# Centre-Back Scouting Case Study — Euro 2024
## Overview
This project replicates a professional football recruitment workflow: identifying potential replacement candidates for a key centre-back using event data and statistical similarity modelling.
The scouting question:
"If Marc Guéhi became unavailable, which defenders at Euro 2024 present a similar profile?"
The objective was not to find the "best" defender, but to identify players with comparable playing characteristics who could represent realistic recruitment targets.
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The project produces statistical player comparisons and recruitment recommendations.
# Scouting Workflow
The analysis follows a data-driven scouting pipeline:
1. **Data collection**
- StatsBomb Open Data
- UEFA Euro 2024 match events and lineups
2. **Player identification**
- Centre-backs selected from tournament lineups
3. **Metric creation**
- Defensive actions
- Passing contribution
- Progressive distribution
4. **Normalisation**
- Per 90 minute statistics
5. **Similarity modelling**
- Statistical distance calculation
- Comparison against Marc Guéhi's profile
6. **Scouting report generation**
- Automated PDF report
- Player comparison visualisation
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# Data & Metrics
The model evaluates centre-backs using:
### Defensive metrics
- Tackles per 90
- Interceptions per 90
- Clearances per 90
### Ball progression metrics
- Pass completion %
- Progressive passes per 90
### Availability filter
- Minimum 270 minutes played
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# Key Finding
The model identified the following players as the closest statistical profiles to Marc Guéhi:
| Player | Team | Profile similarity |
|---|---|---|
| Robin Le Normand | Spain | Closest statistical match |
| Jan Vertonghen | Belgium | Similar defensive and passing profile |
| Riccardo Calafiori | Italy | Similar progressive profile |
| Wout Faes | Belgium | Comparable defensive output |
These players represent different scouting options depending on recruitment priorities:
- immediate defensive reliability
- ball progression
- experience
- tactical similarity
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# Player Comparison
The radar chart compares Marc Guéhi's statistical profile with the closest centre-back matches identified by the similarity model.
The visualisation highlights differences in:
- defensive activity
- ball retention
- progression ability
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# Final Scouting Report
A full written scouting report is available here:
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# Technical Implementation
Built with:
- Python
- Pandas
- StatsBomb event data
- Scikit-learn
- Matplotlib
Project structure:
centre-back-scouting-case-study/
├── data/
│ └── Match events and lineup data
├── scripts/
│ ├── 01_fetch_data.py
│ ├── 02_compute_metrics_v2.py
│ ├── 03_find_replacements.py
│ └── 04_radar_chart.py
├── visuals/
│ └── RadarChart.png
├── report/
│ ├── scouting_report.md
│ ├── scouting_report.html
│ └── scouting_report.pdf
└── README.md
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# Skills Demonstrated
- Football scouting methodology
- Recruitment analytics
- Event data processing
- Player profiling
- Similarity modelling
- Data visualisation
- Automated reporting
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# Conclusion
This project demonstrates how football data can support recruitment decisions by transforming event-level match information into actionable scouting insights.