Articles
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How Claude Puel Unlocked Hatem Ben Arfa at Nice
On the third week of the 2015/16 Ligue 1 season, OGC Nice hosted SM Caen at the Allianz Riviera. The spectators had been starved of real quality for much of the match, with the two sides level at 0-0 and only a third of the game left to play. This all changed in the 67th…
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Is It Time for the Introduction of Stop Clocks in Football?
How much time is spent taking a throw-in? How much damn time is spent on that VAR decision that is just sooooo obvious it has made Steve Mcmanaman reach that irritant level of decibel in his voice ‘I DON’T KNOW WHY HE’S TAKING SO LONG’ How much time is spent by a player taking an…
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Aston Villa: What Went Wrong and Can Steven Gerrard Fix It?
Aston Villa have certainly seen better times, and it’s no surprise they recently sacked Manager Dean Smith after a horrible run of form that saw them lose six out of seven matches in all competitions. But Villa and Smith had been there before, at the tail end of the 2019-20 Premier League season, Villa were…
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Mohamed Salah Chasing Third Premier League Golden Boot
The November international break has finally come to an end, and now, we have four months of club football that will see various clubs vie for supremacy in the title races across Europe, and various lethal goalscorers eke it out for the Golden Boot award as well. Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski currently leads…
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The Start of the Antonio Conte Era: Tottenham vs. Vitesse
After a long-winded managerial saga that saw chairman Daniel Levy unsuccessfully try to appoint Antonio Conte as manager, Tottenham Hotspur were forced to settle for ex Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo who, after a promising start, lasted a mere four months with the Portuguese manager being sacked on November 1 after a poor run of…
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Exclusive Interview with Cloé Lacasse
Breaking the Lines’ Zach Lowy chats with Cloé Lacasse at the historic Estadio Da Luz – the house of SL Benfica, located in Lisbõa, Portugal. The amazing Canadian player from Benfica Women’s team shares everything about her life: How she fell in love with soccer in her hometown of Sudbury, Ontario, the differences between grassroots…
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Player Analysis: Gavi
In the 17th minute of Spain’s 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Sweden, the ball ricocheted out to Gavi deep in his own half. An array of yellow shirts swarmed the La Masia product, trying to press and harass the 17-year-old – probably backing their chances against a midfielder that has barely touched manhood. …
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How Cristian Romero’s Aggressive Style Can Fit Antonio Conte’s System
At 23 years of age, Cristian Romero is a starter for Tottenham Hotspur and the Argentina national team, a Copa América winner, and one of the most promising center backs in Europe. But at 17, he had reached a breaking point where he considered whether a football career was even worth pursuing. Born in…
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Tactical Analysis: Mark Robins’ Promotion-Chasing Coventry City
Heading into the 2021/22 Championship campaign, the vast majority of prediction tables were identical in personnel when it came to the teams expected to finish from 1st to 4th: Bournemouth, Fulham, West Brom and Sheffield United. But whilst the table’s top end is accurate for three of the league’s seemingly superior foursome 17 games into…
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Player Analysis: Ben Johnson
When talking about West Ham’s latest “wonderkid”, pundits tend to fall into the same predictable patterns. They’ll point to the Hammers as the ‘academy of football’, draw a cheeky comparison to Frank Lampard, and finish up by suggesting that East London is somehow football’s true spiritual home. I promise not to do any of…
