This guide explains what each ability you rate on Fan Football Scout means, grouped by category. If you are new to rating players, read this first.
The guide gives you a shared vocabulary for arguing about players. It will not tell you what any player's score should be. That is up to you and the other fans.
How do scores work?
A player's abilities are built from many fans' ratings, not from one person's opinion. There is no right answer to find. Score what you saw on the pitch.
- Scale: Fan mode runs from 0 to 100 and Scout mode from 0 to 20.
- Trimmed mean: The score you see is a trimmed mean. Once an ability has 10 or more ratings, the highest 10% and the lowest 10% are set aside before averaging (below 10, every rating counts). The point is to stop a few extreme scores from swinging the result.
- Daily update: Scores are settled once a day, so a new rating may not show in the public score straight away.
- Overall: The plain average of all the player's ability scores.
- Starting estimate: Many players begin with a starting estimate. In Scout mode it is calculated by a program from public career numbers such as appearances and goals; in Fan mode it is that Scout score converted to the 0–100 scale. It is not a verdict, just a first number for fans to argue with. In each mode it counts as a single rating, so its weight shrinks as fan ratings come in.
Fan mode and Scout mode
- Fan mode (0–100): Rate quickly with simple, familiar abilities such as pace, shooting and passing. An easy way to join in.
- Scout mode (0–20): Break the player down into finer abilities such as finishing, defensive awareness and anticipation for a more detailed rating.
Each mode keeps its own scores. One exception: players who had no fan ratings yet were given a single starting value in Fan mode, converted from their Scout score to the 0–100 scale. Goalkeepers get their own set of goalkeeping abilities.
The abilities at a glance
Abilities fall into five groups: attack, defense, physical, mental and goalkeeping.
Attack
Abilities that create chances and score goals.
- Finishing
- How calmly a player puts chances away in front of goal. It covers shot accuracy as well as a nose for goal.
- Shooting
- Power and accuracy of shots at goal, rolled into one simple Fan mode ability.
- Dribbling
- Running with the ball and getting past defenders. Look at how well the player gets through tight spaces.
- Ball Control
- First touch and control: how smoothly the player receives and handles any kind of ball.
- Passing
- Finding teammates accurately with short and long passes, and keeping the team's play moving.
- Crossing
- The accuracy and quality of balls delivered from the flanks into the box.
- Vision
- Reading teammates' runs and open space to spot the decisive pass.
- Weak Foot
- How well the player shoots and passes with their weaker foot.
Defense
Abilities that break up and stop the opponent's attacks.
- Tackling
- Winning the ball cleanly and safely. What counts is taking it without giving away a foul.
- Marking
- Staying tight to an attacker so they never get room to move.
- Defensive Awareness
- Defensive intelligence: closing off dangerous space early and taking up positions that cover teammates.
- Defending
- Overall defensive contribution, combining tackling, interceptions and positioning (a simple Fan mode ability).
- Aerial Duels
- Winning the ball in the air from corners, crosses and other high balls.
Physical
The physical qualities that carry a player through a match.
- Pace / Speed
- Acceleration and top speed. Especially important for runs in behind and on the counter-attack.
- Stamina
- The endurance to keep working for the full 90 minutes.
- Strength
- The power to hold off opponents and win physical battles.
- Agility
- Changing direction quickly while staying balanced.
- Heading
- Accuracy and power with the head. It matters at set pieces at both ends of the pitch.
- Jumping
- How high the player gets off the ground when challenging for high balls.
- Physical
- Strength, physical duels and endurance in one (a simple Fan mode ability).
Mental
The mental side of the game: decisions, focus and attitude.
- Work Rate
- Effort and running: how hard the player keeps going as play switches between attack and defense.
- Composure
- Staying calm and avoiding mistakes under pressure.
- Decisions
- Picking the right option at each moment, whether that is a pass, a shot or a dribble.
- Anticipation
- Reading what will happen next and moving a step ahead of everyone else.
- Concentration
- Keeping focus for the whole match without lapses.
- Potential
- How much a young player could still grow. Shown only for players under 23.
Goalkeeping
Specialist abilities rated only for goalkeepers.
- Reflexes
- Reacting in an instant to stop shots from close range.
- Diving
- Diving across goal to keep out shots aimed at the corners.
- Handling
- Catching the ball securely without dropping or spilling it.
- Positioning
- Where the goalkeeper stands, narrowing the shooting angle before the shot comes.
- One-on-Ones
- Stopping an attacker who has got clear of the defense and is through on goal.
- Aerial Reach
- How far the goalkeeper can come for crosses and corners, and the judgment to know when to go.
- Kicking
- Distance and accuracy on goal kicks and long kicks.
- Distribution
- Starting attacks quickly and safely, with both hands and feet.
Tips for rating
- Start with the player's position. For a striker, finishing and dribbling matter more; for a defender, tackling and marking do.
- Think about consistency over a whole season, not just the last match you watched. Your scores will be more balanced.
- Save extreme scores (0 or 100 in Fan mode, 0 or 20 in Scout mode) for when you are really sure. Once there are 10 or more ratings, the top and bottom 10% are left out, so a lone outlier will probably not count.
- If you think the current score is wrong, rate the player the way you see them and leave a comment saying why. The scores are meant to be argued over.
- Putting two players in the same position side by side is a quick way to check that your own scale is consistent.
Get started
Data sources: scores are fan ratings left by visitors to this site. Players with no fan ratings yet start from an estimate calculated from public career numbers (appearances, goals, age and height) taken from sources such as Wikipedia. Player and club lists are also built mainly from Wikipedia’s public pages.