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Building Brentford A Squad For Europe & Daniel Sinani On How To Play As A False Nine
Today, we have a team analysis article focusing on building Brentford a squad worthy of their European ambitions in 2025/26 as well as an exclusive interview with St. Pauli's Daniel Sinani on how to play as a false nine.
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Today’s TFA Posts ⚽
Brentford sit 11th in the table, just three points adrift of a UEFA Europa Conference League qualification spot.
Since their promotion in 2021, Brentford have defied expectations by establishing themselves as a regular in the top flight, with an average league finish of 13th.
This stability has been incredible to see, given that their fellow promoted sides from that season have since been relegated and struggled to return.
Brentford’s ability to adapt and maintain their Premier League status is a testament to the club’s forward-thinking approach, both on and off the pitch.
Yet, the 2025/26 season is an important juncture in Brentford’s Premier League journey.
The club now faces a choice: will they remain a solid mid-table side, or can they use this summer’s recruitment window to transition into a consistent top-half team capable of competing for European football?
This opportunity can be supported by the club’s highly regarded data-driven recruitment model, which has been praised for its efficiency and ingenuity.
This analysis aims to provide a detailed evaluation of Brentford’s current squad, offering recommendations for each player regarding retention, sale, or further development.
The term ‘false nine‘ has become really popular in football since Pep Guardiola put Lionel Messi in that role during their time at Barcelona.
The idea of making Messi receive the ball between the lines, sometimes unmarked, and allowing him to create spaces for the wide forwards to run into works very well.
That way of using Messi as a number nine (or a centre-forward) who dropped deep to receive the ball, control it and decide the direction of the attack in the final third, made Barcelona unstoppable.
This role has become pretty common in football.
In the top four European leagues, there are still teams that use this role.
Take Daniel Sinani at St. Pauli, for example.
Total Football Analysis was fortunate enough to have a conversation with Sinani about how to play as a false nine and what the coach expects when instructing a player to fill that role.
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