Evolution of the Beautiful Game: Analytics and Virtual Reality

Soccer (or Football) has become increasingly technical with the times, with the birth of new formations and new player positions. Technology use could grant teams an edge in reaching their maximum potential. The following research study intends to analyze the evolution of soccer with modern computer science technology like Machine Learning (ML) and Virtual Reality (VR). We establish a use-case to predict the most suitable position of a player concerning his initial skillset. This would allow coaches better to categorize a player through physiology and game awareness. On route to our predictions, we discuss various soccer simulations that players use for training and evaluate each simulation based on interaction fidelity. We develop the first-ever VR simulation that trains defenders with tactical drills focused on making interceptions. We also use different ML models to study the difference in predictions and how appropriate the ML model is for such a problem.