Emmanuel Essiam: Basel’s 18-year-old midfield engine
The first step out of their home country is always a difficult and crucial one for a young player, especially when they come from countries with relatively weak leagues and they’re forced to move to develop and play at a significantly higher level. That’s the case of Emmanuel Essiam (December 19, 2003) who, having turned [...]
Analysis
Nicolás Capaldo Scout Report At RB Salzburg 2021/2022 – The Argentine Midfielder
South America has played a pivotal part in the making of world-class footballers with fire, desire and grace. Carlos Tevez, Éver Banega and Juan Román Riquelme are some of the major success stories of Argentinian football, all graduating from the Boca Juniors academy in the 2000s. As of late, a new wave of Boca Juniors [...]
Victor Barbera: Could the La Masia teenage talent solve Barcelona’s striker issues?
Barcelona are still in the midst of their complete rebuild. Xavi is finally in charge but despite some obvious improvement on the pitch, the squad is far from complete. Ferran Torres has been secured from Manchester City and if some of the reports are to be believed, the Catalans want more players for the forward [...]
Oihan Sancet: Athletic Club’s newest attacking star – scout report
Athletic Club have one of the most interesting transfer policies in world football. The club can only sign players who were born in the Basque Country, who developed in the team’s academy system or who came through at another Basque football club. Ultimately, this leaves the historic side very dependent on bringing fantastic young players [...]
Raphinha
Raphinha Scouting Report 2021/22: Why Europe’s Best Are Ready To Sign The Brazilian
Who Is Raphinha? Leeds United purchased Raphinha in the summer of 2019 from French club Rennes, with the attacker having previously played for Sporting CP and Vitória de Guimarães. Since arriving at Elland Road, the Brazilian has gone from strength to strength and is now regarded as one of the Premier League’s best attackers while [...]
Emma Snerle: What she will bring to West Ham United Women
When thinking of countries that are always producing talented female footballers, Spain, Sweden and the USA are the obvious names that come to mind. However, one country that’s perhaps gone under the radar in this regard is Denmark. Yet, there are Danish players dotted around major leagues worldwide. One of those who’s gained a lot [...]
Petko Hristov: Spezia’s 22-year-old defensive hope
Spezia’s second season in Serie A is full of inconsistency in their performance with them currently sitting near the relegation zone after 12 defeats in 21 games. The manager, Thiago Motta, cannot find the right formula to bring balance in their performance and they struggle defensively while underperforming in attack too. His position as a [...]
Patrik Wålemark: What Feyenoord can expect from the Swedish winger
In 2021, some young players enjoyed their breakthrough season in Allsvenskan, including Veljko Birmančević of Malmö FF, Williot Swedberg and Akinkunmi Amoo of Hammarby, Edward Chilufya of Djurgården. Apart from these attackers, another young star who impressed everyone was Patrik Wålemark, who became a starter at BK Häcken, scoring nine and making eight assists in [...]
Analysis
Over the last 12 months, I have regularly written articles for this magazine, in which I have looked ahead and identified some talented young players in various positions who I think are poised for a good year. In these articles, I use data analysis to identify players through custom filters and dashboards, then display them [...]
Shamar Nicholson: What will the Jamaican striker bring to Spartak Moscow?
With Spartak Moscow struggling for goals from forwards this season, partnered with their disappointing ninth place standing at the winter break in Russia, they decided to dip into the transfer market to try and bring more goals to the Russian capital. They decided to look to Belgium, bringing in 24-year-old Jamaican striker Shamar Nicholson from [...]
Scout Report: Five wingers to watch in 2022
In the latest in a series of articles for this magazine I will be looking at wingers, or wide forwards, that I think are players to watch going into the second half of the 2021/22 season and then on to the 2022/23 season. In the modern game the role of wide players has changed significantly [...]
Player Analysis
Rúben Neves And João Moutinho Scout Report At Wolverhampton Wanderers 2021/2022 – Data Analysis
When Bruno Lage was appointed manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer of 2021, many fans wondered what the Portuguese would bring to the team and how much Wolves would change from their previous years under Nuno Espírito Santo. Those same people can now look at the current Wolves side and tell that not much [...]
La Liga 2021/22: Rayo Vallecano’s expected goals for and against
Rayo Vallecano sit seventh in the La Liga 2021/22 table, only two points behind top four, at the end of match week 20 after having been promoted only at the start of the season. Andoni Iraola’s men have the joint fourth best defensive record in the league and that is one of the biggest reasons [...]
Analysis
If there is one player who is linked with every top club in Europe right now, it is Dušan Vlahović of Fiorentina. The 21-year-old Serbian centre-forward is one of the hottest prospects right now in Europe. Having scored 16 goals in the season so far, Vlahović sits top of the pile for goals scored in [...]
Analysis
Florian Wirtz Stats At Bayer Leverkusen 2022/2023 – Data Analysis
After 18 match weeks in the 2021/22 Bundesliga season, Bayer Leverkusen are fifth in the table, just two points behind third placed Hoffenheim. One player that has caught many people’s eyes is 18-year-old Florian Wirtz. The teenage midfielder, who made his league debut at 16, is one of the key players in the Leverkusen set-up [...]
Ligue 1 2021/22: Are Arsenal right in trying sign Bruno Guimarães?
Lyon’s season so far has been pretty underwhelming. After finishing fourth in the league last season, Lyon are currently 11th in the table with 25 points from 19 games and winless in their last five. One Lyon player who is having an outstanding season so far is midfielder Bruno Guimarães. The 24-year-old defensive midfielder, currently [...]
Kerala Blasters: Analysing their resurgence in the Indian Super League
Kerala Blasters, the team with the highest fan following in the Indian Super League, have been exceptionally good this season. After years of disappointment, the team now is not only performing well but are at the top of the table with just one loss from 11 games. Plenty of credit goes to Ivan Vukomanović, their [...]
EFL Championship 2021/22: The rise of Middlesbrough under Chris Wilder
Middlesbrough are seventh in the EFL Championship table after 25 games into the season. Neil Warnock was sacked after Boro had an inconsistent first few weeks. Chris Wilder was appointed to take over from Warnock and since Wilder’s appointment, Boro have lost only one game in eight games. Wilder’s men have also won five of [...]
Liel Abada: How the Isreali has strengthened Celtic in his debut season
In the summer of 2021, Celtic was quite busy strengthening the team to be able to compete for first place with their bitter rival, after Glasgow Rangers dominated last season and won the league by 20 points. To strengthen the attack, they signed Kyogo Furuhashi, Georgios Giakoumakis, Jota and Liel Abada. The main character of [...]
Martina Piemonte: What she can add to Milan Women’s attack
Martina Piemonte has just joined Milan Women during 2022’s winter transfer window coming from Fiorentina after playing for a plethora of other teams such as Verona, Sevilla, Roma and Real Betis. Despite being just 24 years old at the moment, the Italian player has got a lot of experience especially from her spells in the [...]
Carlo Ancelotti: The tactical adjustments delivering Real Madrid’s goals
Back in August, it seemed like most Real Madrid fans were living for the summer of 2022. Kylian Mbappé. Erling Haaland. Jules Koundé. Antonio Rüdiger. Paul Pogba. Summer 2022 is when they're all due to arrive. At least that was the thought. Though two or three of those players could still arrive in the next [...]
Tactical Analysis: Midfield rotations and how to coach it
The fluidity in movement of your midfield can be directly related to the ability of your team to successfully advance possession through the central channel and half-spaces. When setting out a team pre-game on a tactics board, we can so often define our central midfielders’ positioning by where we place them on said board. For [...]
Scout Report: Players with expiring contracts this summer
There are bargains to be had this summer. In what may well be one of the most eye-watering free agency markets in recent memory (maybe ever?), there is a whole host of outstanding talent to be found without a transfer fee attached. Of course, due to that fact, and that these players can court many [...]