Statistics gives a new perspective on soccer. A lot of information opens up a lot of room for analysis. It is useful for bookies, scouts, observers, and ordinary fans. But to make a quality investigation should take into account several aspects.
Rob Wollman, a renowned soccer analyst, wrote the following in his book: “Any rational analysis of statistics must begin with a consideration of the age of the players.” Therefore, it should be understood that a nineteen year old athlete will have a tremendous advantage over a seventeen year old.
In addition to what has already been said, there are other parameters also outlined in Wollman’s book. So to answer such a complicated question, you need to put in more variables and analyze more data.
If you consider only the dry stats, Joe Nuttall is clearly the best soccer forward. But at the start of the season, he was already 19 full years old. And Andy Dallas is breathing down his neck, with a lower scoring average, but he’s two and a half years younger.
So who should be on the list, let’s see:
| Player | Team | Rank |
| Oli Shaw | Hibs | 1 |
| Neil McLaughlin | Patrick Thistle | 2 |
| Rory Currie | Hearts | 3 |
| Andy Dallas | Rangers | 4 |
| Logan Chalmers | Dundee United | 5 |
That said, guys like Chalmers, Higgins, Johnson, Rudden, and others were not originally in the top 25. But after using the age adjustment, they began to compete for their spots!
Considering all of this information, we can conclude that often great athletes show their potential early in their careers. And the job of an experienced recruiter is to find them before someone else does!