Pride of the White Lions

As always, AnalystsBar remain dedicated in their identification of talent in the lower leagues.

Someone with similar dedication is @DutchProFootballScout who shared with us his insights

into SC Telstar, a club who excel in providing a progressive pathway.

SC Telstar, The White Lions, are a team on the prowl in the Eerste Divisie this season. With

47 points from 31 matches, the team from Velsen-Zuid have clawed themselves into a

position that normally provides a tantalising swipe at the end of the season playoffs with the

ultimate goal of promotion to the illustrious Eredivisie.

Telstar have always been considered a club starved of success, having not troubled the

Eredivisie since 1978. And it is perhaps because of this hunger that the club has been

prepared to hunt harder than other clubs for the next talent, particularly utilising their

knowledge of regions amateur ranks. The Dutch Moroccan footballer Tarik Tissoudali, known

from AA Gent and now under contract with PAOK, played there from 2014 to 2016, Telstar

identifying his potential while playing for Sparta Nijkerk. Gibril Sankoh, a rock at FC

Groningen from 2005 to 2010, came via De Kennemers to what was then Stormvogels

Telstar (the predecessor of the current Telstar). Ilias Bronkorst played for Koninklijke HFC

and went via Telstar to NEC, Dordrecht and currently plays for Excelsior.

During the last transfer window, Zakaria Eddachouri’s high profile transfer to Deportivo La

Coruna, after he had bombarded the First Division with his goals for Telstar, further

underlined the power behind this transfer policy having been picked up, like Bronkorst before

him, from Koninklijke HFC having hit 16 goals in 30 appearances in the Tweede Divisie.

Even the current Telstar head coach Anthony Correia is a product of this same transfer

trajectory, appointed after he won the title at VV Katwijk in the Tweede Divisie and returning

to a club he once played for.

This season’s promotion-chasing squad also includes a number of players who have been

scouted from amateur football: Adil Lechkar (TEC Tiel), Remi van Ekeris (FC Lise), Tyrone

Owusu (Quick Boys) yet the following are perhaps this season’s standout performers:

Guus Offerhaus

I first saw Offerhaus play at Koninklijke HFC. A year later, he made a move to Quick Boys

but quickly demonstrated that he was just too good for the level. He is now a regular starter

in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie and a mainstay for the Telstar defence. A brief look at his

statistics in Wyscout doesn’t really do justice to the role he plays, though his number of

interceptions (116, #46) are ranked quite highly. I compare him to Schouten (PSV) ,

admittedly a completely different team and level, but the similarity with Schouten is because

they play in the same position (6) and, like Schouten, Offerhaus is a very elegant player. In

possession, everything seems so smooth and automatic. I would be surprised if Offerhaus

doesn't make one or more progressive steps, just like previous Telstar talents. Having

previously been a traditional central defender, Offerhaus now plays just in front of the

defence, meaning that he offers a certain amount of versatility for his next club despite being

relatively young.

Soufiane Hetli

Hetli played for Amsterdamsche FC (AFC) last season and impressed as a technically-skilled

attacking player, he created many problems for the opponent, usually in the 10 position.

Telstar signed the small Dutch Moroccan player and recently Hetli has started to approach

his best form. Looking at the statistics per 90, he scores very well on: Assists (0.23 #20),

Shots (2.98 #12), Dribbles (5.04 #37) and Deep Completions (1.53 #23). His Sofascore is

7.00 and he usually plays as a right attacking midfielder behind a deep striker in a 3-4-2-1 or

as a right attacker in a 4-3-3. Given this form and his age, I also see Hetli making steps,

Telstar will probably not be his final destination…

Youssef el Kachati

El Kachati ended up at Telstar after showing his qualities at Quick Boys via Noordwijk and

Westerlo (u21), once again proving the profit in scouring the lower levels for talent. The

former Moroccan U23 international will have to perform in the striker position without the

support of aforementioned Eddachouri, but his statistics are excellent.

This season El Kachati scored 16 goals and provided 4 assists in 30 league matches. His goal frequency comes down to 1 goal per 149 minutes. His number of shots per 90 is not extremely high (3.0), of which 1.1 are on target. His goals per 90 is 0.66 (#13) with an xG per 90 of 0.47 (#23). All in all, El Kachati is doing better than expected based on his attempts. El Kachati is already 25 but will not go unnoticed by other Dutch clubs and perhaps also by foreign clubs, recognising that his best years may still be to come.

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Written by Willem | @DutchProFootballScout

Player impact visualisations by Will Tomlinson | @WT_Analysis

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