How hard can it be?

“It really is simple – just avoid doing the dumb things. Avoiding the dumb things is the most important.” 

Warren Buffett

Avoid doing the dumb things. Dumb things don't necessarily feel dumb at the time. Signing promising young players or giving more recruitment power to an influential manager can quickly devolve in to dumb things. Dumb things also conveniently look like what mainstream clubs. Eating a handful of peanuts in the stands is not abnormal, unless of course you have a peanut allergy. Knowing what you can and can't do financially is usually a good place to start.

Stupidity

If you stay rational yourself, the stupidity of the world helps you.

Charlie Munger

The brilliance of one player, a la Erling Braut Haaland, can force a wave of new prospects to originate from one country or area. Norway, and by extension Scandinavia, has mostly been a solid if not spectacular region to scout and recruit from. Don't fall prey to 'new waves' or 'golden generations'. Create your scouting philosophy, follow it and perfect it. The long term is won by multiple small decisions made well, time after time.

We Don't Do That, We do This

"You have figure out what your own aptitudes are. If you play games where other people have the aptitudes and you don't, you're going to lose."

Charlie Munger

In a connected world it's tempting to replicate other teams' strategies, especially when it comes to recruitment. The Red Bull franchises, Atalanta, Ajax, et al have defined, refined and stress-tested processes in relation to recruitment. Do you? Often times it's more fruitful to know what you are not than to force who you can become.

11 Questions with Josh Williams

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 Josh Williams:


How did your first opportunity in football come about? 

Professionally, outside bits of freelance work, I applied for a newly-created role at Reach whereby the writer had to essentially have the footballing knowledge of an actual scout/analyst. I was invited to London, interviewed and informed days later that my application was successful. 

What attracted you to writing about football? What’s more intriguing now names or numbers? 

I wanted to express my understanding of the game in the hope that I’d provide readers with insight. I think people who read about football want to learn, but a lot of widespread content is generic and could be written by the man on the street. My intention was to focus on aspects that, in my opinion, deserved more attention. 

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

I’m not sure about the first player but funnily enough, weeks after starting at Reach, I was asked to generate a small list of promising British players competing in the lower leagues. I was quite pushed for time and had to provide the names quickly, so I used only data to pick up on some interesting outliers without video - which I would never usually do. 

Karlan Grant was one name - he moved to the Premier League months later having been spotted by Huddersfield Town. Ezri Konsa also - who proceeded to sign for Aston Villa last summer. Eberechi Eze was another, as well as Callum Robinson before he moved to Sheffield United. Obviously there’s a lot more to scouting than spotting players who are posting notable numbers, but the success of the quick 30-minute list that I produced has since been very good. 

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

This was before I was involved with analysis and football writing, but I was convinced Lazar Markovic to Liverpool was a solid move. I had watched him months earlier for Benfica against Juventus in the latter stages of the Europa League, and he seemed to be everywhere. He was only 20 years-old at the time as well, but this is a good example of why definitive conclusions about a player based on an isolated performance in one match should be avoided. 

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

I’d largely follow the same route if I could and don’t think I’d change much at all. Every player develops differently according to the challenges he faces throughout his life, and it’s the same for analysts/writers. I’ll pick up on different aspects of the game than other people and that’s because of what I’ve read, what I’ve seen and what I value. 

Obviously it would’ve been nice to chase a career in football/journalism from the start, but if I was to start from scratch and build on different skills first, I’d probably be an entirely different writer. Embrace your own methods. 

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

I see both sides. There’s an art to how a player develops from childhood - the unique traits that he picks up while playing on the streets, often as a result of his surroundings or the players he’s watched on TV. On the other hand, science has to be applied at some stages - to ensure that a player evolves physically, for example. 

I believe development is predominantly on the player, though. The enthusiasm and willingness to improve has to come from within for the club to stand any chance of getting involved and impacting his future. 

What is your favorite sports moment? Why? 

I have too many to pick a favourite, but I won’t forget witnessing Liverpool win the Champions League last season. Never has a team been more deserving of silverware, yet at one stage it looked as though the Premier League and Champions League had both slipped away inside the space of a week. 4-0 against Barcelona, and then 2-0 against Spurs changed that. 

What coach/player/team inspires you? Why? 

I can’t look past Jurgen Klopp. His managerial career has been brilliant so far despite the hurdles he’s faced, he’s transformed the club that I’ve supported for my whole life with style and personality and on top of that - he’s also a special person. Liverpool are now truly a product of their environment. The head coach and the supporters are aligned in their belief of how the game should be played. Klopp is a one-off. 

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

Decide what you want to do, recognise what you’re good at and make it happen. It sounds unrealistic, but it’s really that simple. Keep learning, keep improving, and keep pushing forwards with stamina towards whatever your goal is. As cheesy as it sounds, the universe will move for you providing your direction doesn’t change. Be original, interesting and engaging along the way, and people will take notice eventually, especially if you use a platform such as Twitter to promote your work. 

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

Twitter. I’ve learnt an awful lot using that platform simply by following people who think about football similarly to myself. I’ve benefited a lot from being part of an online community full of people who also want to analyse the game in different ways. 

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

I think a lot of people only tend to understand situations according to their own perspective. If your perspective is limited, you’ll fail to comprehend the thought process behind plenty of decisions. 

When analysing football, it helps a lot if you’re open-minded, objective and reasonable when getting to the bottom of whether a team are well-coached, or when explaining the logic behind a specific tactical move. No matter how bad the decision - there is always a thought process behind it. 

I try to be unbiased, and I try to avoid jumping to conclusions by gathering all the relevant information before expressing my thoughts. It’s not a discipline, but having a receptive attitude will improve you.

Non-idotic

"Other people are trying to be smart, all I’m trying to be is non-idiotic. I’ve found that’s all you have to do to get ahead in life, be non-idiotic and live a long time. It’s harder to be non-idiotic than most people think."

Charlie Munger

As the revenue from player trading and sell-on clauses continue to become an integral part in mainstream club strategy it's easy to become enamored with the 'next' young star, or wave of data analysis or even in game strategy and tactics. The smart clubs know their limitations, focusing on what can be executed consistently. Not making 'idiotic' decisions in recruitment is fundamental in creating the building blocks for success of a club.

11 Questions with Luis Viegas

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 Luis Viegas:

How did your first opportunity in football come about?

I played until the U19’s of my city’s club, Académica, and worked as a sports journalist for  about a decade. I built a solid career, covering some major events, but in 2011 a close friend started to manage a club in the Portuguese first division, Beira-Mar, and invited me to work there. That’s how I landed in the football industry. Later I had a brief spell at Petrolul Ploiesti, from Romania, just before coming to Thailand, in 2014, with a Portuguese coach, Rui Bento, with whom I worked in Beira-Mar.

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

I always enjoyed to know everything about players and teams. In the early 90s I remember that my favorite time or the year was the release of the football season magazines. At that time everything was much more about names, as the numbers available were few. Now we are in an era where we have to combine names and numbers. But numbers alone will never give you anything. Names can give.

What player or concept you fascinates you? What caught your eye?

The first touch, the relation with the ball. Then comes the decision making, the awareness, the competitive attitude. And also the capacity to understand the game and to take different roles.

What is the biggest misconception you’ve found in this space?

Giving priority to numbers. The game is chaotic and often driven by emotions. Numbers are relevant, yes, but can’t come as priority. For every number there is always a context that needs to be considered. And also drawing conclusions at first sight, both in analyzing the game or scouting players. Sometimes first impression doesn’t matter.

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

I would be more objective and synthetic. I remember collecting far too much information. That costed me a lot of time and didn’t improve the quality of the work.

What is more important player development or recruitment? Why?

To recruit a player who can still develop. But the hierarchy of these two concepts depends on the club’s philosophy and project.

What is your favorite sports moment? Why?

Portugal winning the Euro 2016. Our culture is extremely devoted to football and finally we got an international trophy. It was a reward for everyone, from the kid who starts at the age of four dreaming of being a player to the coaches who are now in the elite of world football.

What coach/player/team inspires you? Why?

At our club we created and internal project called “Shadow Teams”, which consists of identifying and monitoring teams all around the world with a similar game model and playing ideas. From there we take material to reflect, analyze and develop our own game. We follow teams like Manchester City, Liverpool, RB Leipzig, Roma, Atalanta, Flamengo or Defensa y Justicia. About players there is only one that I may see in a special way. Today he would be a phenomenon. His name is Paulo Futre.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into this space?

Study a lot, develop a consistent network, expose your work and and eventually be prepared to at some point make difficult decisions on a personal level. And then have a strong work routine and continuous learning. Is hard to get into this business but is even harder to stay in it.

Who is your favorite athlete? Why?

I admire people with the mindset of guys like Michael Jordan or Cristiano Ronaldo. They aren’t in the sports to be nice guys. They are there just to win and for that they are ready to work within the limits.

What is your favorite quote or saying?

One that we can use for sport and for life: “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”, Martin Luther King, Jr.

11 Questions with Jack Brace

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 Jack Brace, creator of Red Bull Hub:

What is your first memory of football?

I honestly don’t remember much from the match, but I would have to say England versus Croatia in 2007 is the earliest memory I have. 

What attracted you to the Red Bull setup? What’s more intriguing now: names, numbers or potential?

I first became interested in the Red Bull setup back in the summer of 2017 after reading The European Game by Daniel Fieldsend because it has a chapter on Red Bull Salzburg, and as I wanted a journalistic niche, I began researching the clubs further and became fascinated. I would have to say potential is the most intriguing as Red Bull clubs uncover a lot of raw talent from ‘obscure’ nations and it’s fascinating to see how these players develop and progress through their careers. 

What’s more intriguing to you long term in the Red Bull setup: cultivating championships or building more teams across the globe? Why?

It has to be cultivating championships because it exemplifies the progression of players and coaches under Red Bull clubs’ guidance. Although it is interesting to learn about new clubs acquired by Red Bull and how they operate, an example being Red Bull Bragantino, I think the company should avoid buying too many clubs as it will become excessive and potentially take away from the uniqueness of the operation. 

What is the biggest misconception/cliche regarding Red Bull you’ve found in this space?

That Red Bull is ruining football. While I understand people’s perspective because of how the company has acquired clubs and circumnavigated laws in the game, but the way the clubs operate through a distinct philosophy and a 23-and-under strategy in the transfer market is a perfect example of how clubs can operate within financial means and achieve success. Some people reading this may be thinking about the financial backing and while the company does make start-up financial injections, the money has to be paid back to the company over time. 

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

It would have to be perseverance. Wanting to become very knowledgeable or an expert in a specific field requires a lot of time and effort to be put in, and, admittedly, I have found it very difficult at times and self-doubt has come into play a lot, which sometimes I have let get the better of me. Therefore, it is vital that you persevere and continue to work towards your goals because you won’t progress if you’re sitting around doing nothing.

What is more important domain knowledge or curiosity?

Domain knowledge is a result of curiosity. To be knowledgeable in a certain field you have to be constantly curious as there is so much new information to be learnt every day. My life essentially revolves around Red Bull nowadays as I am constantly keeping up with the new information and even though I have been doing this for three years, I believe I have only uncovered the tip of the iceberg and still need to remain curious to discover what’s underneath the surface. 

What coach or player would you give a lifetime contract to? Why?

He’s not a coach for a Red Bull club anymore nor a player so this may be cheating, but it would have to be Ralf Rangnick, who, as of writing this, is currently the Head of Sport and Development at Red Bull. Although, this may not be for long because he is heavily linked with a move to AC Milan.

The reason behind this is because he’s the man that orchestrated the entire Red Bull project and created a footballing philosophy based on the company’s energy drink demographic, and even though he is 61, I believe he would still have a huge impact on the project for the next decade or so. 

What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into this space?

Persistently work hard to make a name for yourself. Don’t worry if you’re not getting hundreds, if not thousands, of views per article straight away, that will eventually come - focus on your development as a content creator because as your content improves, more and more people will begin to share it and learn from it. Sometimes it’s a case of having a fortunate break, so be prepared for when that day comes.

I launched Red Bull Hub in January 2018 and I garnered a decent following quite quickly through persistent work and the greater interest in Red Bull football due to Red Bull Salzburg’s run to the Europa League semi-finals a few months later. Even if you’ve achieved a bit of success, keep going as there is so much more to achieve. 

What is your favorite quote or saying?

“One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.” - Sigmund Freud. 

11 Questions with Steve Jackson

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 Steve Jackson:

How did your first opportunity in football come about?

My football opportunity’s not materialised yet! Analysing the data is just a hobby. The closest I’ve come is when the fitness coach at Ipswich Town (the team I support) replied to one of my tweets, asking if I could help them. He called me to say that they’d just started using player tracking technology and wanted some support to analyse the data. Unfortunately, the manager and his team were swiftly sacked, so it went no further.

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

I’ve always been a football fan and have a maths background – so football data analysis is an obvious interest for me, sitting in the intersection of that Venn diagram. But it’s only relatively recently that I’ve focused on it as a hobby. Discovering the football analytics community on Twitter in 2015 opened up a whole new world to me – I hadn’t realised that there were so many knowledgeable people applying data in smart ways to evaluate players and teams. This spurred me to better understand what could be achieved with football data, and blog about it.

It think it’s the numbers I still find more intriguing. The thing I find so fascinating about football is that so much of what happens in a particular match is random – but over the longer term, outcomes are incredibly consistent. For example, data such as average goals, shots and home advantage tend to be very stable, season after season. But subtle changes can affect that dynamic. Currently we’re seeing examples of this – such as the introduction of VAR.

COVID-19 is another factor. Even though, overall, it could be disastrous for football, some of the changes it’s caused will be fascinating to analyse. We’re already seeing the impact in Germany, with home advantage appearing to diminish with no crowds. The introduction of 5 substitutes is a further change to watch with interest.

Another great thing about football data is that I think we’ve only just touched the surface of what can be achieved with data to understand football, there’s so much more to discover.

What type of player fascinates you? What caught your eye?

I like players that can transcend their team with a moment of individual brilliance – players such as Eric Cantona, Dennis Bergkamp and Steven Gerrard (and obviously Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who do it all the time).

I also like players that maintain consistently high performance over several years. Two Premier League players immediately come to mind. N'Golo Kanté and Riyad Mahrez both impressed in Leicester City’s shock title winning season in 2015/16, and have both gone on to prove they are world class players at other clubs. Mahrez sometimes has limited opportunities at Manchester City, but every time he plays he posts spectacular numbers. My data driven player evaluation has him as as the 3rd best Premier League player in the 2019/20 season.

What is the biggest misconception you’ve found in this space?

That numbers take the fun out of football. I actually think it’s the reverse – and that data analytics can reveal new, innovative ways of playing that make football more exciting. Liverpool are a great example, they’re probably the most advanced English team for data analytics – and over the last few years, the most entertaining. [However, it could be argued that this season they’ve become more efficient and hence less entertaining – which could be numbers driven.]

Another one is expected goals. I think the creation of expected goals, which was one of the concepts that got me interested in football analytics, was a great step forward. And it’s also good that they’re starting to be used by the mainstream media – e.g. on Match of the Day. But xGs are now usually presented as objective figures – like the number of corners or yellow cards. For example, Match of the Day viewers will see xG alongside other match data, presented without explanation that they are just one version of xG based on a particular model’s assumptions and methods. Without context they’re not particularly helpful and could disengage viewers from football data.

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

Communication – both written and verbal. Clearly, ability to carry out complex data analysis is important, so proficiency in R or Python will be beneficial (although I still often go back to my comfort zone of Excel) – but communicating complex concepts to an (often sceptical) audience, is hard. Good communication skills can also be applied outside of football analytics, and will still be relevant in the future – when the technology to analyse data may have changed.

What is more important domain knowledge or curiosity?

Curiosity, because there’s so much scope for innovation and development in football analytics.

What is your favorite sports moment? Why?

From a football numbers perspective – Leicester winning the Premier League in 2015/16. It challenged what so many people thought they knew about football. It caused modellers (like me) to review their assumptions. What was the real likelihood of Leicester winning the league? (was it 5000-1?). In reality, because we have so little past data, it’s difficult to quantify the actual likelihood.

Leicester also confounded the normal rules about the numbers a team needs to achieve to be successful – by winning the league with the third lowest possession and second lowest pass completion!
What coach or player would you give a lifetime contract to? Why?

Marcelo Bielsa. His transformation of Leeds United over such a short period is remarkable – and it’s amazing to see what his incredible level of professionalism (e.g. spygate and encyclopaedic knowledge of every team) can achieve.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into this space?

Identify areas of play or tactics that haven’t been analysed fully yet, but where there’s potential for teams to improve – and focusing on these – is a good way to stand out. @PenaltyKickStat is a good example of this.

Who is your favorite athlete? Why?

Probably Sergio Agüero, who has maintained consistently elite performance over 9 seasons with the same team – and I think is underrated in terms of his contribution to the Premier League.

What is your favorite quote or saying?

"When seagulls follow the trawler it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea"

11 Questions with Last Row

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 Last Row:

How did your first opportunity in football come about?


I wanted to develop my data analysis and visualization skills and decided to learn Python. So I started using football as a subject, mainly scraping and making data visualizations. That was in 2014.

In 2017 I started experimenting with positional data, because I was tired of the limitations of event data, and in 2018 created the twitter account - @lastrowview.

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


Football Manager, the computer game (not that surprising if you ever watched my videos). I was a huge fan of the game growing up, so the analytics community felt like home right away.

What's more intriguing? It is always the combination of names and numbers, of watching the matches and looking at the data.

What type of player fascinates you? What caught your eye?


The midfielder that makes the pass that opens up the defense, but not necessarily the assist: Pirlo, Modric, Busquets.

What is the biggest misconception you’ve found in this space?


That stats are inherently limited. Stats are always a simplification of reality, but that's a feature, not a bug - they're not supposed to be a substitute for actually watching the matches.

Of course, there are some gaps in the stats we use, and that is a bug. We need to develop metrics to fill those gaps.

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


I started with Python, and I haven't regretted it. However, there's one thing I wish I had done more: writing.

What is more important domain knowledge or curiosity?


Curiosity (or interest/passion). It's always easier to get domain knowledge than to get curiosity.

What is your favorite sports moment? Why?


Eder scoring the goal in the Euro final.

Finally my country won a major international tournament, and the deciding goal was scored by a player that started in my home club, a player I watched live many times and was always fond of, and a player that was often misundertood. He became a hero that day, and I loved it.

What coach or player would you give a lifetime contract to? Why?


At a young age, obviously Messi.

Right now, as a player: Mbappé. I don't remember ever watching a player with his combination of speed and technique.

As a coach: Klopp. He'll make the best of the players available to him. And he'll always be entertaining.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into this space?


Make stuff and put it out in the world, but be humble. A lot of it won't be good, and that's fine. Don't be mad when people point that out. It'll become better with time.

Who is your favorite athlete? Why?

I love Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. It's a wonderful privilege to witness two amazing players having an almost flawless and long career at the same time. We'll be missing them for a long time.

What is your favorite quote or saying?


I don't have a favorite quote. I'm more of a numbers guy...

11 Questions with Andrew Flint

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 Andrew Flint:

How did your first opportunity in football come about?

I was sitting in the media manager’s office in the summer of 2014 arranging my season ticket for FK Tyumen, my local club out in Siberia, watching the first team training on the pitch below outside. He had just explained the difficulties a third-tier club had in promoting their cause, and

as I watched Vladimir Kuleshev shank a shot well wide I had a flashbulb moment: why not offer to write about the club? Anton’s face lit up at the novelty of having a foreign reporter and suggested I write about the new stadium.

It had been over four years since I’d written about football in any way since studying at

journalism college in Wimbledon but it reignited my desire. I remember comparing the Geolog Stadium to the Bird’s Nest in Beijing, and that it took me about two months to finish, but it started my career.

What attracted you to data/media? What’s more intriguing now names or numbers?

The attraction of media for me is the unlimited potential to continuously develop and learn. I would never have had the opportunities I’ve been lucky to have without building a base of knowledge of connections. It’s a career path that feeds off personal connections.

I think it is wrong to dismiss any form of analysis or opinion on football, however unfathomable it may seem. The social media age has spawned a lot of unsavoury snobbery about alternative views, so I think it is important to remain open to all aspects. Names will always appeal to me

more as I love stories more than factual analysis, but I am intrigued by intelligent users of numbers like Total Football Analysis.

What type of player fascinates you? What caught your eye?

Eric Cantona. Everyone loves a player who can provide what no other can, and he transformed

the attitude of an entire club from fans to players. There are very few players I have witnessed change a team so drastically as he did - Edgar Davids in 2003/04 at Barcelona was almost one - and go beyond simply playing well: he understood, and loved, the club. Sport is a form of fantasy, so the ultimate players will always be those that conjure up more than just wins and trophies.

What is the biggest misconception you’ve found in this space?

I suppose the biggest misconception I’ve encountered is that you have to shout loudest and have the most followers to be relevant. Writers of all ages and backgrounds are showing resourcefulness to build their portfolios in a new media that is unrecognisable to the vast majority of established print media. There is an enormous swathe of clickbait nonsense, but sift through that and you can find the most phenomenal conversations developing from non-

traditional sources.

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

I would want to experiment with a lot more styles and formats of writing. Falling into a

comfortable rut is a dangerously lazy habit to develop, and one I’ve been guilty of occasionally, so testing different platforms and mediums would have prepared me better for my career.

What is more important domain knowledge or curiosity?

They are the same thing for me. Point-scoring is not proof of superiority despite what so many charlatans appear to believe, especially on social media. Quoting statistics shows you can use google, not that you are knowledgeable. I believe learning for yourself rather than being handed experience and knowledge is akin to a footballer who grew up with nothing compared to one

from privilege.

What is your favorite sports moment? Why?

It is tempting to try and choose an esoteric moment as if to prove some vague notion of

originality, but nothing will ever compare to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s stretched leg at the Camp Nou in 1999. As a fan it was simply unbeatable; pure raw emotion.

In the sense of pure sporting theatre, watching the final day of the Miracle of Medinah 2012 Ryder Cup comeback was utterly absorbing from start to finish. Johnny Wilkinson’s drop goal in 2003 to win the World Cup against Australia in their own back yard was made even more special by the baying Aussies flooding the Barcelona pub where I watched it. To watch John Isner’s epic Wimbledon marathon against Nicolas Mahut was to witness remarkable endurance.

At the completely opposite end of the scale though, in a purely personal sense, possibly my favourite moment came while watching a match in the sixth tier of English football. Altrincham are my local non-league side and despite a famous history of giant killings have never threatened true quality. A few years ago there was a very talented left-footed centre-back at the club called Greg Young who was capable of playing the ball on the ground intelligently. 

One match, while I was leaning over the advertising boards a metre from the touchline, he lumped a ball aimlessly into the corner to nobody. Frustrated at a capable player throwing away possession so cheaply I screamed: “Why the fuck did you do that Greg?!” He turned apologetically and replied directly to my face: “The gaffer told me to do it!” Well at least I had my answer.

What coach or player would you give a lifetime contract to? Why?

None. Once you do that you lose the very nature of that keeps the best going - pressure. Sir Alex Ferguson was the greatest manager in British football and he would have baulked at the idea of being awarded a lifetime contract. Sport thrives on the uncertainty of what will come, and

the best are those who push themselves as if they always have something to prove.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into this space?

Don’t hold back. It can be intimidating from the outside to see accounts on social media but ignore all the bluster and try your hand at anything - you’ll soon find your way. Some content you make will be bad. So what? Even that can teach you what to do better so it can never be an entirely bad thing. A surprising number of successful writers are extremely approachable if you show genuine intent to learn, and are willing to pass on their advice.

Who is your favorite athlete? Why?

Eric Cantona. Very few people can capture the very essence of what a club means to its fans, as well as being so gifted as a player and a person so as to transform the nature and fortunes of the team. His spirit was misunderstood 25 years ago as arrogance and foreign, when in fact he was a man who fiercely protected his teammates and his philosophy. He certainly courted corporate attention with his Nike sponsorship deals and was far from perfect, but he lived comfortably in his own skin.

What is your favorite quote or saying?

I would honestly go back to what my late grandfather used to teach me about the importance of communication. “To be interesting, be interested in people and events around you.” Pay attention to developing personal relationships and it will pay off handsomely.

11 Questions with Kevoni

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 Kevoni:

How did your first opportunity in football come about?

Don't remember exactly but I'm pretty sure I just asked someone on twitter if I could write an article for their website and it kinda grew from there.   

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

In life I've always been interested in knowing more and that was no different in football/soccer. After I got really interested in the sport, I always wanted to know more about clubs, players, coaches, agents etc. I'm more attracted to finding talented young players nowadays because they're the future, and it's always cool to know you saw the future before it came. 

I find both equally intriguing; it's always cool when you find a player with an interesting nickname or name (ex: Real Zaragoza's U19 team has a player nicknamed Totti), but it's just as intriguing when you find a player who's scored 28 goals in 22 matches (ex: Diego Rodríguez for Sevilla Juvenil C (U17)). But of course, as a scout you want to focus more on the numbers and how a player plays instead of thinking they'll be a great player because of having a cool name.

What type of player fascinates you? What caught your eye?

I'm personally fascinated by players who are effective (at scoring or assisting) and entertain. As a result, I'm usually more fascinated by flamboyant wingers (ex: Neymar at Santos), ball-playing center-backs (ex: Pablo Ramón at Real Madrid U19), and skillful attacking midfielders (Ömer Faruk Beyaz at Fenerbache). 

This is because I personally believe that we watch football/soccer (and even all sports) to be entertained and flamboyant players are the ones that most kids look up to, dreaming to be. However, any player who plays with intelligence and has good athletic ability will usually stand out in a match when playing in a normal position with confidence and that's what catches my eye the most when watching matches.

What is the biggest misconception you’ve found in this space?

The use of statistics without context. Often I see stats such as x player has not been dribbled the whole season, or x goalkeeper has conceded a large number of goals. A player not getting dribbled doesn't necessarily mean he's a brilliant defender, he could just be a winger who doesn't defend too much or a center-back part of a great back-line. A goalkeeper who has conceded a large number of goals in a given season doesn't mean he's a terrible goalkeeper, he could just be playing behind a awful defensive line and/or isn't fluent in the main language of the league. 

Of course, stats like these should be kept in mind and are somewhat noteworthy when you're going though a recruitment process, but I believe it's important to balance; always know the context of statistics and watch enough footage on the player before making a opinion on a player.  

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

Time management for me is the most important skill in not only football, but also life in general. Making sure you have enough time to exercise, work, and scout is a very important skill. If you're just scouting 20 hours a day, you won't last long in the profession and may develop chronic health problems as well. Time management is a skill that no person will ever completely master (we only have 24 hours a day no matter what we do), but we can always try and improve our time management skills by writing schedules, planning, and making sure we have the right balance to live a healthy life.

What is more important domain knowledge or curiosity?

Both, but if you're just getting started in scouting/media, having the curiosity is the most important...don't just assume a player is great because everyone else says so; always ask why and research a bit into how he plays. When you're more advanced in scouting/media, it's important to have a large domain...know the names and how they play. But without curiosity, you'll never get enough domain knowledge and you should always be willing to ask questions and research. 

What is your favorite sports moment? Why?

As a Sevilla supporter, I'm going to have to go with when Sevilla won their third Europa League in a row (5th all time) against Liverpool in 2016. It was the pinnacle of all the years of hard work Monchi and Emery had put in to get to that point. Sevilla had gone through their toughest times with relegations and financial problems in the late 90's and the tragic death of promising player Antonio Puerta in 2007. To have won a third Europa League in a row was the culmination of the 16 years of hard work Monchi had done in developing a great policy of buy low sell high, a large network of scouts, and developing great players through the youth system. 

What coach or player would you give a lifetime contract to? Why?

Coach: Jorge Sampaoli

Player: José Antonio Reyes

I'd give a lifetime contract to Sampaoli because he's a manager who always plays high pressing attacking football and can get the best out of extremely talented enigmatic players (ex. Jorge Valdivia at Chile, Samir Nasri at Sevilla). Although he's teams often lack discipline and Sampaoli's somewhat of a controversial figure, his teams always play entertaining football.

Although he passed away just over a year ago, Reyes is the one player I'd give a lifetime contract to. He was a leader who led with example, someone who always wanted to win, and above all a great person, always smiling and joking. As a player, he was a complete attacking force; versatile and able to assist as much as he scored. The quality he had in his left foot never left him and it was almost like he was always playing just for fun.

I'll leave just one example: When Reyes signed for second division side Cordoba CF in the winter market of the 2017-18 season, they were deep in the relegation zone and he was overweight. However, Reyes drove the team forward, starring in center midfield, seeing passes no one else could see and also losing 14 kilos of weight. In just four months, Reyes had inspired Cordoba to safety and became a fan favorite. In the final match of the season, with salvation secured, Reyes was given a long standing ovation with the entire stadium chanting his name. There's no other player I'd give a lifetime contract to besides Reyes.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into this space?

Believe in yourself, work hard, and live a balanced life.

Who is your favorite athlete? Why?

Paulo Henrique Ganso, he never really met the unfair expectations given to him but it's a joy to see him play. Although not the fastest or most athletic, Ganso is extremely intelligent and his creativity and vision of the game as well as how he makes everything seem so easy is what I like the most. It's a shame he was never given trust in Europe and his elegant "classic South American 10" playing style was outdated in modern football.

What is your favorite quote or saying?

Always turn a negative situation to a positive situation. - Micheal Jordan