Joe Selebes

love science and Manchester United Football Club

[United Arts 🔴⚪️⚫️ @UtdArts1]

🇾🇪 From Mercedes to Manchester: How Michael Sansoni is Revolutionising United's Data Strategy 🧵

In the high-stakes world of modern football, the difference between success and failure increasingly comes down to what happens away from the pitch. For United, a club that has spent over £1 billion on transfers since 2017 with diminishing returns, the appointment of Michael Sansoni as Director of Data in July 2025 represents a huge shift in how one of the world's most famous clubs approaches the beautiful game.

🔴 From Mercedes to Manchester

Sansoni arrives at Old Trafford after 11 years with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team, where he served as Senior Performance Simulation Engineer (Trackside) during eight World Championships. His journey from trackside engineering to football boardrooms might seem unusual, but it reflects a growing trend of clubs seeking expertise from industries where data analytics has already proven transformative.

Sansoni joined Mercedes in 2014 as the team began its dominant run in F1's hybrid era, working his way up from simulation roles to become Lewis Hamilton's Performance Engineer from 2023 to early 2025. In Formula 1, success is measured in milliseconds, with engineers tracking everything from brake disc temperatures through corners to tire degradation lap by lap. This precision-driven environment is exactly what Manchester United hopes to replicate.

⚪️ The Data Deficit

To understand the significance of Sansoni's appointment, one must first grasp just how far Manchester United had fallen behind in the data revolution. In December 2024, Sir Jim Ratcliffe didn't mince words when describing the club's data analysis capabilities, stating: "It doesn't really exist here. We're still in the last century on data analysis. There's immense amount of useful data that we can get from data analysis and we're in the 'very poor' bracket with data analysis here".

This stark assessment came during a period when United's recruitment had become a byword for wastefulness and poor judgment. The £86 million signing of winger Antony stood as a particularly painful example of how the club's traditional scouting methods had failed in the modern era.

Sansoni replaces Dominic Jordan, who exited the club in summer 2024 after just over two years in the role, having been tasked with building up United's data department more or less from scratch when he arrived in March 2022. Jordan had assembled a small team including specialists in machine learning, decision science, and data operations, but the department lacked the resources and integration needed to compete with the Premier League's data-savvy clubs.

1/7

#MUFC #ManchesterUnited #Sansoni

[Joe Selebes @JoeSelebes]

@abank_ardi Era baru. Shout out to Berrada, Vivell and team

[Adam @AdamJoseph]

Manchester United were right not to pay £116m for Elliot Anderson & £300k+ p/w & they are right not to pay £85m for Mateus Fernandes & £250k p/w.

Not overpaying for players is something the club has to change. If they don't value players at that price they shouldn't & won't be bullied into paying it.

This is the correct decision, whether you want to or can swallow it or not. These are changes the club needed to make & they're correctly making them.

Fernandes isn't worth the wages when considering the club's wage structure. I understand frustration on time wasted, but I can't believe people think he's worth that.

There will be performative outrage, turbo tweeting temper tantrums. I understand frustration of the unknown now & what happens next. That's fair.

The double edged sword with these decisions is being able to pivot to alternative targets & find value in the market - the club have to prove they can do that.

[☈ッ @TheFergusonWay]

🚨 | OFFICIAL:

MANCHESTER UNITED'S PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURE'S FOR THE 2026/27 SEASON.

#MUFC

[Joe Selebes @JoeSelebes]

A huge win to start the World Cup. Come on @England #footbaliscominghome

[Joe Selebes @JoeSelebes]

I told you. @HKane is on fire. Come on @England

[Joe Selebes @JoeSelebes]

@pangeransiahaan Aslii, bang. Insya Allah Kane ngegolin. Jangan sampe kayak beberapa hari ini, harus log out trus sign in berkali2 baru bisa di Maxstream.

[Formula 1 @F1]

FIRST WIN IN RED ❤️

#F1 #BarcelonaGP

[Scott Barclay @BarclayCard18]

I'll never forget that the UK came to an absolute standstill on the day Andy Murray FINALLY won Wimbledon for the first time. It felt like everyone came together to watch the moment happen...

One of the most surreal, glorious, delirious of days... 💫

[adidas UK @adidasUK]

CHOOSE SCOTLAND 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏆

@ScotlandNT @LewisCapaldi

[Football Tweet ⚽ @Footballtweet]

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 This new World Cup advert from adidas featuring Lewis Capaldi, Scott McTominay and Andy Robertson hits different.

It's genuinely insane to me that Scott McTominay is now the coolest footballer on the planet. 😎

[Txt Tata Kota - The Urbanist Zine @stravenues]

Hari ini, kita mengenal Sudirman-Thamrin sebagai poros utama yang membelah Kota Jakarta. Namun, jalan ini sebenarnya terhitung baru.

Di era Batavia, Jakarta punya poros lain yang sama pentingnya pada masanya, namun agak terlupakan di era modern ini.

[A THREAD]

[Pangeran @pangeransiahaan]

FIFA didnt even say clearly the reason behind cancellation in Indonesia. And of course, considering whats happening in the US now, it's just another hypocrisy

[Faytuks Network @FaytuksNetwork]

FOOTAGE: The sea receding along the coastline of Atinggola, North Gorontalo, Indonesia following a powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake

[Info Gempa Dunia @infogempadunia]

Berikut Tsunami yang sampai ke wilayah Pantai Sumalata, Kabupaten Gorontalo Utara dampak Gempa M7.8 (8 Juni 2026)

Video dari Ikink Su’a via Facebook memperlihatkan bentuk tsunami yang sampai. Bukan gelombang seperti yang kalian bayangkan, tapi berbentuk seperti arus kencang. Ketinggiannya sekitar 0,3 hingga 0,4 meter.

Salam
@infogempadunia

#info #gempa #dunia

[Utd© @KingFemi__]

“If we didn’t sign Branthwaite, how can we possibly defend high? He’s just £85m, missing out on him would mean our season over” We can see where Branthwaite is today.

“How can we miss out on Evan Ferguson, £100m for Baby Kane is not too much”
Where is baby Kane today?

“We must sign Baleba, we need legs in the midfield, without Baleba how can we play football?”
Sell Bruno for £57m buy Baleba for £112m” “its for the good of the club”

Now it is, if we don’t sign Anderson, we won’t be able to play football next season, our season is already over before it started because we don’t want to sign Anderson for £120m..

See the pattern?? I am glad we don’t have Richard Arnold and John Murtough anymore, now we work with data, we sign players that are ready to play for us, you can cry all you want, I’ll advise you to go do your assignments.

[Meek @meek__01]

The same recruitment team that found Lammens when nobody was looking. The same data team that picked Šeško over Gyökeres and everyone else being thrown around.

These are not online tacticos like yourself.
Éderson is 26, proven, consistent, barely injured across 3 seasons in one of the most demanding systems in Europe. This is exactly the signing you make in a summer where you need depth and reliability, not noise.

But some of you want United to open every window with a €100m signing. You know what that does? It inflates the market. Suddenly every club knows United are coming with big money and every fee goes up.

Smart clubs don't work like that.
You don't watch Serie A. You haven't tracked his numbers. You just know he's not the flashy name you had in your head so he must be a downgrade.

This is football business. Not a FIFA career mode. Wake up.

[Olayiwola🌚 @megafbi]

@robertmarawa Can't stop laughing 😂😂

[When Football Was Better @FootballInT80s]

Where were you on 26/05/1999?

If you’re a Manchester United fan, that day will be etched in your memory forever.

Their first UEFA Champions League Final for 31 years appeared to be heading for heartbreak.

Trailing 1-0 to German giants Bayern Munich going into injury time, it seemed that Alex Ferguson’s men had nothing left….

Clive Tyldesley, sounding magnificent on comms, takes the story up.

[Allah Islam Quran @AllahGreatQuran]

Muzdalifah reminds us: No status, No wealth. Just souls, seeking mercy and praying under the same sky.

This is islam. This is unity. This is hajj