Capturing football’s ‘fiercest rivalry’: Video analysis in the Serbian SuperLiga
The Belgrade derby is often dubbed as one of the most fierce matchups in world football, and understandably so, given it typically decides which team lifts the Serbian SuperLiga and Serbian Cup trophies.
In the 15 years since the SuperLiga launched, Red Star Belgrade and Partizan Belgrade are the only teams to have claimed the title. In all but two years, the rival sides have finished in first and second place.
With the season often decided by small margins, Serbia’s top two teams have invested in their video analysis process in recent years to ensure their players are performing at the optimal level, both as a team and individually.
Video analysis in the Serbian SuperLiga
Both teams utilise Spiideo Perform, a powerful video recording and analysis platform that captures footage effortlessly through an automated camera system. In a single recording, users can view both an overview of the entire field, as well as details of individual players, and switch between camera angles to get the best view of a situation.
Red Star records all of its training sessions and matches through four cameras in its main stadium and two on its training pitch. As well as the panoramic cameras, which capture a full, 180 degree view of play, the club has also installed a goal camera that makes it easier to judge the distance between players. This setup powers Red Star’s video analysis process, enabling the club’s analysts to review situations and determine areas to improve ahead of the next fixture.
Immediately after a match, I load up the video and I work on my analysis. After 24 hours, I share the video with the coaching staff, and we discuss the situations that we want to focus on in our tactical training in the next week,
Partizan has a similar setup across its training ground and arena. By capturing the tactical aspects of its first-team training sessions and matches, the club’s analysis team is able to create powerful presentations to aid coaches’ decision-making and deliver feedback to players.
As well as post-session, Spiideo’s cloud-based platform provides live access to recordings, so club staff can watch footage back instantly and provide instant feedback to players when an incident is fresh in mind.
During a training session, I can pull up a Spiideo clip on the tablet, and we can show our players immediately on the pitch. We can show them what is wrong, what is good, and it’s so easy to use
Pushing players to reach their peak
As well as supporting the first team, Spiideo Perform is also used by Partizan to capture all training sessions at a youth level. As a former player, Podunavac believes this access to video can help the club’s young players to identify weaknesses in their game and encourage them to push on in their individual development.
“When I was a player, I was never filmed. I had no idea how I looked in training. With video, you can see how your movement looks, which can help you to see how you did and how you can do it better,” Podunavac says.
With access to a range of visualization tools, such as spotlights, arrows, measurements and freehand drawing tools, coaches can deliver engaging visual feedback that gets the message across effectively and efficiently.
“You open a recording, highlight a player, and he can immediately see where he was in that moment,” Podunavac says. “The players like to see clips enhanced in this way, because it’s interesting for them and easy to understand.”
Sasso also sees the value of video analysis for individual development, as do many of the players he works with. With the ability to pan and zoom within a recording without loss of quality, Sasso is able to prepare clips and analysis for select groups of players to help them better understand and improve in their specific roles.
They want to improve their quality, and they know that video is one of the most important ways to improve. With Spiideo, we can show them everything in very small detail. This, for me, is the most important benefit.
Streamlining the analysis process
Complete with live-tagging functionality, powerful presentation tools and unique features such as AutoData (automated player tracking and game data generation), Spiideo Perform offers clubs an elite-level solution, while addressing inefficiencies in the video analysis process. Amid the busy SuperLiga schedule, with multiple games often falling in the same week, the ease and efficiency of Spiideo Perform enables Serbia’s top clubs to get more out of the limited preparation time they have
We needed something that was faster, easier and more intuitive. For us, Spiideo was the best solution.