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Josko Gvardiol- When data does not beat the eye test.

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Josko Gvardiol cost Manchester City around £70 million. And at the time it was seen by many as a bargain. A 21 year old full Croatia international defender who can play with the ball at his feet, strong upper body strength, quick and keen to get forward seemed to tick all the boxes for a player in a Guardiola system. However the 70 million pound defender has a problem the data loving scouts cannot see. Josko Gvardiol actually can’t defend.  At the time of writing this Man City are in the biggest slump of Pep’s managerial career. 6th in the league and losing 2-1 to Aston Villa to make it 9 defeats in 12 is a huge difference to the norm. And yes injuries have played a huge part with Rodri out for the season not helping their causes. But City have the players to do well regardless. Not with Gvardiol in defence In todays match with Aston Villa he made a mistake early on. Instead of sending the ball forward he sent it back to his keeper. The pass was incredibly weak and Aston Villa were...
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Lennon Miller Scout Report

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  Date of birth: 25 August 2006 Country: Scotland Position: Central Midfield Height: 182cm Preferred foot: Club: Motherwell Motherwell have been a fantastic club for young talent over the years, with James McFadden, Stephen Pearson, Allan Campbell and David Turnbull being just a few standouts. David Turnbull became the clubs record sale when he joined Celtic for around 3 million Euros. But young Lennon Miller looks set to net Motherwell an even bigger sum and by the way the youngster has stood out, that could be sooner rather than later. A modern central midfielder, Lennon posesses the traits needed in the modern game, from box to box skills to technical ability. Often found at the edge of the box when his team are on the attack, he is ready to hit a shot rather than work it around, averaging 2.1 shots per game. Although only managing 0.2 on target, he did hit the woodwork twice against the much more dominant Celtic.  His defensive work is pretty solid, putting up around 1 int...
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Moises Paniagua Scout Report

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  Date of birth: 16 August 2007 Country: Bolivia Position: RW Height: 169 cm Preferred foot: Right Club: Always Ready When we think of South American football talent our minds tend to instantly drift toward Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay and in recent years both Chile and Ecuador. Yet we almost always miss out on the Bolivian side. But with Moises Paniagua making a name for himself, that could all be a thing of the past. Listed as a right winger, Paniagua is currently active in the Always Ready under 19's setup, although he has made 19 appearances in the first league as well as 4 Conmebol Sudamericana competition which shows you just how highly valued he is by the club. Aged 15 on his debut with the first team he even managed to score. Also with his goal against Sporting Cristal of Peru, he became the second youngest player to score at the Copa Libertadores. Watching him play it is clear he is actually more suited in a traditional CAM role rather than a winger. His biggest sk...
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Matias Siltanen Scout Report

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  Date of birth: 29 March 2007 Country: Finland Position: Central Midfield Height: 173cm Preferred foot: Both Club: KuPS Scandinavia has always been a scouts goldmine with talented players constantly being developed by big and small clubs alike. In recent years we have seen many of such talents making the move to some of the biggest leagues in Europe or stepping stone leagues. Lucas Bergvall, Hugo Larsson and Sebastian Nanasi being some of those talents making the move overseas. 17 year old Matias Siltanen is no doubt going to follow in their footsteps sooner rather than later. Sometimes players just make the game look easy and make you sit back and enjoy the style of play. This is the case here with the young Finn. A central midfielder who could also play in the CDM role due to his physical style of play, Siltanen certainly does not look like a rookie and is vastly improving game by game. Starting 24 of the 27 games he has played this season, he looks more liek a veteran than a te...
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Scotland's next manager. 5000 Miles Away

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  Scotland's national football team has been on a depressing struggle in recent times. Despite qualifying for 2 consecutive Euro's, the feeling around Steve Clarke has been diminishing in recent months. No competive win in 400 days, one win in 15 games (against Gibraltar) and the general negative style of play has led to many fans to question if Clarke should lead the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.  But who should be the man to replace him, should the SFA pull the plug on the Clarke-ball tenure. A few names seem to regularly come up, with Kilmarnock's Derek McInnes and David Moyles being the names thrown up by fans, pundits and bookies alike. And whilst there are certainly arguments for and against these potenial new national team managers, there is one man who has yet to appear in the conversation to take over. That man is Japanese coach Toru Oniki. A foreign coach for Scotland? Well that hasn't happened since Berti Vogts, 22 years ago. This of course was a disaster appoin...
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Kota Takai Scout Report

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  Date of birth: 4 September 2004 Country: Japan Position: Central Defender Height: 192cm Preferred foot: Right Club: Kawasaki Frontale It has been a great season for Kota Takai, really starting to make himself one of the first names on the Kwasaki Frontale team sheet. Starting 13 games out of his 14 appearances last season, he has already surpassed that, with 21 appearances currently. Kawasaki haven't been able to achieve their dominance this season like previous years, but with Kota Takai becoming another one of their growing academy graduates, the season hasn't been a total bust. The modern centre back needs to be a ball playing defender who can be comfortable on the ball as well as putting in the tackles. With 42 passes per game at a great 88% accuracy rate, including 2.1 long balls per game Kota can handle the ball at his feet. Even when under pressure he rarely panics and makes the best decision, even if it is to simply hook it clear.  One thing that stands out when watc...
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Matias Palacios Scout Report

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  Date of birth: 10 May 2002 Country: Argentina Position: Attacking Midfield Central Height: 168cm Preferred foot: Right  Club: Al-Ain The once common path for South American footballers was to play locally before heading to Europe in their early 20's and plying their trade for a decade before heading home to finish their career. That path has changed over the last few years with many players heading to the middle east. Matias Palacios made the move to Europe with FC Basel before heading to the U.A.E to play under fellow Argentinian Hernan Crespo. That move has proved to be a good choice for Palacios with regular game time, something he never got in Europe becoming more common for him. His stats are improving as well. His main strength is his passing with 4.4 long balls at a 76% success rate being very interesting, especially in the modern possession based style of play. His pass success rate of 90% at 50 passes per game is very appealing with the majority of them being in the...
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The End Of FC Bordeaux- What Players remain?

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  The death of a football club is a sad event for all fans of the sport, regardless of who you support. When it is a former giant it is even more upsetting. Their famous youth academy has produced several top class players over the years, including Aurelien Tchoameni, Jules Kounde, Henri Saviet, Yacine Adli as well as having former players such as Zidane, Pauleta, Wiltord, Gourcuff and Micoud. Sadly the future of Bordeaux looks to be bleak with the club set to release all their players before dropping down the divisions. Here I will take a look at who is available. Issouf Sissokho: A 22 year old box to box midfielder from Mali could be worth a pick up for a lot of clubs across Europe. His fitness has a little room for improvement as he only started 14 out of the 31 games he played last season. However, the potential is there and he could be a solid investment for clubs. Completing 90% of his passes showcases his passing ability. He is more likely to be used as a sporidic player at ...
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The most impressive players at EURO 2024 so far (Part 1)

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  The Euro's are well underway and there has been some fantastic standouts so far, Of course there have been players who have matched expectations, such as Granit Xhaka, Rodri and the talented youngster Lamine Yamal. However I will be focusing on players who have been very good that you may never have even heard before the tournament kicked off. Florin Nita- Romania Goalkeeper Romania were not tipped by many to have a great run at the tournament, and even those who had hopes for the team focused their attention to more well known players, mainly Ianis Hagi. However Nita the goalkeeper has been a fantastic standout. Recieving an averaging sofascore rating of 7.43 which as placed him alongside bige name players like Antonio Rudiger and Mike Maignan. Nita's main strength is his shot stopping ability, saving 4.3 per game at an acurracy rate of 83%. He is an old school keeper who focuses more on saves than playing out from the back. At 37 years old this summer he certainly looks lik...
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The most disappointing players of EURO 2024 so far

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  The European championship gives players competing the chance to shine, earn moves to bigger clubs and of course help their team advance. In recent competitions we have seen players earn themselves a big money move, with James Rodriguez heading to Real Madrid being the highlight of what can happen. However this is not always the case and so far in Euro 2024 there have been some players who have not lived up to expectations. Here is my list: Marcus Thuram: When you look at Marcus Thuram he passes the eye test physically. Tall, strong and pacey striker ticks all the boxes for managers. And with 13 goals in 35 games for title winning Inter Milan this season you would have thought he would have been a solid player for France. Yet to score this tournament depite having 3.7 shots per game with a woeful 0.7 being on target. The chances he is getting are good as well. In the match vs Belgium he missed two headers from inside the box despite rising high enough to essentially get a free hea...
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