{"id":20047,"date":"2022-01-18T20:16:30","date_gmt":"2022-01-18T19:16:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soccerment.com\/?p=20047"},"modified":"2024-06-14T12:38:20","modified_gmt":"2024-06-14T12:38:20","slug":"data-driven-scouting-for-newcastle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soccerment.com\/it\/data-driven-scouting-for-newcastle\/","title":{"rendered":"Data-driven scouting for Newcastle"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the takeover from PIF, Newcastle United was set to become one of the main players in January’s transfer market. This has indeed been the case, with the Magpies already completing two important signings. In this piece, we use our extensive dataset to scout for interesting players in the positions where Newcastle seems to be looking for further signings. In this regard, we believe that a strong case could be made for both BMG’s Ginter and for Lyon’s Bruno Guimar\u00e3es<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Introduction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Newcastle’s new manager Eddie Howe <\/strong>has certainly had a very challenging start to his tenure, with the fixture calendar pitting the Magpies against the likes of Manchester City<\/a>, Liverpool<\/a>, Manchester United<\/a> and Arsenal<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonetheless, we can infer some of his tactical indications and preferences in the players he has selected the most. One consistent trend seems to be a preference towards players who are more comfortable on the ball<\/strong>, which can be inferred from the increase in fraction of minutes played by the likes of Shelvey<\/a> and Schar<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this in mind, we have targeted our data-driven scouting towards a ball-playing centre-back and a midfield playmaker<\/strong>. We also added a left-back <\/strong>to this selection, following reports on the club’s movements in the transfer market. Finally, we provide a few ideas for goalkeepers, which may be more relevant in the future given that the current starter Dubravka is performing at acceptable levels. It is also worth noting that Howe has already worked with Ritchie<\/a>, Fraser<\/a> and Wilson<\/a> at Bournemouth<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Central defender<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

New manager Eddie Howe’s game plan appears to entail a higher quality in building up from the back, thus allowing his team to keep more possession of the ball and initiate attacking maneuvres in ways which could be considered more fitting to the usual long ball. According to our dataset, Newcastle’s defenders are almost all classic defenders, keen on stopping the opposition and usually not so confident with the ball. In this sense, the pursue of a central defender such as Sven Botman<\/a> gives a clear indication towards which kind of profile the Magpies<\/em> are after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it is clear that things cannot be turned around with a snap of the fingers, it is true that with accurate and thoughtful planning this could be achieved sooner rather than later. Therefore, we decided to filter our search following these parameters:<\/p>\n\n\n\n