Good morning analysis fans and welcome to the #TacticalThursday newsletter – full of analysis, scouting and tactics. Fill up on your football knowledge – follow the Total Football Analysis page and be part of the squad that want more than just a match report.

Marti Cifuentes is a name known in these circles for his interesting tactical concepts and it is great to see him make a good start to life at QPR – Alexandra Hunt breaks down his first few games and explains what he has changed.

Barcelona are struggling this season and Jack Chippendale explains the defensive issues that are holding back Xavi’s title charge.

With Ivan Toney’s future still uncertain, Brentford are being linked to other attacking options – today’s TFA Scouted looks at an MLS option for them.

ICYMI, it was #WomensFootballWednesday – Canberra United may be struggling in the A-League Women this season, but they have a player to keep an eye on said David Astill – Vesna Milivojevic is a silent assassin and we analysed her in detail.

Saori Takarada could well be the spark that takes Leicester to new heights in the WSL said Jamie Steenberg and he had a full scout report on the 23 y/o.

From the archives, Fintan O’Reilly suggests;

Royal Antwerp earned a 3-2 victory over Barcelona in their final UEFA Champions League game of the 2023/24 campaign last night — one week ago, we analysed how Shakhtar Donetsk took advantage of the wasteful Belgian side, did they successfully improve on any of last week’s issues versus the Catalan giants?

Sérgio Conceição has guided Porto to the UEFA Champions League last 16 — now in his seventh season in charge of the Portuguese giants, we analysed why he was such a well-regarded manager just one year into his reign at Estádio do Dragão.

“Very happy”, “amazing for the tactical side” — Carlo Ancelotti is beaming with Brahim Díaz, who’s got three goals and two assists to his name in all competitions this season. We analysed how he was incredibly impactful on loan at AC Milan back in 2021.

Eintracht Frankfurt are said to be leading the race for Donny van de Beek, with the Dutch midfielder set to leave Manchester United on loan in January. We analysed him when he was hot property with Ajax back in 2019, can he rebuild his stock with the right change of scenery?

And that’s it for today – we’ll be back tomorrow with something very, very special!

#football #analysis #scouting #tactics #soccer #tactical #recruitment #data #analytics #viz