Portugal remains a goldmine of footballing talent. While the likes of Benfica, Porto and Sporting Lisbon remain the giants of the game there are talented and interesting players in the tiers below those superpowers. The youth development of the three giant clubs is so good that they develop extremely talented players for their own first team but also for other clubs around the league as players naturally drop down and provide a source of talent for clubs in the middle or bottom of the table.
In this analysis, I have used data to identify five players who are having interesting seasons so far in Portugal. Of the players identified only one plays for one of the top three sides, although one other is on loan from Porto to his current club, I have picked players in different positions so we have a fullback, a central defender, a central midfielder, a winger and a striker.
By using data and individual player profiles to identify players of interest teams can cut through a lot of the noise in markets that they are interested in. We can take a pool of players and immediately identify those that match the profiles of players that we are looking to recruit. This allows clubs that use data within their recruitment department to ensure that any player that they might be interested in meet the requirements that they set out in terms of data output.
When I am using data in the recruitment process my methodology remains relatively static. I use Wyscout as the data source, the best option from a cost/quality/depth perspective and Tableau as the tool for visualising and interpreting the data. Using these simple tools I am able to gain insights into the performances of players and indeed clubs from across the football world. I have my own combinations of metrics that are used to identify players that are well but these are also combined with metrics that meet the specific requirements and style that the client club prefers. Having assessed player performances I then move on to the longlisting process using custom-built dashboards within Tableau. These will be shown below and allow me to quickly assess player performance across a number of key metrics depending on the position of the player in question.
While I consider data to be an integral part of the recruitment process it is only one part of that process. A smart club will combine data analysis with live scouting and video scouting to ensure that they are building a full picture of the player that they are looking to sign.
#1 Diogo Leite, 22-years-old, Central Defender, Sporting Braga (on loan from Porto) and Portugal
The first player on our shortlist is a 22-year-old central defender who has been highly rated around the game for some time now. Diogo Leite is a left-footed central defender who is listed at 188cm | 623. This season has seen Leite leave Porto in search of regular first-team football in order to further his development. So far the decision to go out on loan has been vindicated as Leite has, at the time of writing, played 693 minutes in Liga Nos.
He is a well balanced central defender who is perhaps most comfortable playing as the left-sided central defender in a four-at-the-back system although he could also play as part of a back three, especially with his ability in possession of the ball. So far this season we have seen Leite average 5.58 defensive duels per 90 with a success rate of 65.12% and 5.45 aerial duels with a success rate of 66.67%. As well as being active defensively Leite also reads the game extremely well. He is capable of defending in a deeper block and as part of a unit but he can also be proactive defensively when looking to step out to win the ball and win the ball before it reaches the striker. This is shown in his 5.96 possession adjusted interceptions.
In posse
