Data analysis caused 'massive' transfer argument for Villas-Boas

Former Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas feels there needs to be more "balance" with the increased use of data analysis in football.

The 46-year-old said this led to "massive, massive arguments" over the potential signing of Joao Moutinho when he was head coach at the north London club.

The Portuguese wanted to bring in his compatriot from Porto in the summer of 2012; however, the midfielder was only sixth on a list compiled using data and statistical analysis. As a result, Spurs pursued other targets, including Mousa Dembele, before ultimately missing out on Moutinho's signature by a minute.

With more clubs using data and artificial intelligence to identify targets, Villas-Boas has highlighted the challenges that managers will now face.

"The first on our list compiled by data people was Dembele," he explained at Web Summit tech conference in Lisbon. "We signed him and we almost ended up signing Moutinho as well, but we lost it against the clock on the last day of the transfer window.

"It drained me emotionally to the point where, here was a guy that the data was not showing all that he represented from the coach's perspective. He was a player that knows your leadership, a player that knows your style, adaptability to your style.

"This can be quantified, but it must be done in the view of a coach and not a single view.

"This was the problem in the beginning and we had massive, massive arguments in the beginning because of this with Moutinho. It was unfortunate because we were going to build up a very strong midfield.

"This is precisely where you have to have that balance to understand what is your coaching philosophy and how it should be integrated into the data that has been provided to you."