Atlanta United officially announced the signing of Hector "Tito" Villalba from San Lorenzo today after weeks of speculation and rumors. During today's introductory press conference, Atlanta United technical director Carlos Bocanegra revealed that the club have been scouting the Argentine forward since last October.
United gave us a small taste of what that scouting process looked like today with a short 2-minute video detailing all the things they look at when evaluating a player.
The most interesting thing about their process is the use of statistics. Unlike a lot of MLS clubs, Atlanta United already have an analytics department headed up by Lucy Rushton. In the video, she goes through several key stats and graphs and relays that information to Darren Eales, Carlos Bocanegra, and Paul McDonough. Stats, videos, and graphs are all compiled with months of data and info to help make their decisions.
However, it's not all about the numbers and they also care about the off-the-field aspects like desire to come to the team and attitude. After all their evaluations, Hector Villalba was the guy they decided to make their first Designated Player. Now it's time to see if all that research and due diligence pays off with on-field production.