Gino Pozzo Introduces a Modern Approach to Soccer Club Ownership
If Billy Beane is seen as the sports executive responsible for the Moneyball theory, Gino Pozzo helped drive its use in European soccer. The use of data plays a vital role in the construction of each team under the control of Gino Pozzo. The Italian-born soccer executive brought theories from his studies at Harvard Business School to club ownership in Europe when his family bought Italy’s Udinese Calcio Football Club. The later purchases of Spain’s Granada and England’s Watford were driven by business, with Udinese purchased because of the Pozzo family’s passion for the Italian team.
English soccer was not prepared for the changes Gino Pozzo would bring following the purchase of Watford F.C. The 2012 purchase of the historic club came with the Hornets rooted in the basement level of English football. Three consecutive promotions led to the arrival of Watford Football Club in the English Premier League. Pozzo masterminded a masterful approach to return to the top flight Watford had enjoyed in the 1980s.
Gino Pozzo’s approach to leading a soccer team is dominated by the scouting system put into place when Gino arrived at Udinese. Undervalued players are identified by Pozzo’s scouting network and placed at the club they best fit into. Alongside looking for the best young players, Pozzo scouts’ coaches who can work within the system created at Watford F.C. Watford executives believe the lifespan of a coach at an English club average just two years, meaning the playing and coaching system comes above every head coach appointment.
Gino Pozzo understands his approach to soccer club management differs from long-established clubs. Pozzo and his family do not have the unlimited wealth of nation-states and billionaire owners. Instead, Watford’s rise has been completed through the impressive use of the transfer market. Pozzo remains the head of a football dynasty stretching from Italy to England that is unlike any other. See this article for additional information.
More about Pozzo on https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/people/gino-pozzo/