Jake's Road Report is Gemini Sports founder Jake Schuster’s weekly update from professional football's frontlines. He travels globally, meeting club executives to share candid insights on AI's role in football. These raw, actionable thoughts are delivered weekly, with meeting details kept confidential and specific intel omitted.

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So many clubs are way too fixated on getting the fanciest algorithm.

In my travels around the world, I see it constantly—sporting directors obsessing over machine learning models that are 1% better than what they were using a month ago, convinced the next breakthrough in player performance prediction will revolutionize their transfer strategy. Meanwhile, their scouts can't quickly access basic scouting reports. 

Their sporting director is still waiting for someone to email yesterday's analysis.

To me, "fancy" means searching endlessly for what makes a player good through increasingly (and unnecessarily) complex models. But so much success comes to clubs who simply focus on the basics: How they get the right info in the right place faster, how they ensure everyone's on the same page, how they make sure everyone has the information they need to take action.

People loved the iPhone because it had fewer buttons than the BlackBerry, not more. Teams think they're going to win by being more sophisticated, but they should win by doing the simple, unsexy, boring stuff more effectively. It's the 80/20 rule in action.

Understanding basic metrics quickly is just as important as sophisticated algorithms. The metrics aren't the point—it's how quickly you can get to them. 

So what does boring look like? 

Boring is clearly defining positional profiles that fit your game model. Boring is establishing KPIs everyone understands. Boring is synthesizing multiple scouting reports into actionable insights.

It comes down to a few fundamental questions: What are your priorities? What is the status of those matters? Is everyone on the same page? Can everyone access all critical info they need, anytime, on any device, and take swift action?

Most clubs hire PhD researchers to build complex models while their basic information infrastructure resembles a game of telephone. The teams that ultimately win will take boring over a fancy algorithm any day. 

In football, efficiency beats elegance. Every time.