Sabatini: Instinct before data, I’ve signed brilliant boozers | OneFootball

The debate on the role of data in the football transfer market has become central in recent months. Between those who rely entirely on algorithms and statistical models and those who defend the importance of the human eye, Walter Sabatini offers a clear and unconventional vision, backed by decades of experience as a sports director.

Sabatini: “First intuition, then data. Footballers are not tennis players: I’ve also bought drunks who played divinely”

The former director of Roma, Palermo, Salernitana, and Bologna reflects on the relationship between innovation and tradition, asserting the value of instinct, sensitivity, and human relationships in choosing a footballer.

According to Sabatini, no algorithm can replace what experience allows you to see in a single technical gesture or a character detail.

“Data is useful, but it doesn’t describe quality”

When asked how he uses data in the market, Sabatini responds frankly: “Data today is inevitable, part of a system we all need to know. It’s a tool, but for me, it remains collateral. Some use it to decide everything, I would have some doubts.”

The central issue lies in the limits of numerical analysis: “Statistics tell the story of repetition, not quality. Yesterday I saw a controlled stop by a player who doesn’t play in Italy: a gesture so clean that it made me think I would have bought him immediately. No algorithm can anticipate what the eye catches in a second.”

This principle has guided much of his career: from discovering talents like Nainggolan, Marquinhos, Pastore, Dybala, and many others, to managing complex groups in competitive contexts.

Instinct as a compass: “The psyche does automatic work”

Sabatini describes an internal process born from accumulated experience: “I’ve had hundreds of players. When I see a new one, my brain automatically selects what matters. It’s a natural, almost biological reaction. Then I might check the data to see if what I saw holds up athletically.”

Statistics, therefore, come into play only after intuition: “If the data tells me that a midfielder runs 7 km instead of 12, or accelerates only once per game, then I stop and think. The technical gesture may remain extraordinary, but the picture changes. Numbers serve to confirm or question what the eye sees.”

Personality cannot be measured: “I don’t judge a player because he goes to a nightclub”

One of the most significant points concerns the human aspect, the most difficult to codify in an analytical model.

“I’ve also bought players who were drunks, but played extraordinary football. Reducing judgment to ‘does he go to a nightclub or not’ is ridiculous. I care about loyalty, collaboration, intellectual honesty.”

The former director clearly distinguishes football from individual sports like tennis: “A tennis player like Sinner only has to deal with himself and his staff. A footballer lives in a group. It’s not the rules that tell you if a player is strong, but the small gestures: if he doesn’t complain when a teammate makes a mistake, if he comes back to cover, if he runs 40 meters for a double team.”

It’s a vision that reflects the complexity of the locker room, an environment where technical quality matters as much as the ability to fit into a collective system.

The conversation matters, but words don’t decide: “Looks are more important”

Sabatini reveals that he often spoke with players before signing them, but without relying on their answers: “Words are free, they have no value. I rely on looks, behaviors, on what a player cannot disguise. Those are the real information.”

And how do you gather such specific details before bringing a player into the team? “I inquire, talk to those who live the daily life. If a player behaves badly, the city knows. I can ask a colleague, a director, but also an ordinary person: when you do my job, you learn to understand who to listen to.”

Between innovation and intuition: his vision of the future

The conclusion of his reasoning is clear: modern football requires the use of data, but cannot do without those who know how to interpret people and contexts.

For Sabatini, the market is not an exercise in statistics, but a complex balance between numbers and perceptions, information and sensitivity, method and intuition. And his final warning perfectly summarizes the thought:

“Data is essential. But you choose players with the eye, with experience, and with the ability to understand who you have in front of you. Football is not an algorithm: it’s a human relationship.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.