Thinking Football was the stage for a conversation between Vicente Portal, Daniel Barreira and Sandro Orlandelli, specialists in scouting, with Tomás da Cunha in the role of moderator. “Understanding Scouting” intended to demystify prejudices associated with scouting and explore the growth of the area.
“Understanding Scouting” featured speakers (from left to right) Daniel Barreira, Sandro Orlandelli and Vicente Portal. Moderation was by Tomás Cunha (right) Photo: Tomás de Almeida Moreira
The world of scouting is directly related to the recruitment of athletes for football teams. At the end of the afternoon on Friday (18th), the TFS Stage, of the Thinking Football event, at the Super Bock Arena, hosted the lecture “Understanding Scouting – Searching for the perfect team” which aimed to deconstruct the idea that scouting is merely the recruitment of talent based on statistical data and remote viewing of football matches.
Vicente Portal, current scout senior from Sporting CP and with spells at FC Famalicão and Southampton, in England, made it clear that the process of scouting “is not reduced to an analysis of the attributes of a player in the videogame ‘Football Manager’”. O scout explained that the recruitment of an athlete depends on a “careful and cautious process” and joked with the fact that he receives messages on LinkedIn from “Sporting fans recommending players to hire”.
Tomás da Cunha, analyst and commentator for Eleven Sports and TSF, spoke about the growth of scouting as a profession and stated that football lovers “30 years ago they wanted to be players, 15 [queriam ser] coaches, and currently scouts“. The growth of the profession, for the commentator, will be due, in part, to the technological advances in the area.
Along the same lines, Sandro Orlandelli, scout do Red Bull Bragantinostates that the main weapon that a scout today is the technology. About the beginning of his professional career, Orlandelli said that he started by “having to hire people to film the games, to be able to observe the athletes”.
Daniel Barreira, currently assistant coach of the under-19 national team, also has experience in the world of scouting, at FC Barcelona. For Daniel, despite technological advances, face-to-face observation remains indispensable. “Viewing the training and monitoring the athletes in person is essential for a scout understand how and where to act”. The assistant coach and Vicente Portal agree that “following closely and in detail, in addition to statistics, reduces the risk of failing to hire”.
Vicente Portal also underlined that the work of scouting is not isolated from the remaining structure of the clubs and that It is A strong and cohesive relationship between President, Coach and the Analysis Department is necessary.
“It is easier to collaborate with a small club with less budget”
The panel of speakers agreed that one scouting well done implies work and effects in the medium and long term. However, they criticized the national panorama of the profession, stating that the area is still seen by some clubs as an expense rather than an investment.
O scout from Sporting stated that “having many professionals in that department is not synonymous with sporting success” and considered it to be “easier to collaborate with a small club with less budget” than with a larger club. For those who work with clubs with lower demands, the pressure becomes less, offering more space to take chances on unknown talents. “It is more likely in a club with lower requirements to hire an under-19 from Zambia”, said Tomás Cunha.
For Sandro Orlandelli, the technical quality and talent of the players are not the only factors for the growth of athletes. O scout explained that the process of adapting players to new media can also hinder the affirmation of young players. Orlandelli used the example of South American clubs that invest less in European players due to notable differences in terms of “culture, environment and championship”.
Experts also agreed that “care for the mental health of athletes is more important than what it seems”. Sandro Orlandelli underlined that mental health and background players’ family background “have a direct influence on the way they make themselves known”. Thus, he referred to the need for football clubs “to invest in the disciplinary training of the respective recruited players”.
Article edited by Fernando Costa
