Become a better scout by recognizing those four phases in every football action
As a scout, you constantly evaluate players. It helps a lot to be effective if you use several ‘lenses’ to watch football through. One of those lenses is a simple and understandable framework that heavily improves your understanding of match situations. It significantly helps to rate the performance and potential of players more accurately. In […]
Improving your player reporting skills massively by avoiding catch-all terms
If you have the ambition to become a professional scout, it is not only important to understand what happens on the pitch. You should also be able to explain what you see, either in written text or verbally. To become better at that, it massively helps to avoid catch-all terms and use clear and specific […]
Breaking biases: probably the best strategy to improve your player recruitment
Contrary to popular belief, the key to better scouting isn’t just about adopting specific tools or hiring more skilled scouts; it’s about recognizing and overcoming biases when assessing player qualities. As humans, we naturally have biases. While they can provide shortcuts to understanding the world, biases can also lead to errors in decision-making. Actively acknowledging […]
Creating clarity: smart use of a player rating system
One of the fundamentals of a good scouting infrastructure is a clear and consistent rating system. The rating system is used by scouts to assess the level and/or suitability of a player for their club. What is important in setting up such a rating system? And how can you make sure everyone uses and interprets […]
How we adjust to a club’s scouting setup
If there’s one thing we’ve learned that clubs hate, it is having to implement many different platforms and applications into their organization. Sooner or later, information won’t align, and that creates problems. Therefore, we always adjust to a club’s scouting setup once we set up a cooperation. In this article, we explain what that entails. […]
Mastering Wyscout: Outsmarting everyone by cleverly using video footage
Nowadays, thousands of matches become available on video every week. There is way more video footage available than even a big team of scouts can process. In other words: everyone involved in scouting should strive to be efficient in how to use the available resources. In this article, we provide clear guidelines for that. Video […]
Creating a scouting funnel – from longlist to shadow list
Signings in football always catch the eye. In fact, they are only the tip of the iceberg. The extensive process leading up to those signings rarely becomes visible to the outside world. In one way or another, every club goes through a process of filtering hundreds or even thousands of players each year, narrowing down […]
13 advantages of video over live scouting
Video and live scouting both have their unique pros and cons. They should be combined to get the best results. At the same time, we truly believe that video scouting is a very undervalued scouting method. In this article, you’ll find 13 reasons why. Obviously, live scouting also has its upsides. You can connect to […]
Discovering the best free football scouting software
Countless professional football clubs heavily rely on premium football scouting software, such as Impect, StatsBomb, Opta, or SciSports, for comprehensive data analysis. While these tools offer an extensive array of features, they can be (too) expensive, particularly for smaller clubs and aspiring scouts (or fantasy football enthusiasts). Fortunately, excellent free alternatives exist. In this article, […]
The World’s Best Football Scouting Websites: 11 Great Examples
In football, talent scouting is an art that demands a sharp eye, analytical thinking, and the right tools. The days of trawling through dusty archives and attending endless matches to uncover hidden gems are not over, but the game has evolved. To help you navigate this ever-expanding landscape of football scouting resources, we’ve curated a […]