What is Talent Radar? And who is ‘eligible’ under it? Talent Radar is a feature on our website that tracks the performances & progress of the best young players across various league. The age criteria for players eligible depends on the specific sub-feature.
With the new season, comes new beginnings. A clean slate often characterized by a new manager, a new star signing or at the very least renewed hope. The new season also means that football’s next batch of young talent is another step closer to stardom. And it is this talent that we want to track. Identifying an exciting young player and tracking his progress is an inherently exciting task. The much acclaimed Talent Radar feature lets you do just that.
Throughout the course of the coming season, we will keep you abreast of the fortunes of the players eligible for this category. We live in a world of microbloggers which means that Twitter, Facebook et al are great informational resources. Thus if you want to chart the progress of tomorrow’s stars, #TalentRadar is a hashtag you should definitely look out for.
If you are of the belief that social media is an evil that will suck the very soul out of your body or just one of those football fans whose need for knowledge outweighs the droplets of footballing wisdom that trickle through on Twitter, have no fear. The Talent Radar section on Outside of the Boot is a multifaceted feature which keeps you ahead of the curve.
100 Best Young Players // Link // Eligibility: 20 years old and younger on Jan 1st of the calendar year: This annual feature predicts the 100 Best Young Players in the upcoming calendar year. The criteria for selection mirrors that of the league specific list but the players aren’t limited by the leagues they ply their trade in. Partitioned into 4 sections namely Goalkeepers, Defenders, Midfielders, Forwards this comprehensive list is one to look out for.
Team of the Week // Link // Eligibility: 21 years old and below at start of the season for outfield players, 22 years old and below for Goalkeepers: Team of the Week is of course a well known feature in the footballing sphere. We offer the same with a twist. Our team is composed of only Talent Radar players and we back them to take on your Team of the Week anytime, anywhere.
Player Rankings // Link // Eligibility: 21 years old and below at start of the season for outfield players, 22 years old and below for Goalkeepers: Our humble attempt at maintaining a regular index of the World’s best young players categorised according to their position, and rankings updated on a regular basis. The player rankings winner will be lauded in the Talent Radar Young Player Awards as this feature ultimately adds transparency to our choices in those awards.
Talent Radar Awards // Link // Eligibility: 21 years old and below at start of the season for outfield players, 22 years old and below for Goalkeepers: The crowning achievement for any young player ( except for the Ballon d’Or, just ), the end of season Talent Radar awards recognizes the best young players of the season. There were 15 awards in last season’s edition including individual and team awards. A number of awards were vote based as the readers decided on the eventual winners while others were decided by the OOTB team. League specific Teams of the Season will also be published once the campaign’s done. Our Talent Radar Player Rankings (see below) will further provide transparency to these end of season awards, ensuring that the deserving ‘candidate’ gets his much deserved recognition.
Young Stars of the Year // Link // Eligibility: 21 years old and younger on Jan 1st of the calendar year: This feature focuses on the best individuals in a given calendar year across the six continents and a seventh award for the stand out performer in Women’s Football. Consider it the Talent Radar version of the Ballon D’Or, only better, more rationalised and less mainstream.
Talent Radar Lists // Link // Eligibility: Dependent on feature: Our league & competition specific lists of the 10 Best Young Players caters to a more tailored audience. Risking abuse from fans frothing at the mouth because their club’s biggest prospect is missing from the list, we aim to list the 10 best young players taking into account various factors such as present ability, potential, playing time, etc. while our monthly lists consider only performance during the relevant month.
