2012/13 New Season Scouting | Page 3 | Vital Football

2012/13 New Season Scouting

Haha! Yeah I should put a little warning with the videos about the music.

So overall conclusion on Heid the 2nd?? A good solid CB we could rely on? Or a bit too much like Heid for your liking?
 
A bit of both. Although there is no way that Simic could attract the type and sheer consistency of bad luck that Heid did, or his penchant for giving away penalties.

Teixeira, although taller, looks to have the same basic qualities as Simic.

Liked the pair of them but... And I will always throw this 'but' in when it comes to potential CB for Celtic - and for the simple reason that I have watched too many previous CB's of ours, over the years, getting bullied by your run-of-the-mill Scottish Centre Forward - neither of them looked physically up to the challenges of the SPL.

Cultured, ball-playing CB's are fine, but the best ones down the years could all handle themselves too.



 
The problem I'm finding with regards that Tic, is that we also need someone with pace and trying to find a strong and quick CB is not easy. I've found a few before, guy from Basel looked good I think, his contract is expiring so might have a chance there. There are also the two Israeli lads I found but they might cost a bit. The real problem is trying to find someone with decent experience as well. Plenty of younger guys around who fit the bill but not the experienced ones we need!

Jonathan Mensah and other African CBs I personally feel fit the bill the best, like Bobo but they are either too young, no idea how good they actually are because I can't find videos (but can't be bad when they are internationals) or simply too expensive or playing for clubs that can offer higher wages or demand a high transfer fee.
 
Found a couple of younger CBs who may be the sort of players we are looking for but without the experience and therefore the organisation.....

First is Lamine Kone, 23 year old, 6ft 1, French born of African (Burkino Faso) decent, currently playing for FC Lorient in Ligue1, he has been with them for two seasons now having moved up from a Ligue2 team. His first season saw him only make 9 appearances but this season he has played 26 times. The footage of him is mainly as a RB but you can see he has the qualities to be a CB. All the websites suggest he is a CB who can play RB. Video shows him playing in Ligue2 so he has developed since then as well! He is very quick, very strong, good in the air, a good footballer with decent skill, ball control and good tackling. Probably available for around £1.5m-£2m.

[youtube=1jJZT1nmW78]

The other is Mahamadou N'Diaye, 22 year old, 6ft, Mali international CB currently playing in Portugal for Vitória Guimarães SC. Has been in Portugal for 2 seasons now after joining from a Moroccan top flight team. Again, similar traits to Kone but he has played in the Europa League and made an appearance or two in the African Cup of Nations. The video is again before he joined Vitória Guimarães SC and so his game will have improved and developed since the video was made and uploaded so again, bear that in mind. Available for £1m-£1.5m.

[youtube=0CBwAml9AL0]


I'm not suggesting these two are the best options but for the money, considering the sort of quick and physical defender we need, I think either of these could be decent options!
 
wee_od_88 - 21/5/2012 23:34

The problem I'm finding with regards that Tic, is that we also need someone with pace and trying to find a strong and quick CB is not easy. I've found a few before, guy from Basel looked good I think, his contract is expiring so might have a chance there. There are also the two Israeli lads I found but they might cost a bit. The real problem is trying to find someone with decent experience as well. Plenty of younger guys around who fit the bill but not the experienced ones we need!

Jonathan Mensah and other African CBs I personally feel fit the bill the best, like Bobo but they are either too young, no idea how good they actually are because I can't find videos (but can't be bad when they are internationals) or simply too expensive or playing for clubs that can offer higher wages or demand a high transfer fee.

You do a great job in even finding half of these guys, wee_od.
Outstanding, in fact!
You've already found a load of good, young CB's and a few more experienced ones, besides.

But, as you say, the type of attributes - and experience - we'd ideally like a new CB to have don't come cheap and they also don't grow on trees.

On the latest two...

Kone looks a fair lump of a boy! Powerful and quick too. Liked the cut of his jib, although as you pointed out most of that video showed him at fullback. Difficult to judge how he'd do at CB and although he has plenty of pace and power, at 6' 1" he's not the tallest.

N'Diaye, at least from that video, looks very raw a bit on the rash side. Lots of work would be required with him, I feel. Raw materials are there but again his lack of height at only 6' is a minus. He's certainly committed, though :emoticon:17

Again, mate. More good finds!
 
Thing with both of them Tic is the videos are now old, both have moved on to bigger teams and better leagues and both have been playing as CBs, not fullbacks. The height issue, it's difficult because we like big tall lads but they also tend to be quite slow which is not what we want. Bobo and Johan were one-offs it seems. The thing with both of these guys is I think they have a pretty good leap on them.....

I honestly feel there are so few perfect candidates for us at CB that we will have to make do with a younger, less experienced, possibly smaller CB than we would really like.
 
It always amazes me when some of your targets have no up-to-date videos of themselves. What are their agents doing!
You'd think even their family and friends would be able to throw something together worth watching ffs :emoticon:19

Yeah, you're right mate. Height isn't everything and good strength and a turn of pace can make up for the lack of the former.
 
youtube doesn't seem that popular with agents. The agent for Kayal uses it a LOT! He and the guy who makes the videos for him has videos of LOADS of players! It's unreal! In fact watching many of my videos, you may have noticed them. Starts off with stats about the agent and who makes the video and then the players details etc. All on a kind of cartoon background of grass and sky.

But yes, I believe these big athletic CBs could be the way forward for us! As long as they can jump high, it is sometimes better than just being tall.

Had another look for big strikers last night, not paying as much attention to their goals tally, unless they got none of course, so will look over them this weekend probably.
 
Been looking at big strikers again. I have ignored (to an extent) how good a scoring record they have and just looked more at what they bring to the team. We can improve players and give them perhaps a better platform from which to score so I think there is potential for those I've found.

First one is Dario Abraham Carreno, a 6ft 2, 24 year old Mexican CF. He isn't a really big brute of a CF like a John Hartson but I would describe him as a big of a Roque Santa Cruz type striker. He has the height and a good jump so is good with scoring with his head but he is technically very good as well. He has good pace, movement and passing and seems quite a natural finisher. The major problem for Carreno could be his fitness and the number of goals he scores. He has only scored 9 goals in 32 appearances this season, however he has only started 9 games and only played the full 90 minutes on 4 occasions. His record in the American Champions League this season is pretty good though. 5 goals in 8 appearances, 4 starts and played the full 90 minutes twice. Due to the amount of time he actually gets on the pitch, his record is actually really impressive when you look at goals per minute. He is averaging (over the last 3 seasons) a goal every 184 minutes, or a goal every 2nd game. If you include his assists (of which it is probably not even all of) then it works out a goal or assist ever 118 minutes. That is actually really quite impressive stats. The reason btw, for his lack of time on the pitch is that he is in the same team as a bit of a legend for Mexico, Aldo de Nigris. Both very similar styles and heights etc but de Nigris is almost 29 so chances are, Carreno may be his natural successor.

The biggest problem with Carreno however, is that being from Mexico, he would require a VISA and he hasn't yet been called up to the Mexican international squad so he would struggle to get one. Price if we could get him, probably £1.5m-£2m. If we wanted de Nigris (just because I know someone will ask) probably about 3 or 4 million at least.

[youtube=-orFD42Qyos]


Another option could be Cameroon international Leonard Kweuke. A 24 (almost 25) year old, 6ft 2 striker currently playing for AC Sparta Praha. Scored 15 goals in 30 appearances this season, including 4 goals in Europa League Qualification. He has been around a bit but his career really started when he went to Slovakia where he scored 11 goals in 16 games. That led to Eintracht Frankfurt taking him on loan to play in the Bundesliga, however that did not work out well as he failed to make an impact, he was then taken on loan again by German side Energie Cottbus where again he struggled to really make an impact with only 5 goals. His overall play seems to have been quite good though. On returning to Slovakia, he was sold to Sparta where he has been for the last 2 years and has really found his form again! His first season for Sparta he scored 15 goals in 37 games, this season he has scored 15 in 30. His form was so good in his first season, he featured on imscouting.com's "player on fire" feature.

The imscouting.com website said of him 2 years ago:
he is a strong and powerful striker, very technical player who can drop deep to receive the ball or start an attack, a relative of Samuel Eto'o, has great heading abilities, can play the target striker with great ease if required, good asset for any team with playmaking abilities that are rare in a player of his size.

Price tag for Kweuke would be in the region of £2m-£2.5m as he still has two years left on his contract.

This video of him is mainly from his time in Iran and Slovakia when he was around 21 years old so consider him better now but you can really see the size of this boy! This could be a very good option for us if we can pry him away from Sparta.

[youtube=91XvBQ9McOg]
 
Another option is another African player and another player for Cameroon (although as yet uncapped), Christian Pouga. He is almost 26 and has been around a lot! He started his professional career in China before being signed by FC Zurich in Switzerland. He didn't perform well in Switzerland for Zurich or FC Aarau and so he dropped down to the second division with Bellinzona where he was a hit and helped them to promotion with 18 goals in 32 appearances. That won him a move to Spain with Sevilla B playing in the Segunda Division, again things didn't go quite to plan and after a year, he moved to Portugal initially on loan to a lower end of the league club, he was there for another season before moving to FC Vaslui in Romania where he spent another season and now he is back in Portugal with Maritimo.

His goalscoring record is a bit strange, according to Wikipedia, it's pretty good most places but according to transfermarkt which is my usual source, his record is AWFUL! Looking at the video of him though, he seems to have scored quite a few which makes me think that wikipedia may be more accurate in this case.

Anyway, the important bit is that he is 6ft 4, built like a brick house, is quite quick, really good with his heading ability, he is strong and really powerful both with his ability to hold off defenders, his heading and his shooting.

[img=http://www.infoeme.com.ar/imagenes/online/2009/07/tuckerlex2.jpg]

The video shows him playing in Portugal when he was first there, about two years ago and I personally think he looks pretty good. Would maybe cost £1m but I think he brings everything we currently lack in our team. Have a look at the video and see what you think.

[youtube=s0Ki-uTP7QI]


The final person I am going to throw in, is available on a free but I think there will be a few teams after him. Eder is a 24 year old, 6ft 2 striker born in Guinea-Bissau in Africa but been playing professionally in Portugal for Maritimo Funchal. He's been watched by Spurs, West Ham and Everton among others. West Ham got rejected because he didn't like how they were doing things. He's not exactly the sort of striker we want in terms of physicality and heading ability but he's quick, would be brilliant for is in Europe if you see the way he plays. His link up play is good, he is strong but not the same as the likes of Pouga above and he can get up for headers though it's not really his strong point. He's got skill and can beat a man. His finishing is quite good but not as natural as Stokes and Hooper. He's a bit more like Sammy but better I think. He has Portuguese citizenship because he has been there so long so no problems with signing him from that point of view but he is a man in demand I think, not because of his goals but his overall, tireless play. A fee will need to go to his club I think but not much. Champions League football, could perhaps tempt him our way! I think you will see why I've included him when you watch the video.

[youtube=h12g-AiKe2k]
 
wee_od_88 - 2/6/2012 17:09

Been looking at big strikers again. I have ignored (to an extent) how good a scoring record they have and just looked more at what they bring to the team. We can improve players and give them perhaps a better platform from which to score so I think there is potential for those I've found.

First one is Dario Abraham Carreno, a 6ft 2, 24 year old Mexican CF. He isn't a really big brute of a CF like a John Hartson but I would describe him as a big of a Roque Santa Cruz type striker. He has the height and a good jump so is good with scoring with his head but he is technically very good as well. He has good pace, movement and passing and seems quite a natural finisher. The major problem for Carreno could be his fitness and the number of goals he scores. He has only scored 9 goals in 32 appearances this season, however he has only started 9 games and only played the full 90 minutes on 4 occasions. His record in the American Champions League this season is pretty good though. 5 goals in 8 appearances, 4 starts and played the full 90 minutes twice. Due to the amount of time he actually gets on the pitch, his record is actually really impressive when you look at goals per minute. He is averaging (over the last 3 seasons) a goal every 184 minutes, or a goal every 2nd game. If you include his assists (of which it is probably not even all of) then it works out a goal or assist ever 118 minutes. That is actually really quite impressive stats. The reason btw, for his lack of time on the pitch is that he is in the same team as a bit of a legend for Mexico, Aldo de Nigris. Both very similar styles and heights etc but de Nigris is almost 29 so chances are, Carreno may be his natural successor.

The biggest problem with Carreno however, is that being from Mexico, he would require a VISA and he hasn't yet been called up to the Mexican international squad so he would struggle to get one. Price if we could get him, probably £1.5m-£2m. If we wanted de Nigris (just because I know someone will ask) probably about 3 or 4 million at least.

[youtube=-orFD42Qyos]


Another option could be Cameroon international Leonard Kweuke. A 24 (almost 25) year old, 6ft 2 striker currently playing for AC Sparta Praha. Scored 15 goals in 30 appearances this season, including 4 goals in Europa League Qualification. He has been around a bit but his career really started when he went to Slovakia where he scored 11 goals in 16 games. That led to Eintracht Frankfurt taking him on loan to play in the Bundesliga, however that did not work out well as he failed to make an impact, he was then taken on loan again by German side Energie Cottbus where again he struggled to really make an impact with only 5 goals. His overall play seems to have been quite good though. On returning to Slovakia, he was sold to Sparta where he has been for the last 2 years and has really found his form again! His first season for Sparta he scored 15 goals in 37 games, this season he has scored 15 in 30. His form was so good in his first season, he featured on imscouting.com's "player on fire" feature.

The imscouting.com website said of him 2 years ago:
he is a strong and powerful striker, very technical player who can drop deep to receive the ball or start an attack, a relative of Samuel Eto'o, has great heading abilities, can play the target striker with great ease if required, good asset for any team with playmaking abilities that are rare in a player of his size.

Price tag for Kweuke would be in the region of £2m-£2.5m as he still has two years left on his contract.

This video of him is mainly from his time in Iran and Slovakia when he was around 21 years old so consider him better now but you can really see the size of this boy! This could be a very good option for us if we can pry him away from Sparta.

[youtube=91XvBQ9McOg]

Sorry, wee_od. Time is not my friend these days..

I watched the Carenna vid a few days ago and was really impressed by everything about him. The visa problems are a major bummer and we are hampered by them all the bloody time!

It's so frustrating because by the time these younger prospects qualify for a visa (through gaining a big enough % of caps) they end up out of our price range and salary bracket. Either that or a sneaky agent is blowing bubbles up their arse and making crazy demands!

Going to watch the other fella now. :emoticon:35
 
Found a more recent clip of Kweuke (watched a few others too but they're all fairly short) where he scores a great overhead goal.

[youtube=jO-tA7GicNE&feature=related]

Powerful big lad. Reminded me of Sammy in another one of the clips where he uses his strength to win the ball from a defender wide left and then holds his marker off as he hits the bye-line before cutting inside and then being brought down in the box.

[youtube=oPyLyXaX3Ok&feature=related]
 
Wayne Rooney eat your heart out with that overhead kick! haha! The other clip you are right is similar to Sammy but I think he is more physical in the way that we would need him to be. I think he could be a great option for us for a new striker, would you agree? Do you think we could pry him away Sparta though? I'm not sure how much they can afford to pay their players these days, they are a big club but in a relatively small league similar to us!
 
I would have thought so, I think Sparta have had to cut back more than we have over the years! I don't think Sparta have qualified for Champions League football either so that could sway things our way if we wanted him.
 
Still, another two great finds from you, mate!

I wrote a player profile for Giroud the other day and was nearly greetin' writing it because we came so close to getting him! ahaha :emoticon:33

I'd volunteer to wash a hun if we could get a big, powerful, goal scorer and assister like him!
 
I remember we were after Giroud just after I joined the site I think, he was scoring with some ease in Ligue2 but nobody was sure if he could make the step up or not. Was it Strachan who wanted him? Whoever spotted him had a good eye there anyway!

I never though of him as being that big and strong but I think his strength is something he has improved since moving up to Ligue1. He's been scoring for fun there as well, I've been keeping an eye on him. It really is a gutter he was so set on staying in France, we would have sold him to a big EPL club by now for a tidy profit, not to mention winning more trophies thanks to his goals.

There aren't many players we have missed out on like that, that have then gone on to be so good like Giroud. Find it hard to believe we came close to signing Drogba.....apparently Momo Sylla told him not to bother joining us....

Will be interested to see what you think of the other two players as well. Pouga I think is the exact sort of player we need but whether he is good enough and can play at a high enough level, I'm not sure.
 
Haha! No rush mate, unlikely to be looking at them anyway and still another month until the transfer window is even open. lol. The big guy Pouga is one I really think fits the bill in terms of style of striker we need. Whether he is good enough (now playing in the Portuguese top flight so can't be bad, and for a mid table team) and has the right sort of experience, I'm not too sure, can't make my mind up really.
 
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