Several data-driven organisations offer platforms to their clients to support player recruitment. The people at the club can enter the platform and look for interesting players themselves. Although this can be very useful, we deliberately choose for consultancy instead. Let’s explain why by discussing the pros and cons of both methods.
Platform
Scouting partners who offer a platform can be recognized by a few key elements. They offer an easy to use search engine, an eye-catching web design and many data, shown as numbers and visualisations. By choosing certain parameters such as age, region, playing minutes, passing accuracy and rating, a certain list of players is displayed.
Such platforms can be very useful for clubs, because they offer a well arranged overview of available players, supported by both demographic and statistical information. On the other hand, a do-it-yourself-platform brings multiple obstacles to overcome. Below, we explain the main reasons why we choose for consultancy instead.
Interpretation
With everything in life, the right context, nuances and interpretation are crucial to use all the available information to your advantage. This holds even more so for using data in player recruitment. When you use data in a smart way, it can be very beneficial to a club’s scouting activities. However, when used in the wrong way, it does more damage than good.
In using data, it is crucial to take into account a lot of different exceptions, adjustments, cause and effect relationships, nuances, biases and external factors. This asks for experts who specialise in building data models, interpreting data and using or ignoring the things you can and can’t get from data-driven player profiles.
One rating per player
Let’s provide a more specific example. A lot of data platform providers offer the opportunity to show player ratings. Player X has a Quality Index of 243, where player Y has only 213. At first sight, this is very useful, as it is easy to understand for people at the club. Ideally, you’d want to rank all players worldwide in rankings that are easy to read.
However, this doesn’t match with our believe about player quality in general and player scouting in particular. For several reasons, a player can’t be reduced to a single number. The value a player has for his club depends on a lot of factors.
The playing style of the team, the tactical formation, his position within the game plan, his role within this position, the connections with his teammates, the trust his manager shows in him, the facilities the club offers to make the most out of every player… all very relevant for his quality.
Player roles
To adjust for most of these things, we developed different player roles for every position on the field. Within every role, different statistical parameters have a different value. Scoring output is more important for an attacking midfielder who makes a lot of deep runs, where as (expected) assists are more important for a play-making attacking midfelder who offers a lot of creative dribbling and passing.
Here, you can read more about the way we use data analysis.
Then still, not everything that’s important can be captured by using event data. As Albert Einstein once said: ‘Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.’ Therefore, we always use video scouting to evaluate players with good data within their player role in a team.
Video scouting
One thing that really sets us apart from most other digital football scouting companies is the addition of video scouting. Platforms such as WyScout and InStat also offer video scouting possibilities, but clubs perform the actual video scouting themselves.
The way we work is like this: based on the search criteria of the club (tactical profile, demographic information, financial budget, etcetera), we use data analysis to compile a list of the best options. Then, in our three-step video analysis process, we select the best options.
Here, you can read more about our video scouting process.
In this article, we explain how our five-step scouting process works.
Continuous communication
After delivering a shortlist with the best possible options to the club, we always receive feedback. Which players were rated highly, and about which player was the club less enthusiastic? And more importantly: why was that? This constant communication cycle (explaining the search criteria in detail, elucidating the players on the shortlist and providing feedback) is crucial.
By providing a platform to the club, there is barely any communication going on in both directions. The data company provides a one-size-fits-all digital environment. After that, the club can use it by themselves without improving step-by-step as a result of constant interaction.
Consultancy
When cooperating with 11tegen11 Scouting, it’s not just about using a digital program. We like to exchange information with the club on a weekly basis and get involved more and more in the scouting team. Moreover, we want to learn everything about the exact playing style of the club, as well as the most urgent needs in the next transfer window.
Obviously, we are aware of the fact our consultancy services are not scalable. We are not capable of serving 10 of 20 clubs with our digital scouting support. Fortunately, that’s not what we aspire, either. In the next one or two years, we’d like to expand the number of clubs we work closely together with from two to a maximum of four. By doing so, we are able to provide the best possible digital scouting support.
Get in touch
Is your club looking to find more high-quality players, and save both time and money? And are you wondering if we might be able to offer that?
We’d be very happy to schedule a 30 minute video call to talk things over. We’ll explain in more detail how we work and are curious about your scouting team and the main challenge you face.
