Alex Scott - £25m to Bournemouth- Confirmed

[Gazred]

3 minutes ago, Edge1981 said:

I have mentioned the exact same to quite a few friends over the years and they can’t remember Kabaddi. What a game!! 

Don't hold your breath on it making a comeback 

[Mr Popodopolous]

39 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

Stats without context are meaningless. You could be 1 v 1 and square it to a team mate for an open goal. That’s an assist. You could also beat three players from the edge of your own box, play a perfect 45 yard pass and the forward balloons the ball into the car park. Only one of those requires insane technical ability and it’s not the one that ends up with the “stat”. I reckon the analysts use a bit more nuance and nous than the Twitter mob.

Chances created is the better metric and he has created 38. However 57 players in the division do rank above him for this but then again I expect all 57 above him and I say 57 above, there will be multiple on the same numbers, will all be older than him which in turn bumps up his number.

Swift e.g. has created 108 but then again Swift is 27 and turns 28 tomorrow.

When you weight in those with equal numbers, he's joint 32nd with Johansen and Louza.

Edited June 22, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous

[cidered abroad]

1 hour ago, cotswoldred2 said:

Yes we know what he is, but I am afraid his stats do no reflect this. 

 

But the experts in the football world, meaning top, title winning managers and their top recruitment people, can see past the stats and rely on their own experiences to judge how good each "Alex Scott" is.

From the public comments by Guardiola after their FA Cup win, I would not be surprised if Man City tried to capture him. If we keep Scott at City for another successful season, he could be destined for the top six to be scrapping to sign him. He is a very talented young man, both on and off the pitch with the latter being so important to get to the top of the tree.

Finally, since I started watching City, there are only two other home grown players that could be considered as better than Alex. And that includes the memory knowing how they developed. Scott still has all that to come. I'll leave you all to work out who those two are/were.

[chinapig]

42 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

I reckon the analysts use a bit more nuance and nous than the Twitter mob.

Indeed they do. There is a world of data beyond xG!

And they don't operate in isolation. Brighton for instance have teams comprising analysts working with scouts and focused on particular positions rather than spread expertise too thinly.

It seems to work for them doesn't it?

Though the 'Twitter mob' does not include those who know what they're doing like @Davefevs

[PHILINFRANCE]

11 minutes ago, cidered abroad said:

But the experts in the football world, meaning top, title winning managers and their top recruitment people, can see past the stats and rely on their own experiences to judge how good each "Alex Scott" is.

From the public comments by Guardiola after their FA Cup win, I would not be surprised if Man City tried to capture him. If we keep Scott at City for another successful season, he could be destined for the top six to be scrapping to sign him. He is a very talented young man, both on and off the pitch with the latter being so important to get to the top of the tree.

Finally, since I started watching City, there are only two other home grown players that could be considered as better than Alex. And that includes the memory knowing how they developed. Scott still has all that to come. I'll leave you all to work out who those two are/were.

I shall bite, and guess the late John Atyeo and Gerry Gow.

If you are going to argue that John Atyeo wasn’t ‘Home Grown, then I would suggest Geoff Merrick or Gary Collier.

Or perhaps Trevor Tainton.

Oh, there are just so many….

[Engvall’s Splinter]

50 minutes ago, Betty Swallocks said:

I take it you missed the rest of the conversation where Maguire was spoken about?

Yes. Otherwise I wouldn’t have written it. 

[Betty Swallocks]

5 minutes ago, Engvall’s Splinter said:

Yes. Otherwise I wouldn’t have written it. 

Clearly haven’t otherwise you’d have seen the explanations as to why Maguire is a different case to Phillips. 

[Super]

Where on earth did the Inter link come from?

[James54De]

1 minute ago, Super said:

Where on earth did the Inter link come from?

Scroll up and you can find out. 

[REDOXO]

I love closed season on here. People being all hissy with each other for no particular reason, on multiple threads. 
 

 

[Super]

7 minutes ago, James54De said:

Scroll up and you can find out. 

Which page?

[Tyna]

12 minutes ago, Super said:

Which page?

http://sportwitness.co.uk/cl-finalists-serious-pursuit-bristol-city-star-transfer-done-e18m/

Page 46

[Elruliri]

20 minutes ago, REDOXO said:

I love closed season on here. People being all hissy with each other for no particular reason, on multiple threads. 
 

 

The first transfer news we had 30 years ago was the evening Post and team talk on the phone. My mum went mental when the phone bill arrived.

[Son of Fred]

33 minutes ago, Super said:

Where on earth did the Inter link come from?

[NcnsBcfc]

3 hours ago, Northern Red said:

No professional scouting department will be put off by lack of goals and assists.

I used to look at his goals and assists as a matter of concern. 

Last season, i started to take note of quite how many "assist to the assist " Scott actually gets.

He's the player in our system that gets the ball out quickly from under his feet and gets us moving forward.

Whether it's to Weimann/Wells on the right or Pring or Bell on the left, you can bet your bottom dollar that Scott will be involved in the build up somewhere to our goals.

So yes, the goals and assists stats don't always do justice to quite how impactful a player can be in midfield. 

Doesn't take away of course that as NP has stated we need more goals from our midfield full stop.

[Redrascal2]

20 minutes ago, Elruliri said:

The first transfer news we had 30 years ago was the evening Post and team talk on the phone. My mum went mental when the phone bill arrived.

I had forgotten phoning team talk. Spent half  of the summer doing that. 

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, chinapig said:

Indeed they do. There is a world of data beyond xG!

And they don't operate in isolation. Brighton for instance have teams comprising analysts working with scouts and focused on particular positions rather than spread expertise too thinly.

It seems to work for them doesn't it?

Though the 'Twitter mob' does not include those who know what they're doing like @Davefevs

Thanks.

There is a huge amount of info out there.  In Wyscout (a poor man’s Statsbomb which is exquisite) you get loads of stuff.  My charts are just a summary to provide initially a first glance.

Here’s some example of more “data” before you get to video stuff (that costs an effing fortune!):

 

Then stuff like dribbles in final third, where the player recovers the ball in the final third, etc.  in the bottom half we can see that this player recovered the ball three times that led to goals.  And he may not have got an assist, a second assist either (to take @NcnsBcfc’s earlier point).

it’s a gradual refinement process, from either someone watching him and / or filtering out a list based on a set of data attributes.

This player (above) has the second most “counterpresses” in his league.  What the eff is a counterpress?  Is the term for your team losing the ball and getting it back within 5 seconds (we’ve heard Klopp, etc talking about this.  This player is very good at it.  No surprise he’s on City’s radar!

[cidered abroad]

1 hour ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

I shall bite, and guess the late John Atyeo and Gerry Gow.

If you are going to argue that John Atyeo wasn’t ‘Home Grown, then I would suggest Geoff Merrick or Gary Collier.

Or perhaps Trevor Tainton.

Oh, there are just so many….

Right first time. A bit of poetic licence on Atyeo as he was only an amateur at Pompey when HD charmed him and his family that City was the best option.

And quite correct about the three from our promotion to the First Division.

I actually believe Scott will get more caps than Atyeo, Roy Bentley and Billy Wedlock.

[Engvall’s Splinter]

1 hour ago, Betty Swallocks said:

Clearly haven’t otherwise you’d have seen the explanations as to why Maguire is a different case to Phillips. 

Clearly missed my post where I answered “Yes” meaning I’d not seen the post as “otherwise I wouldn’t have written it”. 

[downendcity]

4 hours ago, formerly known as ivan said:

Why would we sell him for less just because it’s Inter? 

?

[Major Isewater]

1 hour ago, Super said:

Where on earth did the Inter link come from?

The Inter net.

[Tangle Foot]

3 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Can we also not call Alex Scott a DM as in Defensive Midfielder.  He is not that at all.

He might be a DM as in deep midfielder.

I’d rather we just called him a “midfielder” because he can play many roles.

Putting Scott’s position in terms of midfield numbers, you’d have to say he’s either a number 8, or a number 10.

I personally see his best position is as a number 8.

COYR.

[downendcity]

3 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Thanks.

This is Alex’s chart:

it’s what he does on the ball / his technical stuff that is what other clubs are noticing, the ability to manoeuvre the ball to do the next action, or get fouled.  He does all the other things pretty well too, passing is fine, he wins the ball back, etc, etc.

If the professional focus was on goals and assists, he wouldn’t have everyone clamouring for his signature.  It’s that clamour that drives up the price, and they can see he has huge upside when you put him in with better players than his current teammates (no offence to City players).

You can’t coach those technical skill sets into someone at 19/20, not to Alex’s level anyway.

This typifies Scott's game and demonstrates exactly why fixation with stats can be a poor reflection of a player's worth and contribution to the team.

Assist -Wells

Scorer - Bell

Absolutely made by Scott. His individual skill, ability and vision created the goal from nothing and from inside our own half.

I read an article a few weeks ago about Man City's dominance and that one of the reasons for this is the pressure they put on opposition teams with their relentless pressing to win the ball back as they give teams no time or space. Consequently, premier league teams are looking to bring in players with the ability to control the ball in tight spaces when defending such a high press and  then be able to spring a quick counter attack. 

Seems to me that Scott has just that skill set in spades. As the Preston goal proves, other players can then deal with the assist and goalscoring.

 

 

[Kid in the Riot]

3 hours ago, Dan Robin said:

Scott to Inter, eh?

I' d be surprised if there was some truth in it: despite all the money gained in Champions League rounds, it seems that Suning won't spend much during this transfer window, and if one midfielder will go away (Brozovic seems the more likely to be sold), I guess the replacement would be another expert player/a player who already knows the league and would cost less (ex: money + fringe/young Inter players instead of money alone).

That being said, you never know... Surely it would be a prestigious but also brave move for him.

Inter are having to cut their cloth a bit this summer as the wage bill is too high. They seem to be following a similar policy to last summer of selling first before buying.

Signing a young player like Scott on lower wages would fit that model of lowering the wage bill. In theory they should have a fair bit of cash from the CL run, and as you say, a couple of sales. 

Overall, feels unlikely though. Not many young English players head to Italy. That said, the reputation of Serie A is pretty high at the moment with Italian representation in every major European final and Napoli playing some of the best football on the continent. Could be a smart move.

[REDOXO]

1 hour ago, Elruliri said:

The first transfer news we had 30 years ago was the evening Post and team talk on the phone. My mum went mental when the phone bill arrived.

Yup. 48p a minute at peak IIRC! I suppose reading Raggy responses is cheaper!

[Gazred]

26 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Not many young English players head to Italy

Reminded of Robbie Keane(Irish!) who coincidentally went to Inter at a similar age. Was certainly more unprecedented back then.

[robin_unreliant]

22 minutes ago, REDOXO said:

Yup. 48p a minute at peak IIRC! I suppose reading Raggy responses is cheaper!

I used to ring from the office at lunchtime. Felt quite guilty but I worked for BT so what the hell.

[George Rs]

 

1 hour ago, downendcity said:

I read an article a few weeks ago about Man City's dominance and that one of the reasons for this is the pressure they put on opposition teams with their relentless pressing to win the ball back as they give teams no time or space. Consequently, premier league teams are looking to bring in players with the ability to control the ball in tight spaces when defending such a high press and  then be able to spring a quick counter attack. 

Seems to me that Scott has just that skill set in spades. As the Preston goal proves, other players can then deal with the assist and goalscoring.

 

 

Also, one of Scotts best game this season, at least imo, was against Man City.

Granted Man City played a weaker team, but a weaker Man City team is still a top top team. 

And Scott proved he can dance around players in the prem just as well as he can in the championship. Speaks a lot to his raw ability and ceiling. 
 

If and when teams do come in for him, the price tag is for the player they get once he mixes with the better quality players surrounding him and theoretically with training from better coaches. 

[Selred]

Bristol City player linked with Champions League finalist, wow. Shows how far we have come!

[Davefevs]

3 hours ago, downendcity said:

This typifies Scott's game and demonstrates exactly why fixation with stats can be a poor reflection of a player's worth and contribution to the team.

Assist -Wells

Scorer - Bell

Absolutely made by Scott. His individual skill, ability and vision created the goal from nothing and from inside our own half.

I read an article a few weeks ago about Man City's dominance and that one of the reasons for this is the pressure they put on opposition teams with their relentless pressing to win the ball back as they give teams no time or space. Consequently, premier league teams are looking to bring in players with the ability to control the ball in tight spaces when defending such a high press and  then be able to spring a quick counter attack. 

Seems to me that Scott has just that skill set in spades. As the Preston goal proves, other players can then deal with the assist and goalscoring.

 

 

I raise you Blackburn (a) - Conway’s diving header from Andi Weimann’s cross.