Johan Lange’s right-hand man, Frederik Leth | AVFC - Avillafan.com - Aston Villa Fansite, Blog, & Forum..
The Copenhagen board had previously expressed their appreciation for
Leth’s work, saying that he was ‘analytically gifted’, ‘talented’ and that Leth had been a ‘key figure in developing Copenhagen in terms of structure, data and science’.
Leth’s numerical expertise and experience in similar roles when working alongside Lange will prove beneficial to Villa’s approach to in-house operations.
Aston Villa have signed a senior member of staff from FC Kobenhavn again - with 26-year-old Frederik Leth joining as 'Head of Football Research'.
underagaslitlamp.com
In September 2020, 26-year-old Frederik Leth was appointed as the new Technical Director of FC Kobenhavn (Copenhagen) following the departure of Johan Lange, who joined Aston Villa as Director of Football.
Leth was originally the Head of Scouting & Analytics at the Danish club, before he was promoted to the director role. The board at the club are quoted as saying that he was ‘analytically gifted’, ‘talented’ and has been a ‘key figure in developing Copenhagen in terms of structure, data and science’.
Rumours of Leth moving to the Premier League started just a few months later, with the then Technical Director announcing he would be resigning from his post by the end of the year after a structural reorganisation.
Original rumours stated that Frederik would be joining Aston Villa as ‘Lange’s right-hand man’ – but other news died down towards the end of 2020.
Today, February 2nd, we can confirm that Frederik Leth has started at Aston Villa Football Club in the ‘Head of Football Research role’ after serving his notice period at FC Copenhagen.
The role means that Leth will work closely with Johan Lange and other Heads of Department to ensure that “evidence based practice is as relevant and contemporary as possible”.
The pair have several years of experience of working together, and Frederik Leth’s professional experience, analytical mind and work ethic have obviously impressed Lange enough to make a move to work with him once more.
Leth had told Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet that he had “eight good years with FC Copenhagen” but felt that it was “time for a new direction”.
The Head of Football Research role is a new one at Aston Villa, and a rare one across the entire league.