Football scouting is very similar to hunting or fishing, at times.
Finding an interesting talent, understanding his strengths and weaknesses fast, and fit him into what you are looking for in a matter of minutes, can be challenging.
Juan Gafas, our shadow-scout, a ‘shadow-scout’, has his own strengths and weaknesses, but he knows to identify talent when he sees one. Every week, he shares one talent he ran in to during his work, and he shares it with you, BabaGol readers.
Yeison Guzmán
Age: 22
Club: Envigado (Colombia)
Position: Attacking Midfielder, Forward
Nationality: Colombian
Market Value: 450.000 € (Transfermarkt)
Why follow him? Guzmán is one of the more enjoyable players to watch in Colombian football nowadays. That should be a good enough reason to follow him, but on top of that, he really is - a good player.
It is evident what are Guzmán’s best and worst attributes.
Playing for the club that nurtured James Rodriguez, Giovani Moreno and Dorlan Pabon, Guzmán is a player of excellent technical qualities and agility, getting away from tight spaces with the ball glued to his feet. His vision and ability to break defensive lines with his passes are excellent as well, and not too limited by range. He is not only about dribbles and passing; he is calm in the box and scores often, and a threat from set-pieces also. Guzmán is not the player you want to face when receiving the ball in good areas, even if marked tightly. He can overdo things at times, but I do not think that will be a problem when he will be making his step forward.
His downsides are quite clear too, and it is mainly his physical attributes; he is small, not strong nor exceptionally fast, and it does not seem that’s going to change a lot. His contribution to his side’s efforts out of possession is minimal, which might be common in Colombian football but not a good sign for his shift to top levels. It remains to see how well can he play in a higher tempo, as he will probably be asked work more off-the-ball, and it will be a test to his character and physical ability as well.
Some believe Guzmán’s type of players can’t make it in higher levels. I can see why, but I’m not one of those, as his technical ability and vision are too good to ignore. He will need to change and improve some aspects in his game, whether he can or not, it is up to his mentality more than anything else, but the skills he does have now are good enough for better levels than the one he currently plays.
Photo via Envigado official website.
