Do you remember Torbjörn Vestberg’s renowned research report ”Executive Functions Predict the Success of Top-Soccer Players” which attracted considerable attention worldwide when it was released in April this year? Today we are proud to present a very exciting collaboration between TikiTaka and Torbjörn’s Game Intelligence AB!

TikiTaka’s ambition is to “closely follow new ways for success and research findings in order to always be in the forefront of developing world class players.” The partnership with Game Intelligence strengthens our position as the most exciting football organization, with products and services which are derived from the latest research, technology and football development.

Who is Torbjörn Vestberg and what has his research lead to?

The psychologist and soccer researcher Torbjörn Vestberg has, for a long time, been interested in what we commonly call Game Intelligence in football. An almost “magical” concept that is hard to explain and put into words, unlike eg strength or technique.

Torbjörn and his research team therefore tested the executive functions of the brain – abilities which are there to so one can quickly resolve any problems that arise – in a total of 57 elite players, divided into two groups: Premier League players and players from Division 1. The researchers were able to see that the players in both groups clearly did much better on the tests than the general population. Moreover, there were clear differences between the two test groups, which mean that the more successful football player you are, the better the results were on the executive tests. The former somewhat diffuse concept “game idea” is now something one can measure using these cognitive tests, which means it is now possible to predict a player’s ability to succeed at the highest elite level. Does that sound exciting?

TikiTaka actually got – in competition with the major newspapers in the world – an exclusive interview with Torbjörn when his research was published in April. Please read Torbjörn’s own words about the study here.

What does Game Intelligence AB do?
With this research results at hand, we have now developed THE GAME-INTELLIGENCE-TEST®, in order to test and evaluate elite soccer player intelligence. Depending on what you want to measure, develop and see, there are a number of different exciting services to choose from.

Why do we cooperate with Game Intelligence?
Torbjörn’s study is part of the research forming the basis for the TikiTaka method. When you are in a practice situation, the TikiTaka method is about “the ability to construct match similar situations with a high degree of decision making.“ Therefore it is of course especially exciting to be able to offer our customers a way to measure the player intelligence of their players, in order to optimize the chances to develop as a team and develop world-class footballer. We look forward to a very exciting collaboration!
Read more about what TikiTaka and Game Intelligence can offer clubs.