Touchline Analysis Studio · Manual

Show what happened. Then what should have.

Every tool in the studio and the tactics board, one card each: a picture of it on the pitch, the steps, what is worth knowing and how to use it well. The button names are the studio's own, so what you read is what you tap.

Open the studio Open the tactics board

Load a matchDrop StatsBomb or Metrica files, or open one of three finals.
Find the momentKey moments, then Step to the instant of the decision.
Analyse itDrag the run, drag the pass, turn on cones and shadows, draw.
Share itA live link, a still or a clip with your match, score and clock.

Your playersOpponentsWhere he really wasPassRunThe better optionYour finger

Getting started

Open the studio, install it as an app and load a match: your own data, or one of three open-data finals.

Open it, and install it as an app

touchlinelogic.com/analytics

Open touchlinelogic.com/analytics. Replaying a match is free and needs no account.
Tap Install Touchline Analysis Studio. It opens full screen with its own icon, "TAS".
No install button? iPad: Share → Add to Home Screen → Add. Chrome or Edge: the install icon in the address bar.

Account: Free; needed only to save and share
Best on: iPad or laptop, installed as the app

Installed, the studio has the whole screen: no browser bars over the pitch.

Load your match data

Studio · Drop your match data here

Drop the files on Drop your match data here, or use Choose files / Choose a folder.
StatsBomb: the events and lineups JSON, plus 360 frames if you have them.
Metrica: both tracking CSVs and the events CSV.
The match rebuilds on the pitch in your browser. The same files always give exactly the same replay.

Today: StatsBomb, Metrica
Coming: Opta F24, plain CSV
Privacy: Files stay in your browser until you save

Add the 360 frames when you have them: more men are placed from the data, fewer by the engine.

Try an open-data final

Studio · Or try an open-data match

No data yet? Pick one of the three finals under Or try an open-data match.
Each comes with 360 frames, so it is the best way to learn every tool before your own matches.

Finals: World Cup 2022 · Euro 2024 · Euro 2020
Data: StatsBomb open data

Save the match to your account

Studio · above the pitch

Tap Save to my account. The match gets its own link and is there next time.
Add data source adds more files to the same match.
Import another match clears the studio for a new one.

Save the match before you share scenes from it: Save scene & share stays greyed out until you do.

Watching a match

The replay puts the ball and the man on it exactly where the data says. Find the moment you want in seconds.

Play, step and skip

The playback dock, bottom of the screen

Play or Pause; Step moves one frame; Restart goes back to kick-off.
Speed: Instant, Fast or Natural.
Skip to 45', 90', ET or Full: playback stops there, so you never run past your moment.
Drag the Match position bar to scrub. Ticks mark the halves and the goals.

Hide the dock with its arrow when presenting; the clock button brings it back.

Jump to a key moment

Panels → Key moments, or the wheel

Open Key moments: every kick-off, goal, shot, save, card, substitution and penalty, with its clock.
Tap one and the pitch jumps straight to it.
Then Step frame by frame to the instant the decision was made.

The decision usually sits a touch before the pass or the run you want to talk about.

Pick the camera for the point

Wheel · camera buttons

TV camera: the broadcast view players recognise.
Behind goal: depth, the back line, shots.
High angle: the whole team shape and the spaces between lines.
Free cam: any angle you set by hand. Zoom in, Zoom out and Night mode are on the wheel too.

Keep one camera per topic. Players read a familiar view faster.

Touch gestures

Anywhere on the pitch

One finger turns the pitch, or draws when a pen tool is picked.
Two fingers turn it the same way; twist to spin, pinch to zoom.
Three fingers slide the pitch across.
A second finger during a stroke cancels the stroke and moves the camera instead.

Place players from your own stills

Panels → Stills

Add a still: a whole-pitch photo or screenshot with the clock showing.
Set the half and the clock, then tap the four corners of the pitch when asked.
Tap where each man stands, then the ball.
Apply the stills to the replay: men on a still are pinned there; the rest are drawn towards their next still.

How many: One still a minute is plenty

The control wheel

Everything you use while presenting sits on one wheel that floats over the pitch. Put it where your thumb rests.

What is where on the wheel

The floating wheel

Centre: your pen colour. Tap it for the style ring.
Inner ring: the pen tools (Select & move, Pass, Run, Line, shapes, Label, Spotlight, Ring, Measure, Unit shape).
Outer ring: your shortcuts, up to 12 actions you choose.
Beside it: Undo, the grip to move it, the gear to customise and × to collapse.

Put the wheel where you want it

Wheel · the grip

Drag the grip or any wheel segment with your finger, mouse or pen to move the wheel anywhere on screen. A drag does not activate the tool underneath.
× shrinks it to a small button; tap it to open the wheel again, or drag it to move it.
The studio remembers where you left it.

Park it under your thumb, and away from the side of the pitch the play is on.

Choose your shortcuts

Wheel · the gear (Customise shortcuts)

Tap the gear, Customise shortcuts.
Tick up to 12 actions for the outer ring, then Done.
The studio and the tactics board keep their own sets.

Worth adding: Cover shadows, Distances, Reset to actual, Clear all drawings

Colour, opacity, thickness, curve

Wheel · tap the centre

Tap the centre of the wheel to open the style ring.
Pick a colour from the fan, Saved colours, or Any colour for an exact shade.
Slide Opacity, Thickness and Curve. For shapes, pick the fill: Solid, Hatch or Check.
Save this colour keeps your club colours one tap away.

Analysing a moment

Pause and the pitch is yours to rearrange. The match underneath never changes.

ANALYSIS

Freeze the moment

Pause · edit directly on the pitch

Pause on the moment.
Pause the replay. Analysis starts automatically: drag a player or the ball, or pick a pen tool.
Every move you make is an edit: the real match is never changed.

Turn on the overlay that proves the point before you change anything.

Drag the run he should have made

Analysis · press, hold and drag a player

Press and hold the player and drag him along the run: curve it, double back, whatever the run is.
Let go. He stays where you dropped him; a faint ghost marks where he really was.
The run plays at once: he runs from his real spot along your path.

With the ball: It goes with him
Undo: Reset to actual puts everyone back

Drag the pass that was on

Analysis · press, hold and drag the ball

Press and hold the ball and drag it where it should go; drop it on a player and it snaps to him.
For a lofted ball, drag up the screen: the further up, the higher. The flight line shows the height.
Let go. The pass flies straight away and its line stays on the pitch.

Turn his body or his head

Analysis · tap a player, drag his handle

Tap a player to pick him.
Drag his rotate handle: turning the body brings the head with it.
The eye handle turns the head on its own: show the check over the shoulder he did not make.

Cones and shadows follow where he faces, so a turn changes the picture.

Undo, and back to the real picture

Wheel · Undo and Reset to actual

Undo takes back the last drawing.
Reset to actual puts every player and the ball back where they really were.
Seeking freezes the new recorded moment for editing; your drawings stay until you clear them. Play game restores the original positions and resumes that moment, including after Play the moves.

Drawing

Arrows, shapes, spotlights, measures and labels, drawn in 3D on the grass so they stay put when the camera turns.

Pass, run and line arrows

Wheel · inner ring: Pass, Run, Line

Pick Pass, Run or Line on the wheel and drag on the pitch.
Pass: a solid arrow. Run: a dashed arrow. Line: no head.
Freehand follows your pen and smooths the wobble out.

3-point arrows: straight, lofted, bent

Pass or Run → wheel centre → 3-point

Pick Pass or Run, tap the wheel centre and choose 3-point.
Draw: the arrow comes out dead straight, with three handles.
Drag the middle handle up to loft it over the top, or sideways to bend it along the grass.
The end handles move the start and the finish.

3-point for a ball you are teaching; freehand for a movement.

Rectangles, circles and freehand shapes

Wheel · inner ring: Rectangle, Circle, Freehand shape

Rectangle: drag corner to corner. Circle: drag from the centre out.
Freehand shape: draw the outline and let go to close it.
Pick the fill in the style ring: Solid, Hatch or Check.

Hatch reads as "space to exploit", solid as "area we hold".

Spotlight, ring, measure, unit shape

Wheel · inner ring: player tools

Spotlight: tap a player for a beam of light. Ring: a ring at his feet.
Measure: tap two players or free points, or drag between them. The live line shows the distance. Tap its segment or raised label to select it, then Delete.
Unit shape: tap three or more, then Done: their shape and its width.
All four follow the players when you move them.

Labels on the pitch

Wheel · inner ring: Label

Pick Label and tap where it goes.
Type a few words and Place. Short beats long: two or three words.

1 · Pass selected · change it on the wheel

Change a drawing after you drew it

Tap a drawing; the wheel edits it

The drawing you just finished stays picked: move the wheel’s colour, opacity or thickness and it changes as you go.
Tap any other drawing to pick it, even with a pen in hand. Tap the grass, or Done, to let go.
Drawings & analysis lists them all: change type, colour, opacity, thickness, loft, curve, fill or text; move it Earlier or Later; Delete.

Clear the screen, your way

Drawings & analysis · Clear

Clear one kind at a time: Clear passes, Clear runs, Clear shapes…
Or Clear all. Undo clear brings the last clear back.
Clear all drawings is also on the wheel.

What the pitch shows

Three overlays explain a moment without a word: what a player can see, what the defence covers, and how far things are.

Vision cones

Wheel · Vision cones: tap to pick players, double-tap everyone

Selected: tap a player to see what he can see from where he faces.
Everyone: every player on both sides.
Tap the Vision cones wheel button once, then tap each player to toggle his cone. Keep tapping to choose a group; Done or a tool choice finishes picking. Double-tap the same wheel button to turn everyone on or off. Cones and shadows keep separate groups, including while the replay runs.

"He could not see it" lands harder with the cone on than in words.

Cover shadows

Wheel · Cover shadows: tap to pick players, double-tap everyone

Shadows are cast by the side without the ball, behind each defender, in their colour.
Dark: a passing lane the defence can cut. The darker, the more that defender owns it.
Near goal: each defender’s stretch of the goal, the gaps in green with "Goal open %", the keeper’s angle dashed.

One defender’s shadow

Wheel · Cover shadows → tap the defenders

Pick Selected, then tap the defender you want to talk about.
Only his lanes and his stretch of the goal show.
Drag him a few metres and watch the lane close.

Use Selected for one player’s positioning, Everyone for team shape.

Point of view: through his eyes

Tap a player, then POV on the wheel

Tap a player (or the referee or an assistant) to pick him, then tap POV on the wheel.
The camera glides down to his eyes, at his own height. The middle of his vision is sharp; the edges soften with how wide he sees.
Drag, or use the arrow keys, to look around: left and right turns his head (no further than his shoulder), up and down tilts his gaze.
The head turn stays when you come out. Tap POV again, or ×, to leave.

In the studio: Any player, both sides, and the officials
In the game: Your own players and the officials

Open his POV the moment before the pass: what he could see is the whole argument.

Distances on runs and passes

View · Distances: Off · Metres · Yards

Turn on Metres or Yards.
Every run and pass you draw shows its length.

Playing it out

Two ways to set a moment in motion, and they answer different questions.

Play the moves

Wheel · Play the moves, or the dock

Tap Play the moves: players run the paths you dragged or drew, the ball flies your passes in order.
Your drawings draw on one after another.
Set how long it lasts in the dock. The end holds until your next edit.

Answers: "This is what we wanted"
Engine: Not used: exactly your plan

Play forward from your moment

Analysis panel · Play forward 15 turns

Choose 1–40 in Turns (15 by default), then tap Play forward 15 turns, or the button showing your chosen count. Both sides are controlled by the match engine from your edited positions.
A turn is a resolved attacking action with a defensive response where applicable. It is not a second, a real feed event, or a move for every player. The generated count is shown; a break in play, unavailable player or engine problem can stop the run early.
Faint discs show the recorded comparison positions. Back to the match leaves the simulation and returns to your paused starting frame with your edits kept. Play game restores the recording and resumes it.

Use: Explore a hypothetical continuation from a different starting shape

This is a hypothetical engine continuation, not a prediction or the real match. Drawn runs do not direct it. Imported players use neutral ratings and reconstructed formations, and both sides currently use the same default CPU manager profile; real match personalities and tactics are not recreated.

The tactics board

No match data needed: pick two sides, build a move step by step and play it back.

Set up two sides

touchlinelogic.com/analytics/board

For each side choose Club, National team or Generic.
Pick the formation and the Shirt and Trim colours; for a club or nation, tick the eleven who start.
Tap Start the board.

Formations: 32, 4-3-3 by default
On the pitch: Names, numbers, positions; never ratings

Build the move, step by step

Board · Add step, Step panel

Arrange step 1: drag players and the ball, turn them, draw.
Add step, then move players and the ball to where they go next. A man dragged along a path runs that path.
In the Step panel: a Caption ("What happens here") and the Hold: 1.5, 3, 5 or 8 seconds.
Shape: pick a side and a formation, then Stand in shape for this step only.

Steps: Up to 60
Pace: Players at a real running pace, the ball at passing speed

Play it, save it, send it

Board · the dock and the Board panel

Play the move runs every step with its caption; Play from step N starts part way.
Board panel: a Board title, then Save to my account; Open the share link sends it.
Export records the whole move as a clip; Record my voice narrates it.

Exit (top left) leaves the board. An unsaved board waits in this browser: Carry on with your board next time.

Getting the best out of it

Good clips make one point, show the real picture first and the better option second, and are short enough to watch twice.

A clip in five steps

Any moment

Find it: Key moments, then Step to the instant of the decision.
Prove it: the overlay that shows the problem (cone, shadow, distance) before you touch anything.
Fix it: pause, then drag the run or the pass that was on. The ghost keeps the real picture.
Mark it: one or two arrows, a ring on the key man, one label.
Send it: Play the moves and Record clip, or save the scene and send the link with a one-line note.

Colour with meaning

Style ring · Saved colours

Save your colours once: your team, the opponent, and one for "the better option".
Use the same colour for the same meaning in every clip.

Red for the problem, gold for the solution reads at a glance on a phone.

Habits that pay off

One camera per topicHigh angle for team shape, Behind goal for the back line, TV camera for individual decisions.

Pick players on the pitchTap either overlay wheel button once and pick the players on the pitch. Double-tap that button for everyone. Panels and checklists are optional.

Set your wheel onceThe five actions you use most on the outer ring, the wheel where your thumb rests.

Clear by kindClear the runs and keep the shapes when you move from one point to the next.

Name everythingA title and a note turn a pile of clips into a library you can find again.

9:16 for players, 16:9 for staffPlayers watch on phones; meetings use a screen.

The board for what never happenedSet plays, pressing triggers and opposition patterns need no match data.