Daan Uitermark: How AZ Alkmaar are using data as their ‘compass’

“The timing of this meeting depends on the schedule, but we always have it. We sit down as often as we can with the youth teams as well. Sometimes, when you speak to other clubs, this is not normal, but it is really within the vision of the club.”

It’s true that AZ Alkmaar are not a normal club. Despite having a budget that is four to five times lower than those of their more illustrious rivals, like Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord, AZ have an average finishing position of 3.8 in the Eredivisie over the last decade.

The way they have done this – in the words of their General Manager Merijn Zeeman – is by “outsmarting the opposition.”

While other clubs may be uncertain or even bashful about their use of data, AZ unashamedly declare that it is at the heart of everything they do. 

“We want to use data in every single decision we make,” Uitermark says. “Data is our compass.”

General Manager Merijn Zeeman, who joined AZ in December 2024 following a highly successful career in professional cycling, adds: “One of the ambitions is that in maybe five years we can win games because we understand the game better through data than any other team.” 

AZ don’t think that the advantage lies in gathering more data – after all, most elite teams have access to a huge quantity of data – but rather in the way they execute on it.

This is why a member of the analytics team sits down with the coaching staff after every game. It is also why the insights from the data have to be clear, concise and actionable.

We have about 400 metrics available for each match,” explains Uitermark. “It’s just too much and a lot of it is noise. 

“If you make it too complex, you lose the coach, so we bring it back to key metrics which help the coaches understand how the match was going.

“It’s mainly focused on helping the coach to speak to the player. So making sure the coach understands the top thing or things they need to improve for the players.”

The same meeting between Data Scientist and Coach happens after Academy games too. 

Speaking on the latest Episode of the TGG Podcast (which you can listen to above), Zeeman explains: “Daan is now more and more involved with the youth coaches – to help them, to guide them and to develop them. 

“So in the coming years, when more coaches from the Academy join the first team, they are already educated in data. The most important thing is that it (data) is more accessible for coaches and that they are more involved in the process. 

“We are putting more energy into making people understand what football data actually is. What can it tell you? What can it bring to your daily practice? That’s not only for the first team but the Academy side as well.”

Bornn’s involvement with AZ came about through his association with Billy Beane, the inspiration for Moneyball and also an investor in Zelus. Beane was working with AZ through his friend Robert Eenhoorn, the former baseball player and executive who was previously the club’s CEO. 

Bornn’s involvement increased this year, as did deployment of the Teamworks Intelligence platform. 

“I’m the proud manager of a young team and all the individuals are insanely good at their work,” Uitermark says. “But we simply don’t have the knowledge or the experience of a Luke Bornn.

“That’s why we want to combine the young knowledge and the experience. The knowledge of Luke Bornn ensures that we stay on the right track. And of course there is the collaboration, the partnership, with Teamworks. This is really valuable for the programmes we use.”

Bornn has appeared on two previous Episodes of the TGG Podcast (#30 in August 2021 and #69 in June 2025) and one of his big themes, on both occasions, was the inherent flaws in human decision-making. 

This is a drum that Bornn has beat at AZ.

“We want to use data in every decision we make,” says Uitermark. “Data is our compass. It is about outsmarting our own bias.

“There are so many biases, from the halo effect to the lookalike effect, and we want objectivity over opinions. Football is a sport that is fully focused on everyone’s opinion. 

“A lot of times in football it starts with opinion and then they search for the data. We start with the data to create opinion. If you reach that, then you get objectivity over opinions.”

Data also helps the club to stick to their long-term strategy – something that can be hard in a sport in which every defeat generates great emotion on and off the pitch.

“You have to make decisions over a longer period and data helps to regulate emotions,” says Uitermark. “If you make decisions based on one match, you probably make the wrong decision. 

“If you are eighth in the league after five matches, you can panic. But if you see your X points are second, then it gives you some context for a different story and perhaps some confidence that you are still on course. 

“You see a lot of panic at different clubs. Keeping a clear head is really important.”

It helps AZ to quantify their game model and identify the players who fit into it, as well as how they can then be developed.

Troy Parrott, the former Tottenham striker and Republic of Ireland star, is a good example. He was bought for just over £6m in July 2024 and is now one of the top strikers in the Eredivisie.

“When we sell a player, we don’t buy a player in panic,” says Uitermark. “We already know which players to buy. But when we buy a player we are already busy on how to get the player better.”

The partnership with Teamworks Intelligence is helping integrate the use of data across the football operation.

“Teamworks is a very, very important partner in all these topics,” Zeeman says. “It’s the combination of event data and tracking data, understanding the differences in players, understanding the effect of certain decisions on the pitch tactically, and to see where we can track that in data.

“AZ had previously tried to develop their own model, which is very impressive to try, but Teamworks is such a strong company.

“We can really use that intelligence to work together and improve together. Using a software company or a tech partner who has so much knowledge and then we bring in more practical approach and we can try things together.

“Then you have a very, very good combination.”

Uitermark adds: “If you look at, for instance, tracking data, it’s a million rows every single match. Yeah, you need an experienced partner, to make sure it’s interpreted in the right way, through models.

“And the models help us, of course, in our scouting process. Data helps us lower the risk of a bad decision and improve our odds of making the right one.”

The ultimate aim is for data to influence every department, every staff member and every decision. This includes being used live in matches.

“We have interesting partnerships to try to better understand tracking data – by analysing the opponents, analysing our own team, maybe even using it live,” says Zeeman.

“We are not there yet, but it is an ambition.”