With the evolution of football – and sport, in general – opposition scouting has become one of the most crucial areas. Knowledge and understanding of your opponent is vital.
What are their weaknesses – how can these potentially be exploited? What are their underlying strengths – how can we prevent them from scoring?
Anyone who watches enough football will be able to explain how Antonio Conte uses his wing backs to devastating effect: their presence in attack gives the more creative players license to roam, while, defensively, they protect from wide positions and allow the three centre backs to nullify the opposition.
In contrast, Pep Guardiola’s philosophy is to play out from the back and effectively use the goalkeeper as an additional outfield player, in order to retain possession – an approach that has had mixed results and led to scrutiny from fans, pundits and the national media.
But, there’s more to opposition scouting than just looking at a tactical line-up. I spoke with Danny Hill, Opposition Scout at Stoke City, to find out more about his role in football.
“When scouting, I look for a few key areas: formation at kick off, half time and full time,” explained Hill. “Formation changes during substitutions, tactical play within the formation, transitional shapes, set pieces both attacking and defending. Then obvious to strengths and weaknesses.
“My analysis is used alongside the other scouts’ reports and any analysis conducted by the internal analysis team. They use opinions from lots of individuals within the club to build an overview of the opposition. I'm one cog in a large machine.”
Goals from set pieces play a huge part in modern football, particularly for teams who are unable to dominate possession.
West Brom have the lowest possession percentage of any team in the top flight (40.7%), but Tony Pulis has identified that their main strength is attacking from dead ball situations. The Baggies have scored 15 of their 34 goals from set pieces and are currently sat eighth in the table – a stark improvement from this time last year, when they were 14th.
The same case can be argued for defensively, too. Crystal Palace, languishing in the relegation zone, have conceded over one third of their goals from set pieces this season. If a weakness can be exploited, you will be punished at the top level.
Liverpool, the Premier League’s top scorers, have the second best possession stats (58.4%, behind Manchester City on 60.6%) and are yet to score a counter attack goal this season. The emphasis on Jurgen Klopp’s high pressing game has led to his team scoring 37 of their 54 goals from open play and ten from set pieces.
The Performance Analysis team will sit down with the coaching staff at Stoke City and analyse video footage prior to matches, and ensure all tactical aspects are covered. Hill, meanwhile, files his report and staff members will extract what they need.
“My input is from one fixture on one day, sometimes there can be more if there are cup games in the build up to us playing the opposition,” continued Hill. “Different scouts have different preparations.
“Me personally, I prefer to avoid research so my opinion stays mine. If there is too much stats research and reading reviews from the press and other scouts you tend to start observing the game in a way that suits or does not suit what you've read. I prefer to watch every game for what it is and express my opinion on what I saw.”
Stoke are enjoying a campaign similar to the previous three seasons, where they recorded ninth placed finishes. The Potters are in good form and have picked up eleven points from their last six outings (the same as Chelsea, Tottenham and West Brom) – more than one third of their points tally for the season.
There is a feeling of satisfaction for Hill knowing that the information he provides can prove beneficial for the team in terms of preventing an opposition goal or taking advantage of a defensive weakness.
“Before I joined the club I had never followed them,” admitted Hill. “Now I watch them on TV and Match of the Day each time they're on and when you see a weakness being exploited or a strength in the opposition being nullified, it does provide a great sense of achievement.
“With the thousands of miles covered each season, some very boring games and some long nights writing, it provides that perfect worthwhile feeling when you see your work paying dividend. It's great job at a great club and their progress is my progress.”
I would like to thank Danny for taking the time to do this interview. Please note that all statistics were taken from whoscored.com.
For anyone interested in a tactical set-up from corners, there is an interesting piece from Francesco Farioli on Wyscout.
BEHIND THE SCENES: OPP. SCOUT
I spoke with Danny Hill, Opposition Scout at Stoke City, to find out more
about his role
Article posted: 24 February 2017
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