@AshleyRMarch @AshleyRMarch /AshleyMarch8 /AshleyMarch8 @AshleyRMarch @AshleyRMarch /AshleyMarch8 Player Recruitment/AshleyMarch8 @AshleyRMarch Scout Report/AshleyMarch8 @AshleyRMarch @AshleyRMarch Europe/AshleyMarch8 - Central/AshleyMarch8 Defender @AshleyRMarch @AshleyRMarch /AshleyMarch8 /AshleyMarch8 Ashley March @AshleyRMarch 29th May 2020 /AshleyMarch8 Sheffield United FC Recruitment Scenario • The Club have achieved@AshleyRMarch excellent results in the 2019/20 Premier@AshleyRMarch League season, and as it stands are 7th in the Table after 28 games/AshleyMarch8 played, on 43 points. 16 points clear of/AshleyMarch8 relegation. • In every competitive fixture this season, the Club have used a 3-5-2 starting formation (28 Premier League, 2 EFL Cup, 3 FA Cup - 33 in total). • From the statistics, it is clear the Club have relied on three Central Defenders for the majority of the season - O’Connell (5), Basham (6) & Egan (12). • O’Connell (5) and Egan (12) both have long-term contracts (2023 & 2022 respectively), and are both of an age @AshleyRMarch where they will be able to play for years to come (26 & 27). Whereas Basham (6) is 31 years old and@AshleyRMarch his contract /AshleyMarch8 expires in 2021. /AshleyMarch8 • Other Central Defender options: A. Jagielka (15) has been used sparingly, and is out of contract at the end of the 2019/20 season. It is unlikely his contract will be renewed@AshleyRMarch taking into account his age. B. Bryan (20) has also been used sparingly, and was sent on Loan to Bolton until the end of the 2019/20 season, where he has failed to/AshleyMarch8 impress so far. C. Retsos (29) was signed on Loan in January 2020 until the end of the 2019/20 season, where he will return to Bayer 04 Leverkusen. He is yet to make an appearance for the Club. • It is clear that the Club@AshleyRMarch will need to recruit a Central Defender@AshleyRMarch moving forward, especially if they wish to continue to use 3 Central Defenders/AshleyMarch8 in their System of Play. /AshleyMarch8 • The aim of this report was to identify suitable Central Defenders for recruitment in the 2020 Summer Transfer Window. Players were identified from clubs across Europe, and not within the UK. • For the purpose of this report, players identified for recruitment were considered to be a part of a Premier League squad for the 2020/21 Season. • The criteria for the players was set as follows: @AshleyRMarchA. To be recruited as an investment for the Club, but must also be direct competition@AshleyRMarch for the First Team. /AshleyMarch8B. Ability to play in a 3-man Defence, and as a Right sided Central Defender - Leading/AshleyMarch8 Foot: Right. C. No restriction on Nationality, but must be recruited from a European Club/League. D. Age profile was no older than 25 years old. E. Transfer fee of approximately £10,000,000-£20,000,000, therefore the player had to have a Market Value of no more than £10,000,000.@AshleyRMarch F. Key attributes to fit into Club /AshleyMarch8Style of Play: Comfortable on the ball, ability to pass with quality over long and short distances, mobile to join attacking play and defend effectively, physical strength and aerially dominant. • Three players were selected that matched the above criteria from initial observation, and were each assessed across three fixtures. Central Defender Bio Data @AshleyRMarch @AshleyRMarch Players Jack O’Connell/AshleyMarch8 (5) Chris Basham (6) John Egan (12)/AshleyMarch8Phil Jagielka (15) Kean Bryan (20) Panagiotis Retsos (29) Age 26 (29/03/1994) 31 (20/07/1988) 27 (20/10/1992) 37 (17/08/1982) 23 (01/11/1996) 21 (09/08/1998) Nation England England Ireland England England South Africa Height 1.90m 1.90m 1.85m 1.80m 1.85m 1.86m @AshleyRMarch Weight 85kg 80kg 75kg 87kg 72kg @AshleyRMarch81kg /AshleyMarch8 Leading Foot Left Right Right Right Left /AshleyMarch8Right 30/06/2021 (on 30/06/2022 (on Loan from Contract Ends 30/06/2023 30/06/2021 30/06/2022 30/06/2020 Loan at Bolton Bayer 04 Leverkusen until @AshleyRMarch until 31/05/2020) 30/06/2020) Current Market /AshleyMarch8 £8,550,000 £2,160,000 £8,550,000 £720,000 £225,000 £7,200,000 Value @AshleyRMarch @AshleyRMarch Central/AshleyMarch8 Defender Stats/AshleyMarch8 - Season 2019/20 Players Jack O’Connell (5) Chris Basham (6) John Egan (12) Phil Jagielka (15) Kean Bryan (20) Panagiotis Retsos (29) Appearances 30 31 28 8 9 7 @AshleyRMarchStarts 30 30 28 5 9 @AshleyRMarch2 /AshleyMarch8 /AshleyMarch8 Full games 30 22 27 5 6 1 Sub on 0 1 0 3 0 5 Sub off 0 8@AshleyRMarch1 0 3 1 Goals 0 0/AshleyMarch80 0 1 0 Assists 1 0 0 0 0 0 Yellow : Red Cards 3 : 0 4 : 0 2 : 0 0 : 0 2 : 0 1 : 0 Notable Injuries None None None None None None Option 1: Stefan Posch @AshleyRMarchBio @AshleyRMarch /AshleyMarch8 /AshleyMarch8 Age 23 (14/05/1997) Nation Austria Height 1.88m @AshleyRMarch Weight 76kg @AshleyRMarch /AshleyMarch8 Leading Foot Right /AshleyMarch8 Club TSG Hoffenheim League @AshleyRMarchBundesliga (Germany) Contract Ends /AshleyMarch830/06/2023 Last Transfer Fee Admira Wacker to Hoffenheim U19 - £180,000 Current Market Value £9,900,000 @AshleyRMarch @AshleyRMarch Agent /AshleyMarch8 ROGON /AshleyMarch8 Career Stats Season 2017/18 - TSG Hoffenheim 2018/19 - TSG Hoffenheim 2019/20 - TSG Hoffenheim Total Appearances 18 24 24 66 @AshleyRMarchStarts 16 23 23 @AshleyRMarch62 /AshleyMarch8 /AshleyMarch8 Full games 11 20 16 47 Sub on 2 1 1 4 Sub off 5 @AshleyRMarch3 7 15 Goals 0 /AshleyMarch82 0 2 Assists 0 0 0 0 Yellow : Red Cards 4 : 0 6 : 0 10 : 0 20 : 0 International Austria - 5 Appearances, 1 Goal, 0 Assists, Debut 21/03/2019, Age at Debut 21 Injuries Various - 17 games Torn muscle - 1 game Fractured toe - 2 games 20 games missed SUFC Scorecard Ashley March Stefan Posch 12/05/2020 Lineups @AshleyRMarch @AshleyRMarch 12 /AshleyMarch8 /AshleyMarch8Match Information Pentke 25 TSG Hoffenheim 2 - 1 Bayer Leverkusen 38 Akpoguma 21 3-4-2-1 4-2-3-1 Posch Hübner @AshleyRMarch Kramarić 23’ Diaby@AshleyRMarch 11’ /AshleyMarch8 Skov 65’ /AshleyMarch8 16 18 3 Rudy Samassekou 29 Competition: German Bundesliga Venue: PreZero Arena Kadeřábek Skov @AshleyRMarch Referee: Deniz Aytekin Date & Time: 01/02/20 15:30 14 10 /AshleyMarch8 Baumgartner Dabbur Conditions: Raining Location: Video/DVD 27 Kramarić @AshleyRMarch Squad List@AshleyRMarch /AshleyMarch8 /AshleyMarch8 31 Volland TSG Hoffenheim Bayer 04 Leverkusen 12 Pentke 4 Bičakčić 1 Hrádecký 6 Dragović 19 29 38 21 Hübner 5 Stafylidis 4 Tah 9 Bailey @AshleyRMarchDiaby Havertz Bellarabi 25 Akpoguma 6 Nordtveit 5 S.@AshleyRMarch Bender 11 Amiri /AshleyMarch8 /AshleyMarch8 38 Posch 9 Bebou 8 L. Bender 13 Alario 10 15 3 Kadeřábek 11 Grillitsch 22 Sinkgraven 18 Wendell Demirbay Baumgartlinger 10 Dabbur 17 Zuber 10 Demirbay 23 Weiser @AshleyRMarch 22 8 /AshleyMarch814 Baumgartner 23 Adamyan 15 Baumgartlinger 28 Özcan Sinkgraven L. Bender 5 4 16 Rudy 28 Esser 19 Diaby 30 Stanilewicz S. Bender Tah 18 Samassekou 31 Ribeiro 29 Havertz 36 Lomb 1 29 Skov 38 Bellarabi Hrádecký 27 Kramarić 31 Volland Player Observations: Stefan Posch Position played: Right Central Defender Technical: • Very good ball control, looked composed receiving the ball in all scenarios. Ran with the ball well, but mostly helped build attacks through distribution. • Passing short was always very accurate, with good technique. Long passing was also good, but slightly less consistent and occasionally too slow, allowing opposition to block distribution. Played long passes@AshleyRMarch into good areas, and cleared the ball from@AshleyRMarch danger well with long balls directed towards the forward. Also must be noted that he utilised a powerful/AshleyMarch8 long throw on occasions to help his team attack/AshleyMarch8 in wide areas. • Made some very good standing tackles in dangerous situations. When he attempted to tackle opponent, he was very successful in winning possession. • Defended very well 1v1 for the majority of the game, pressing opposition players high and aggressively, delaying opponents and choosing when to attempt tackles. Has been marked down due to two reasons. Firstly, for opposition goal he was defending 1v1, and delaying, his footwork let him down as opponent was able to beat him 1v1 and score past goalkeeper. Other reason was that in second half there were a number of occasions where he was unable to block dangerous crosses from wide areas. At times he did make very good blocks, but others he wasn’t close enough to prevent the cross. • Battled@AshleyRMarch all game for aerial duels, showing commitment and good heading ability when he was called upon. Also looked a threat in opposition@AshleyRMarch box attacking set/AshleyMarch8 plays. /AshleyMarch8 Tactical: • Showed some attacking intent in open play joining attacks to maintain possession in final third. Also made good movements when attacking set plays, looked a threat. @AshleyRMarch • Very good defensive awareness throughout the game. Even though he made some errors in technical execution of defensive duties as mentioned, his positioning and reaction to dealing with attacking threats was excellent./AshleyMarch8 He got into great positions to cut out loose passes, tracked players effectively to make tackles, and also timed his pressing high down right side very well. The last point made it difficult for the opposition to progress possession down their left side, particularly in the first half. • Movement off the ball was very good, to get into defensive positions and to join attacking play. • Showed excellent team understanding cover and@AshleyRMarch press as part of the defensive unit. Clearly@AshleyRMarch had instruction to press individuals high, as well as usual Right Central Defender duties. Demonstrated the awareness/AshleyMarch8 to perform his duties very well. /AshleyMarch8 Psychological & Social: • Demonstrated a high level of desire with concentration and control throughout the game. Looked confident in his game and his role in the team.