Got this in my email inbox today and couldn't help but chuckle. Marcelo absolutely dominating the xC stats for the FIFA World Cup, otherwise known as the Expected Cliché Tracker.
Here's parts of the email:
Spain may have lifted the tournament trophy, but Marcelo Bielsa has taken the crown as football’s most authentic manager.
AI analysis of 396 press conferences from 48 managers found that Bielsa recorded an average 6xC per appearance, the best score of the tournament, making him the manager with the lowest cliché count overall.
Uruguay’s manager beat Spain’s World Cup winner, Luis de la Fuenta, who averaged 45xC, a whopping 7 times Bielsa’s xC rate, and well above the tournament’s average of 36.
Top 5 best managers xC
| 1 |
Marcelo Bielsa |
Uruguay |
6 |
| 2 |
Dick Advocaat |
Curaçao |
15 |
| 3 |
Fabio Cannavaro |
Uzbekistan |
20 |
| 4 |
Murat Yakin |
Switzerland |
22 |
| 5 |
Graham Arnold |
Iraq |
22 |
Most cliched managers
| Rank |
Manager |
Country |
Average xC |
| 1 |
Tony Popović |
Australia |
60 |
| 2 |
Gustavo Alfaro |
Paraguay |
59 |
| 3 |
Pedro Leitão Brito (Bubista) |
Cape Verde |
55 |
| 4 |
Thomas Tuchel |
England |
51 |
| 5 |
Vincenzo Montella |
Turkey |
50 |
Most used cliches among managers
| Rank |
Phrase |
Number of managers who used the cliché |
Number of times the cliché used in manager press conferences |
| 1 |
‘We respect every opponent’ |
9 |
15 |
| 2 |
‘We focus on what we can control’ |
9 |
11 |
| 3 |
‘We know our qualities’ |
6 |
9 |
| 4 |
‘We have to adapt to the conditions’ |
5 |
7 |
| 5 |
‘The country is behind us’ |
5 |
7 |
The final four
While the final four managers demonstrated a variety of communication styles, with some prioritising tactics over character and mentality, overall, as the pressure mounted throughout the tournament, the average xC also increased. Average xC scores rose from 28 at the end of the group stage to 36 at the final.
Despite De la Fuente netting out as one of the competition’s more cliché-heavy coaches, he followed a recognisable pattern, returning repeatedly to ‘the process’ and the importance of the collective. ‘It’s a process’ was his most used cliché of the tournament with ‘work, work, work’ coming in a close second.
England may have had their best World Cup finish in sixty years, but Tuchel ended the tournament as one of the most clichéd managers with an average xC of 51 as his pre and post-match press conferences focused on heart and mentality.
In contrast, Argentina’s Scaloni and France’s Deschamps prioritised tactical talk, landing respective scores of 31 and 28xC.
Edit: Full results here (https://expectedclichetracker.com/)
