When preparing for our team’s next match, we need to know what the opponent is doing, tactically, in set-pieces and individually. 

A fundamental part of opposition analysis is the study of individual players and, in this article, we’re going to break down all the various aspects of a player which should be analyzed when making a report. It should be noted, this is a rough guide because, as this is an individual analysis, each player will have their own peculiarities.

The final product contains a written report (description), a table of relevant data and a video with player actions. The objective is to obtain an answer to the question “What does each player do?” Both the coaching staff and players need to be prepared for what they are going to encounter on the field later.

Present the Player

The first thing we need to add to the report is a short visual presentation of basic player information. This will be our title page. It can contain information such as:

• Full name

• Nickname

• Age, height and weight

• Dominant foot

• Position

• Market Value

• Nationality

• Club

If you don’t know all this information off-hand, there are plenty of web-based resources available where you can discover all this information.

Provide a General Description

This section is extremely important. A good, clear and concise description will help us get an initial overview of the player. We include general info about the player such as:

• Typical playstyle

• Strengths and weaknesses

• Unique abilities

• Offensive and defensive profile

Remember, at this point we are only talking in generalities and this is a quick overview. We don’t go into great detail at this point.

We also include information about the players physicality. Their power, strength, speed, skill and stamina levels. We might also talk about their disciplinary record and whether they are on a lot of yellow and red cards or their temperament and attitude towards rival players.

Offensive Characteristics

It’s time to get a little bit more specific at this stage in the report. Here we’ll focus on offense and how our player reacts when their team is on the ball and how they play when they receive the ball. Aspects we might look at here include:

• Offensive starting position

• Movement

• How they shake a marker

• Crossing prowess

• Shooting power

• On field partnerships

• Whether they are good in 1 vs 1 situations

Depending on the player, we might talk about some or all of these, but only related to attack.

Defensive Characteristics

From attack to defense, how the player reacts when team is off the ball and their individual defensive play. Here we’ll look at:

• How they apply pressure

• 1 vs 1 defensive battles

• Their ability to keep their feet

• Their interception skills

• How they defend against deep crosses from the wing

• If they are a winger who tracks back quickly

• If they are a centre forward who gets involved in defensive plays

Again, a lot of this will depend on the player and their position on the field.

Data

This section usually only contains data. It can be technical-tactical or physical performance and may be presented in text or with heatmaps and graphics. Information we might see in this section includes:

• Percentage of successful passes

• Number of assists

• Successful tackles

• Goals

• Free-kicks conceded

• Maximum Speed

• Distance travelled during match

• Solo runs

All this information can be found through data providers, where you can filter by position.

This section is linked to the written report and is fundamental information for the coaching staff.

Video

A good video report is key to analyzing individual opponents. Words and numbers can give you a perception of the footballer and their individual skills but only video can allow you to visualize who you are going to face on the pitch. This is especially true for our own players who can see examples of their opponents playstyle and think about how they can counter it.

Video reports can be presented as a group, to the entire team at the same time, projected onto a big screen during a team meeting or made available to each player through an application or database. Individual presentations also give us the opportunity to tailor the content to specific positions.

Videos should last no longer than 2-3 minutes in order to capture the full attention of the recipient and ensure that all content is relevant.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, this is just a rough guide on what should be included in an individual analysis. There’s no right or wrong way to do this and each coaching staff will have their own preferences when it comes to completing this type of report.

However, we hope that this serves as a useful guide to your own individual analysis and, perhaps, you can use this as a starting point, picking and choosing from our recommendations for your own work.

Thanks for reading!

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