With Felice Mazzù out at RSC Anderlecht after a torrid start to this season with the Belgian giants, many names have been linked with the hot seat at the Brussels club. One of those names being linked is Hernán Losada, with the Argentine previously managing in Belgium with Beerschot.
Losada led Beerschot to promotion in the 2019/20 season, before playing a part in comfortably keeping them up the following season. Though his time in MLS with DC United was not the most successful, his tactics at the beginning of his tenure in the American capital helped keep DC United in a comfortable spot on the table.
This tactical analysis and scout report will take a look at a couple of key trends that stand out when looking at the Argentine manager’s time in charge of both Beerschot and DC United. It will also take a look at the current Anderlecht squad, and how the team may look under the 40-year-old’s tutelage.
Preferred formation and a quick look at tactics
In both of his previous managerial stops, Losada preferred to set his sides up in a back three system, with him preferring either a 3-4-3 or a 3-4-2-1. Losada’s sides are also heavily attack-minded and are prone to leaking goals defensively, with this being illustrated by the goals for and against records at both of his previous clubs. During the 2020/21 season with Beerschot, the side finished in 9th place, scoring the most goals of any side finishing outside of a playoff position with 58. The problem came from a defensive standpoint, with Beerschot conceding 64 goals in the 2020/21 season, the third most in the league.
This trend continued when he moved to MLS, with DC United finishing in 8th place in his sole full season in charge. DC’s 56 goals scored were the joint second most in the Eastern Conference in 2021, while their 54 goals conceded were joint third most. In both cases, Losada’s sides missed out on the playoffs, which could be a concern should he take charge of Anderlecht, with the side already in a poor position in the table at the time of Mazzu’s sacking. As this tactical analysis continues, we will discuss in more detail some of the Argentine’s tactical principles.
Winning the ball back in advanced areas and attacking with numbers
As mentioned previously, Hernán Losada’s sides are known to want to put pressure on the opposition high up the pitch and attack in large numbers. While this strategy leaves them susceptible at the back due to the numbers being pushed forward, it also allows them to be more likely to win the ball in more advanced positions, and therefore, have more goalscoring opportunities.
During this season, one of Losada’s most important players at Beerschot was Austrian attacking midfielder Raphael Holzhauser. In that 2020/21 season with Beerschot, the midfielder managed 16 goals and 16 assists in 34 appearances in the Belgian Pro League, by far the most influential attacker in the side.
The data viz above shows the amount of high regains that the Austrian was successful in during that season, as well as his counterpressing recoveries and dangerous recoveries. This is able to illustrate the numbers that Losada opted to send forward when the opposition were in possession, opting to try and win the ball back in advanced areas to then have a shorter distance to go to the goal. The following are some examples of this during Losada’s time managing Beerschot.
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