• Login
  • Registration
  • LANGUAGE
Facebook Twitter Instagram Linkedin
MENUMENU
  • The PFSA
    • Become a Professional Football Scout
    • What do football scouts look for?
    • Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP)
    • Foundation
    • Useful Resources
    • Partnership Opportunities
    • Apply for Funding
    • Referral Programme
    • Partners
    • FAQ
  • Membership
    • Become a Member of the PFSA
    • Certified Membership
    • Associate Membership
    • Partner Discounts
    • Membership Discounts
    • Scouting Forum
    • Code of Conduct
    • Rules and Regulations
    • DBS Check
    • Scouting Material
  • Scouting Courses
        • Entry/Intermediate
          • Level 1 Talent Identification In Football
          • Level 1 Opposition Analysis In Football
          • Level 1 Technical Scouting In Football
          • Level 1 Performance Analysis In Football
          • Introduction Into Football Scouting
          • BUNDLE UP AND SAVE!
        • Intermediate/Advanced
          • Level 2 Talent Identification In Football
          • Level 3 Advanced Reporting
          • Level 2 Opposition Analysis In Football
          • Level 2 Technical Scouting In Football
          • Level 2 Performance Analysis In Football
          • Level 3 Performance Analysis In Football
          • PFSA Football Scouting Programme
        • Explore
          • Performance Analysis
          • Talent Identification
          • Technical Scouting
          • Opposition Analysis
  • Scouting Network
        • Football Scouts
          • Active Football Scouts
          • Register as a Football Scout
          • Register as a Football Club
          • Football Scout Information Guide
          • Scouting Network FAQ
          • Guests on the PFSA Scouting Courses
        • Opposition Scouting
          • Analysing Attacking Play
          • Analysing Attacking Corners
          • Analysing Defending Corners
          • Analysing Transitional Play
          • Analysis In Practice
          • Using Keywords in Your Scouting Report
        • Individual Analysis
          • Everton’s midfield crucial towards Ancelotti’s plans
          • Armstrong’s blistering form a massive boost for Blackburn
          • Lookman’s immediate impact provides hope for Fulham
          • Impressive youngster Rodon a fine signing by Spurs.
          • Why Reece James is such a key man for Chelsea
  • Football Trials
        • PFSA Football Trials
          • PFSA Training Programmes
          • Attend a Trial Day
          • How To Get Scouted In Football
          • GET EDUCATED | GET SCOUTED
          • Football Trials FAQ
        • PFSA Masterclass
          • Football Trials Gallery
          • Register your attendance as a football scout
  • More
        • More Links
          • Store
          • Testimonials
          • Scouting Jobs
          • Football Consultancy
          • Advertise With The PFSA
          • Report an Issue
          • Gift Cards
          • Contact Us
          • PFSA and University of east London
            The Professional Football Scouts Association (PFSA) are delighted to announce a new partnership with the University of East ...
          • Liam Cooper underlining his value to Leeds United
            Having starred since returning from injury against Southampton at the beginning of April, Liam Cooper’s emphatically ...

Sun Man Makes Messi Of Scouts Course Puzzler

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on whatsapp
The PFSA in the Sun newspaper discussing scouting

The PFSA featured in The Sun newspaper, check it out:

Would you have signed Lionel Messi when he was kid?

Sounds like a no-brainer but that was the questions posed to a group of football fanatics learning what it takes to be a football scout.

Dean Whitehouse, Manchester United academy coach and tutor on the Professional Football Scouts Association course  then showed a video of a young Messi in action.

Watching clips of a skinny slip of a lad whose kit looked three sizes too big for him and ran like he was wearing his dad’s shoes, I had to say ‘no’, I would not have signed Messi.

But then the seasoned talent spotters at Barcelona were not seeing what I saw.

They saw a young player still growing into his body but more than that they noted his upper body is perfectly still and his soft touch with the ball at his feet.

The room’s opinions are as mixed as our backgrounds are diverse. The two-day, certified course held in the shadow of Old Trafford at the Class of 92’s swanky Hotel Football attracts ex-players, scouts, coaches and Football Manager geeks from all over the world.

In my group there was a youth academy coach from India, a football agent from Greece, the technical director of a top European club and lads hoping to become the future manager of Manchester United. That last one sounds like a pipedream, but the current boss started out as an interpreter.

The PFSA’s course will not gain you direct entry to the world of management but it does give an insight into how clubs go about mining for those diamonds in the rough.

Whitehouse reveals the acronyms top clubs use to define the qualities they look for.

Barca want TABS: Technique, Attitude, Balance and Speed. AJAX go for TIPS: Technique, Intelligence, Personality and Speed. Arsenals mantra is SUPS: Speed, Understanding, Personality and Skills.

When invited to make up our own, one lad from overseas comes up with: Physical, Intelligent, Dynamic, Organisation.

It worked for him until the perceived meaning of his acronym PIDO was explained.

My scouting plan Is to strictly look for players who SALSA: Skill, Aggression, Leadership, Speed, Attitude.

But not all clubs are looking for the next World Player of the Year as former Burnley academy chief Jason Blake pointed out to us.

The FA’s Elite Performance Plan allows the top side to sign for the best young player from lower category academies.

Burnley in return would target player who were fifth or sixth best player in a Category One Academy side and might excel at being a bigger fish in a less glamourous pond.

But where the Clarets had done their research was in which areas to scout.

We looked at the squad lists for Prem clubs and concentrated our recruitment in towns which were producing the most players. Of 444 first-team players, 51 percent of player came from Liverpool, second was Manchester. We set up development centres in Burnley, Liverpool and Manchester starting with kids from the ages of seven or eight

Jason Blake Ex-Burnley Academy Chief

But Burnley’s problems may be that they are starting too late.

On day two, Senior United Scout Gerry Luczka shares a rumour that some development centres are taking in boys from age four.

Clubs scouting networks are now vast – Sevilla reportedly employ some 700 scout’s world wide – with the net spread so wide that Luczka claims if a young player in England has not been at a club by age 12 they likely will not make it.

Armed with the Knowledge gained from the course, I headed to Romania to watch England U17 vs Austria.

Rather than watch the game, I focused on the players to write my scouting report. I picked out Chelsea centre-half Jonathan Panzo and Austria striker Aldin Aganovic of RB Salzbury – two lads who SALSA.

The PFSA Scouting Course featured in the Sun

Leave a Reply

Facebook Twitter Instagram

Recent Posts

PFSA and University of east London

UEL and Professional Football Scouts Association partner to provide scouting and analysis courses

Read More »
Liam Cooper underlining his value to Leeds United

Liam Cooper underlining his value to Leeds United

Read More »
The Secret Footballer - Who Is It?

The Secret Footballer – Who Is It?

Read More »

Follow Us

The PFSA - Football Scouting Experts 7 hours ago

PFSA member and current 1st Team Analyst Richard Bredice talks analysis at Anderlecht! #rscanderlecht #oppositionanalysis #footballscouts #instat #klipdraw #nacsport #mancity

Read More
The PFSA - Football Scouting Experts 1 day ago

LEVEL UP your opposition scouting with the PFSA Level 2 Opposition Analysis in Football course. GOOD NEWS, It's now online AND delivered by THREE industry professionals!

Read More
PFSA Football Scouting Experts
UCFB and Instat

The PFSA

  • Testimonials
  • Forum
  • Scouting Courses
  • Code of Conduct
  • Blog

Commercial

  • Advertise With The PFSA
  • Business Partners
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Terms of Use

News

  • Metro
  • Guardian
  • The Sun
  • Independent
  • Training Ground Guru
  • BBC Radio
  • BBC
Twitter Facebook Instagram Linkedin

© Copyright 2022. PFSA Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved. +44 (0) 2034889609

Chester House (1st & 3rd Floors), 81 – 83 Fulham High Street, London, SW6 3JA

PFSA Football Scouting Experts

33% off everything
ends 19TH MAY!

USECODE: UPSKILL33

It’s 2022, and what better way to start the New Year than to up skill! Use code: UPSKILL33 at checkout to get 33% off, INCLUDING the new PFSA Membership Programme.

VIEW COURSES