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Scouting outside of the top leagues
Scouting is to football what teaching is to education. There is no player who has never been scouted and no coach who has never seen a scouting report. It is part of the foundation of every football club, regardless of size, and is crucial to their playing strength. Yet, while the elite sector in football has seen extensive innovations although we have come a long way in terms of scouting processes, there are still a lot of untapped markets: these have little or no infrastructure to enable video analysis. This is where zone14 can help, make a difference: But more on this later!
Why markets are uncovered?
It usually starts at the pitch itself. Without a fixed camera installation at the ready, many clubs resort to recording football matches with their phone, which is prone to error if it is not done correctly. The result: Often poor quality footage that is not readily available for scouts to use (Depending on whether it is even uploaded).
From experience, ease of access often acts as a precursor for which videos are to be analyzed by scouting departments. Resources are finite and with a limit to total working hours, the more complex it is to obtain good quality footage, the less likely it is that the market becomes uncovered.
Value of uncovered markets
However, there is an immense value in scouting relatively uncovered markets, as there are an abundance of players yet to be known: Something virtually unheard of in the digitalized world of today.
It is rare for a player to be off-radar, as with the growing accessibility of videos to be analyzed, any available and good quality footage will be seen in one way or another. This is why it is pivotal to establish coverage to a wider audience. There is talent, a strong drive to develop, and above all a solution to add players to the map: Yet this is a road that must be taken before this becomes a reality.
In order to truly uncover a market, certain infrastructure must be put in place, such as the all-in-one camera system by zone14. Who knows: maybe the next international superstar isn't even on the big screen yet?
Success stories
Every player has their own journey in football. While there is an astounding consensus which claims there is a standard path to be taken, in route to becoming a professional, there are some instances where top-caliber talents were only scouted much later: Becoming success stories far past their teenage years. What this goes to show, is that there have been certain world-class players that emerged in some sense by chance, which is something we are committed to change. As for some of the most notable “late-bloomers”, here are a few of the best.
Didier Drogba
Heralded as one of the greatest African-born strikers of all-time, Drogba only started training on a daily basis as an adult, at one point even almost ditching football entirely for a career in accounting.
It was not until the 2002/03 season, during which he turned 25, that he was able to secure a move to top Ligue 1 side Olympique Marseille: Having bounced around various clubs in France till then.
What ensued can only be considered as incredible. 329 goals for club and country, 17 titles (including the Premier League four times and the Champions League once), as well as countless individual accolades along the way. Yet there was a point in time where this was beyond anyone’s reach.
Jamie Vardy
To continue with prolific strikers that had once gone under the radar, there are few better “rags to riches” stories than that of Jamie Vardy. Once released from Sheffield Wednesday at age 16, he started his career at non-League outfit Stocksbridge Park Steels, on what was a measly £30-a-week wage.
It was not until 2012, at which point Vardy was already 25, that his years bagging goals for FC Halifax Town and Fleetwood Town amounted to his transfer to Championship-side Leicester City: After two seasons with 23 and 34 goal hauls respectively.
That he would be part of one of the most improbably success stories, winning the Premier League title in the 2015/16 season, is something that must have been written somewhere in the stars.
N'golo Kanté
On that same title-winning Leicester City team, which comprised of a number of previously uncovered talents, was another incredible success story: That of N’golo Kanté.
Still playing in the ninth French division at 18 years old, his work-rate and incredible defensive consistency were still far from on-the-radar. It was not until the end of the 2011/12 season that he would get his first whiff of professional action: At the age of 21. From this point he would not look back.
By today, he is considered as one of the best holding midfielders of the last generation. He played a pivotal part in Leicester City and Chelsea’s Premier League winning sides, helped lead the latter to both a Champions League and Europa League title, as well as win the World Cup with France in 2018. However, as has been the theme in this section, there was a time at which he was merely a prospective world-class talent playing in an uncovered market.
Introducing zone14
The zone14 TWO is your ideal partner in video analysis. With its 180-degree camera, flexible mounting options, and live-streaming capabilities: It has the potential to revolutionize scouting in even the most uncovered of markets. It has been assembled to work from anywhere and can be installed in a matter of a few steps, which we believe adds to its use case as an accessible, cost-effective, and viable option especially for scouts.
If you are to be interested, or just want a little sneak-peak into the product, feel free to request a demo account.
Making this a reality
Our vision is simple: Video analysis needs to be democratized and it is up to companies like us to make this a reality. We acknowledge that it is more difficult to record football matches in uncovered markets, and as a result of this, scouts are unable to do their work and talented players are being passed up on.
With our solution, the goal is not to mimic Champions League final-level footage, yet rather to maximize the quality of footage under the circumstances at-hand. This is, in our opinion, the best way to facilitate talent identification (through video analysis) in the markets that would otherwise be uncovered. Who knows: Maybe the next difference-maker on the international stage is still yet to be seen in the first place?
Conclusion
Scouting in uncovered markets has till now been more of a fringe topic in football: Often coming down to a lack of adequate infrastructure, in particular for video analysis, and the fact that footage is either very expensive or unable to be accessed.
This is where zone14 is looking to enter the fray with a set of innovative, plug-and-play solutions that are able to work virtually anywhere, offering high quality videos suitable for analysis, all at a fair price. This, in our opinion, is what democratizing football is all about. Every league, every club, and every player should have the opportunity to be scouted: And this is what we at zone14 aim to help facilitate.
Who knows if the next Drogba, Vardy, or Kanté is out there ready to be uncovered?
