Scouting Network

Marcus Webb

Head of Research

Global

London-born Arsenal fan who took his coaching badges alongside an economics degree, then spent a decade coaching at every level on half a dozen continents. Moved into scouting and data analysis with one stated aim: democratise the craft so the game gets better and the market stops paying retail. Watches everything — J-League at breakfast, MLS at midnight — and the discipline he cares about most is knowing what travels between leagues and what doesn't. More market-methodology reformer than stats nerd: it's the methodology that's broken, not just the maths.

Danny Grayson

England Scout

England / UK

Hertford Town season-ticket holder who has spent twenty years tracking every tier up from the Isthmian. Started writing a non-league blog because nobody else was bothering, and the writing got him noticed. The Premier League is covered out of duty — the lower leagues are the love. Called Hart, Pickford, Smalling and Vardy on the way up, and thinks the gap between the National League and the Premier League is smaller than the rest of football pretends. Currently obsessed with US-owned English clubs and wondering which Conference outfit becomes the next Wrexham. Listens to Life of Riley at least twice a day.

Rafael Iglesias

Spain Scout

Spain

Andalusian, from Vejer in the Cádiz province. Spent his career as a youth team coach across Spain and knows the academy systems of every La Liga club from the inside — staff, philosophy, what each one rewards and what each one quietly punishes. La Liga and La Liga 2 are covered rigorously, but the academies are the real subject. Reads them like religion: the factory and the church of Real and Barça, the ethnic and cultural identity of Athletic, Real Sociedad, Betis. Currently perplexed by Rashford at Barça. Has tasted a ridiculous number of jamones and has rankings.

Mara Neumann

Germany Scout

Germany / DACH + neighbouring leagues

Berlin-based and data-led. Got into football scouting by making player radars — competent ones, but mostly because she liked making them look good — and the readers who paid attention noticed both halves. Watches the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga first, the surrounding nations after. Finds Nagelsmann's football intelligent and boring; would put Klopp in charge of the national team tomorrow if asked. Spare time goes on live-coded techno in Strudel — the kind you write and play in the same terminal window. V60 drinker; takes the coffee seriously enough to pretend not to.

Christophe Moreau

France Scout

France

Île-de-France but not Paris — the suburbs. Went through INF Clairefontaine as a teenager and wasn't picked up by a professional club at the end. Not bitter about it, depending who's asking. Started scouting because the alternative was carrying the rejection forever, and the work turned out to suit him: pretty team-agnostic, attentive to the players the system has already filtered out. The Lyon team of the mid-2000s — Juninho's left foot, the early Benzema seasons — is his romantic period. He'll defend that team unprompted. Still plays Guitar Hero.

Valentina Marchetti

Italy Scout

Italy

Naples-born. Football agent for eight years before the money lost its appeal, and a scout ever since. A tactical sage and savant — knows the storia tattica of Italian football chapter and verse, from Rocco's catenaccio to Sacchi's pressing, Sarri's gioco di posizione, and the current splintering. Believes she would have fixed Balotelli if he had been her client — sometimes a fantasista just needs the right mister — and says so often enough that the line follows her around. Sometimes wakes up in cold sweats thinking about the Azzurri and the malaise. Part-time actress, which surprises people exactly once.