The Summer 2024 scouting thread

[king_yid]

Didn’t Zenón used to be a left winger? Was surprised to see him being dropped further back.

I haven’t watched Boca as much as I would have liked recently but they seemed to have a few interesting players in the few games I’ve seen. Ezequiel Fernandez at DM has been impressing me when I’ve watched them. Probably too raw to move now and needs to work on his decision making but he looks like he might potentially develop into a good DM.

Think he was at Union but Martínez predominantly bought him in as a Barco replacement, to be fair he has played further forward for boca too and likes to drift centrally at times. Have been impressed with his defending in the LB spot though.

Fernández is a good shout too, could be some good players coming out of the bombonera in the coming few years. Been bit of a hard watch from Russo onwards over the last few years and apart from some comical defending at times they look on the up. Not too dissimal than spurs.

 

[ardiles&villa]

A lot of news outlets linking us back with kwp. Very underwhelming.

 

[Wig]

A lot of news outlets linking us back with kwp. Very underwhelming.

Links are just links and often don't end up materialising. Not worth sweating the rumours

 

[$hoguN]

A lot of news outlets linking us back with kwp. Very underwhelming.

Home grown, club trained, fits the system. Dependable option.

I’ve seen more underwhelming transfers tbh

 

[Powder Keg]

As an HG, Club trained option coming in to be a sub I’m all for it. Allows us to go for quality first XI signings elsewhere.

Sits far better in the squad as this kind of option than Tosin or Kelly

 

[VoteMe4Prez]

I think KWP is actually pretty good and would make total sense. Have I missed something and he has turned into actual crap?

 

[Now it's Spursonal]

I think KWP is actually pretty good and would make total sense. Have I missed something and he has turned into actual crap?

Made the championship team of the season

 

[GutBucket]

Certainly won't help us with set-pieces or defensively much but he is great as inverted FB when it comes to build-up and attacking phase. Son and Johnson aren't the best at tracking back so it could cause problems, but hopefully we buy at least one winger. Doubt we find a better one for what Ange wants to do when it comes to possession and attacking phase, plus he is club trained and won't be too expensive, can cover both on left and right side. Vicario, Porro, KWP, VDV sounds pretty bad when it comes to defensive set peices, but some coaching tweaks and VDV improving in air could help a lot. Royal is good in air but his technical limitations on the left side hurt us more in the end. Would be a good signing overall IMO.

 

[mr ashley]

As others have said, he ticks lots of squad boxes and is comfortable with the ball at his feet in both full back positions.

Do it

 

[ardiles&villa]

Home grown, club trained, fits the system. Dependable option.

I’ve seen more underwhelming transfers tbh

If we’re aiming for challenging then it’s underwhelming and there’s no two ways about it

 

[Leroy]

If we’re aiming for challenging then it’s underwhelming and there’s no two ways about it

As a back up to Porro? Couldn’t think of someone more suited to our system. Plus home grown, club trained aspect it’s a no brainier

 

[mr ashley]

If we’re aiming for challenging then it’s underwhelming and there’s no two ways about it

Maybe, but as we need both home grown and club trained for europe.
uniess we sign madueke or edwards there really aren’t many players we can add to fulfill this criteria
Plus we need another right back (and left back), both with much more ability on the ball than Davies or Emerson offer.
and he’s not going to break the bank, leaving crucial funds to be spent elsewhere

of course, I’d prefer it if we got kimmich, or even Archie gray as our back up rb but neither are transfers where we are holding all the cards.

Maybe they’d take Hojbjerg back?

 

[Guntz]

I can see why some people might be underwhelmed.

But he's definitely a much better player than when he left and could also cover both FB positions.

It would be a smart deal for the club to do.

 

[JamieSpursCommunityUser]

If we’re aiming for challenging then it’s underwhelming and there’s no two ways about it

Personally I tend to disagree on the quality of the player. He's arguably the best player in the championship yet fans wouldn't blink at signing Gray or Summerville.

Secondly, an inverted role in possession system would suit KWP much better than Mourinho. That's precisely what he is. Much like Porro looks better than under Conte.

Finally, in the bigger picture of squad building imagine we sign three profiles.

KWP + Geertruida + Calafiori.

All profiles covered and quality depth for each opposition and game situation.

3RBs 3RCBs 3LCBs 3LBs

Alternatively which club trained player should we sign to register a 22 man UEFA squad?

Or which senior player will be told they haven't made the cut and won't want to leave?

Something like this then in 2-3 years time hopefully we'll have a bunch of club trained options ready for the first team.

 

[daveduvet]

As promised…. A player that has been mentioned on here a number of times by myself and @Nick-TopSpursMan amongst others but figured he might be a name that many on here haven’t heard or if so only seen the odd youtube highlight vid so figured I’d do a full profile on him. Essentially I am coming to the conclusion that he should be one of our very top targets this summer. so here is …..

(I had to slit it into two parts because it was too long oooops)

Désiré Doué - LW/CM/DM/AM/RW - 18 - Stade Rennais

PART 1

BACKGROUND

Désiré Doué joined the Rennais' Academy at the tender age of 5. Whilst they do have an under 6's this is still not something they do often due to the uncertainty of such a young child’s future espechilly within their set up. They tend to prefer taking older prospects that they know will likely make the U13’s and thus progress through the ranks. Taking any young player also requires a special license but such was his affinity for a football at an incredibly early age they made an exception. His older brother Guela Doué, who is Rennes current starting RB, joined the under 9’s at the same time and it was due to Guela trying out that they looked at and took the younger sibling. One of the youth coaches at the time, Florent Bourcier, said this about the youngster “He always had a ball at his feet and was already at the top in terms of motor skills. You quickly see it when a little one has so much control, it catches the eye”. Its worth keeping in mind that Rennes have an exceptional academy with the likes of Eduardo Camavinga, Ousmane Dembélé, Tiémoué Bakayoko, Armand Laurienté going back to players such as Yoann Gourcuff and Mikaël Silvestre all coming through their doors. Even Mathys Tel briefly stopped by Rennes at the age of 15 after they picked him up from PSG’s academy. Point is, they know a thing or two about developing youth.

Not that Désiré was a complete football savant, by the accounts i have read of his early years in the youth set up despite his incredible natural talent that placed him above his peers he had his struggles which he needed to overcome. He seemed to suffer from what many young talents do when they know they are better then everyone else on the pitch, the tendency to overplay and try to dribble around everyone instead of passing when they should. He had to learn to be a team player. Watching the player he is today its clear this is something he has developed incredibly well even if he still enjoys running with the ball.

During his development Doué was also a constant member of the various French youth teams and was part of the under 17’s that won the European Championship in 2022 alongside the likes of Warren Zaïre-Emery and Mathys Tel.

In the 22/23 Doué made his professional debut at just 17 for Rennes in a 1-0 home defeat to Lorient, that season he would go on to become Rennes and Frances youngest ever European goal scorer with a goal against Dynamo Kiev in the Europa league. Days later he would come off the bench against Nantes in the West Derby and within 60 seconds of being on the pitch scored an absolute screamer (see bellow). Safe to say, at the age of just 17 years, 4 months and 7 days Desire Doue had arrived. Since then he has gone on to accumulate 2,580 mins of league football and has firmly established himself as a key member of the first team.




OVERVIEW

Before I get onto the specific qualities he possesses, the most remarkable thing about him is his insane versatility. I have very rarely seen a player, especially one so young, who can so comfortably switch between an aggressive AM who drifts between the lines, a hard working B2B CM, a deep lying pass heavy DM, a mercurial touchline winger who can breeze past players for fun or an inside forward taking shots from the edge of the box. Certainly not one who can do this at senior level at least. Not only can he play all these positions to an impressively natural degree he can be moved between them in a single game as he was in the recent insane 5-4 Breton derby loss to Brest. Left wing has mostly been his go to role for the latter part of this season but when he broke through he was primarily a CM/AM And he is still often used there. This I find fascinating as it’s more common for an attacking player to start wide where they tend to have less defensive responsibility than move central as they develop. The reason why he is able to play all these roles is not only does he posses an incredible technical skill set, he is also a very clever footballer who understands the nuances of the different roles and what is required from them. For a kid that only turns 19 in a few weeks his level of tactical understanding is simply remarkable and despite his more outward presenting skills such as his exceptional dribbling ability for me it’s his football intelligence more then anything that makes him such a big prospect for the future.

He is pretty much the epitome of a naturally gifted footballer.


IN POSSESION

In regards to his specific skill sets, as I mentioned above, straight out of the box he is a devastating dribbler. He posses incredible ability to accelerate and decelerate at speed which makes him near impossible to pin down. Not only that his body positioning and balance means he rarely looses control of the football even when he is cutting at speed in tight areas plus his comfort on his weaker left foot allows him to go both ways without thinking. And lastly it goes without saying that his feel for the ball is magnetic and essentially it is not uncommon to see him glide past players even when he has no right to. He can effortlessly switch from long strides to a fast high touch dribbler running on his toes in an instant without a single heavy touch. He was always a good dribbler but his proficiency in this area is something that has definitely improved as the season has gone on. Such is his skill in this area he is starting to be double and sometimes triple marked when he plays wide yet it doesn’t stop him. Really he is getting to a point where he is as effective as anyone I have seen in Europe with the ball at his feet running into the box from a wide area.

As we seem to be so stats focused in our recruitment it’s worth looking at his dribbling numbers. On average he manages around 3.63 successful dribbles per game with a truly remarkable 60.2% success rate. By comparisons Nico Williams has 47.9 % success rate and Kvara 46.1%. Not only that he averages 4.27 progressive carries per game with 3.88 into the final third and 1.68 carries into the opposition box putting him respectively in the 79th, 94th and 81’s percentile for wingers… and he’s only 18. And this isn’t a case of him having few minutes and thus the numbers being slightly skewed, this is based over 1,473 mins of football spread across 29 games this season.

Now obviously dribbling ability is one thing but without end product it’s sort of meaningless, this is an area where he needs technical refining but the ideas are most certainly there. He averages 1.81 key passes per game with a further average of 2.59 passes into the opposition box both of which are very impressive numbers for an 18 year old but his pass completion could improve as it currently sits around 78%. When you watch him you can see the vision and intention is there it’s just not always backed up by the execution. He will also on occasion try to force a pass that isn’t really on. The same goes for his shooting. Desire has a very strong shot on him, he can score a bullet from the edge of the area or curl one into the far corner, and overall he has good technique but it needs work. When he takes a moment to pick his spot he is more than capable but sometimes he doesn’t take a beat to properly set himself and ends up putting too much on it. In general as with all young players decision making in the final third can sometimes be off, if anything I would say he could even be a little more selfish at times, but I could pretty much copy and past this from every single write up I do of a player that is under 23.

I would also add tho that much like his dribbling his end product is an area that he has greatly improved over the season and he certainly seems to be on a sharp upward curve in his overall development. And even then he has 4 goals and 5 assists in 29 games and he was playing CM for half of those.


OUT OF POSSESION

The other big part of his game that really needs to be talked about is his off the ball work. This is an area where his mentality and tactical understanding shines but also maybe a little bit of youthful exuberance resulting in occasional rashness.

A perfect example of this is Rennes 1-1 draw with PSG back in February. It was a rather one sided tactically defensive performance. Désiré was playing on the left of a central midfield double pivot alongside Baptiste Santamaria. PSG had Rennes pretty much pinned back for the whole game with the Breton club opting for a deep line counter attacking set up, looking to intercept the ball and quickly move it to the flanks and upfield. Doué was primarily the further forward of the pivot but he would often rotate to the deeper role whilst also swapping sides, LCM to RCM. It was a very fluid display by both mids and typical of the way Julien Stephan likes to play even if normally he isn’t quite so defensive. And when I say further forward the ball rarely came out of Rennes half so the majority of the game Doué was sat between his own box and the centre circle.

What impressed most and why I bring it up here is not only was his positioning immaculate, he was incredibly defensively disciplined. Until that is he picked up an incredibly unfair yellow in the early part of the second half. Throughout the game he would step up to intercept when he saw the chance but never moved too far from his CM partner and when he did steal or receive the ball he would immediately look for a quick forward pass to spring the counter. He rarely tried to run the ball up field unless it gave an extra advantage and didn’t dawdle on it ether.

It wasn’t all exemplary tho and this is a perfect example of where his youthfulness maybe detracted from what was an otherwise exceptional performance. As I mentioned he picked up a very unfair yellow in the early part of the second half. Within 10 mins from that he decided to make a tactical foul on Mbappe down Rennes right flank. If he wasn’t on a yellow it might have been a wise choice but as he was it essentially put Doué in last chance saloon. Considering how much of Rennes game was based on sitting deep and snatching the ball Stephan was left with no choice but to sub him just shy of the 60th min mark for fear he might pick up a second yellow.

Really tho if you just watched that performance you would be looking at him with an eye for the CM position never mind the wing. His work rate and positioning was excellent throughout. Considering the opponent it was a very mature and disciplined display from the lad with the exception of one mistake. But it shouldn’t detract from his overall showing. He finished the game with 9 defensive actions, 6 recoveries, 2 tackles, 1 interception and an assist against the best team in the country. To put that into context Biss finished the game against Chelsea with 3 defensive actions, 4 recoveries and 1 successful tackle and he was our only DM. Not that it was a good performance by Biss, it wasn’t, but I still think it’s useful comparison given Doué was an 18 year old playing CM against one of the best teams in Europe.

Essentially Désiré’s background as a CM translates to him being solid defensively. He can press well but is also very good at dropping deeper to pick up more defensive positioning when needed. On top of that he is also a solid tackler and I think you would be hard pressed to find another winger as composed and competent defensively, certainly not one so young .

(As a footnote, it’s worth checking out the highlights from the Rennes Vs PSG game if you can find them just to see Gouiri’s opening goal. Was a thing of pure beauty)


To be concluded….

I do hope your day job is within the footballing world? If not, may I suggest a blog us SC members could subscribe to? Your input deserves some financial income … as do some others on here.
Great reading for folk like me. Thank you …

 

[rossdapep]

If we’re aiming for challenging then it’s underwhelming and there’s no two ways about it

Yes but we are not going to get all the pieces in one swoop.

Look at Arsenal, they've signed some poor players who are nowhere near the quality required (Lukongo, Tavares) but that's because they could'nt fill all the needs with brilliant choices.

If getting KWP for a decent deal helps us sign wingers, a 6 and a CF that make a huge difference then KWP will be a compromise until we can go bigger in that position.

 

[King of the Lane]

KWP wouldnt be my first choice but I completely understand why we would look to re-sign him. It does make sense and covers 2 positions in one player while also being club trained and HG.

I just hope this means we can go out and buy a top class 6 and striker. Please can we just buy Sesko and Varela as they would transform us.

 

[dontcallme]

I think KWP is actually pretty good and would make total sense. Have I missed something and he has turned into actual crap?

My Southampton supporting mate rates him as easily their best player and a good Prem level player.

The only question for me is if he suits Ange's requirements of a full back. In my mind he does, but I'm no tactician.

 

[Locotoro]

As a back up to Porro? Couldn’t think of someone more suited to our system. Plus home grown, club trained aspect it’s a no brainier

I'd rather not if he's a back up.

I don't think he has the defensive, physical or aerial quality we need.
If we're looking for HG back up the academy is where we should look.

As for back up to full back I'd look at Bradley Locko at Rennes. He's had a very solid, if unspectacular, season and ticks the pace, Def 1v1 and ball carrying requirements

 

[matty74]

As a back up to Porro? Couldn’t think of someone more suited to our system. Plus home grown, club trained aspect it’s a no brainier

But surely there is a reason why we got rid of him. Why is he suddenly worth bringing back after a year in the championship. ??

don’t think he has the defensive capability that Ange would want . Homegrown or not