A set play innovation in Italy, money doesn't buy everything in Saudi, Villa's defensive issues, why Nusa and Diomande will get big moves soon

Good morning tactics fans and welcome to the Wednesday?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.

We kick off with back-to-back pieces on set plays - Marcel Seifeddine has noted an interesting method at Parma, and he introduces the roaming set-piece taker.

A lot of money has been spent in the Saudi Pro League, mainly by the big four PIF clubs. Al-Taawoun are not one of them and therefore have to be creative and Karim El-Shesheiny breaks down how their use of set-plays sees them 2nd in the table at the time of writing.

Aston Villa haven't started the season as well as they hoped and Ahmed ElDaly looks at the defensive issues around their mid-block and high line.

North Carolina Courage secured a second straight Challenge Cup title - David Astill looks at their tactics.

Alexandra Hunt heads off to Stuttgart to explain Sebastian Hoeness' game plan for the current Bundesliga season.

19 y/o Sporting prodigy?Ousmane Diomande?has been linked to Arsenal – xGOLD highlighted Diomande in April 2023 and our TIPPSTER model graded him as a very high-impact Tier 1 defender.

18 y/o Norway international Antonio Nusa is being linked with a move away from Club Brugge to many top European sides. Chelsea,?Real Madrid,?Arsenal?and?Liverpool?have all been linked – xGOLD first identified Nusa as a prospect in April 2023 and we followed him throughout the remainder of the campaign, our TIPPSTER model grading him as a very big impact Tier 1 player.

Dan Glazer has left Maccabi Tel Aviv and signed for OFI Crete on a free transfer – we initially scouted Glazer back in September 2021 and have reported on him several times since, most recently in August 2023 where he was graded as a Tier 4 midfielder on our TIPPSTER model.

Highly-rated Batista Mendy has left Angers and signed for Trabzonspor in Turkey for €4.4m – we initially scouted the midfielder in January 2023 and tracked him throughout the second half of that season, our TIPPSTER model grading him as a high-impact Tier 1 player.

Corinthians Femenino have won the 2023 Brasiler?o Feminino. In May, Beth Limb analysed the tactics of new Brazil boss Arthur Elias and how they ensured Meu Tim?o retained their superiority.

Wolfsburg’s Lena Oberdorf is the Frauen Bundesliga’s most valuable player, per Soccerdonna (part of Transfermarkt). The German midfielder had already built a reputation that vastly surpassed her years as an 18 y/o back in 2020; we analysed what all the fuss was about.

Julian Nagelsmann is linked with the now-vacant Germany boss position — while his FC Bayern tenure ultimately ended without all the success he’d have liked to achieve, the young tactician remains one of Europe’s brightest coaches. We’ve dug out a vintage Nagelsmann display that saw his Hoffenheim overcome Bayer Leverkusen thanks to an out-of-possession masterclass in 2019 for you to read back over today.

Ferran Torres scored two as Spain beat Cyprus by six goals to nil last night. Can 2023/24 be the season he established himself as a reliable starter under Xavi Hernández at Barcelona? We analysed the now-23 y/o attacker when he was Valencia’s rising star back in 2020 with our scout report.

On Friday, we will be releasing September's TFA Scouted Magazine - so watch this space.

That's it for today - we'll be back tomorrow with more tactics, analysis and scouting. Spread the word!

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