Matias Palacios Scout Report


 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 opposition half.

Matias has an attacking style of play, I would best describe him as a player who will have a go from long range, run into the box and do anyhting in the final third to create a goalscoring opportunity. This is rare these days as many players seem to be stuck in a system that denies this style of play. 

Ideal Club:

A move to a stepping stone European league such as Belgium, Scotland or Croatia seems like a solid plan. I would suggest Red Star Belgrade in Serbia. Having sold In-Beom Hwang to Feyenoord after 2 successful seasons, Matias seems like the perfect replacement and could provide Matias with the chance to really show what he can offer in Europe.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ronnie Edwards Scout Report

Image
  Date of birth: 28 March 2003 Country: England Position: Central Defender/ Central Defensive Midfield Height: 180cm Preferred foot: Right Club: Peterborough United When you look at a modern central defender there is usually one of two play styles he has adopted. Either the traditional centre back who puts his foot through the ball up the park and dives into tackles but cannot play from the back, or the more modern player who is comfortable with the ball at his feet often at the expense of some of the more standard defensive skill set. Ronnie Edwards however is a very rare breed of player as he is the definition of modern meets classic. Ronnie Edwards has been a first team regular at Peterborough since joining from Barnet's under 18 squad in 2020. He has quickly became a fans favourite, also winning 4 club awards at the end of the 2021/22 season and he has only gone from strength to strength since with a call up to Englands under 20 squad for the world cup in 2023 starting all 4 ga...
Read more

Sebastian Nanasi Scout Report

Image
  Date of birth: 16 May 2002 Country: Sweden Position: Lw Height: 178cm Preferred foot: Right Club: Malmo FF The Swedish Allsvenkan is always a gold mine for scouts and clubs alike looking for young talent playing big minutes in a competitive standing and Sebastian Nanasi has been a standout for the past few seasons with his potential and ability alike on the up and up.  In the 2023 season, Nanasi notched up 2,495 minutes across 20 games notching up 11 goals and 7 assists. Already this season he has appeared in 12 games, starting all and adding 5 goals and 7 assists already, as well as finding himself in the team of the week 8 times.  5 goals is very impressive when you take a look at the stats, averaging 2.3 shots and 0.9 hitting the target. Majority of his shot's come from his fantastic agility, often beating his man and cutting inside and firing at the goal. A goal conversion of 19% is fantastic giving he is often on the wing. All of his goals this season have been fro...
Read more

Kota Takai Scout Report

Image
  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...
Read more