Simon Kuper

Simon Kuper appears in How to win a penalty shootout (with game theory) as the football writer explaining how little systematic penalty data many teams had before the modern analytics era. The episode uses his comments to show why Ignacio Palacio Huerta’s database could matter: an outsider with disciplined records could sometimes know more about penalty habits than clubs themselves.

Kuper’s role connects the source to football economics and analytics rather than only to match drama. The episode points listeners to Soccernomics, linking his broader work with Stefan Szymanski to the same effort to explain football behavior through evidence, incentives, and strategy.

Connections

• Soccernomics and Stefan Szymanski - football-economics work related to the episode.
• Data-Driven Penalty Preparation and Penalty Shootout Strategy - analytics branch he helps contextualize.
• Chelsea FC, Manchester United, and FIFA World Cup - football contexts in the source.
• Planet Money and NPR - episode and network context.