Disclaimer: Nothing to do with camping or knots. Scouting is something I want to do more of in the future, but I don't want to ask my club if I can assist with it yet as I: A) Don't have huge amounts of time to commit to it. B) Not sure if I'm any good at it and might make a *** out myself. So I thought by creating a thread here I can practice my scouting techniques, writeups and form a little database of sorts. So basically feel free to ignore this thread if you couldn't care less about random players across the world that will never play for us, also feel free to add your own contributions in here if you want. I'll be using WyScouts "Talent Center" tool to find players that have broken through and playing senior football for the first time in their careers so the players are likely to be 16-21 and from various different markets. Sam Curtis Name: Sam Curtis Club: St Patricks Athletic (Ireland) Position: RB/RWB Birthday: 1st December 2005 (16) Attack: The rawest attribute is his attacking ability, he has the pace and willingness to get forward, but is let down by his crossing ability which can often be overhit and often doesn't make much of an impact going forward. Had some nice dribbles at times though, definitely an area that can be worked on. Defence: Really liked his defensive ability - prefers to hassle the opponent and force an error rather than get stuck in, can sometimes be a bit rash when he does choose to get stuck in though. Impressive reading of the game and as such is quick to react at sudden transitions. Good build at 6"1 already, not afraid to challenge in the air with a decent amount of success (66% aerial win rate) Strengths: Very powerful runner with good pace, good decision making and reading of the game. Weaknesses: Bit raw going forward, crossing ability needs some work. Summary: Despite only being 16 years old he looks to me an impressive player - he's already been capped at U19 for Ireland and has been trusted with a good amount of minutes at a senior level - including getting some (brief) minutes in the Champions League Qualifiers a few weeks ago. Imagine there'll be a fair few English clubs after him shortly. Brief video showing some of the points above:
Cracking, @reids! We get the benefit of your insights on young talents. And can provide some sort of medium for you to hond your skills. Obviously you have a sense of what scout reports should look like as I'm sure you've come across them professionally but I do like it when there is a "Similar player to" category as it allows people to code what they're seeing in line with more familiar information.
Very appreciate of this @reids I've done my level 1 PFSA and FA but don't have the time to commit to go further so really enjoy your insights.
Great idea for a thread Reid's, I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it. (It may or may not be for FM purposes)
Great stuff Reids. I'm an FA qualified coach but know absolutely nothing about scouting. Looks professional and informative.
Will aim to do at least one of these a week by the way! Name: Fabricio Díaz Badaracco Club: Liverpool Montevideo (Uruguay) Position: DM/CM Birthday: 3rd February 2003 (19) Height: 176cm (5"9) https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/fabricio-diaz/profil/spieler/741567 Attack: Loves a long shot. Good variety of passing shown, often plays long diagonal balls out-wide and attempts a good number of through-balls for a DM, although mostly keeps it neat and tidy. Showed willingness to get forward when the opportunity presented itself. Defence: Very tenacious and shows real desire to get stuck in, showed good intelligence of when to stay on his feet and when to commit to a slide tackle. Charges in like a lunatic which can result in him getting skinned by a change of pace/direction. Strengths: Workrate and desire to win the ball are unquestionable. Good range of passing. Solid all rounder. Some selected highlights: Weaknesses: Gets very tight to players which can make him susceptible to a quick burst of pace or change of direction when trying to face someone 1 vs 1. Poor in the air. Went to ground a lot and too easily. Some of his weaknesses: Summary: I liked a lot of his attributes but found it hard to gauge his level, looking through previous transfers from Uruguay to Europe and the most similar profile is Manuel Ugarte who joined Portuguese side Famalicao in January 0221 for £3.7m and then joined Sporting CP for £6m 8 months later, I think he'd probably be a smart pickup for an aggressive lower/mid-table La Liga side or one of the bigger sides in Portugal, I'd be surprised if he cost much more than £5m now and definitely has a lot of potential. - Stats this season - Diaz vs Ugarte at 19 years old each both playing in the Uruguyan Primera - Ugartes profile now in Portugal - now rated at £13.5m on Transfermarkt although it's likely the actual transfer value if he were to move to be much higher.
Interesting. I wouldn’t have thought McAllister was similar to those other four who are all a similar profile to me.
Its definitely not a perfect way of comparing players (otherwise football clubs would be a lot better at recruitment!) and being highly similar in a couple of areas can throw it off quite a lot whilst missing off other key info, but it's a semi decent indicator of type of profile!
Good luck, Reids. I am sure you have thought of this, but just in case....if you have a contact at the club it might be worth bunging them your info for free as a way of Gett ng your foot in the door. Worst case scenario they ignore it, best case we might get a player and they may be impressed by the work.
Will take a look when he's played a few more games! Aye not really looking at doing it professionally yet, just practicing really so I have something to fall back if ever something mental happens like a full ban on heading which would kill my set piece role etc!
Name: Felipe Yanez Club: Coquimbo Unido (Chile) on loan from Colo Colo (Chile) Position: LB/LWB/LM Birthday: 18/10/2004 (17) Height: 176cm (5"9) https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/felipe-yanez/profil/spieler/947718 Attack: Very attack minded (which you'd expect considering he's been used on the wing at some points this season) and loves to bomb forward - also not sure if this is a tactical thing or a personal thing but I noticed he likes to make inverted runs towards the penalty area rather than hugging the touchline which was unexpected - it also lead to him taking a few shots from these runs. His crossing ability was a mixed bag - it was rare a teammate got on the end of them but I felt they largely landed in good locations, he also showed versatility in the cross, there were the usual crosses by the penalty area but also attempted a good amount of crosses from deep. Ultimately though I felt he made little contribution in the final third with most attacking duels ending up with him on the floor dispossessed (and no foul) Video of the type of central runs he makes (I think this must be tactical): ^ crossing locations and success (red = success, yellow = failure) - looks as if his crossing from deep lands in better positions than his crossing by the area which I didn't pick up on in the video! Defence: Was too easily bypassed 1 vs 1, sometimes he was able to recover using his pace but I felt he was too easily bypassed a lot of the time. One positive was that his reading of the game looked to be good and he looked to snuff out the danger before it became apparent most of the time, but the execution of snuffing out the danger wasn't great. Was quite naive, often fell for dummies. Was good at tracking runners. Not great in the air, but isn't as bad as his height would suggest - doesn't shirk out of aerial duels and will jump for them. Strengths: Pace - incredibly rapid. Crossing isn't accurate but does land in good positions, might be more the strikers fault. Whilst ineffectual in the final third I think he definitely shows promise in this area. Weaknesses: Not great 1 vs 1 - in either attack or defence. Ineffective in the final third, offers a decent outlet at times but the central runs don't help him (which I think is most likely coming from the manager rather than his decision) Summary: I can definitely see potential here for a good attacking full-back, but he's still very very raw. That being said, he's only 17 and is on loan at the worst team in the league. His parent club are top of the league, if they keep him next season it'll be interesting to see how he develops in a more dominant team. If he can continue to develop he'll be one to keep an eye on, but I can't see a move to a bigger/better league or Europe on the horizon for at least a couple of years. Should hopefully have enough time for another one tomorrow
Name: Ilyes Hamache Club: Valenciennes (French Ligue 2) Position: LW/RW/CF Birthday: 11/2/2003 (19) Height: 178cm (5"10) https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/felipe-yanez/profil/spieler/947718 Shirt #20 Attack: A right footed winger, he's often played on the left wing so he often cuts in and shoots from the edge of the area - these shots were often wasteful and lacked power to really trouble the goalkeeper, however I was really impressed with his finishing ability inside the penalty area where he was often calm, composed and where he was most effective. Not great quality in 1 vs 1 attacking duels, prefers to use his body to hold people off rather than trying to beat them via pace (one of his main assets), this does win him a decent amount of fouls, but could lead to better attacking situations if he utilised his pace more - not sure why he does this as there were a good number of instances of him using his absolute blistering pace to beast past players, but a lot of times he was reluctant to use it. He also liked to attempt to dribble past people, but to me it didn't look like he managed this with great frequency. Crossing ability looked good and tended to be from the by-line either outside the penalty area or cutting it back across the face of goal - he actually managed this quite a lot and put the ball into some great positions at times (although I did notice when he was inside the penalty area and attempting cutbacks they often went straight to the keeper) but was let down by his team-mates positioning Defence: Terrible in the air and often does the old Deulofeu trick of just standing there and trying to wait so he can control the ball with feet which doesn't work unless you're under no pressure (which is unlikely). Was impressed with the defensive work he put in though, pressed hard in a lot of cases and wasn't afraid to put a foot in either. Strengths: Finishing ability inside the area was good. Pace, so much pace. Doesn't shirk from defensive duties. Video that demonstrates some of the things he does well that I liked: Weaknesses: Was often too eager to shoot from outside the area when better options were available. Doesn't utilise his pace often enough. Lacks a bit of quality on the ball when 1 vs 1. Video of some of the things he did that I wasn't keen on: Summary: Reminds me a lot of Sarr in the PL - blisteringly quick but doesn't use it enough, with the creative aspects of his game often let down by his team-mates. Lots of his game to like, he's got a good number of goals (with some good finishes) and gets himself into some good positions but he's still very raw. After seeing the radars below it looks (albeit with a small sample size!) like he might've improved his shooting locations and dribbling from last season, if he can continue those numbers throughout the season then he could be a very interesting player. (last seasons stats vs PL wingers last season)
Slight change to the template with some other useful info added, will hopefully be able to do a couple more today as well! No videos on this one as WyScout doesn't put the little highlighter on a lot of clips in Ecuador for some reason. Name: Jhoanner Chavez Club: Independiente del Valle (Ecuador) Position: LB/LWB Birthday: 25/4/2002 (20) Height: Unknown - WyScout says 175cm (5"7), but Transfermarkt reckons 182cm (6"0) - looked taller than 175cm on video though. https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/jhoanner-chavez/profil/spieler/713787 Shirt: #6 Tactical role + team details: Independiente del Valle are one of Ecuadors strongest teams, winning the league last year and after 10 games of the 2022 are in 2nd place, they're through to the final of the Copa Sudamericana (the South American version of the Europa League) against Sao Paulo due to be played on the 1st October. Independiente del Valle often play with a 3 at the back system (switching between 3-4-3 and 3-5-2). Chavez is the main outlet down the left-hand side, and as the heatmap would suggest - is very attack minded, often making runs in behind the opposition defence. He's scored 3 goals and has 4 assists in 4247 minutes in their first team. In Possession: Chavez is an incredibly attacking wing-back, flying forward often making runs in behind the opposition defence to receive the ball. This often found him in very advanced positions where he contributes a lot in the final third although his crossing and end product wasn't as much as I would've hoped considering how attacking he is, without looking at any data it seemed as if his high crosses had a bigger success rate than the ground crosses that he seemed to prefer taking. One positive is that he often was able to get the final ball away, it was just inaccurate - with better forwards and some coaching I can definitely see him improving on these numbers in the future. Passing was generally good, when playing it safe he played good passes (in terms of accuracy and right choice) and his long-range passing looked pretty good as well. Was just consistency in the final third that let him down in a bit in possession. Out of Possession: Didn't look great when defending 1 vs 1, preferring to stay on his feet rather than attempting a tackle, but I felt he was too easily bypassed. Was sometimes caught out of position in transitions due to his attacking positioning but was often able to recover well, with his pace - this downsides might be a big hurdle when playing in a better division. The defensive side of his game is definitely his biggest weakness, but it's hidden well by playing in a dominant team and his pace. Physical: Possesses good physical attributes, he's incredibly quick and didn't look to get outmuscled at all. I think his height is probably correct at 6"0, looked neither great or bad in the air, winning a decent number of defensive aerial duels and contributing in the air offensively at times as well. Summary: I feel I've flagged quite a lot of negatives above, but there was something about him that I really really liked, it's not often you see wing-backs with the sheer attacking desire like Chavez, although it's likely if he were move to Europe he'd have to rein in his runs and positioning slightly. I think with the right coaching and guidance he could be a fantastic attacking fullback/wingback Next Step: Has lots of attributes that a lot of teams look for in a wing-back so think a fair few teams in Europe will be looking at him. Think he's probably too raw for a top 5 league yet, but I think a move to one of the bigger teams in Belgium would suit him well (maybe like Club Brugge who signed one of his team-mates over the summer so will have likely taken a look at him as well!) as his next step.
Name: Christos Zafeiris Club: Haugesund (Norway) Position: CM Birthday: 23/2/2003 (19) Height: 172cm (5"8) https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/christos-zafeiris/profil/spieler/580978 Shirt: #10 Tactical role + team details: Haugesund are a mid-table team in the top division in Norway - they finished 11th last season (out 16) and after 22 games this season find themselves in 10th, they play either a 5-3-2 or 3-4-3 formation with Zafeiris deployed centrally, often used as a defensive midfielder, but also used as the most advanced midfielder at times.. He's scored 5 goals and has 5 assists in 2927 minutes this season. Zafeiris is their main set-piece taker and has assisted a goal from a corner and scored from a direct FK this season. In Possession: A very creative player, he plays a lot of high-risk passes, with a lot of through balls played and a lot of balls chipped into the channels. His technique and close control was mostly very impressive and above the quality of the league, although there were a few heavy touches that caused some dangerous situations. He wasn't afraid to take players on 1 vs 1 although I felt this wasn't a strength of his - he often relied on a drop of the shoulder to beat players rather than dribbling ability and often tried to beat too many players one after each other using this tactic which ended up with him losing the ball a lot in these situations, when beating one player and then laying the ball off would've been the better choice. Was very effective when he drifted out to help his team in wide areas - his crossing ability looked to be good as well - 4/5 of his assists this season came from crosses, 3 in open play + 1 corner. Out of Possession: Was surprisingly tenacious for his size, and was quite aggressive with his pressing and wasn't afraid to put a foot in when defending 1 vs 1. I found his positioning at times was questionable, not scanning often enough so was unable to track runs behind him. When closer to the ball when teammates were challenging for the ball he would often position himself in a position to receive the ball if the ball was won rather than helping to win the ball, which in some scenarios is a good idea but could lead to trouble if the teammate doesn't win the ball, although there were a few scenarios (on the edge of the area etc) where I'd prefer him to help put pressure on the opponent. Physical: His biggest weakness - at 5"8 he's quite small and was understandably quite poor in the air. He mostly managed to avoid getting into physical battles when on the ball but was a slight issue defensively. Summary: I think he has all the attributes to flourish in a more technical league, the Scandinavian leagues are very physical which doesn't really suit his playstyle, but despite that he's put up impressive goals and assist numbers and the rest of his data looks good as well. I can't decide whether he'd be best as a #10 where he's more likely to drift wide and get into positions to show off his great crossing ability or if he's better used slightly deeper where he has more influence over the build up play and help play the ball down the channels for team-mates. Next Step: The best players from Norway usually either move to Denmark, Netherlands or Germany, I think some of the top Danish teams might be interested but think his physicality + size might be an issue for the Danish league, but think he'd suit the Dutch league really well and would provide a decent jump in quality to see whether he can handle the step up in class. - video demonstrating some of his strengths.
Name: Lucas Assadi Club: Universidad De Chile (Chile) Position: LW/AM Birthday: 8/1/2004 (18) Height: 172cm (5"8) https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/lucas-assadi/profil/spieler/718213 Shirt: #20 Tactical role + team details: Historically one of the best teams in Chile, Universidad de Chile have had a fall from grace in recent seasons, finishing 11th (out of 16) last season and after 24 games this season are stuck in 13th. They often play either a 442 (28% of their games this season),narrow 4312 (20%) or 4231 formation (20%). Assadi's role changes a lot depending on the formation, but he's versatile and was most frequently used as a left-winger or as an attacking midfielder. We were linked with his teammate Osorio in the summer (who I'll do next). In Possession: As you'd expect for a right footed winger most often used on the left, he cuts inside to shoot frequently - frequently tries to place shots when close to the goal and really scoops the longer range efforts which can look lazy and often chose to shoot from poor positions which has lead to him being ineffective in front of goal. His dribbling ability is his biggest strength, he's an exciting skilful dribbler and demonstrated great technique and close control, very capable of winning 1 vs 1 duels and uses this to good effect. Selfish in the attacking third - doesn't play many creative passes (key passes, through balls, smart passes etc) and crosses were often inaccurate - if this aspect of his game can improve (creativity + end product) Out of Possession: Was happy enough to track runners when out of possession, but was limited defensively. Sometimes tried to put a foot in but didn't try too hard to win the ball back. Physical: Agility and pace was good, however was often outmuscled and beaten in the air. Good changes of direction when on the ball. Summary: He's a flair player and the similar players below are pretty nailed on - he's similar to ASM + Traore, fantastic dribblers with little end product which really drags their overall quality down. He's an exciting player but currently there's more negatives than positives, if he can gain consistency + efficiency in the final third then he'd be a fantastic player, but he's still very young and has plenty of potential. Next Step: Hard to say, he undoubtedly has a lot of technical qualities which will suit many leagues and clubs, but his negatives are probably what's stopping someone taking a punt right now.
