An 8.6 in League Two and an 8.6 in the Premier League are not the same thing, and Scout52 never pretends they are. To show how the tiers work, we ran every Championship, League One and League Two player with 600+ league minutes this season through the Scout52 model and picked one standout from each division, at three different positions: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Derensili Sanches Fernandes (Huddersfield Town) and Bobby Faulkner (Tranmere Rovers). Each one has an Elite archetype. The interesting part is what their numbers would look like a level or two higher.
- All figures are league matches only, 2026/27, as of 09/10/2026: 7 or 8 league games each, between 623 and 710 minutes.
- That is a small sample. Treat these as early-season profiles, not verdicts.
- All three have passed 600 league minutes, so the app gives each of them an archetype.
- Every number here is the same as the player's Player Insights page in the Scout52 app.
How Scout52 tiers work
Every composite score is a ranking out of 10 against players in the same position group (attackers, midfielders or defenders) in the same tier. Scout52 groups 100+ leagues into four tiers. Each tier's benchmark is calibrated on five core leagues, and every other league is mapped into one of the four:
| Tier | Calibrated on | Also includes, for example |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1 | The top five only |
| Tier 2 | Eredivisie, Primeira Liga, Süper Lig, Czech First League, Austrian Bundesliga | Belgian Pro League, Scottish Premiership |
| Tier 3Bowen | Championship, 2. Bundesliga, Serie B, LaLiga 2, Ligue 2 | Romania's Liga I, Hungary's NB I |
| Tier 4Sanches Fernandes, Faulkner | League One, League Two, Eerste Divisie, Challenger Pro League, 3. Liga | National League |
The model is calibrated on 20,702 outfield player-seasons from those 20 leagues (2023/24 to 2025/26, 600+ league minutes each).
So when Faulkner scores 9.6 for Duels, it means he ranks among the very best Tier 4 defenders on that measure. 5.0 is exactly the middle of his peer group, at every tier. The bands are the same everywhere: Elite is 9.0 and above, Good 7.5, Above Average 5.0, Average 2.5, Below Average 1.0, and Poor below that.
The T rows: what travels up a level
A ranking only tells you how a player compares with his own level. For anyone below Tier 1, the app adds a row under each score showing how it would read at every tier above his own, for example "T3: Good · T2: Good · T1: Above Avg". The translation lowers his numbers by the measured gap between the tiers, based on players who have moved between them, and then ranks the result against the higher tier. A score never goes up as the level rises. The T rows are how you tell a lower-league strength that holds up from one that only works at that level.
Archetypes: how he plays, not just how good he is
Each archetype is a recipe of composite scores. The app works out which recipe fits a player best, ranked against his position and tier. Elite in front of the archetype means his fit to that recipe is in the top 10% of his position and tier. It is about how strongly he plays that role, not about any single score reaching 9.0. The full list of recipes is in our guide to composite scores.
| Player | Tier and peer group | Archetype | Recipe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jarrod Bowen | Tier 3 midfielders | Elite Attacking Midfielder | Goal Threat 60%, Chance Creation 40% |
| Derensili Sanches Fernandes | Tier 4 attackers | Elite Pressing Forward | Defensive 60%, Goal Threat 40% |
| Bobby Faulkner | Tier 4 defenders | Elite Central Defender | Defensive 50%, Duels 50% |
Championship: Jarrod Bowen, Elite Attacking Midfielder
West Ham were relegated on the final day of 2025/26, and Bowen chose to stay for the Championship season. In eight league games he has four goals (one a penalty) and three assists, with a 7.55 average rating.
Scout52 works out each player's position from his team's line-ups. This season West Ham have played a 4-4-2, with Bowen in midfield and out wide for every one of his minutes, so he is ranked against Tier 3 midfielders. Against them his profile is as sharp as it gets: 9.7 for Chance Creation (3.2 key passes and 0.38 assists per 90) and 9.7 for Goal Threat (0.51 goals per 90, 58% of shots on target). Those are exactly the two scores in the Attacking Midfielder recipe, which is why the fit is Elite.
The T rows are what make his card worth reading. Chance Creation and Goal Threat both stay Elite at Tier 2 and Tier 1: by this measure, his end product would still rank with the best Premier League-level midfielders. Ball Carry slips from Good to Above Average at Tier 1. Defensive, Passing and Duels are Average now and drop to Poor at Tier 1. He wins 43% of his duels and makes 28 passes per 90, which is low for a midfielder, and that is why his Scout52 Score is 8.6 rather than higher. The score weights the role composites most, but the others still count.
Read him as an attacking player whose output translates, not as an all-round midfielder. That is no surprise for a player of his Premier League record. The point is that the model gets there from eight Championship games.
League One: Derensili Sanches Fernandes, Elite Pressing Forward
Huddersfield signed Sanches Fernandes from Excelsior in the summer, on a four-year contract. He scored twice on his debut against AFC Wimbledon and has three goals and four assists in eight League One games, with a 7.66 average rating.
Excelsior played in the Eredivisie last season, a Tier 2 league, so this is a player who has stepped down two tiers, and the numbers look like it. Against Tier 4 attackers he is Elite on three scores: Chance Creation 9.8 (0.58 assists and 2.7 key passes per 90), Passing 9.5 and Defensive 9.3 (2.9 tackles and interceptions per 90, high for an attacker). Goal Threat is Good at 8.5, with three-quarters of his shots on target.
He was signed as a winger, so why a Pressing Forward? The archetype describes his numbers, not the position on the team sheet. The Pressing Forward recipe is 60% Defensive and 40% Goal Threat, and few Tier 4 attackers combine the two as well as he does. The weak spots are just as clear: Ball Carry 4.9 (32% of dribbles completed) and Duels 2.6 (41% won).
His T rows tell a split story. Chance Creation stays Elite all the way to Tier 1. Defensive and Passing hold at Good through Tier 3 and Tier 2, which fits a player who has played in the Eredivisie, but drop to Above Average and Average at Tier 1. Goal Threat reads Above Average at Tier 3 and Tier 2. Duels is Poor at every level above his own. The creative side travels; the physical side is the question for any club looking to take him back up.
League Two: Bobby Faulkner, Elite Central Defender
Faulkner is a 22-year-old centre-back on a season-long loan at Tranmere from Doncaster Rovers. He spent last season in League Two too, at Harrogate Town. In seven league games for Tranmere he has a goal, an assist and a 7.13 average rating. He has also been sent off once.
Against Tier 4 defenders, his profile is exactly what the Central Defender recipe looks for: Duels 9.6 and Defensive 9.2, both Elite. He wins 73% of his duels and makes 3.9 tackles and interceptions plus 0.71 blocks per 90. The age badges add context: his Duels score is in the top 10% of 21 to 23-year-old Tier 4 defenders, and his Defensive and Goal Threat scores are in the top 25%.
The T rows pick out the strength that should travel: Duels stays Elite at Tier 3, Tier 2 and Tier 1. Defensive holds at Good through Tier 3 and Tier 2. The obvious gap is on the ball: Passing is 2.8, Average, at 34.7 passes per 90, and Poor at every tier above. Chance Creation falls away quickly too. For a club higher up, the question is not whether he can defend. It is whether he can play out from the back in their system.
The three side by side
| Composite | Bowen T3 MID | Sanches Fernandes T4 ATT | Faulkner T4 DEF |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scout52 Score | 8.6 | 8.8 | 8.6 |
| Defensive | 3.3 | 9.3 | 9.2 |
| Chance Creation | 9.7 | 9.8 | 5.3 |
| Goal Threat | 9.7 | 8.5 | 8.6 |
| Ball Carry | 8.0 | 4.9 | 7.1 |
| Passing | 2.5 | 9.5 | 2.8 |
| Duels | 2.9 | 2.6 | 9.6 |
| Still Elite at Tier 1from the T rows | Chance Creation, Goal Threat | Chance Creation | Duels |
Each column is ranked against a different peer group (position and tier), so compare the shape of each profile, not the numbers across columns. Green = Elite (9.0+), red = Average or lower.
Three questions for any lower-league player
1. Which tier is the score measured against? Every Scout52 score carries its tier ("vs Tier 4"). A 9.0 is the top 10% of that level, not of football as a whole.
2. What does the archetype say he is for? The archetype recipe tells you which scores define his role, and the Score weights those most. Bowen isn't marked down heavily for passing volume, and Faulkner isn't for chance creation.
3. What survives the T rows? This is the step-up test. Bowen's role scores hold at Tier 1. Sanches Fernandes keeps his creativity but not his duels. Faulkner keeps his duels but not his passing. That is where the scouting, the video and the conversations with the player start.
The Bottom Line
Three Elite archetypes from three EFL divisions, and three different answers to the step-up question. Bowen's end product would still rank with Tier 1 midfielders. Sanches Fernandes is creating at a level that holds anywhere, after dropping down from the Eredivisie, but he will need to win more duels to move back up. Faulkner, 22, already has a Duels score that reads Elite at every tier, with passing as the part of his game to watch. Each profile is from seven or eight league games, so we will check back at 1,500 minutes.
See the Composite Data Behind Every Player
Scout52 scores every player out of 10 on six composites, ranked against players in the same position at the same level, across 100+ leagues. The player data is on Scout Pro, £19.99 a month, with a 7-day free trial and no card needed. Built by academy recruitment professionals.
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