Arnaut Danjuma
Arnaut Danjuma Scouting Report – Profiling Villarreal’s key player
Villarreal CF were the second-biggest spenders in La Liga with a €46.25m net spend this past summer. One of their signings, Arnaut Danjuma from Bournemouth, has shone this season. The Dutch attacker has scored nine goals and assisted three goals in 18 appearances in all competitions, and his bright performances have also attracted the attention [...]
Osame Sahraoui: The young Norwegian midfielder playing for Vålerenga
Osame Sahraoui (170cm/5’7”), is a right-footed playmaker who joined the academy of Norwegian side, Vålerenga, in 2014. He’s risen well up the ranks of the five-time Eliteserien champions since then and made his first-team debut for the club in the 2020 season, in which he scored five goals and made 10 assists, helping his side [...]
Washington Spirit: The tactics behind their first NWSL title
The 2021 NWSL season provided us with many surprises, but none more so than Washington Spirit finishing as league champions, defeating Chicago Red Stars in the Championship (the name given to the play-off final). Many expected either Portland Thorns or OL Reign to lift the title, as both had been near the summit for most [...]
Analysis
Mariona Caldentey is one of Barcelona Feminí’s top talents who has already shown her worth during the past five/six years at the highest level. Such excellent performances have helped her join the Spanish national team since 2017 and become a pivotal player in their squad. Being a 25-year-old is a huge advantage for this player [...]
Analysis
Royal Union St Gilloise (USG) has made a flying start to life in the Jupiler Pro League; the former champions of Belgian football have returned from the second division to the first and have taken it by storm in the process. Having last won a league title in 1935, despite this they have the third [...]
Analysis
At the start of the calendar year, Athletic Club decided to part ways with current SD Eibar head coach Gaizka Garitano after almost two-and-a-half years in charge. Within 24 hours, former Valencia and Villarreal manager Marcelino Toral put pen to paper to become the newest man in the dugout of the San Mamés. From the [...]
Data Analysis: Three young and upcoming players from Asia
To finish our data analysis series on the top-5 Asian leagues, we’ll present three U23 players who stood out in different statistics and deserve a closer look. You can check the previous pieces for the best players in Asia here: Best centre-backs data analysis Best full-backs data analysis Best central midfielders data analysis Best forwards [...]
Emmanuel Dennis: Could he be the key to Watford’s survival this season?
Watford earned a promotion to the Premier League for the 2021/22 season, but the team are barely staying above the relegation zone, after losing each of their last four games. The manager, Claudio Ranieri, was appointed in October after an unsuccessful start to the season under the previous manager, Xisco Muñoz, but he still cannot [...]
Cassinho: Have Mumbai City successfully filled the void left by Hugo Boumous?
It was the talk of the town when Hugo Boumous left Mumbai City to join ATK Mohun Bagan in the summer. The player, without any doubt, was one of the best foreigners in the Indian Super League and also had a mammoth influence on Mumbai City’s title-winning season. Cássio Gabriel is the player chosen to [...]
Cameroon
Players of African descent, such as the likes of Chelsea’s Didier Drogba, Liverpool’s Mo Salah and the first African Ballon d’Or winner, George Weah have been lighting up the football world for many decades. On our television screens, we see these wonderful players doing wonderful things; one thing we do not see is how these [...]
Data Analysis: Talented U23 South American centre-backs
South America is an unresting source of talented players for the football world and, once again, they have a wave of youngsters that will soon make a move to European clubs. Even though the biggest South American stars to have played in Europe have been offensive players, there have also been a lot of quality [...]
Allsvenskan
Tim Rönning Scouting Report – Is The Young Swedish Goalkeeper Ready For A Big Move?
Who Is Tim Rönning? Tim Rönning is a 22-year-old Swedish goalkeeper currently playing for Elfsborg in the Swedish Allsvenskan. He is valued at £810,000 by Transfermarkt. Rönning is instantly striking given his frame. The Swede stands at 2.01m | 6’7”, and whilst he has the lean physique of a 22-year-old, yet to fully fill out [...]
Tactical Theory: The application of different crosses and how to coach them
Crossing perhaps gets overlooked by many these days. It is seen as a high-volume but low-efficiency way of getting the ball into the area. Discussing crossing often eludes an image of an old-school manager screaming at his winger to “stick in the box”. Yet, both Kevin De Bruyne and Trent Alexander-Arnold are rightly lauded for [...]
Tactical theory: The intelligent movements of elite goalkeepers
Here it is, the final article in the series on intelligent movements. Starring in this article are the goalkeepers, the final line of defence and the first line of the attack. Since I’m not a goalkeeper coach or analyst by trade, I’ve invited some of my colleagues to contribute. They’re goalkeeper coaches and knowledgeable sounding [...]
Premier League 2021/22: The numbers behind West Ham’s impressive season so far
It is fair to say that West Ham United are one of the best teams in the Premier League this season. At the time of writing, The Hammers are fourth in the league table and have already beaten Liverpool and defending European champions Chelsea. David Moyes’ men have scored 28 goals (the fourth most in [...]
La Liga 2021/22: Vinicius Jr.’s blistering start to the season
Real Madrid could not have asked for a better start to the season. The Spanish giants lead the pack at the top of the table with a comfortable eight point lead over Sevilla after matchweek 16. One player who has been the stand out performer this season for Carlo Ancelotti is Vinícius Júnior. The 21-year-old [...]
Serie A 2021/22: Napoli’s downturn in form
The Serie A title race is picking up some pace. After remaining unbeaten in their first 12 league games, Napoli are third in the table, two points behind leaders AC Milan. While Inter, who have only lost once in the league all season at the time of writing, are second in the table, one point [...]
Bundesliga 2021/22: Percentage of goal contributions by each Bayern Munich player
It is no surprise to anybody that Bayern Munich are top of the table in the Bundesliga after 14 match weeks into the 2021/22 season. Nagelsmann’s team sit four points ahead of rivals Borussia Dortmund.The Bavarians have found the back of the net 43 times this season, more than any other team in the league. [...]
Ligue 1 2021/22: Jonathan David’s season so far for LOSC Lille
If you are looking for a bright, young center-forward, don’t look beyond Jonathan David of Lille. The 21-year-old Canadian forward in his second season at Lille has made another excellent start to the season scoring 11 goals in 17 games. Only six other players in Europe’s top five leagues have scored more than David. So, [...]
Scout Report: Five defenders to watch in 2022
This is the first of a series of articles for this magazine that will look ahead to the 2022/23 season with a view to highlighting some interesting players to watch out for. In this piece, we will concentrate on the defensive positions, with five players selected. Whilst these players are mainly considered central defenders, some [...]
Scout Report: Five midfielders to watch in 2022
In the second of this series of articles looking at young players to watch in 2022, we will turn our attention towards midfielders. This time we have selected a variety of players from different nations and regions around the world, and who play in slightly different positions to one another. We have not limited ourselves [...]
