Yogo zvіti — the right creations of mysteries: ohajni, zіbranі from tovstі sew on the rings. The leather match takes two turns - the left-handed rulers, the right-handed guests. For the name of the skin grafter, indicate the number, age, age and date of completion of the contract.
Poruch is a place for short notes about the game. Who gets a few rows, and who gets empty. If the side is underlined with a marker, it means that the gravets really hit.
This is how Dave Worthington dealt with fate - a scout who scouted the talents of France and Spain for Bolton, Chelsea, Gull, Blackburn, Sunderland, West Ham, Leicester and Everton. “Few people are so timid,” guesses Vin. — Other scouts chanted: “You know your book, Worthy.”?
I'll be honest with her. Now, at 80, Dave has boxes of these sounds.. We look at part of his house in West Yorkshire - three large drawers are already standing on the kitchen table, and more on the stove.
Familiar names appear among folders from the mid-2000s. Karim Benzema - Worthington had already won his 16-pointer from Lyon in order for Bolton to take the boy for a million euros. Then he wrote to Chelsea: “If we don’t get along, we’ll go to Real Madrid, Barca or Milan.”.
There is also young Manuel Neuer from Schalke and Mousa Dembele, who also played for AZ and who also taught Chelsea.
New stars recommended that West Ham sign Marco Asensio from Mallorca - even before Real Madrid signed him. And the list of players who joined Worthington for Everton in 2017 includes Pedro Porro, Bruno Fernandes and Rodri. Then they played for Girona, Sporting and Villarreal consistently.
Rodri’s name is under the marker more than once. The axis of lessons from this report about the match between Villarreal and Deportivo in 2018, when Rodri was 21:.
“He plays the top duel like a glove, always opens a pass, picks up the ball, reads the game well, plays well, handles the ball competently, doesn’t take risks with a pass under pressure, helps his partners, may not have mercy, wonderful.
There is an icon in the right margin - a clear recommendation to sign the engraver. The same Rodri, who became one of the greatest football players in the world, the leader of Atletico, Manchester City and the Spanish national team, and won the Ballon d'Or in 2024.
“I saw you right away,” says Worthington. - Now everything: be at the center of the field, in defense, forward, appear, as if coming out of attack. He had everything a good footballer needed. A very intelligent fellow, everyone knows"
It is important to believe that Everton have a fair chance of signing Rodri - and will also end up returning to Atletico Madrid for close to 20 million euros. Ale tse buv period, if the club spent some sums for the ruler Farhad Moshiri. More than that summer, Everton paid 30 million for the Colombian player Yerri Mina from Barcelona. Worthington, who respectfully followed Gravetz, is categorically not for this transfer: having realized that his strength in the world does not compensate for his weaknesses in other aspects of the game.
All this was expected to change at the club, when the old school of scouts was gradually replaced by new approaches. Worthington recently spent time in Everton: he did not agree with the kerivnitstvo, which spoke of “the immediate approach to the search of the gravers,” but in reality it acted under the mood of the ruler.
A similar story followed at Sunderland, when in 2013 agent Roberto De Fanti became director of football.. Now, looking back, Worthington realizes that the rest of his career was amazing - and that in new methods of selection, perhaps, more care was spent.
“About people like me,” he grins, “now songs of manifestation are sung: saying, an old grandfather with a notebook under his aroma, who relies more on intuition and powerful eyes. And who cares a lot that we are just a relic of the past"
In the hour, if the data from the analyst allows us to understand the gravel, without leaving the office, the reputation of traditional scouts has suffered severely. After Michael Lewis's book Moneyball and the film with Brad Pitt, where scouting is depicted as closing a group of people who are afraid of the new, their methods have begun to be perceived as outdated..
The news of football - the game that is bound to change completely - has gradually begun to take precedence over human assessment.
However, Worthington is not suitable for thinking that the old methods have become. Vіn is not against analytics - however, even in the early 2000s, Bolton worked with the system, as one of the first in the Premier League was inspired by scouting and tributes. Here's Dave Fellows, who later became one of the creators of Liverpool's analytical structure.
" “We have found promising gravitationalists in New America, and for years now I have admired them in France, Italy, whatever is needed.”.
Bolton didn't have a big budget for scouting. Thus, in England, very few clubs could afford to spend heavily on finding talent - most simply relied on agents or newspaper statistics to find out about promising players in Europe.
First Rocks in France Worthington lives more modestly. The salary is minimal, but the club would like to pay for gas and travel. He steadily covered hundreds of kilometers in his Fiat Punto: 14 years round trip to Lyon, 16 to Marseille. " You sit back, unpack your sleeping bag and just sleep in the car,” he grins..
It was Worthington himself who strongly encouraged the young Karim Benzema, the leader of the Lyon youth team. They told him that a guy could be signed for as little as a million euros. Ale Bolton ice pulled towards transfers for the basis, without even talking about investing in the future. The commanders needed to find fighters - proven, physically ready, or inexpensive, who could immediately strengthen the team in the Premier League.
It’s not surprising that twenty years later Worthington’s eyes will shine when he remembers his partner - the Senegalese all-rounder Abdoulaye Faye, who also engraved for the French Istres on loan from Lille. Having found a new ideal player for Sam Allardyce and telling the coach that he was ready to put his reputation on the line. I'll rent the property from Bolton for free, then for three million euros - and let everyone know that Allardyce later took him to Newcastle. If the scout has enough singing in Gravtseva, who is ready to risk the powerful names - this is a valid re-verification of mastery.
Worthington Mav chuttya na talenti zmalku. The eldest of three brothers, the first to become a professional football player. Following is Bob, who is the grav for Halifax Town, Middlesbrough, Notts County and Southend United. And the younger one, Frank, from his childhood created such amazing things with balls that his brothers simply marveled with their mouths open.
Frank, who is at the top of his life in 2021, becoming one of the most talented and most beautiful Englishmen of his generation. Particularly memorable were the appearances for Leicester City, where in the 60–80s they created sick people with their tricks.
\? — laugh Dave. — It would simply say: “Our little one is neutral.”. He created wonders in the thirsty, swampy fields, like the small teams. You have mastered your time. Mig bi grati be-de y be-yaku era"
Now Worthington believes that Worthy's new autobiography, which tells the story of his entire football life - from a modest Halifax and Grimsby native to a top-ranking scout - will help more succinctly.
We all marveled at the matches and thought: “Ocey Gravets definitely deserves to compete on a high level.”. Social networks are full of sofa scouts, who are fond of declaring that they have found a new star - having said that a boy from the youth team of Vasco da Gama is a different Messiah, because on YouTube he looks incredible, and in Football Manager they noticed.
True scouting is completely different. Worthington spent most of his career trying to find players for a pittance who could fit right into English football. How did it work with Abdulai Faji Abdulai Meite in Bolton, or with the Frenchman Stephen Nzonzi at Blackburn?. For such clubs, the main task is not to fly out of the Premier League, so the need was not for stars, but for intelligence, reasonable fighters.
“Talent is immediately visible - no matter what,” even Worthington. — If you work like a scout, you think differently: “So, he knows how to do this, but what can he do if he doesn’t have a ball?”? “Who would be surprised at just the footage or video, where the camera is constantly on the gravel. What happens when the ball is on the other side How does he react when he touches the ball Run back? How to Trim? We support our partners? Chi work if the team loses 0:2 on the road?
For Chelsea, the task was different: they know footballers with a rare share of mental, physical, technical and tactical maturity - those who can strengthen the team and fight for titles. Worthington will guess how, if Samir Nasri was enchanted in Marseille, but having made a new job, it would be necessary to be unstable to help Chelsea.
One time I was forced to marvel at a potential newcomer. Having passed through France - and having learned at the scene that the gravel was not turned on until the starting warehouse.
“I would like to marvel at how I know myself during the warm-up hour,” says Worthington. — And he just chatted, respecting his partners, without getting ready to play. Having given up on me as hisist. I wrote to you that you can improve the atmosphere in the team."
And again, in 2006, Worthington was sent to Tureccin to look after Nicholas Anelka. At that time, the Frenchman already had the reputation of a squishy, \u200b\u200bconflicted graver - he was not accepted into PSG, without having tried his hand at Manchester City, and now he is a graver with Fenerbahce.
Worthington flew from Istanbul carefully, determined not to succumb to the pressure of his goals. And after several matches and careful re-verification, having made a change: Anelka has changed. It looked brilliant, and Bolton took the plunge - signing him for a record ?8 million. Through the repeater of Chelsea, having bought it for 15 - this is the club's record sales.
At that time, Worthington himself was already working with Chelsea - with a large-scale new scouting structure, where the officials were not looking for “proven grounds” in Liza 1, but were looking for elite level footballers who were able to make a strong.
Ty Rocky Worthington lost his mark on the robot Chelsea. For the sake of the club, I was very willing to sign Anelka, who gave my best rating. Let's remember the day when the French team lost to Scotland, the sound of it sounded like a chant:.
"
Among his other recommendations are the Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic, the Brazilian Kaka (" Ale both of the remaining ones in 2009 roci having overtaken Real.
We carefully passed through Mousa Dembele, who was assessed for a special system of points: nine out of ten - for fluidity, looseness and play without the ball, five - for heading and fighting for the ball. Podsumkov 179 out of 250 points could look in the middle, but Worthington pointed out:.
" Varto sign - this is an investment"
Worthington is by no means known for straightforwardness - to say before the most serious truth. Towards the hour of Euro 2008, Chelsea scouts were asked to have a dinner with the club's leader Roman Abramovich. At some point, you turned to Dave and asked about the club's interest in Gomis - as Worthington thought, the word came about the French striker Bafetimbi Gomis from Saint-Etienne.
Worthington frowned and said bluntly: “Gomis? No, not for us. Bad gravel, a little weak for Chelsea"
Abramovich expressed his admiration and said that the club’s sporting director, Frank Arnesen, respects his goals. Worthington lost his lips. Already after realizing that I felt wrong: Abramovich Mav in the respect of Gomez - Mario Gomez from Stuttgart, who himself then scored in every match and was preparing to win for Germany in the quarterfinals.
“I tried to rectify the situation by explaining that we are talking about the different Gravians,” Worthington now laughs. “But, perhaps, that very moment became fatal for me - later Chelsea cut off some of the scouts, and less than the middle of them.”.
In his book, Worthington does not boast of successes - however, he honestly recognizes his regrets. Instructing with thick names those who have not really recovered.
He calls a number of butts: Mustafa Bayal Sall, who became the support of Saint-Etienne, but still did not rise to the level of the top commander; Lucas Evangelista, who once vibrated from the Portuguese Estoril, and then turned to Brazil in Red Bull Bragantino; and Sandro Ramirez is a striker whom Everton signed on Worthington’s recommendation after a miracle season in Malaysia, but who is not ready to adapt to the fast pace of the Premier League.
“Before we finally completed the work, I was about to capture one of the graves - Rika Puch,” says Worthington. — “I grew up in the youth teams of Barcelona, \u200b\u200band it seemed to me that the heavens were simply cloning Messi. Your mission was miles ahead of everyone else. Small, critty - but I will sing that the Premier Lisa will create a sea of \u200b\u200b\u200b\u200bmoments. I would like to show my gratitude for this new respect. But for a variety of reasons, everything turned out wrong, as I realized. Now in the USA, in LA Galaxy. Maybe I’ll have mercy, but there are a lot of officials in this matter.”.
Worthington himself reconciles that the best scouting structures - such as those of the Manchester City, where his son Gary selected the selection of graves - will include daily data from a human perspective.
“Statistics are even more meaningful if they are viewed in context and taken into account with the cautions of people, as they understand the group,” even though. - Since you are not a gravel, you know that such a useful tackle? Do you understand the difference between a “successful” pass, which puts your partner in a tight position, and a “non-distant” one, which removes the pressure on your opponent
It turns again and again to one word - context. The subjective view itself allows one to interpret it in a way that a number cannot. Dani, of course, made football smart, but Worthington doubts whether they really smelled the stench of transfers. Even the number of successful additions to the Premier League, it seems, is not going away - but perhaps it has decreased.
And in this book there is a story that still calls out in a new world. After leaving Everton in 2018, the family of all of them continued to go to matches in Spain - looking for talent, adding up the stars, although in 73 years they were already happy with their hobi, not working.
It seems that in Barcelona, \u200b\u200bon the game of the double, he noticed a few rows below the young scout - he sat in charge of the girl, laughing, having shown it on the iPad, seemingly not at all surprised by the match.
“I’m boiling,” says Worthington. “I spent my money, and this guy, it seems, just came to Barcelona for the weekend for show.”.
However, once a representative spends his Saturday afternoons at the Halifax and Grimsby matches, his scouting radar never wavers.
Sometimes he accepts Gary's request to come to Manchester City games.
“For ninety years I have been sharing my caution with people, since for fifteen years I have been deprived of what may be the most successful scouting system in the world,” Worthington laughs.. “I think it’s even more valuable.”.
The Athletic.