11 Questions with @J__TP5

The pursuit of wisdom in any walk of life quickly reveals that what you think you know is not nearly enough to get you to where you want to go. As I'm starting out in my football scouting journey I challenged myself to reach out to those already working in various roles in football to answer a short list of questions. My goal wasn't to get answers but relevant perspectives on the game within the game.

Here is Jeroen,  founder of @AVTPFootball:

How did your first opportunity in football come about?

Well, one day I decided that I wanted to dive into analytics more and in an impulse move, I decided to start with AVTP Football. AVTP Football is a platform that gives nearly everyone a chance to get into writing and does not have a main focus at all. On Twitter, we recently began with a new concept called the Player of the Day and it helped us grow a lot lately. But to answer your question, I kinda created my own opportunity and one day it hopefully will pay off. Recently I set up a group chat on Slack with some other guys to create a big network where people can talk about football for the whole day in an analysis-way. 

What attracted you to scouting/analytics? What’s more intriguing now names or numbers?

The people that have known me for years will know that I actually was not that much into football analytics and that I did not watch football that much at first. However, I met some people that have a job in the footballing world and they inspired me to watch more and more football in an analysis-way. They helped me a lot and they gave me a lot of feedback which made me improve my writing skills and my analysis skills. 

The main thing that attracted me to scouting/analytics certainly is to find talent in the lesser-known leagues. Some people get all excited when they have seen a certain (very well-known) player play, but I get more excited when I find talents in let's say Perú or Bolivia. Of course, scouts that work for a professional club will know these players, but most Twitter-users won't watch the Bolivian league. 

Who/what is the first player/concept you "found"? What caught your eye?

The first player that I 'found' was Gustavo Assunção in the first match of Liga NOS 2019/20 away against Santa Clara. He plays for Famalicão and is a very exciting prospect. After a few months, I started watching South-American football and since then I get more joy to find the lesser-known talents than finding talents like Gustavo Assunção and Nehuén Pérez. 

Who/what is the player/concept you "missed" on? What did you learn from it?

I don't feel like someone that doesn't get paid to be a scout can miss out on any players. So I can't really answer this question I guess.

If you could start over what skill would you build on first?

I would certainly have started earlier with watching football in an analysis-way as there currently are so many people that do 'scout reports'. It's hard to stand out at the moment and I feel like it was easier to break through a few years ago. As it's a hobby, for now, it's hard to find the right balance between watching football and work etc.

Do you see player development as more of an art or a science? Is development on the club or the player? Why?

I think player development is both on the club and on the player. The club has to have the right facilities and resources, while the player has to put work in to develop. I see player development more like an art, player development can be quite unpredictable and sometimes a player who you don't think has a lot of talent can develop himself massively.

What is your favorite sports moment? Why?

100% the away game of Ajax at the Bernabeu. Ajax went to the second leg with a 1-2 deficit but kept believing in themselves and managed to do the unthinkable, winning 1-4 in Madrid. I still think about it every week and I think that I watched the highlights more than 1000 times. 

What coach/player/team inspires you? Why?

Famalicão have inspired me this year. They began as eleven individuals this year, but after a while, the team got closer to each other and they began to play as a team. I think they came back from behind several times this year and especially the away game against Sporting inspired me to always keep believing in my dreams. 

What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into media/analytics?

As this is only the beginning for me, I'd say keep believing in your dreams, find the right people and don't hesitate to ask them questions. If you are a beginner and you don't ask questions, then you won't know what's going on in the footballing world and you probably have the wrong perception about how transfers take place etc. 

What is your favorite app/tool to use (for fun!)?

I've used WhoScored and WyScout and WhoScored should do for when it's a hobby for one. However, if I'd get an opportunity sometime, I would certainly need something like WyScout or InStat.

What other sport/hobby/discipline do you feel improves your work as an analyst? Why?

I think that watching other sports can help you in understanding sports in general, which you definitely need if you're going to have a professional job in football. You need to improve your social skills as well I reckon, getting a professional job isn't only about having knowledge about football, I think you need to have some social skills as well.