# Non-Trivial Scouting Cues *I share some non-trivial scouting cues I've acquired over the past two years.* > For the full version with images, embedded tweets, and visual breakdowns, [visit BallerzBantz](https://www.ballerzbantz.com/p/non-trivial-scouting-cues). *What does (football) scouting mean to me?* It depends. Recently, perhaps driven by my other interests, it's felt like prospecting a startup: assessing market opportunities, backgrounds on founders, considering historical precedent in certain industry, and much more. Other times, it feels like being a coach's trusted eyes: training your intuition to feel the game vicariously through them then finding players who can make this imagination — or something better — a reality. ## 1. The coach might not always be right, but they have more data points than you do. Leverage that. At any point in the calendar year, coaches wield the most information about the(ir) players on the pitch. They train with them every week. They receive feedback from the medical team, the video team, the other coaching staff, the players themselves. Everyone else has just press conferences, club statements, and the 90 minutes we see some players on the pitch. However tempting it might be to draw irretrievable conclusions, remember that you are under-equipped. ### What can you do about it? Reverse-engineering allows us to mitigate this gap and acquire insight needed for big questions. A step-by-step process: - Accept and assess what lineup or setup the coach puts out. - Attempt to deduce the game intention — the manager's 'ideal game.' - By the end of the game, compare your inferred game-intention with how the game actually panned out. - Consolidate with the manager's post-match comments. - Update your logs and carry any deductions forward. *(Visit the full article for all scouting cues and examples.)* --- ## Related - [[More Non-Trivial Cues]] - [[Description Trap]] - [[Crawling Plants]] - [[Focusing on Strengths]]