The Scouted Hub

Global football consultancy working in partnership with select clients to achieve success both on and off the football pitch.

[CPD Tref Caernarfon Town FC @CaernarfonTown]

We are delighted with all the interest shown in our retro shirt. The shirts are on pre-sale for just two weeks with no guarantee that we'll be selling them after this period. Please get your orders in as soon as you can. Order directly with this link: https://t.co/ElQhWTi0Ve

[Welsh Football Fans @welshfootball_]

Best Cymru Premier shirt, not just this season, but of all time? We think so…

Superb from @TeamTorSports 🔥

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

We echo what we wrote about @fcunion_en in Sept. In January they acquired 3 players ages 26, 27, & 30. Josip Juranovic in particular has been massive, but Laidouni & Roussillion have made 10 & 8 starts and had an impact as well. Is value investment alive and well? #Bundesliga

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

They’ve even gone from the oldest team in the league to the 2nd oldest! But still, it may represent its own innovative approach – is it possible football has gotten to the point where 26-27 year-olds are better investments than 20-23 year olds with continually escalating fees?

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

All three of the clubs we mentioned below are winning right now and in the top 8 of the #Bundesliga (knock on wood!). Be interesting to see how it shakes out, but clearly @fcunion_en, @VfLWolfsburg_EN, and @eintracht_eng deserve a lot of credit for their recruitment.

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

Continuing with our transfer review of Big 5 leagues (check out our Premier League thread yesterday), we move to the Bundesliga.

[Soccer Analysis - Americas @SoccerAmericas1]

@TheScoutedHub We definitely got this one correct I think. 😃

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

@RCLens is currently up 2-0 at home vs. OM and if the result stands, will be clearly in 2nd place in #Ligue1. While we were impressed with their recruitment this year, think they’ve even surpassed our expectations.

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

Recruitment is the key. What a great job @RCLens did retooling from last season. Now sitting 4 points off top in @Ligue1_ENG, right behind PSG.

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

Since being only 2 points out of relegation in mid-March, @SevillaFC_ENG has 16 points (2nd best), and has moved up to mid-table. In their last win vs. Espanyol, all 3 goal scorers were players brought in via the January window. Bravo to Monchi for rectifying mistakes.#Laliga

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

We also wonder if it was wise to replace Ocampos & his 10 goal contributions in ~2,000 league minutes with Isco and Adan Januzaj, especially with the injury to Tecatito. They've not started well with 5 points and a xGD of -3.5 after 6 matches.

Comments/feedback are welcome!

[Edd Norval @EddNorval]

Brighton’s owner Tony Bloom.

Brentford’s owner Matthew Benham.

Both gambling experts.

One of the key concepts of gambling is managing and controlling risk.

Make chance work out in your favour.

There will *always* be risk though.

Why does this scare so many clubs?

[Edd Norval @EddNorval]

This isn’t confirmed, but is it that bad?

Yes and no.

Unlike Mastercard’s genius evolution, La Liga has opted for revolution.

The new logo has no golden thread back to the heritage of the iconic colour wheel.

What was the most recognisable feature is no more.

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

@RemEEEE Our recollection was that the games were fairly close - believe United had to score 2 goals in the 2nd half to go thru - neither were clear cut chances - and that Barca had a massive chance before half to go 4-2 on aggregate that they kind of botched.

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

Barcelona's defensive record is nothing short of amazing. Only 9 GA all season - next best in Europe's big 5 leagues is Lazio with 21. They've conceded only 2 goals at home. It's a combo of high pressure, possession, but they control matches so well. #LaLigaSantander

[Richard Davies @fish3EFC]

Extremely grateful to the board to be given the opportunity to lead this Fantastic football club for the last 5 games. Proud of the players & Management team ensuring we kept our Status in the WPL. Not the season we had wished for but time to recharge the batteries now. 💛💚

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

@RemEEEE Smaller sample size, but some of the underlying performance metrics would indicate Barca were a bit unfortunate in their matches with Inter in particular. Difficult draw, but think their performance at home vs. Bayern was very disappointing.

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

#RCLens continues to make us look good! Tied for second in #Ligue1UberEats and right in the #UCL mix.

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

Recruitment is the key. What a great job @RCLens did retooling from last season. Now sitting 4 points off top in @Ligue1_ENG, right behind PSG.

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

We watch lots South American football & we like Calegari's potential, but agree his offensive game is limited with sign of potential...think the idea of playing in a lesser defensive league to help develop his offensive game before a bigger move is a really interesting idea.

[Soccer Analysis - Americas @SoccerAmericas1]

@LAGalaxy wasted no time in replacing Julian Araujo with 21-year-old Calegari from Fluminense. While Calegari isn’t quite the player Araujo is, he’s a responsible FB with good athleticism and strength, and an emerging offensive game that’s better in the middle than final third.

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

@1pedroventura1 That's fair, we aren't even suggesting they were the wrong calls. But yes, you make calls like that against one of the big three teams, you are going to be scrutinized for better or for worse.

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

Some massive results in Europe this weekend, but this Porto / Gil Vicente match is one of the most shocking - Porto has 15 minutes to try and get points, they are down by 2 men, and have had a goal overturned. If this stands, Benfica will be 8 points clear. Very strange match.

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

@1pedroventura1 Certainly 2 red cards is unusual. Beyond that, VAR played a very active role - that was also strange. Gil Vicente's lack of composure on the ball was also strange, but that's another story!

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

Almada at #ATLUTD is a talent. He's very right footed, but it's a weapon combined with his ball control, deception, and good agility and underrated strength. His defensive effort is inconsistent, but was good to see him on the ball so often last night. #MLSisBack

[Soccer Analysis - Americas @SoccerAmericas1]

His 8 shots were also 3 more than we saw in his entire professional career. Atlanta had some trouble finding him early, typically building out using a double pivot of Matheus Rossetto and Franco Ibarra (see below), but started forcing the ball more his way in the second half.

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

As always, thanks to https://t.co/0gec3v1uWb and their interface that depicts data by date, which is super useful for simplistic time based analysis.

[The Scouted Hub @TheScoutedHub]

We've been playing around with some numbers using Understat's xPTS model to see how the World Cup break may have affected some teams and there are some pretty interesting results. While we've already mentioned #Chelsea, there are other statistical outliers.