We all like balanced and well written football columns. On top of that, some of us also love data. Andrew Beasley (@BassTunedToRed) is very good at both. And he was kind enough to answer a few questions for https://t.co/pJTtB4oKmI.
Here they are: https://t.co/KgkHwVsV1c

— Dorin M. (@dorinmoise) July 1, 2020

Andrew Beasley is a freelance football writer, LFC supporter and one of the balanced and competent voices in the field. He was kind enough to answer a few questions for anglofil.ro (the website where I write about football from time to time).

Andrew Beasley as football writer

1. For how long are you writing about Liverpool FC? 
I wrote my first article back in 2010, as Paul Tomkins wanted someone to look into the timing and impact of Rafa Benitez’ substitutes. Shows how long ago it was! From there I started my own blog and continued to contribute to The Tomkins Times too. I went freelance as a professional writer in 2017. 

2. You are one of the writers using data in most of your columns. Why do you think data is important in football? 
It’s a really powerful research tool. FiveThirtyEight have a spreadsheet you can download for free which has expected goal data for over 31,000 matches. I couldn’t possibly watch a fraction of those games in full (it’s getting on for almost three million minutes of football), but with that data I can get a pretty good idea of who deserved to win, and then which teams are strong and weak and so on. 
It’s the same with players. They all go through hot streaks and cold spells, but the underlying numbers can give a bit more insight into how they have been performing. 

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Here is a short story about Tanita Weightcheckers and how NOT to provide a service:
– in the first days of January 2013 I bought a Tanita BC543 scale. It also came with a companion iOS app where you could save your data
– I used the scale + app on a regular basis (2-3 times/week) to track my measurements and improve my shape
– I also used the web interface (weightcheckers.com) to have a better view of the graphs

– Now comes the ‘fun’ part: starting February 6th 2014, the iOS app is no longer working, the website redirects to an online store for scales, and, worst of all, all the measurement data is gone

– I contacted the customer service via Twitter, the contact form and phone. They confirmed me by phone that all the data is deleted, and the iOS app is gone.
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