Okada's Giving The Lions More Bite

Analyst working with Ogura to provide insights into performance and strategy

- David Lee

From the stadium stands, Satoru Okada casts a watchful eye over the action on the football pitch. In his role as head analyst of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), he at times feels even more pressure than the players or coaches, as his work impacts their performance and can influence the outcome of the match.

Hired in February, Okada's job involves using video footage to provide national coach Tsutomu Ogura and his team with insights into performance, strategy and opponent analysis to allow them to prepare individual and team tactics. This happens even during the game, when he has to relay information and clips of passages of play to them as quickly as possible.

"I also need to understand coaches and how they think, because I can't tell the coach things he is not thinking about and disrupt the communication," said the 32-year-old, who was approached for the role by Ogura.

"So now, I'm learning the philosophy of the Lions and their game model because I need to know what the coaches need."

Ogura said: "He analyses our team based on our concept and suggests to the coaches how to apply his analysis in practice. He also helps the coaches by analysing the opposing teams and suggesting how we should play."