Valued by its own right: time to score higher with women’s football
Women’s football is without doubt one of the most popular female sports today. In 2015, the world watched the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada, with thrilling matches, a total stadium attendance of more than 1.35 million spectators, and TV coverage in 188 territories with…
Most used formations in Europe’s top 5 Leagues
The seasons leading up to the World Cup are often the most interesting on a tactical level. Precisely for this reason, it is interesting to see what topics the most important coaches in the world are thinking about. To do this, we analysed the first…
Scouting time: 4 U21 players to follow in Italian Serie A
L’Ultimo Uomo analyzed for Wyscout Blog the most surprising U21 talents all over the world. The 1st article is dedicated to Italian Serie A. Pietro Pellegri – 16 years old – Genoa Pietro Pellegri is 16 years old and has destroyed several age records in Serie A:…
The huge success of last Wyscout Forum at Stamford Bridge by numbers
The latest Wyscout Forum, held at Stamford Bridge on November 7-8, 2017 will be remembered as the record-breaking edition. Stamford Bridge was for 2 days the heart of transfer negotiations and global networking. Manchester City, Juventus, Arsenal, Santos, Roma, Liverpool and Galatasaray were just a few of the clubs that attended…
Wyscout Forum is back: the world’s leading transfer market event to start at Stamford Bridge
Wyscout Forum is back. The must-attend event for football decision-makers is going to be held on November 7th-8th at the iconic Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge. An exclusive occasion to meet in one single place clubs, players’ agents and decision-makers from all over the world to start…
Expressing game dominance in soccer with the Invasion Index
A new possible interpretation of game dominance relies on the concept of invasion index, a metric which quantifies a team’s ability to play close to opponent’s goal.
Pedro Leon’s Movement is such a weapon for Eibar
Pedro Leon’s amazing season at Eibar has not only seen him be his team’s outstanding player, but also one of the finest in La Liga.
André Silva: an insight on the new AC Milan’s striker
In this intense start to the summer transfer market, Milan has signed the second most expensive player in its history.
Abraham’s Movement Impresses for England’s U21s
Despite England’s U21s being unable to overcome a defiant Swedish outfit, the performance of Tammy Abraham offered plenty of optimism for Aidy Boothroyd’s side looking ahead.
Ricardo Quaresma Key in Besiktas’ Title Winning Season
Ricardo Quaresma’s strong from this season was certainly a key element in Besiktas winning yet another Turkish Super Lig title.
Modric and Kroos Crucial in Real Madrid’s Triumph
Real Madrid put in a fantastic performance to overcome Massimiliano Allegri’s brilliant Juventus 4-1 in the Champions League final. And while every player in Zinedine Zidane’s team were excellent, the importance of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos deserved special mention yet again.
Bayer Leverkusen exploit central attacking areas expertly vs Herta
After a turbulent season that has been full of negativity and even featured a relegation scrap, Bayer Leverkusen ended the campaign in fine style by defeating Hertha Berlin 6-2.
Mourinho’s excellent match preparation in Europa League Final
The challenge between Josè Mourinho’s pragmatism and Peter Bosz’s offensive idealism followed a basic script to the letter: Mourinho gave the ball to Ajax (31% total possession, the lowest percentage in a European final along with Simeone’s Atletico in 2012 and his own Inter in 2010), leaving Bosz’s team dealing with the question of what to do with it.
Victor Sanchez’s Multifaceted Movement Key in Espanyol’s Build-Up
Whenever the Catalans looked to pass out from the back, Victor Sanchez’s clever variations in his movement successfully saw him position himself astutely to help his side progress upfield.
Dani Alves: technical overview of Coppa Italia decisive player
Dani Alves, once again, proved to be decisive in the most important moment.
After the double semi-final against Monaco where he stood out for his active contribution to all four Juventus goals, he also made the difference in Coppa Italia.
Jonny Evans: one of the finest defenders in Europe
Jonny Evans’ excellent performance vs Chelsea yet again solidified why he’s one of the finest defenders in the English Premier League.
Ziyech’s play in Ajax offensive strategy
Ajax is the fashionable team of this Europa League edition thanks to Hakim Ziyech and its very young formation and philosophy of offensive play.
Anthony Modeste continues his sensational form for Koln
Players that truly know how to play football know how to correctly interpret whether they are in a positional superiority even if they are in a numerical inferiority. In the same way as to whether they are in a positional inferiority they perceive whether they are in a numerical superiority..
Barcelona’s build-up vs Espanyol
Players that truly know how to play football know how to correctly interpret whether they are in a positional superiority even if they are in a numerical inferiority. In the same way as to whether they are in a positional inferiority they perceive whether they are in a numerical superiority..
Champions League top 3 goalscorers: a look at the numbers
While it’s not entirely surprising to see Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi, Bayern Munich sharpshooter Robert Lewandowski and PSG’s powerhouse Edinson Cavani occupying the top three spots in this season’s Champions League goalscoring chart, it’s interesting to analyse the numbers behind their success.
Unique new experience on training and match analysis with Wyscout – Spiideo partnership
Wyscout, the leading professional digital platform for football clubs, together with Spiideo, provider of state of the art sports video recording and analysis solutions, today announced the signing of a global partnership agreement
Juventus’ flexible defensive system vs Barca
Juventus will be in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals for the second time in the last three years, fortified with a defence that has non conceded a goal for 531’ consecutive minutes.
Lionel Messi’s dribbling wizardry vital in Barca’s Clasico triumph
Lionel Messi ‘s scintillating dribbling qualities yet again had a profound impact in Barcelona’s entertaining 3-2 win over Real Madrid in the Clasico
Anderson Talisca’s Masterful Movement a Huge Asset for Besiktas
Despite Besiktas leading the majority of their Europa League quarter-final first leg match with Lyon, they devastatingly lost 2-1, succumbing to two late goals from the home side. The loss still wasn’t enough to take the shine of yet another impressive performance from their wildly gifted attacking midfielder..
Gianluca Scamacca: a young multi-purpose Primavera striker
In modern football, where formations and positions tend to disappear more and more and where the teams take on different tactical structures within the same match depending on the game play situations, multi-purpose players are increasingly in demand.
Knowing how to do different things and in different areas of the pitch has become fundamental if you don’t want to miss the boat in terms of tactical game play evolution.
Of the young Italian forwards, perhaps the one closest to truly becoming a multi-purpose player, is Sassuolo’s Gianluca Scamacca.
Alan Carvalho’s nifty runs in behind crucial for Guangzhou Evergrande in derby
Guangzhou Evergrande went into their derby with Guangzhou R&F expecting to take home all three points, but even though they were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw, the performance of their Brazilian forward, Alan, still gave their supporters plenty to cheer about..
Andrea Belotti: the symbol of the modern centre forward
According to Fabio Capello, he has everything it takes to become even better than Gabriel Batistuta. According to the Torino president, the €100 million release clause is almost reductive based on the value of the player. According to many, Italy has found the centre forward of the future. He is Andrea Belotti, Serie A top goalscorer, tied with Edin Dzeko at 23 goals in 27 matches. An absolute protagonist of the season, he boasts 25 goals out of a total of 30 matches played with Torino, 28 in 37 matches if we also consider the National team, on which he has become a starter.
Hoffenheim’s Defensive Structure Disrupts Hertha’s Build-Up
Hoffenheim continued their remarkable season under their young managerial hotshot, Julian Nagelsmann, by brushing aside Hertha Berlin 3-1 on Friday night. The win now means Die Kraichgauer have collected their most ever Bundesliga points in a season, plus moves them into third place on the table..
Riccardo Marchizza: Primavera TIM promising Italian talent
Riccardo Marchizza is one of the most promising Italian centre fullbacks around. He has excellent physical and technical qualities: He has a solid build, almost two metres tall, combined with a highly accurate left foot that often manages to find the back of the net. In three years on the youth team, he has already scored 16 goals, a few of which on free kicks..
Raheem Sterling’s Strength in 1v1 Duels nicely served at City
It’s been fascinating to observe Raheem Sterling’s development under the tactically sophisticated methods of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Having a youngster with such raw talent, who he’s been able to mould and further improve, has seen Guardiola really, especially in recent months, get the best of the enormously gifted 22-year-old.
Serie A Match Day Report: Montella’s Milan performance vs Genoa
The Wyscout report on the 29th day of Serie A takes Milan to the top of the rankings for performance. The 1-0 win against Genoa can be seen as an emblem of the tactical project set up by Vincenzo Montella because of the principles of play and the improvement margins that separate the “Diavolo” from the top spots in the rankings..
Monaco’s Counter-attacking strategy
It might happen that coaches want to control the game at the point that it’s not straightforward anymore. Above all and in my view, the game of football is a “living organism” that some coaches do not let happen naturally, like what happens in street football, where in any space creativity is found and made to be found..
Jonathan Viera’s Multifaceted Movement vs Villarreal
There’s no doubting Jonathan Viera has been one of Las Palmas’ key driving forces in their strong season so far. Under the guidance and positional style of play of manager Quique Setien, his attacking genius has really thrived and animated Los Amarillos’ work in the final third..
Marseille successfully overload the 10 spaces in their win over Angers
With Marseille struggling for consistency this season, their impressive 3-0 victory over Angers at the weekend gave a glowing indication of just how good Rudi Garcia’s side can be when they get things right..
Sergio Ramos: the defender-goleador
Since the second San Paolo goal was considered an own goal by Dries Mertens, it cannot be said that Sergio Ramos has become the defender able to score the most goals with the Real Madrid jersey. With 67 goals from 2005..
Karim Benzema key movements during Real Madrid counter-attack
Very few teams in the world are as dangerous as Real Madrid in counter-attack. The technical and athletic dominance of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale obviously plays a key role, but Real’s counter-attack would not be as effective without Karim Benzema..
The importance of Sebastian Rudy in Hoffenheim’s Build-Up
Sebastian Rudy has unquestionably been one of the key driving forces behind Hoffenheim’s excellent Bundesliga campaign so far under budding young manager Julian Nagelsmann. And in his side’s domineering 5-2 win against Ingolstadt on the weekend..
Alessandro Rossi: characteristics of a U19 top-scorer
Alessandro Rossi promises to continue the long tradition of Italian centre forwards who combine effort and substance. He hasn’t scored since 21 January, exactly one month ago, and yet he is still the top goalscorer in the Italian U19 Group A, and he has maintained an average of 1 goal..
Radja Nainggolan: The new key factor in Roma’s play
Antonio Conte wanted him at Chelsea, but Radja Nainggolan stayed with Roma to establish himself as one of the most interesting midfielders on the international scene. And not only. In the new 3-4-2-1 formation enacted by Luciano Spalletti, he is managing to emerge as a true..
Trigueros’ role in Villarreal offensive action against Seville
In the match between Seville and Villarreal, with the home team dominating the ball, Villarreal had in Manu Trigueros the player with the difficult job of maintain possession after recovering the ball..
Three offensive strategies to face opponent’s high press
Only some teams manage to create a sufficient temporary spatial advantage for coming out to play, with quality, in the 1st building-up phase..
Impact of the three-man defence on European elite teams
For years, use of a three-man defence has been limited to just a few isolated cases and primarily connected to opposing views. Strictly defensive football like that..
Senegal’s Mané and Keita special offensive transition
In a competition like the African Cup of Nations (CAF), where the balance is traditionally shifted by the expectation of technical or athletic ..
Inter’s Roberto Gagliardini: dynamisms and tactical eclecticism
On Wednesday evening, Inter finalized an important reinforcement for its midfield with the acquisition of Roberto Gagliardini from Atalanta. The ‘nerazzurri’ invested two million Euro for the six-month loan of the player, adding another 20 for the buyback obligation..
Bundesliga’s shoot and goal accuracy in numbers
At the end of the first half of the season, the Bundesliga is now taking its winter break. We are now exactly at the half-way point, the right time to analyse the performance of the predominant strikers in the German league after 16 matches.
Mourinho’s tactical flexibility as key factor for Man United race
Understanding the culture, context, club, coach and player is shown to be fundamental today when beginning any training process and simultaneously any analysis of the game..
Diego Costa Statistics: tactical eclecticism and shot accuracy
One of the secrets of Antonio Conte’s Chelsea that took the lead in Premier League with a series of incredible, conclusive wins, is the polish that Diego Costa rediscovered …
Viktor Tsygankov: a young talent
The wings of the old days are no more, the ones that dribbled and always created numerical superiority. Anyone who agrees with this statement has never seen Viktor Tsygankov at work. The Dinamo Kiev nineteen year-old has already shown his skills in this part of the season and in Champions League on the team coached by Serhij Rebrov..
MLS Cup Final Recap: Technique and tactics behind the game
Technique, as the ninth commandment of Cruyff says, is the base. It is a simple concept in appearance only …
Everton vs Swansea 1-1: analysis of Ronald Koeman’s team
It all looked so rosy at Goodison Park back in mid-September.
How to study the offensive game in football: a case study of EPL teams
Any team in the World that has possession of the ball is going to try to create the best situations to be able to have success.
Bournemouth vs Sunderland: An Unexpected Win
It finally happened. After eleven games and what felt like an eternity of pain and frustration, Sunderland won a game of football.
A data analysis of Ibrahimovic play at Manchester United
In the troubles that seem to have afflicted Manchester United in Premier League, Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s slump is worrying
Are Leicester Turning The Corner?
Leicester City picked up their first away point of the season last weekend and they did it by…
Amine Harit young, gifted and french
At nineteen years of age, Amine Harit’s playing style does not hinge on dribbling, although he has excellent leg work and top shelf technique at high speed. His coach at Nantes, René Girard, does not consider him a young player to adapt little by little, but rather a footballer capable of covering all the positions in the midfield, reliable enough to be..
How Benitez is fixing Newcastle
Football is a chaotic game that, in spite of efforts from the richest clubs and certain cowed governing bodies to ensure otherwise …
Studying The Game As An Interaction
How can you identify what is effectively happening in the game?
The 4 Key Technical aspects of France strategy heading to the 2018 World Cup
Three months have passed since their defeat in the Euro2016 finals and France has hit the ground running toward the World Cup.
How to use the screen passing to score
At the second stop of the season, the only true surprise in the rankings is Chievo.
Conte’s Chelsea tactics: 3-4-3 new formation and team defence
After an excellent start, Antonio Conte’s new Chelsea approached the second Premier League stop with 13 points in…
Swansea’s Pressing vs Man City Nearly Paid Off
Poor Francesco Guidolin. The Italian manager saved Swansea from relegation last season (with a bit of help from Alan Curtish while he was fighting off serious illness) but he’s in a lot of trouble now.
How to gain control in the box area
After the defeat to Manchester City in the Theatre of Dreams, my attention quickly focused on how José Mourinho would turn around the least positive cycle…
How has Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman role changed after the injury?
It is strange to think that this is Kevin Strootman’s first season as a starter since 2013/2014. Two years ago, the Dutchman was a very different player. His two cruciate ligament knee injuries took away his explosiveness and the physical strength of his first year,…
Everton: What has changed under Koeman?
By the end of his tenure, Everton were playing such miserable football that sacking Roberto Martinez became the merciful, as well as the necessary, thing to do.
Yeferson Soteldo: great dribbling skills, balance and control
Yeferson Soteldo, right or left wing for Zamora, born in 1997, already with playing time on the Venezuelan national team in the match against Colombia that qualified them for the World Cup in Russia. Nimble in short sprints, but with good stamina, excellent ball handling skills even in the spaces, maintaining remarkable control of the ball..
How Higuain skills integrate into Juventus: the goal vs Sassuolo
Gonzalo Higuain is integrating into Massimiliano Allegri’s system and Juventus is learning to take advantage of his intuition and his magnificent goal scoring skills.
How is Mike Phelan saving Hull City: tactics and key players
Hull City started the season with 12 fully fit senior players, a caretaker manager, absolutely no votes of confidence from the media, and yet with two wins…
Domenico Berardi, technique of a great forward
When the leagues resume, Domenico Berardi will not be on the pitch due to injury. Before the break, however, he managed to get to…
Psg and Man United formula to control the opponent and avoid counter-attack
The offensive set-up of any team shall depend on the technical quality of its executors…
Oliver Burke at RB Leipzig: strength, speed and individual technique
19 year-old Oliver Burke, sold by Nottingham Forest to RB Leipzig for €15.2 million this summer, became the most expensive Scottish player in history.
What should Arsenal expect from new-look Southampton
After what was, for the most part, yet another anxious transfer window, Arsenal’s supporters now find themselves in a curious position.
Juventus new tactical setup and key players after the transfer window
Juventus was one of the most active clubs during the summer transfer market…
Ivan Jurić’s Genoa after Gasperini: new attacking tactics and formation
The beginning of a new cycle for Genoa involves some softer and expected changes…
Ancelotti’s Bayern uses PEP Guardiola strategy vs Bremen: “Salida de balón”
Carlo Ancelotti appeared at the presentation press conference before the reporters and his new fans, stating: “I will not drastically…
Fullbacks’ role in Pep Guardiola Tactical System
At FC Barcelona Pep Guardiola started to revolutionise the way of envisaging football, through the positional play that is characteristic of him. He drew inspiration from his coaches and he evolved…
Spurs look ahead to Liverpool match with new signing Janssen and Wanyama
By the standards of this particularly excitable transfer window, Tottenham’s summer captures have been markedly low key. Maurico Pochettino…
Backline build-up: Guardiola, Emery, Sampaoli and De Boer’s teams
Guardiola, Emery and Sampaoli choose to seek superiority building up with the two centre defenders and a midfielder who drops back between the two to act as playmaker.
Manchester City new striker Gabriel Jesus
You can certainly see why Original Ronaldo (Originaldo, if you will) sees so much of himself in Manchester City’s new signing Gabriel Jesus.
Reinventing teams’ tactics: 3 top managers in the EPL
All the high-performing football teams in the world reinvent their self when new players join them. Clubs necessarily experience transformations so that this results in a sustained performance – if possible with quality play.
Awareness: How to defend on the opposite half
In order to describe how marking can best work as a fundamental defensive tactic, we used Hummels, a centre back who came up under the leadership of three great coaches…
Video analysis: Set pieces as determining factors to create scoring opportunities
The rate of set pieces in an important football event like Euro 2016 has always been a subject of interest…
Pjanic and Benatia’s Juventus: New roles, tactics and strategy vs Tottenham
Juventus is one of the big players in the European transfer market. While waiting to see the last great coup, Higuain, along with Dani Alves and Pjaca, for the first time, Allegri had the chance…
Features for goalkeeper coaches in the new Wyscout 5
It is something more than an intuitive software and than a simple to use tool available to technical staff. The Wyscout platform is a loyal co-worker…
Gabriel Jesus: Flexibility, technique and great finishing on goal
Born on 3 April 1997, Gabriel Jesus already has astonishing numbers. 54 goals in 48 matches in 2013 and 37 in 22 in 2014 at a youth level (Paulista Under 17 league). In 2015, the first season he played at Palmeiras, he scored 7 goals in 37 matches. And, above all, 15 goals in 18 games for the current season..
New Italy coach Giampiero Ventura: strategy and formation of the team
Although they particularly stress a clean ball coming from the defence, Conte and Ventura’s teams do not play…
Reviewing a game: Was England vs Iceland as bad as people said?
Three weeks have passed now since Iceland beat England in Nice. But was it really as bad a performance as…
Ante Ćorić: Ball control, through passes and dribbling
His time has come!!! At eleven years of age Ante Ćorić tried out for Chelsea and Bayern Munich and both teams would have been happy to have him in their youth line up, but he surprised everyone by deciding to transfer to Red Bull Salzburg. Now Napoli, Fiorentina, Milan, Liverpool and other European superpowers seem to be taking an interest..
Set pieces as determining factors to create scoring opportunities: Euro 2016 by numbers
Of the 108 goals scored (an average of 2.12 per match), 28 stemmed from…
The play that decided Euro 2016 final
Éder goal seems to be the result of individual achievement, but in all reality, it actively involves a fair number of players on both teams.
Portuguese tactical resilience
Fernando Santos managed to fit his best players into the right positions in a balanced and sustained manner, even though there had been tactical indecisions and changes within the team.
Euro 2016 final: Where it went wrong for France?
The final of the European Championships was, it is fair to say, no classic. But it could have been even worse. It should have been even worse.
Wales tactical analysis: Highs and lows of the team
It cannot be said that Wales does not have a certain taste for history. In 1958, the last time they participated in a large international competition until Euro 2016, a goal by Pelè…
4 ways to get the most out of your Wyscout platform
Tools like Wyscout can make it easier to at least keep abreast of the important things. And here are four ways it helps me.
Evolution of Chile’s pressing from Marcelo Bielsa to Juan Antonio Pizzi
For the second year in a row, Chile has won Copa América in the final against Argentina. The first two titles in Chile’s history have roots…
Twin strikers: Combined movements in the central area and defensive mistakes
The choice made by Italy and France, respectively against Spain and Iceland, was to focus on offensive development in the central area in order to…
Building-up with 3 centre-backs
There are different approaches at the start of the offensive process (1st phase): while some coaches prefer a more fixed backline…
Germany offensive strategy: Line-up and pressing
Germany had qualified for Euro 2016 as the first team in Group D, but only the Czech Republic – of the winning formations in a group – had conceded more goals (14 compared with 9).
Three types of goalkeeper’s offensive transition
The offensive transition phase with a counter attack that starts with the goalkeeper is much more articulated and requires organisation…
Conte’s great tactical performance behind Italy’s win over Spain
It seems strange now to recall Antonio Conte’s gloomy forecasts for his nation this summer. Far from a lone voice, the Italy boss….