Communications platform Sinch has launched an AI-powered tool that ranks football managers based on how often they rely on clichés during press conferences throughout this summer’s international tournament.
Called the xC Tracker – short for “expected clichés” – the platform analyses every pre- and post-match press conference from the tournament’s 48 national team managers, measuring communication patterns across six languages to identify the most authentic speakers and those most likely to fall back on familiar football phrases.
The tracker draws inspiration from football’s popular expected goals (xG) metric, replacing goals with overused post-match soundbites.
Managers who use phrases such as “it’s a game of two halves”, “we’ll take it one game at a time” or “the boys gave everything” will receive higher xC scores than coaches who offer original tactical analysis or detailed observations.
The live ranking will update throughout the tournament, allowing fans and journalists to compare communication styles as pressure builds.
According to Sinch, the platform analyses press conferences in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German and Arabic, tracking how managers communicate before and after matches.
The xC Tracker will provide:
- Live rankings of the tournament’s most authentic communicators
- Individual xC scores for each manager
- The most frequently used football clichés across multiple languages
- Communication trends as the tournament progresses
- A ranking for football’s first unofficial “Press Conference Ballon d’Or”
Robert Gerstmann, Chief Evangelist and Co-Founder of Sinch, said the project applies the company’s communications expertise to one of sport’s most recognisable traditions.
“Football gave us xG. We thought it was time someone measured xC – expected clichés. Anyone who has watched a post-match interview knows that certain phrases come up again and again.”
He added that analysing communication under pressure reflects the same challenges businesses face when interacting with customers.
Sinch says it powers more than 900 billion customer interactions each year for over 200,000 organisations worldwide, and believes effective communication depends on delivering the right message at the right moment.
How the xC Tracker works
The AI model analyses every coach press conference during the tournament against a database of 205 football clichés compiled across six languages.
Each phrase was verified by native-speaking editors and included only if it appeared repeatedly in major tournament press conferences, could be used regardless of the result, and would be widely recognised by football fans.
The AI identifies exact phrases, variations and paraphrased versions, assigning each cliché a score based on how overused it is. References relating to religion, personal hardship or condolences are excluded from analysis.
The tracker will update throughout the tournament, offering a data-driven look at which managers continue to offer fresh insight and which increasingly revert to football’s most familiar scripts as the stakes rise.
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