Kirsty Maclean is an 18-year-old Scottish midfielder who plies her trade for Rangers in the Scottish Women’s Premier League.
Having already starred for the side last season as they won the division this season, she has flourished under Jo Potter.
Her form this season has earned her six senior international call-ups already, playing against Belgium and Netherlands in the Nations League already having made her debut against Northern Ireland in July earlier this year.
She also gained Champions League experience against Benfica in the qualifying stage last season.
This tactical analysis looks at some key qualities that make Kirsty such an exciting prospect.
We will provide an analysis of some data and tactics to create a more detailed scout report of the player with such a promising future ahead of her.
Kirsty Maclean Progressive Passing
Kirsty has often been deployed as a deep midfielder within Rangers’ 3-4-2-1 system.
Within this role, she is tasked with dropping deep to help progress the ball from deeper areas.
They were also asked to progress the ball into the final third to create goal-scoring chances.
Her ability to progress the ball from all over the field has been a notable strength of Kirsty’s throughout the season with 36% of her 52.9 passes per 90 going forward with 8.19 successful passes entering the final third and 2.1 successful passes entering the box itself.
As a result, this has enabled Kirsty to achieve 0.39 xA per 90 and has averaged 0.4 assists per 90 so far this season.
Having risen from the 2022/23 season, she averaged 0.2 xA per 90 and 0.3 assists per 90.
Above, you can see how Kirsty has been able to progress the ball forwards for Rangers this season.
Note how many of these passes are from in her own half in typical pivot positions.
You can also see several progressive passes coming from the final third.
In particular, the progressive passes into the box.
In the above example, Rangers are operating double pivots with Kirsty alongside Chelsea Cornet.
Chelsea receives the ball and then plays a quick ball to her partner Kirsty in space.
Kirsty receives the ball with her hip open so she can see the entirety of the field.
As such, she can make a quicker decision, and she takes two touches to get the ball out of her feet quickly before launching a right-footed long ball over the top of the defence for teammate Mia McAulay to run onto.
In this situation, Kirsty has dropped into centre-back and receives the ball from Kathryn Hill.
She then proceeds to take three touches to get to the right of the Motherwell striker, who is currently blocking the forward passes for her.
Once she has done that, she can play a penetrating ball that breaks the midfield line and puts Rachel McLaughlan through on goal.
This is an example of what Kirsty can do in attacking areas of the field.
The first thing to look at is how she is able to find so much space between the defence-midfield lines of the opposition’s shape.
She is then able to receive the ball with her back to goal and then turn with relative ease.
When turning, she quickly checks over her left shoulder to see what options are available, and teammate Laura Berry has made the run in behind.
But this quick scan means she is able to play a clipped right-footed ball over the defence before the opposition can react and puts Berry through on goal.
Unfortunately, she cannot finish it; nonetheless, a high-quality chance is created.
Kirsty Maclean Ability to carry the ball forwards
A further area in which Kirsty excels is her ability on the ball to beat opponents with good close control and quick footwork.
This allows her to drive forward and develop attacks under pressure from opponents.
This shows in the data as she is completing 3.7 dribbles per 90 at a completion rate of 70%
As you can see from the above carry Kirsty has completed 62 penetrating carries so far this season with a number entering the penalty box particularly those that have been received in the final third itself.
This ability to be positive on the ball gives her the ability to create different angles for passes, as we demonstrated in the above example.
It also allows her to take opponents out of the game while also giving her teammates more time to get free for her to use the full extent of her chance creation.
Here, Kirsty receives the ball with her back to goal and an opponent on her back.
Now, a lot of players would just take the easy option here and pass backwards to somebody open and allow the team to reset.
However, not Kirsty.
She is going to try and turn, and then when she has turned, she will have two players closing her down.
So, she puts the ball on the left side of her body, shielding it from her opponents.
From there, with two players in her face trying to block the pass, she plays an excellent left-footed through ball that curls around the right centre-back and into the path of on-rushing forward Mia McAulay, who finishes it off nicely.
Above is an example of what Kirsty can do in wide situations when she plays combinations with teammates and makes off-the-ball movements to receive the ball back again.
First things first: She is going to receive the ball from a throw-in, and she then returns the ball straight back to the sender.
She then runs behind the opponent to receive the ball from the side’s defenders.
She is given the ball back with her back to goal.
Then she turned around and used quick footwork to beat the defender 1v1 with relative ease.
Then, having beaten the opponent, she is not finished there.
She takes three touches forward on the ball to engage the fullback.
Then she plays a one-two with her forward teammate, enabling her to put a cross into the box.
Kirsty Maclean Defensive Quality
On the defensive side of the ball, Kirsty works very hard, averaging 9.3 ball recoveries per 90.
Interestingly enough, 6.59 of these recoveries were in the opposition’s half of the field.
This can be explained by the fact that Rangers like to dominate the ball and field possession in the Scottish Premier League, averaging 63.97% possession per game.
Kirsty will sit alongside her midfield partner and from there she will look to step out and pure on poor touches and passes in order to win the balto would pick and choose her moments smartly and make strong physical challenges of which she has been successful 64% of the time so a good success rate.
From these positions, she was often able to retain the ball for her side due to her quality on the ball.
However, she also demonstrated some ability to launch quick countering moves with her long-range passing ability.
As you can see from the diagram above, Kirsty is asked to cover a wide range of space on the defensive side of the ball, which is an important part of how Rangers look to play without the ball.
Particularly with her ability to retain it once won back.
But also, her ability to win the ball high up the field enables Rangers to sustain periods of possession high up the field.
In this example, Kirsty is able to win the ball back, having put pressure on the wide player.
From here, she can use her quick change of direction to get away from one defender; then, she can accelerate away from the condensed field area, draw a foul from the player behind her, and get the team out of transition.
Kirsty Maclean Strengths
Kirsty’s most notable qualities are her ability to be positive in possession of the ball, particularly from deep areas, picking up the ball in space and being able to create from there.
We have talked about this at length, but it is such a key strength of hers that I have outlined a couple more examples of her quality below.
In this above example, what happens is Kirsty takes a quick look forwards over her shoulder just as the ball is being played to her.
This allows her to make a quick decision as soon as she gets the ball.
As soon as she receives the ball, she takes two touches to get the ball out of her feet, then plays an aggressive through ball for a teammate to run onto and, in the meantime, breaks both the defensive and midfield lines in one swift movement.
In this situation, Kirsty is given the ball with all eleven players for the opposition sitting deep behind the ball.
However, when Kirsty receives the ball, all she does is drive towards the inside shoulder of the defender.
This creates the angle and space she needs to play a through ball for a teammate to run onto; unfortunately, the Montrose defence tracks the run well and can block the shot.
This ability to predict her teammates’ movements and see things before they happen makes Kirsty a real problem for opposition defences to deal with.
A further area in which Kirsty has demonstrated significant quality is at set pieces, where she has shown the ability to put the ball into dangerous areas where teammates can be in position to get shots on goal.
These deliveries tend to be right-footed, curled, and accurately placed to teammates.
The above figure shows the number of shots Rangers are able to generate from Kirsty’s set piece; in particular, note the deliveries taken from the corner spots, as those are the ones we can assume are set-piece deliveries.
In the above example, Kirsty is going to play a lofted ball into the box.
The ball lands just outside the 6-yard box, and Rangers can head a shot towards goal, and a good opportunity has been created.
Kirsty Maclean Areas of Improvement
One major weakness in Kirsty’s game is her lack of ability in the aerial game, winning just 36% of these duels per game.
A large part of this is due to her relative lack of height in the midfield areas.
However, here we’re going to talk about how Kirsty can take her game to the next level by adding goals to her game.
With Kirsty averaging an xG of 0.14 per 90 and converting on 0.18 goals per 90.
This could be a distinct area that Kirsty also improves.
She does demonstrate some ability in this area.
As you can see here, the proportion of Kirsty’s shots from outside the box in low xG areas is high.
However, as you will see, the goals she is scoring have come from her being in the box.
You will also notice that when she does get a shot, she regresses the target, and she equally demonstrates the ability to do so with both feet.
In this example, Kirsty is going to score a pivotal goal in the Old Firm derby.
Note her start position as the move begins.
She was playing between the lines almost as a number ten.
She then follows the play as the team progresses down the right flank.
From here, she is going to offer herself as a target inside the box, take one touch and finish it off calmly in the bottom corner.
This is an excellent example of what she can do if she gets free inside the box.
Here is an example of the high-end quality Kirsty can produce if given the opportunity.
In this situation, again, she receives the ball between the defence-midfield lines.
With her back to the goal, she takes a one-touch turn, gets the ball out of her feet and then launches a left-footed (her weak foot) shot, which nestles into the top corner of the goal.
Conclusion
Kirsty is an intriguing young prospect with immense talent on the ball and can progress with quality and efficiency in various ways from all over the field.
Already having starred in the Nations League for Scotland on several occasions, she has a fascinating and long career ahead of her, and I believe it will be one to keep an eye on.
