no, we’re doing it again. We’re doing it again! Manchester United have played at a decent level for a few months. They just qualified for the Europa League Round of 16 after finishing second in their Europa League group to Real Sociedad. And … Erik Ten Hag is the new Sir Alex Ferguson, they’re title contenders, and they’re back among Europe’s elite? Here’s some cold water.

• Napoli, huh? Let’s make the stats case for Spalletti, Osimhen, and Kvaradonna winning the Champions League.