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The Science of Scouting: Experience

As part of our ongoing series, Leicester City’s head of technical scouting Rob Mackenzie discusses the recruitment challenges a team faces when moving up to the Premier League and why there are sound reasons for buying players with experience.

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With Leicester City back in the top flight for the first time in a decade, it was a challenging summer for the club as they looked to add quality to the squad in order to prosper in the Premier League.

For head of technical scouting Rob Mackenzie, the constitution of the squad was an important factor in shaping the profile of players that the Foxes were looking to target. Premier League experience was a priority where available.

“We looked across the squad and once you take out Kevin Phillips, who is now retired and on the staff, we saw that just two per cent of the career history of the players that we have has been at the top level in this country,” Mackenzie tells Sky Sports. “Straight away that was something we were thinking about.

“We’ll have players approaching that with no fear and the attitude that this has been what they’ve been working their whole career for. But on the other hand, if certain individuals find the transition especially challenging then there’ll be a lot of them in the same boat. So obviously we’re trying to bring in players who have played at the top level, preferably in this country where possible.”

Leicester City first team coach Kevin Phillips looks on as the players warm up prior to the Pre-Season Friendly match be
Image: Kevin Phillips: Lost experience

What’s helped the club’s scouting department is the fact that Leicester have been upwardly mobile for some time, having reached the playoffs in 2013 before winning promotion as champions last season. The knowledge that Premier League quality would be needed imminently by manager Nigel Pearson has influenced Mackenzie’s work.

“Since the manager came back from Hull, the ambition has always been to try and get promoted,” he adds. “For example, the season before last when we were in the playoffs and relatively well placed since before Christmas, we were looking at players for the Premier League so that if we were successful we knew who we’d be looking to go for.

“Of course, some of those players have since moved on so we’ve had to look at fresh players again. But having had such a good season we knew that if we didn’t go up we wouldn’t have to change the squad too much, it would just be a few tweaks. So we were able to prioritise looking at people who could make the step up to the Premier League.

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Athletes

But what are scouts looking for when they talk of players being able to make that step up? “For us, the demands of the Premier League are totally different to the Championship. That’s where the athleticism of players comes into play. In the Championship you can often accommodate some players who are maybe not the best athletes but who can help you grind out results. Whereas in the Premier League the players are athletes.

“In the scouting arena that means we have to look for athletic players otherwise we may struggle against pace and we may be exposed on transitions which successful teams thrive on in the Premier League. So for us it’s a big shift in terms of the type of player we'll have to look at.

“There are position-specific factors but the ideal is to sign athletic players who’ve played at the top level. We’ve signed Marc Albrighton. He’s 24 and he’s played 86 Premier League games. So we’re bringing in players who are still hungry but also fit the profile of what the manager wants in terms of how we play.

“At the same time, we’re hoping to bring added experience where possible so that when things happen in the Premier League – maybe you’re 2-0 down and up against it – we have players who’ve been there and can react in the right way.

Esteban Cambiasso of Leicester City celebrates with David Nugent and Liam Moore after scoring against Manchester United
Image: Esteban Cambiasso: Veteran

In this regard, Mackenzie feels Leicester can learn from the experiences of others by examining what has worked – and not worked – for their predecessors in making the leap to the big league. The contrasting fortunes of last season’s promoted teams have impacted on their buying strategy.

“We definitely look at what makes teams successful in the league they are going into,” says Mackenzie. “For example, last season Hull chose to add a number of domestic-based players. Steve Bruce is an experienced manager in the Premier League and he signed Jake Livermore and Tom Huddlestone before going again with Nikica Jelavic and Shane Long in January.”

“That seems to have been more successful than other newly promoted sides over the years who have perhaps made far more foreign signings who maybe didn’t settle as quickly as expected.  Trends in how other clubs conduct their business are something that we take note of whilst conducting our own business in what we think is the right way for us as a club.”

With former England international Matthew Upson and Champions League winner Esteban Cambiasso also joining Albrighton at Leicester this summer, time will tell whether this experience proves beneficial for the Premier League new boys.

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