In Friday’s Total Football Analysis Today Newsletter (subscribe below, it’s good stuff) you’ll find an excellent podcast on the revolution against positional play, some interesting pieces from our archives and the latest analytical trip around some of the top European leagues!

In the latest episode of the TFA #Podcast, host Adam Scully speaks to analyst Caio Miguel Pontes and the duo discuss the current tactical revolution happening in football now as coaches look for alternatives to widespread positional play. Relationism is a hot topic in the analytics sphere and Caio breaks down all the principles of this functional style, using examples from coaches such as Fernando Diniz at Fluminense, Lionel Scaloni with Argentina and even Juanma Lillo, the grandfather of positional play, with his new club Al-Sadd

Sam Kerr scored four goals for Chelsea Women last night as the Blues thrashed West Ham 7-0 to reach the Conti Cup final – read our scout report of why Kerr is one of the best strikers in world football

Fran Kirby also scored for Chelsea Women to pile on West Ham’s misery – read our scout report on the England international

AEK Athens beat Olympiacos 3-0 in the semi-final first leg of the Greek League Cup in fantastic fashion – we recently analysed Matias Almeyda’s Bielsa-inspired style of play with the Greek club

Lens are now one of the favourites to win the Coupe de France having beaten Lorient on penalties away from home last night – read our analysis of Franck Haise’s tactics with the Ligue 1 side

On EPL Analysis, Aditya Chauhan looks at Rico Lewis’ numbers and the responsibility he now has to replace Joao Cancelo at City

Aditya also looks at the data visuals to build a picture of how Jonjo Shelvey could be the best of Nottingham Forest’s 30+ signings this season

He then previews West Ham vs Chelsea, using all the metrics and rankings to explain how the London Derby might play out

On La Liga Analysis, Raghav Sharma previews Valencia vs Athletic Club, looking at xG, attacking efficiency and the key players

Raghav then previews Monaco vs PSG on Ligue 1 Analysis

And explains how pressing efficiency could have a big part to play in Leipzig vs Union on Bundesliga Analysis

Sporting vs Porto is the big game in Portugal this weekend, and Souhardya Biswas looks at the numbers and data viz to preview it

And he then flips over to Serie A Analysis to look at Lazio vs Atalanta

Enjoy and let us know what you think in the comments!

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