Scouted Says

Napoli have begun the 2022/23 season in blistering form. Top of their Champions League group, ahead of AFC Ajax and Liverpool, unbeaten in Serie A after 12 games. Spearheaded by Khvicha 'Kvaradona' Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen, can I Partenopei end their 33-year wait for a Scudetto? Raffaele Rispo from the Napoli Rant joins Joe to discuss the possibility, and much, much more. Listen now.

Unbeaten in their opening four Champions League group stage games and already through to the knockouts without conceding a goal this season but third in Belgium's top flight after winning five of the last seven titles. Club Brugge boast a young team, a young coach and heaps of potential, but are toying with the loss of star man Charles de Ketelaere, Noa Lang's drop-off in form and coach Philippe Clement's exit. Join Joe and Belgian football expert and consultant Scott Coyne for the latest episode of the Scouted Football Podcast. Listen now.

Graham Potter is in the early knockings of his time as manager at Stamford Bridge - so what can we expect from the former Leeds Carnegie University and Östersunds boss? Brighton fan and The Athletic's tactics writer Liam Tharme combines his knowledge of Potter's team and tactics over the past three seasons to cast his verdict on what's to come at Chelsea. Listen now.

A novel transfer approach taken to the 'extreme' in Swiss football, FC Basel's bid to reclaim top spot in the Alpine nation may take some time as BSC Young Boys are looking pretty strong. But, led by club legend and former Swiss international Alex Frei, whose band of young players from across Europe, there is a chance Basel can restore themselves to former glories and build on their 20 league titles. Featuring Swiss football scout and the Super League's head Football Manager researcher Oliver Zesiger. Listen now.

After signing Tino Livramento and Armando Broja (loan) from Chelsea's academy last summer, Southampton have added Gavin Bazunu and Roméo Lavia from Manchester City this year - and Liam Delap could yet join them. Joe speaks to Scouted Football analyst Llew Davies about the new faces at St Mary's (including Handbook alumnus Armel Bella-Kotchap) and The Athletic's Southampton correspondent Jacob Tanswell about the business done and season to come. Listen now.

England are UEFA U-19 European Champions for a joint-record eleventh time. Scouted Football's Llew Davies cast his beady eye over the entire eight-team tournament and along with Stephen Ganavas has devised an 18-man Team of the Tournament. Five English, five French, four Italian, two Israeli, one Slovak and one Austrian. Names you'll be hearing plenty more of. Don't miss it.

Joe is joined by FootballInDenmark.com's Henry Nicholls to discuss ones to watch in 2022/23, Midtjylland's innovative scouting, Nordsjælland and the unique Right to Dream Academy, FK København's 2022 title win, 16-year-old Roony Bardghji and much, much more. Listen now. 00:00-04:59 – Getting into Danish football 05:00-10:16 – Brief overview of the Danish Superliga 10:17-16:15 – Right to Dream and FC Nordsjælland 16:16-22:15 – FC Midtjylland's innovative scouting 22:16-25:14 – Silkeborg IF, the surprise package 25:15-35:44 – FC København and Roony Bardghji 35:45-END – Ones to watch for the 2022/23 season

When Gary Speed took over as Wales manager in 2010, the country were ranked 112th in the world. Fast forward 12 years and the nation have qualified for three of the last four major tournaments including this year's FIFA World Cup. Speed is credited with changing the culture surrounding Welsh football and the catalyst for the current generation which has seen the likes of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey take centre-stage. Scouted Football's resident Welshman Llew Davies talks us through Wales' journey to Qatar - their first World Cup Finals appearance since 1958.

France clinched only their third UEFA U-17 European Championships title earlier this month, propelled to victory by another crop of talented youngsters emerging on the world stage. Discover Scouted Football's Squad of Tournament which includes five Dutch players, four Frenchmen, four Portuguese, two Germans, three Serbians and two Spaniards.

Rome, Milan, Turin, Florence and Naples boast much larger populations and have typically dominated Italian football since its inception, but Bergamo is home to the country's finest academy setup. Whether you knew it or not, Atalanta have repeatedly been responsible for producing high-level professional players embarking on careers in Italy and further afield. Author of The Working Hands of a Goddess, Tom Underhill details La Dea's reputation as a youth footballing hub, as well as their scouting of Africa, Scandinavia and names to keep an eye on in 2022. Featuring Scalvini, Sidibé and Cissé...

Norway's Eliteserien and Sweden's Allsvenskan are back underway for the 2022 season which runs from April through November. Joe is joined by the Nordic Football Podcast's Jonathan Fadugba who provides expert insight on the Scandinavian top flights, reviews the 2021 campaign as well as previewing which players to keep an eye on during 2022. Contains player analysis on Williot Swedberg, Osame Sahraoui, Patrik Wålemark and Akinkunmi Amoo among others. Listen now.

A rare three-pronged attack on the Scouted Football Podcast this week as regular host Joe is joined by Scouted stalwarts Stephen and Llew to discuss the UEFA Youth League. New names, club-issue swimming caps, Fernando Torres' semi-finalists, U19s attracting crowds of 20,000, miniature Diego Armando Maradona and heaps upon heaps of player analysis you won't get anywhere else. Listen now.

Italy have failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. It is the second finals in-a-row Gli Azzurri will play no part in, giving rise to all manner of reactionary takes about the state of Italian football, youth development and the conveyor belt of young talent. Enter Scouted's Stephen Ganavas, who provides much-needed insight, as well as some new names to be familiar with on the Italian youth international scene. All is not lost, and their European Championships defence in 2024 is expected to be a fierce one. Forza.

Stade Rennais boast one of European football's most illustrious youth setups. It has developed the likes of Ousmane Dembélé, Sylvain Wiltord, Eduardo Camavinga, Yoann Gourcuff and several others throughout the club's history. Currently, the Ligue 1 side are pushing for automatic qualification to next season's Champions League, spurred on by a youthful core, smart recruitment and a steady stream of teenagers chomping at the bit for more first-team involvement.  Joe is joined by Rich Allen (@rich_allen85) - a Rennes expert - to discuss the side gunning for European and domestic glory in 2021/22. Listen now.

In this latest episode, Joe is joined by Ali Maxwell (@AliMaxwell_) of the Not The Top 20 Podcast (@NTT20Pod) to discuss the lads' latest venture - their own show, showcasing the EFL's brightest homegrown talents: 21 Under-21. Fábio Carvalho, Djed Spence, Jack Rudoni, Tyreece Simpson and several other names from this season's EFL Championship, League One and League Two campaigns discussed. Check it out. For more information on EFL 21 Under-21, please use the links provided. Watch on demand

Joe is joined by Peter Coates - editor of @golazoargentino - to discuss four Argentine players, including a deadline day transfer to Manchester City, shades of Sergio Agüero, exit routes to MLS, cats and dogs in central defence and insatiable dribblers. Includes: Manchester City's newest face Julián Álvarez, Huracán's César Ibańez, Defensa y Justicia's on-loan defender Nazareno Colombo and soon-to-be FC Dallas attacker Alan Velasco.

AFCON 2021 is here...in January 2022. We've had two rounds of Group Stage matches already, heaps of late drama, new names, familiar faces and plenty of surprise results - and we're only getting started. Give the tournament the respect it deserves, listen to the Scouted Football Podcast with 'Made in Africa' co-host, author and African football expert: the Guardian's Ed Aarons. Topics include - but are not limited to:  - Mali and Guinea's young squads - Saïdou Sow and Anis Ben Slimane player focus - 17-year-old duo Abdul Fatawu Issahaku and Karim Konaté - Gambia and Serie A - Tournament predictions 

AS Monaco are the club of Thierry Henry, Glenn Hoddle, Emmanuel Petit, Lilian Thuram, Arsène Wenger and most recently Kylian Mbappé - their place in Gallic footballing folklore is sacrosanct.  The Scouted Football Podcast takes a deep dive into the Monégasque club in modern day: including Niko Kovač's sacking and immediate replacement as well as up-and-coming, coming-of-agers Aurélien Tchouaméni and Sofiane Diop. Listen now. Guest: @EdwardStratmann of the Monaco Tribune

END OF YEAR SPECIAL We look back on some of our favourite clips from the Scouted Football Podcast throughout 2021, including... @LGAmbrose on Stuttgart and Silas Katompa Mvumpa @ZoryaLondonsk on Ukraine and Everton-bound Vitalyi Mykolenko @benjack94 on Belgium and Albert Sambi Lokonga @FMAnalysis on Second Tier Scouting and Mohamed Bayo @Orland1nho on Chelsea and Conor Gallagher @AFHStewart on Sochaux and Alain Virginius @OtherBundesliga on Austria and Karim Adeyemi @JFfutbol on PL2 and Villa + Leeds @Tim_Vickery on South America and Ecuador @Jon_Mackenzie on SC Freiburg and Nico Schlotterbeck

Rayo Vallecano are sitting pretty in LaLiga, currently occupying a spot in the European places. They've never finished higher than 8th in the club's history. Coached by Andoni Iraola, a former student of Marcelo Bielsa, Ernesto Valverde and José Luis Mendilibar, Rayo are defying the odds and currently boast the best home record across Europe's top five leagues having picked up 25/27 points in their first nine games at Vallecas this season. Oh, and they were promoted via the Segunda División play-offs last year. Ruairidh Barlow (@RuriBarlow) provides the insight on Rayo, their coach, an interesting U23 left-back as well as three more standout youngsters (Vinicíus Jr, Nico Williams and Oihan Sancet) in LaLiga.