Meet Cüneyt Alibeyoğulları

No stranger to the pressures of match analysis at the highest level, 33-year-old Cüneyt Alibeyoğulları first cut his teeth as a coach in the lower leagues of Turkish football. This formative period included a period of Academy coaching at Süper Lig side, Alanyaspor, as well as stints at Karagümrük and Bayrampaşa.

From here he went on to coach at other Süper Lig sides, including Ç. Rizespor during the 2019/20 season and Konyaspor during the 2020/21 season. Working under head coach Ismail Kartal and assistant coach Osman Zeki Korkmaz at both clubs, Cüneyt soon followed Korkmaz to İstanbulspor, where they took up the positions of match analyst and head coach respectively.

Currently sitting mid-table in the TFF 1. Lig, İstanbulspor have had a middling start to the new season. But Korkmaz and Cüneyt didn't arrive at the club until the third game of the season and, since then, things have got much better, including a 3-0 victory in their first match in charge.

Cüneyt himself attributes this in part to their use of Nacsport Tag&view at the club, so let’s take a look at some of Cüneyt’s match analysis processes and talk a little about how he uses Nacsport.

Nacsport Tag&view - The Right Tool for the Job

Tag&view is Nacsport’s mobile analysis solution which allows users to tag and film a match using an iPhone or iPad. It may not have the full suite of analytical tools associated with our desktop app but, nevertheless, Tag&view provides a powerful lightweight video analysis solution.

And this is the tool that Cüneyt uses almost exclusively at İstanbulspor.

“Using Tag&view is very comfortable for me,” says Cüneyt. “It’s very easy to use and is very portable. It means that I don’t need to carry any other equipment when I’m filming a game, just a tripod and my iPad.”

Cüneyt uses Tag&view to give instant feedback for both coaches and players during training sessions and matches.

“During training sessions, I observe the players and tag some actions I want to bring up with the players. We then set up a big television screen on the pitch and, during breaks, when the players are having a drink of water or whatever, we show them the actions we want them to work on. Both the players and coaches are very happy with this type of instant, clear feedback.”

Instant Feedback in the Locker Room

But it’s not only during training sessions that this type of feedback is useful. Cüneyt also tells us that, typically, there is a short period during the halftime break of a match dedicated to feeding back to players about actions and situations he has tagged during the first half.

Again, the iPad will be hooked up to a big television for these mini sessions.

“During the first half, I sit in the stands and tag the game,” says Cüneyt. “At halftime, I run quickly to the back, have a quick 5 minute meeting with the coaching staff to decide what we want to show the players and then we’ll display it on the big TV.

“Usually we’ll focus on the positive actions of our own players and point out some negatives that we’ve noticed in the opposition’s game.”

So, what kind of things does Cüneyt usually analyse?

A Typical Week at İstanbulspor

As is often typical of professional analysts, Cüneyt doesn’t get many days free! After a match, his week’s work really kicks into gear. Whether performing post-match or opposition analysis, analysing training sessions with drones, or predicting the future with Power BI, there's always something to do! And all of these activities are compatible with Nacsport Tag&view...

First there’s the post-match analysis to deal with. Going through İstanbulspor’s latest match looking for actions and plays to highlight.

A few days before the next match, opposition analysis begins. Cüneyt says that, on average he analyses four of an oppoent's previous matches, looking at the strengths and weaknesses, and tactics which might be relevant for İstanbulspor. The actual amount of matches analysed depends on whether they are playing at home or away, and the level of the opponent.

He’ll also look at individual players in the opposition squad and focus on key players. He creates videos and gives feedback to his own players before they take to the field in short briefings. These videos are generally short and, on a matchday, will be presented to relevant players only. For example, the strikers will be shown clips of how the opposition defense functions.

Generally, whether it be his own squad or the opposition, Cüneyt will be focusing on typical aspects of the game such as build ups, transitions, set-pieces, varying formations and the like.

Data visualisation with Power BI is also an important part of process. This type of data analysis allows Cüneyt and his team to make accurate predictions about the future using data collected with Tag&view. Below, you can see some examples of some of his work for training tracking, general and individual match statistics, and league average statistics.

And, of course, at the same time, he’ll be attending training sessions with his trusty Tag&view-enabled iPad tucked under his arm.

An analyst's work never ends and Nacsport are there to support all his analysis needs!

"I'm a huge fan of legendary Ukranian coach Valeriy Lobanovskyi," says Cüneyt. "He was an inspiration to me when he started working with video and data many years ago. Lobanovskyi says 'A coach has to improve themself in everyday. If they stop developing, they'll quit coaching. Nacsport allows me to do just this and continue developing. It is my best friend, especially for live analysis. I mean, when we arrived at the club and started using Tag&view, we won our first game 3-0!"

More Information About Tag&view

Well, Cüneyt is obviously very happy with his Tag&view package...but for the rest of us, what exactly is it?

We’ve already written extensively about Tag&view and, as such, we’d recommend that you take a look at the product page or this article which will answer a lot of your questions. You can also take a look at the following video:

A few things we’d like to highlight are:

•    You can film and tag a match live using your iOS device.
•    You can import previously created Nacsport templates directly into Tag&view.
•    Tag&view data and videos can be easily reviewed on your iPad or exported to Nacsport desktop over a wifi network.

In addition, Tag&view contains some tools which are usually only found in Nacsport Pro and Elite. These include:

•    Panel flows
•    Clustered buttons
•    Review actions without leaving capture

+many more

Tag&view truly is a boon to any and all analysts, and we’d like to offer you a free trial of the app. Download it today from the App Store and get in contact with us for more details.

So, that’s it for today. We’d like to thank Cüneyt for taking the time out to speak to us and we’d also like to wish İstanbulspor the very best of luck for the remainder of the season.

Thanks for reading!