This is the first article in a new series that gives the spotlight to one player. These players may be well-known, or they may be new to you. The formatting of these articles looks to give a look at both the traditional scouting and data scouting of the player with the goal of having the reader feel they completely understand what the player offers even if they have not seen the player before. This series looks to write in a similar process of how I scout goalkeepers in my day-to-day work, but in a more enjoyable-to-digest format than a PowerPoint or single-page report. With all of that being said, it is time to look at the player spotlight of today, Daniel Peretz.
Who is Daniel Peretz?
22-year-old (b. 2000) Daniel Peretz is an Israeli-born goalkeeper currently playing for Maccabi Tel Aviv. Peretz holds a German passport, which could assist with moves down the line, but he made his Israel national team debut in November 2022. Daniel Peretz measures in at 1.90m tall and has a contract that expires in Summer 2024 with a reported club option of two more years.
As a player, this is where Daniel Peretz gets exciting. Most goalkeepers in the world have one major tool (this could be goal defence, distribution, or sweeping/area defence) while some have two tools. A two-tool goalkeeper is what a lot of clubs in the top divisions of the world hope to find. The unicorns of goalkeeping are the ones with all three major tools. The ones who perform all three at a high level are the ones who become the face of goalkeeping – think about the likes of Ederson and Alisson Becker. While Daniel Peretz is not performing to the quality of the sensational Brazilian duo, he is demonstrating strengths in all three tools, which is incredibly rare and promising.
When creating and visualizing a player profile, it is important to compare the player to similar competition. Using Elo rankings, we can find similar levels of competition that can be compared. In the data visuals used throughout this article, the following competitions are used as a comparison:
· Israel Division 1
· Sweden Division 1
· Norway Division 1
· Denmark Division 1
· Poland Division 1
· Croatia Division 1
· Czechia Division 1
Looking below, we can look at the ternary visual. A ternary visual is not a visual that showcases a player’s ability but rather it showcases how a player plays compared to the competition.
Looking at Peretz' style of play, we see he finds himself close to the middle of the "balanced" triangle, meaning compared to the competition, he is not leaning towards being extreme in one aspect of play. This usually suggests the player is not outstanding in any area, just average or struggling in all - but when we look at his percentile scores, we see a different story.
If we trust the data, Peretz is a top shot-stopper relative to his competition and a very strong distributor. We see he is closer to average when it comes to area defence (which largely consists of sweeping duties and aerial collections) but he is still above average. With a competition size of 164 other goalkeepers, producing these scores is no easy feat and is something that deserves a lot of credit, especially for a 22-year-old. This is where I believe Peretz is showing the early signs of being a rare complete goalkeeper.
With a data profile established, we can now look at each major tool (and the sub-tools) of Peretz using traditional scouting and technical scouting for a deeper picture.
The Shot-Stopping of Peretz
Looking at the visual below, we can get a clear snapshot of how Peretz performs in the most critical aspect of goalkeeping: shot-stopping. Peretz benefits from playing for Maccabi Tel Aviv, a title-challenging team, which naturally comes with conceding a lower xG than expected. The Israeli-international is a strong shot-stopper with a massive overperformance from what is expected.
From a technical perspective, Peretz is a fundamentally sound goalkeeper. I believe there are no clear weaknesses that need to be addressed and developed. For a young goalkeeper with less than 100 senior team appearances, he gives the impression of a goalkeeper with much more experience. If Daniel Peretz remains consistent, there is no reason to believe he cannot become a premier shot-stopper.
Peretz as a Ball-Player
After evaluating Daniel Peretz' distribution, there are some vulnerabilities here. Despite his high involvement, there are moments when he appears uncomfortable and can force distribution when more productive alternatives are available. The difference in these moments compared to other goalkeepers is that Peretz still finds a safe option that tends to result in possession being maintained. He is comfortable with the ball on his feet, which means Peretz could benefit most from improvements to tactical distribution training. While I cannot stress enough that my training is as an analyst and scout with only youth coaching certifications/licenses, I do firmly believe a training focus in scanning and identifying options with time limitations could be an extremely effective training method for Peretz.
Looking at the data above, we find that Daniel Peretz is highly involved in passing involvements (passes attempted + passes received)/90 as well as a shorter than average pass length. It is important to remember when looking at passing distance that this is often a reflection of a team approach rather than a goalkeeper's decisions. There is also a frequent correlation that the more involved a goalkeeper is in distribution, the shorter the passes tend to be. I do feel that Peretz is dynamic enough in his distribution that he could adapt to more direct teams, but he should primarily be used in a shorter system.
Area Defence and Peretz
Daniel Peretz' biggest weakness is his area defence. While he still scores above average in the percentile scoring, this is primarily due to the weighting of what we would often consider being a "sweeper-keeper", where intercepting is strong and he can comfortably come off the line. The vulnerability comes with more of an aerial focus. Peretz does not challenge aerial situations often, and this causes a lack of comfort in his abilities that some other goalkeepers might not struggle with.
The tracking and attacking of aerial opportunities is one that cannot always be improved, as I believe it often comes down to a player's psychological factors rather than technical abilities. There is no saying that Daniel Peretz can't improve this skill, but of all skills, this one is a tougher one to master.
The Final Evaluation
Daniel Peretz of Maccabi Tel Aviv is a young, dynamic goalkeeper with a high upside. Right now, it is my opinion that he could become an above-average goalkeeper in one of the big five leagues of Europe (most likely the German Bundesliga) but I think there is a need for a step before this move happens. If I were tasked with identifying a move for Daniel Peretz, I would likely look towards a midtable Dutch Eredivisie club as the next step.
Wherever his career takes him, Israel has a potential golden goalkeeper on their hands with an incredibly rare skillset. He is, without a doubt, a goalkeeper to keep an eye on.
As we conclude the first article in the "Player Spotlight" series, check out other article series that I’m working on right now, which includes: “The State of the (Goalkeeping) Union”, where I break down a goalkeeping situation from a team perspective and highlight strengths, weaknesses, or potential transfers, and “The DNA of:” series, where I look at a club from a management perspective and discuss the squad building methodology of the team. If you’d like to read these other articles, check out the rest of the site and make sure to follow me on Twitter (@ARDataAnalysis) so you don’t miss any future posts and more.