# How to Build a Shadow Team That Your Sporting Director Will Actually Use > A shadow team turns a long list of names into a plan for every position. How to build one from your own squad outwards, what to record for each player, a worked example, and the mistakes to avoid. Source: https://athleads.com/blog/2026-11-11-how-to-build-a-shadow-team Published: 2026-11-11 Author: Athleads *A shortlist tells you who is good. A shadow team tells you who fits, and what happens if you do not get your first choice.* Most scouting departments have more names than they can use. Every scout has a list, every list has a favourite, and the transfer window arrives before anyone has agreed which names matter for which position. A shadow team fixes that. It puts your targets on a pitch, in the shape your team plays, with two or three options for every position. One page, and everyone in the room can see the plan. --- ## What a shadow team is (and what it is not) A shadow team is your formation, filled with the players you would sign if you could, ranked for each position. It is not a list of the best players you have seen. A brilliant inverted winger is no use in a shadow team built for a 3-5-2 with wing-backs. That is the point: the pitch forces every name to answer the question "where would they play for us?" Clubs use shadow teams for three jobs: - **Planning the window.** Which positions need a signing, and who is first, second and third choice for each. - **Succession.** Who replaces your captain if they leave next summer, before they tell you they are leaving. - **Presenting.** A single page the sporting director, head coach or board can read in a minute. --- ## Start with your own squad The most useful shadow teams are built from the inside out. Before you add a single target, look at the players you already have, position by position, and mark three things: - **Contract expiry.** A starter with 18 months left is a decision you have to make this season: extend, sell, or replace. One with six months left can talk to other clubs in January. - **Age.** A 31-year-old centre-back may be your best defender today and still need a successor ready within two seasons. - **Cover.** If the only back-up at left-back is a midfielder playing out of position, that is a gap even if nobody is leaving. The positions where these overlap are where your shadow team needs the most work. The rest can wait. This is also how you stop scouting time going to positions you are not going to strengthen. --- ## How to build one in five steps ### 1. Start from how you play, not from who you like Pick the formation your head coach actually uses, and the roles inside it. A full-back in a back four that builds from the back is a different player from one in a deep 5-3-2. Write the role down in a line ("inverted full-back, comfortable in midfield in possession") so every scout is looking for the same player. If the coach is likely to change shape, build a second shadow team for that shape instead of mixing them. ### 2. Rank options in three tiers One name is a wish. Ten names is a list. Two or three, ranked, is a plan. A useful way to rank them: - **First choice.** The best fit for the role. Often the most expensive or the hardest to get. - **Realistic option.** Fits the role and the budget, and a deal you could close this window. - **Value option.** Cheaper, younger or out of contract. Maybe a year away from being ready, but the player you sign if the window goes badly. If every option at a position is a first choice, you do not have a plan for the window you will actually have. ### 3. Write why, in three lines For every player, note their strengths, their weaknesses and a one-line overview. "Quick, presses well, weak in the air. Ready for a step up next summer." The note is what turns a name into an argument a decision-maker can weigh, and it should come from a report someone wrote after watching them, not from memory. Our guide to [writing a scouting report that gets read](/blog/2026-07-09-how-to-write-a-scouting-report-that-actually-gets-read) covers how to keep those reports short and useful. ### 4. Record what decides a deal Ability gets a player onto the shadow team. These details decide whether you can sign them: | Field | Why it matters | |---|---| | Age | Resale value, and how long they stay at their peak | | Current club and league | How big the step up is, and how the selling club negotiates | | Contract expiry | Sets the fee. Under 12 months left, the price drops fast | | Fee and wage range | Whether they are a real option or a wish | | Minutes this season | Fitness, form, and whether their club trusts them | | Times watched, and by whom | One viewing is an opinion. Three, by different scouts, is a judgement | You do not need all of this on the one-page version. You need it behind it, for when the sporting director asks. ### 5. Put it on one page, and keep it current The people who decide on signings have little time. The best shadow teams fit on a single page: the pitch first, the detail behind it for anyone who wants to read on. A shadow team from last season is a list of players who have moved on, been injured or doubled in price. A rhythm that works for most clubs: - **Monthly** during the season. - **Weekly** in the six to eight weeks before a window opens. - **Straight after every window**, to remove the players who moved and add the gaps your own departures created. - **Whenever a target's situation changes**: a new contract, an injury, a change of manager. --- ## A worked example Take a second-division club that plays 4-3-3 and is building its plan for next summer. The squad review shows two problems: the starting right-back is 32 with a year left on their deal, and the only defensive midfielder is out of contract in June. The other positions are covered. So the shadow team spends its effort on those two positions first: - **Right-back.** First choice: a 24-year-old starter in the top division of a smaller league, two years left, fee around the club's limit. Realistic: a 26-year-old in the same division as the club, contract ending, so a small fee. Value: a 19-year-old playing regularly on loan, who would need a season to be ready. - **Defensive midfield.** First choice: a 25-year-old who reads the game well and moves the ball quickly, in a stronger league. Realistic: a 28-year-old free agent next summer. Value: the club's own under-21 midfielder, with a loan in the plan to get them ready. Every other position gets one name at most, for depth. The result is a page the sporting director can read in a minute, with a clear first choice and a fallback where it matters. To fill those tiers without a data department, our posts on building a [shortlist from StatsBomb data](/blog/2026-10-06-how-to-build-a-shortlist-from-statsbomb-data-without-a-data-analyst) and an [out-of-contract shortlist before the window](/blog/2026-05-01-the-june-30-goldmine-how-to-build-your-out-of-contract-shortlist) show where the names can come from. --- ## The mistakes we see most - **Too many names.** Ten players per position is a database, not a decision. - **No notes.** A name with no reason attached gets dropped the moment someone disagrees. - **Ignoring your own squad.** Scouting time goes to positions where nobody is leaving. - **Built by one person.** If only the head of scouting can read it, the department cannot use it. - **Out of date.** A stale shadow team costs trust faster than an empty one. - **Only stars.** Without realistic and value options, the plan breaks the first time a deal falls through. --- ## A free tool to build yours We built the [Shadow Team Builder](/tools/shadow-team-builder) so you can put all of this on a page in a few minutes, for free, with no account. - **Pick your formation.** 14 to choose from, including 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, 3-5-2 and 5-3-2. You can drag positions to match how your team really lines up. - **Shortlist up to three players per position**, with age, club, nationality, strengths, weaknesses and an overview. - **Download a PDF.** Page one is the pitch with every shortlisted player. The pages after it hold a profile for each player, ready to share or print. - **Keep working on it.** Your shadow team is saved in your browser, and you can export it as a file to open on another computer. [Build your shadow team now](/tools/shadow-team-builder/app). The tool is free; we ask for your name, club and email before the PDF downloads. --- ## Where Athleads fits The free tool is built for one person and one PDF. A scouting department needs more than that: a shadow team that the whole department works on, that stays current, and where every name leads to the full picture. In Athleads, shadow teams are boards your whole department shares. Each player on the board links to their profile, with every report your scouts have written and their stats. You can see where each target is in your recruitment process, and the board exports to PDF when you need it outside the building. When a scout leaves, the board and the reports behind it stay with the club. If you want your shadow team connected to the rest of your scouting, [join us](/join/clubs). --- ## The short version - A shadow team is your formation, filled with ranked targets for each position. - Start from your own squad: contracts, ages and cover show where you need a plan first. - Rank two or three options per position: a first choice, a realistic option and a value option. - Give every name a short reason, and record what decides a deal: contract, fee, minutes, viewings. - Keep it to one page, review it monthly, and weekly before a window. - Build one free with the [Shadow Team Builder](/tools/shadow-team-builder), and move to Athleads when your whole department needs to work on it.