I spoke a few weeks ago about Scouting at level
teams, watch their movements, their
tactics, set-pieces, etc.
Now I will talk about players. How can we see that a player is good/useful for our team?
The first thing to do is to distinguish between two types of scouting. One is that when the clubs are looking for a certain player for a given position. The second is people who are dedicated to seeing players (even working for a particular club), without any specific position on the pitch.
In the first case, since there is no perfect player, you have to find the closest thing to what we want and sometimes we have to decide which features are more important than others. I will not go much more in this part, since we are talking about a scouting "made to measure".
We go to the most usual. Going to see (live or on TV), football players. What we have to look to decide if a player is or is not a good player? Well there are many things, but for me, the most important is speed. But speed does not mean just being faster than the others running. In fact, we can distinguish 3 kinds of speed: the "physical" speed, "mental" speed and "action" speed.
The "physical" speed is what we have said before. Fast player. The arriving before the opponent to the ball, either attacking, and defending it. This player is always interesting, because we can always teach him to play. Whether running from the flank and crossing, either to arrive before the striker to a long ball. Cristiano Ronaldo, Bale, Jordi Alba, David Luiz may be examples of such players.
The "mental" speed is the one which allows the player to do things before anyone else. Usually they make play their mates, because they usually give the ball ready to be played well. You will recognize these types of players easily, since they are always with the head up, scanning the entire field to see where the ball can go. They are players who are always where they are supposed to be, sometimes to cut and retrieve a ball, sometimes to make a decisive pass. Xavi, Pirlo, Riquelme, Gerrard or Busquets are players who fit this profile.
Finally, we have the "actional" speed, the executive, the player that makes the actions at a very much higher speed than the rest, either to shoot on goal, either to dribble an opponent, either to change the orientation of game at first touch. Messi, Iniesta, Robben, Ibrahimovic and Rooney would be players in this style.
However, what is common to all these players, that do different things, playing in different parts of the pitch, which don't have the same functions in a football team? Well, these players are "different", ie they do different things to what we can consider "normal".
Cruyff once said that with 5 meters of space, any player can make a pass 30 meters away. It's about to make this happen when you have the opponent close to you. It'a about dribbling opponents changing 3 times the pace on 20 meters. That is, it's not quality "per se", but quality at high speed; this is what distinguishes some players from another. And when we speak of "decision making", we talk about the same. About the player that, as far he will receive the ball he knows what to do with it: running with it, short pass, long pass, etc.
But that's not all. To do it right, it's not just to look at what a player does. Must see what the player can do. What does this mean? It means to study the characteristics of the player and see if its features can be used for other functions. A winger, could play as central midfielder? A center back, could he play as attacking midfielder? And so, with all players. In fact, an it is not always done, the reports should include, further than all the points of the players, all their options. Many times players are signed without knowing exactly all their potential.
But, as all activities where there is the human factor, the scouting is not an exact science. The "nose", the intuition, makes a lot, sometimes, when you are spying players. You see a player who has done nothing for most of the game and, in a play he decides it, either with a shot, with a dribbling, with a pass. Or, even if not decisive, but when nobody expects it. As mentioned before, the "different" player.
We still have the goalkeepers. What is the first job of a goalie? Stop balls. Therefore, this is what we have to look. If you do this or that, but does not save goals, no good. Then we go to the aerial game, or foot play, or this or that feature. But first, to stop the balls. And, do not forget that the goalie who makes a great save, but concedes a goal after the rejection, it is very possible that he has saved badly. It is not just saving the ball. It is to save the ball and the opponents do not have a second choice. Remember that good goalies win games, but the great goalkeepers win championships.
But also with the goalkeepers, they must be fast. Fast to put a hand, to get back into position after a long ball rejected, fast to go to this long ball. The one that is not fast is no good for football.
Jordi Pascual
You can follow me on Twitter: @JordiPascualP
