Oscar Gluh – The leader of an Israeli new generation by Ron Dor (@rdscouting)
This year, Israel can qualify for all of the youth European Championships.
Thanks to hosting the tournament, the U17 qualifies automatically but is unexpected to go through, due to being drawn with Germany and perhaps Italy.
Also, the U21 does a great job in a very competitive group, which includes Germany and Poland.
Most importantly, The Jewel in the Crown, which is the U19 team that managed to put impressive performances against Turkey and Scotland in the Elite Round.
Now, it’s time to talk about the key player of that team.
Profile
Oscar Gluh is an 18-year-old attacking midfielder who plays for Maccabi Tel Aviv U19, scoring 16 goals in the 2021/22 season. As it stands, he’s signed with the club until June 2024 but is likely to move before that.
Earlier this week, he was surprisingly promoted to the first team by the Serbian manager Mladen Krstajić and yesterday had a dream debut against the current Israeli champions, Maccabi Haifa, as he scored a goal.
In terms of potential, Gluh’s widely considered one of the most talented Israeli footballers in the 21st century. After Manor Solomon and Liel Abada, he’s the next gem to take over the Israel-Europe line.
Strengths
Off-the-ball movement 
Vision
Passing
Technique
Dribbling
Ball control
Tactical intelligence
Finishing
Decision-making
Composure
First touch 
Flair
Agility
Ambidexterity
Weaknesses
Physical strength
Aerial duels
Style of play
As for his role, Oscar is a pure playmaker that’s distinguished with qualities to operate either an “8”, a “10” or a winger. At 170cm tall, he has a low center of gravity, which contributes to his balance and changes of direction, is technically gifted, and is quite agile. In contrast to the rest of the Israeli talents, he has an extremely unique and complete profile, which seems to fit top-flight football.
When I scout a player, the most important thing for me is understanding his way of thinking and figuring out how high his football IQ is. Basically, I’m used to analyzing his specialties and examining how well his adaptation to senior football will be in the future.
At first glance, I was impressed by his tactical intelligence and quick thinking. As soon as he receives the ball in the final third, after scanning the space surrounding him, he needs just a moment or two to make a decision, taking into account various attacking options. In the absolute most of the time, he either creates a goalscoring situation or finishes on his own. In short, he has a “Killer Instinct”.
The better I got to know Gluh, I realized something even more special about him. As you know, “Killer Instinct” isn’t just referred to on-the-ball abilities, but also off-the-ball. Undoubtedly, his cleverness is shown in any part of his game. Regularly, he tends to use scanning and attack spaces, in order to find himself in quality positions for shot attempts and key passes.
Just like his short passing, the long passes break defensive lines and are extremely accurate. Personally, I haven’t seen such a vision in an Israeli young player over the last few years, he’s a joy to watch.
Before publishing this article, I talked to Oscar Gluh’s agent, Shahar Greenberg, in order to know a little bit more about the player from his personal point of view.
“In general, the father deserves all of the credit for taking his son as a project, educating him without giving up on anything, discipline, the Soviet way. As such, one of the many things he has done is insisting on Oscar to shoot only with his left (weak) foot for months.”
Nowadays, one of Gluh’s most special attributes is ambidexterity, which makes him really unexpected and efficient in-front of the goal. Thanks to his composure, he’s extremely strong when it comes to scoring, both from a close and long range. From this case, we learn that the mixture of hard work and correct education pays off.
Summary
“Since Oscar was young, he was highlighted as a future star and now he has the chance to prove. At the moment, he’s followed by many clubs abroad, and hopefully, an offer will come soon.”
As per his agent, some European clubs have already shown an interest in him, with Red Bull Salzburg and RCD Espanyol following the player. Taking into account the healthy environment around him, including the father and agent, it seems that Oscar Gluh is on the right path to success.
Currently, I rate his potential on 9/10.