It was nicely over two years in the past that Pep Guardiola first introduced the title of then-Bristol Metropolis midfielder Alex Scott to the broader footballing world.
He had one phrase to explain the efficiency of the 19-year-old, who had glided across the Ashton Gate pitch in a manner his team-mates couldn’t regardless of their 3-0 FA Cup defeat.
“He’s an unbelievable participant, unbelievable,” he stated. Pep could also be by no means knowingly understated, however few within the west nation disagreed.
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Scott was already on Premier League golf equipment’ radar however this took issues up a notch. Newcastle have been linked with a summer time transfer however as an alternative Bournemouth, their televised opponents on Sunday, stole a march on them and Wolves – maybe aided by goodwill over earlier strikes for Lloyd Kelly and Antoine Semenyo. Their £25m outlay landed them a expertise freshly topped EFL Younger Participant of the Yr forward of 1 Amad Diallo.
The hype across the midfielder has by no means fairly returned to these ranges. There have been glimpses of his expertise however whereas Semenyo has matured to blossom within the Premier League, harm has stunted Scott’s growth to the purpose he had not managed to start out three consecutive league matches for the Cherries till April of this 12 months.
It has been fairly the turnaround since. Scott has discovered himself within the line-up for 10 of the final 13 video games both aspect of the summer time break, together with all 4 this season.
A few of that has been all the way down to the misfortune of others, with harm conserving Ryan Christie sidelined for a number of months, however Scott has greater than earned his probability given his personal enforced absences up to now. Extra importantly, the ‘Guernsey Grealish’ has grasped the chance with each palms.
Scott has been quietly bettering all through that constant run of recreation time, however notably caught the attention with one among his finest performances in a Bournemouth shirt in final weekend’s win over Brighton.
Watch free highlights of Scott’s purpose in Bournemouth’s 2-1 win over Brighton final weekend
His fantastic 20-yard opener took the headlines however Scott additionally accomplished a match-topping 4 tackles and the second-most pressures of any participant, regardless of coming off halfway via the second half. On the time of his substitution final weekend, he was nicely on the right track to register essentially the most intensive runs of anybody on the pitch.
Some might need begun to mistake Scott for the energetic Scotsman he has changed. Christie was the point of interest of Andoni Iraola’s high-pressing machine earlier than his enforced absence, however Scott has elevated the regularity of his personal presses by greater than 50 per cent on final season to virtually match his rival’s figures.
Nonetheless solely 22, Scott has made his title as a silky playmaker and initially regarded destined for a profession as a No 10, however his enamel have been first reduce at Bristol Metropolis at proper wing-back underneath the skilled administration of Nigel Pearson.
On the time it appeared to restrict his expertise however Pearson’s lateral pondering taught the then-teenager the opposite aspect of the sport and is now serving to him thrive in world soccer’s most demanding league – arguably much more exacting underneath the calls for of Iraola.
It’ll take greater than this to revive the fanfare round Scott, however it’s actually a begin. His expertise was by no means doubtful however now the inevitable rust has subsided, the intangible spark which as soon as caught Guardiola’s eye is again.
Scott’s strike in opposition to Brighton got here together with his supposedly weaker left foot. You wouldn’t comprehend it from its purity, however it appeared to catch even Iraola out.
“He has superb ending – usually extra proper foot, however at present together with his left,” the pinnacle coach stated. “However I believe it is good. He can add targets, assists. He has an excellent contact and his ball putting is often fairly clear.
“That is why generally he takes set-pieces. And if he can end like at present, a lot better.”
That’s the one factor nonetheless to tick off; that Brighton purpose was solely his third purpose involvement in 23 Bournemouth begins, and his first since December 2023.
He’s nonetheless not fairly creating alternatives so as to add to that tally with the identical regularity of Christie, but when he continues on this trajectory he’ll match that metric too.
Just a few extra video games rivalling the efficiency of final weekend and it may not be health conserving the Scotsman out of the beginning line-up.
Watch Bournemouth vs Newcastle dwell on Sky Sports activities Premier League from 1pm on Sunday, kick-off 2pm.
