Reading a football scout’s notebooks: Spotting Rodri and Benzema, and why data needs context - The Athletic

Dave Worthington, an 80-year-old football scout, meticulously documented his scouting observations in ring-bound notepads, where each match was recorded over two pages with the home team on the left and away team on the right. For each player, he noted details such as shirt number, height, age, and contract expiration date, along with performance observations that varied from brief notes to detailed four or five-line descriptions, with highlighted sections indicating strong recommendations for signings.

Throughout his career scouting in France and Spain for clubs including Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea, Hull City, Blackburn Rovers, Sunderland, West Ham United, Leicester City, and Everton, Worthington maintained this unique approach, often drawing light-hearted comments from peers. His extensive archives, stored in boxes at his West Yorkshire home, include reports from the mid-2000s featuring early identifications of players like Karim Benzema, whom he first saw as a 16-year-old at Lyon and recommended for a €1 million deal, predicting his future at top clubs like Real Madrid. He also scouted Manuel Neuer at Schalke and Mousa Dembele at AZ, proposing them to Chelsea.

More recent reports show Worthington urging West Ham to sign Marco Asensio from Mallorca before Real Madrid intervened, and in 2017, he provided firm recommendations to Everton for players such as Pedro Porro, Bruno Fernandes, and Rodri, who were then at Girona, Sporting, and Villarreal, respectively. Rodri, in particular, received repeated highlighted assessments, with Worthington praising his heading ability, positioning, strength, and passing skills in a 2018 La Liga match, using "AP" to signal an unequivocal recommendation for Everton to pursue him, noting Rodri's versatility and potential to excel in various positions.

Despite Worthington's strong endorsement of Rodri, who later joined Atletico Madrid and Manchester City, winning the 2024 Ballon d'Or, Everton did not act on the advice during a period of high spending under owner Farhad Moshiri. Instead, the club signed Yerry Mina for €30 million, a player Worthington had advised against due to concerns that his aerial threat from set-pieces did not outweigh weaknesses in other aspects of his game.