Liverpool just completed one of their most successful seasons in years. Not only did Jürgen Klopp's team come second in the Premier League, they won the highest honor in European football, beating FC Barcelona by an astonishing four goals in the Champions League finals. A 4:0 win at this top level is no easy caveat.
Liverpool currently runs smoothly and is a well-oiled machine capable of anything. It would be easy to merely attribute the success to Jürgen Klopp – and it undoubtedly is very much due to his hard work and leadership abilities – but as Klopp himself recently pointed out in an interview with CNN, the impressive performance is made possible by the team around him.
Liverpool's success, just as that of FC Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Paris Saint Germain is not coincidental, not a one-off lucky shot, it is fed by a cleverly designed and maintained system. The management of successful clubs is akin to that of a top-notch business. In fact, leading a high-powered football club calls for an even more more-faceted skills set.
Measuring a club's performance and potential for success
This raises the question: Is it possible to measure a club's performance and gain better insights into the strengths and potential for improvement?
Estimating a player's performance is simple. From the number of assists, goals scored, distance run, successful passes, determining a player's performance is relatively straight-forward. As a club's success depends on long-term planning including the right squad composition, sponsoring deals, relationships between players and coach, and the involvement of fans, measuring and keeping an oversight over the multitude of factors becomes slightly more complex.
Take, for instance, the importance of the club's relationship with its sponsors. A recent example is FC Bayern Munich, who refused to shorten their sponsoring contract with luxury car maker Audi in spite of demands from another premium company. Despite calls from their potential future partner, BMW, the Bayern management remained loyal to their commitment to Audi and resisted any calls for a premature termination of the sponsoring relationship with Audi. Many clubs would consider themselves lucky to call any of these companies their sponsor, yet it is the loyalty to the sponsor that has helped clubs to enjoy long-lasting success.
Of course, while this is only a small glimpse into the factors on which a strong club is built, it is indeed possible to measure these metrics. Knowing the status quo enables a club to address shortcomings and build on its strengths.
The link between measuring club performance and success
Measuring finances:
The German side Bayer Leverkusen have adopted a very specific approach to measuring the performance to stay on top of their finances. The club's management regularly determines the value of their squad and the club as a whole. This enables the club's leadership to retain an overview over both their transfer policy and the club's financial and strategic management as a whole. A large diversion between the value of club and squad and the objectives would indicate the potential necessity for adjustments.
Establishing the value of the squad and its return is indeed one of the simplest metrics. Do with increased transfer costs come better results? Does a greater squad value lead to more won games, better performance on the international level? Determining other metrics, those that are less tangible, not necessarily intangible, but more complex and difficult to establish, may prove to be less obvious but highly profitable. Measuring and adjusting the intricacies of areas that may not be visible yield a lot of potential for success.
Measuring the health of relationships: An example for such a hidden, yet potent gem, are relationships. Whether these are between management, club leaders and trainer or fans, they all play a pivotal role for the success of the club. Whilst these aspects are intangible, they are crucial elements for a club's long-term success.
Fundamental rifts between members of the management team can hinder or even stall essential decisions or the the implementation of strategies. The second biggest club in Munich, Germany, 1860 Munich, experienced the consequences of a mediocre relationship between club executives. The level of trust between executives had already reached rock-bottom when one member went one step further in testing the solidity of the relationship between him and his colleagues. After announcing his retirement in the club, the manager was quick to publicly row back on his resignation. Upon investigation, he explained that he merely wanted to determine his colleagues integrity and trustworthiness.
This episode led to a further deterioration within the executive team followed by de facto resignation amongst other executives. Not only that, the rocky relationship at the top of the club left sponsors puzzled about the sincerity of the club. Many sponsors refrained from further engaging or commencing a partnership with the club. The ramification were a strain on the club's finances.
Certainly this is an extreme example, but it is evidence for the link between one area of the club and all others. Measuring one aspect is not sufficient in capturing the full picture. Only a complete overview enables club management to act, understand the difficulties and identify underutilized potential.
Measuring the interaction with the coach:
As the CEO of the League Manager's Association stated, coaches need consistency. There is little evidence that swapping managers in and out will yield better results. The opposite rings true in most cases, as with an increasing number of team managers, instability for all club stakeholders surges. For players this instability frequently materializes in worse performance on the pitch, for fans it may eventuate in the form of dissatisfaction and a decrease in identification with the club. For coaches, particularly those who could act as potential replacements, an overly active trigger finger regarding the position as team manager may lead to a greater unwillingness to join the club. Which coach, if they can choose, will take up a position that has proven to be highly unstable with little support from club management?
Reasons for replacing managers are manifold. Whether it is due to strategic disagreements, personal differences, or a lack of communication, understanding what lies behind frequent managerial changes is essential in order to minimize the negative impacts for the club and avoid future short-term management stints. Determining these intangibles leads to tangible improvements, including, but not exclusively, fewer recruitment expenses, better results on the pitch, greater identification and revenue from the fan base.
How can club management address the importance of performance metrics?
These are just a number of areas indicating the importance of measuring tangibles and intangibles in the management of a professional club. Given the fast-paced nature of professional football, however, it is frequently difficult to keep track of all the different pillars that serve as the foundation for a club's success.
In order to address the issue of measuring performance in the different areas of club management and to support clubs in gaining a fast and comprehensive overview of their strengths and their potential to improve, the Club Performance Scorecard is available. The Club Performance Scorecard enables clubs to effectively and quickly measure five (5) wider management areas and fourteen (14) subcategories and share the insights in an easily comprehensible graphical format.
The Club Performance Scorecard is designed for easy use, instant feedback on performance in the respective areas. The results can be shared between departments, be used for reflection and as a action plan to improve lagging areas or to keep on top of the performance in the five managerial areas.
In addition we offer the Football Club Management Measure that allows for measuring leadership competencies such as the quality and type of relationship with the coach. The Football Club Management Measure provides insights into what areas are up to par and which permit room for improvement.
MCHasel specializes in advising football clubs in measuring their club and management performance. If you require any advice in relation to anything mentioned in this article, please contact Dr. Markus C. Hasel.