This website has earned a reputation of being the number one source for all things related to young football talents. We have been compiling detailed Scout Reports on the best young talents across World football. We also published Tactical Performance Reports on the best players from every game at the U-21 European Championship in the summer. We further added to our obsession with the best talents by compiling a list of players to Watch-Out For across Europe’s main leagues, following that by publishing Mid-Season Progress Reports on each of the players listed and plan to publish Final Performance Reports at the end of the season as well, all these lists can be viewed in our Top 10 Series feature. And most recently we have introduced our brand new Talent Radar feature to further assist in keeping track of the best young talents in world football.
So continuing with this trend of ours we will be publishing a list of the Best Young Players to Watch-Out For in 2014, under the Talent Radar feature (to know more about Talent Radar, head this way).
What exactly will the list contain?
The list will contain a total of 100 players, aged 20 and below (thus born on or after 1st January 1993), who in our opinion are the main players to watch-out for in the calendar year 2014
How will the list be divided?
The list will be divided into 10 Goalkeepers, 30 Defenders, 30 Midfielders, 30 Attackers. We understand that there may be an issue regarding the interpretation of the position of a few players, but we have taken into account the position they have most played in the previous year and are expected to play in the coming year.
The 30 Midfielders will include defensive/central/attacking midfielders. While the 30 attackers will include wingers & strikers.
Over the course of the next few weeks we will publish the list, dividing them into 7 parts in total, with 1 part for the goalkeepers list and 2 parts each for the remaining three positions.
What leagues/countries will be covered?
We have attempted to be as diverse as possible, but it is hard to ignore players from the well-known leagues. However, we have ensured diversity by following a policy that each category can have a maximum of 5 representatives from 1 league i.e. for example, the Premier League can have no more than 5 midfielders out of the total 30. To put that into a wider context, no league can have more than 15 players in the entire list of 100.
Only players playing in the Top Division of their respective leagues have been included, thus players such as Will Hughes, despite being of top quality (and one who could move to a Top Division club) has not been included. But we have players ranging from the England’s Premier League to Mexico’s Liga MX to Australia’s A-League.
We have players from each of the six primary continents of the World.
Which players have been included in the list?
We have included only those players who we believe will have a significant impact in 2014 and have also taken into consideration their performance in 2013. Players who may possess the talent but aren’t likely to feature much have been excluded, the likes of Alex Oxlade Chamberlain to name one. The players in this list are expected (in our opinion) to get a regular run of games in 2014.
How have the players been ranked?
The players have been picked while considering their 2013 performance as well, but for the purpose of ranking them within their respective categories, we have only taken into consideration their expected 2014 performance.
When will the list(s) be published?
We hope to publish each list within the month of January 2014 so everyone can then ‘watch-out’ for the players for the rest of the year.
What if I don’t agree with your list?
We have to understand that this list is based on opinions and not a statement of fact. Our opinion may not necessarily be the most popular one. It’s very difficult to restrict ourselves to just 100 players as there are so many wonderful talents across the World. We are always open to feedback, you can find us on our various Social Media channels or email us at info@outsideoftheboot.com. You can even comment on the list when it is published to let us know your thoughts.