
This is not only a crucial question for football coaches, but it plays a role in almost all areas of life, from corporate management to politics. It goes without saying that a team can only win if the team members have the necessary skills. But there is another important element: joint successes in the past increase the chances of winning. This effect shows up in a similar way in completely different team sports. A research team from Northwestern University (Evanston, USA), and the Indian Institute of Management (Udaipur) and the Vienna University of Technology were able to statistically prove this phenomenon by analyzing large amounts of data in physical sports such as football, baseball, cricket and basketball, and also in e-sports. The results were published in the "Nature Human Behavior".
The actual results of the games in all the sports which were studied can be predicted even better by not only considering the average strength of the team members, but also taking into account how often they have been victorious together in the past. It is therefore not only important to bring the best possible stars to the field, they also have to gain experience together as a team by celebrating successes (victories) achieved together.