Crystal Palace head scout explains interesting ‘cross-reference’ transfer strategy

Crystal Palace have significantly expanded their scouting operation across the Americas, and there’s a pretty clear idea behind it.

The Eagles are comparing players born in the other side of the Atlantic with options across the world and asking a very specific question. Can they actually handle the Premier League?

Alessandro Brito, Crystal Palace’s head scout for the Americas, has now explained how the operation works. He has also gone into detail about the physical profile the Eagles are looking for.

Strength and speed matter a lot. There’s still room for different types of players, of course, but Palace know exactly what they are up against every week.

Crystal Palace have expanded their scouting map

Speaking to ESPN Brazil, Brito explained that Palace already had a well-established recruitment department when he arrived. His appointment was part of an attempt to take that operation into more markets.

“There’s already a very solid department within the club, and they wanted to expand this coverage, this map of where the club operates,” Brito said.

“So we created this project and developed this project to monitor the Americas in general.”

“My responsibility, my area of operation, is MLS in the United States and Canada. We take Mexico and the main young players who can come through in Central America as well.”

“That has developed a lot today in terms of producing young players.”

South America is naturally a huge part of the job. Brito spent years working in the region before Palace appointed him. He was most recently at Botafogo, where he played an important role in building their squad.

“And all of South America, which has always been my area of operation and always been my speciality, also comes under my responsibility,” he explained.

“We are two leaders. One is responsible for everything I’ve talked about, responsible for the Americas, and there’s another leader responsible for Europe.”

“The two of us report directly to the directors and the CEO of the club on all this structuring and analysis that we do.”

That gives Palace a pretty wide net. A player doing well in Brazil, Argentina or elsewhere in South America isn’t being judged only against the football around him, though.

Brito says one of the biggest differences he has found since moving to Palace is the ability to compare players globally.

“The big difference I see – I’ve only been at the club for three months – is being able to observe, analyse and compare players from all over the world.”

“That’s the reality of the Premier League today. We call it cross-reference. The best player we’re analysing here in South America isn’t always going to be the best player in the league.”

“So we cross-reference a lot of this data and information so that we can have the best player for the club, the best player for the league.”

Physical data can make or break a Palace target

Brito was asked how much importance Palace give to the physical side when assessing someone in Brazil or elsewhere in South America. Quite a lot, as it turns out.

The Eagles even have specific tools to help them understand how a player’s physical output translates between competitions.

“Today we even have a tool which converts and can provide clubs in general with information about physical data,” Brito said.

“And when we talk about physical data, today the Premier League is top one. It’s the number one league, the main league in physical data.”

“From speed, acceleration, everything we talk about in physical data today, the gold standard is the Premier League.”

That creates an obvious challenge when Palace identify someone thousands of miles away.

“When we talk about the physical model or physical side, we have to pay attention,” Brito explained.

“If the player doesn’t meet the requirements or doesn’t have the physical attributes to play in the league, that’s a factor today. It’s something we really have to analyse.”

He then brought the conversation directly back to Palace and their position within English football. Brito believes the Eagles need to find players capable of matching some of the Premier League’s biggest clubs physically.

“As a club, as Crystal Palace, today we’re maybe not in the top ten, or we’re around the top ten, top 12 in the Premier League.”

“So our main objective today and our main focus is exactly trying to find players with that profile.”

“Strength, speed, obviously combined with the technical side. Why? Because we’re competing with the biggest powers in the world.”

“Today Palace have to compete with Arsenal, Liverpool, City, United. So how can we compete? Through physical duels.”

Palace are trying to predict the player they will eventually get

There’s another layer to Brito’s work which helps explain why Palace are putting so much effort into monitoring younger markets.

The club aren’t only judging what a player is now. Scouts are trying to work out what he might become several years down the line.

“The scout, the observer, besides knowing how to observe the game and analyse the game through various factors, has to have something within themselves,” Brito said.

“And that’s experience. It’s also a lot about feeling, the hours we spend watching games, analysing in stadiums and everything else. It’s the future potential that he might have.”

That can mean backing someone whose current performances don’t immediately jump off the screen.

“Many times we look at a player who isn’t performing at his peak. But he’ll have his performance peak at 24, 25, 26 years old.”

“That experience, that know-how we have from watching lots of games and analysing lots of players – sometimes the player isn’t at his best performance, but further down the line we can see his potential.”

Put all of that together and Palace’s approach to the Americas becomes much clearer.

They’ve expanded the territory they cover, with Brito overseeing a huge part of it and reporting directly to senior management. And it’s a lot more complicated than spotting someone playing well in Brazil and putting his name on a transfer list.

And with Palace now deliberately widening their coverage across the continent, there should be plenty more players going through that process.