Newcastle land Liverpool's Head of Post-Match Analysis
Leyland joined Liverpool as a post-match analyst in 2013
Written by Simon Austin — December 15, 2021
LIVERPOOL’S Head of Post-Match Analysis, Mark Leyland, has joined Newcastle United in the new role of First-Team Coach Analyst.
The move reunites Leyland with Magpies boss Eddie Howe, with whom he worked at Burnley in 2012/13. His remit at Newcastle will be to work closely with the manager and his coaching staff to ensure that analysis is impacting training and match preparation/ reflection.
This role is rare in England but popular on the Continent, as Anderlecht Performance Analyst Richard Bredice recently explained to TGG.
“A new hybrid role of coach-analyst is becoming a lot more prevalent,” he said. “You get somebody who is doing the analysis but spends a lot of time on the grass as well.”
Leyland was promoted to Head of Post-Match and Elite Player Analysis by Liverpool in November 2020 following the departure of Harrison Kingston to the Moroccan Football Federation. Kingston left the Reds after eight years to become Director of Performance Analysis and Framework for Morocco.
The arrival of Leyland, who had been with Liverpool for eight-and-a-half years, represents a crucial final piece of the backroom jigsaw for Howe, who became Newcastle manager at the start of November. Since Howe arrived at the club there have been a number of changes to the staff:
- ARRIVING: Jason Tindall (Assistant), Stephen Purches (First-Team Coach), Simon Weatherstone (First-Team Coach), Dan Hodges (Head of Sport Science) and Mark Leyland (Head of Post-Match Analysis).
- DEPARTING: Steve Agnew and Stephen Clemence (Assistants) and Callum Walsh (Head of Sport Science).
- STAYING: Graeme Jones (Assistant), Ben Dawson (Development Coach) and Simon Smith (Goalkeeper Coach).
