Articles
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What Kurt Zouma Can Provide West Ham’s Defense
Kurt Zouma, now 26, has battled through adversity. A product of Saint-Etienne’s impressive academy programme, the Lyon-born centre-back arrived on France’s biggest stage a decade ago, making his debut for Les Verts while still a schoolboy. During his time with the Ligue 1 outfit, Zouma amassed 3,024 top-flight minutes and quickly made a name…
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Analyzing Nuno Espírito Santo’s Start to Life at Tottenham
With the Premier League set to return as the first international break of the season comes to an end, Nuno Espírito Santo’s Tottenham comfortably sit at the top of the league with nine well-deserved points. We take a look at Tottenham’s new shape under the Portuguese boss. New manager Nuno walked into a very…
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Analyzing Monchi’s Ill-fated Spell at Roma
By 2017, Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo – more commonly known as ‘Monchi’ – had established himself as one of the best Directors of Football in the game during a 16-year stint at Sevilla. During his time at the Andalusians, Monchi brought the likes of Ivan Rakitić, Dani Alves, Adriano and Seydou Keïta – amongst others –…
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Jamaica’s Defensive Midfield Crisis
Jamaica’s World Cup 2022 qualification campaign has not got off to a good start. The Reggae Boyz have lost their first two games, leaving them rooted to the bottom of the CONCACAF qualification table. The first of these losses wasn’t particularly concerning – a depleted Jamaican team primarily made up of rotation players was…
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Ivan Ilić: Hellas Verona’s Serbian Gem
Under the guidance of Pep Guardiola, Manchester City has been one of the dominant forces of the English Premier League in recent years. Having won three league titles since the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach arrived in 2016, the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, İlkay Gündoğan, and David Silva playing important roles in the…
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The Tactical Evolution of Wayne Rooney
Chapter 1: A Generational Talent The buzz around Wayne Rooney started well before his debut against Spurs at the start of the 02/03 season. After scoring 8 goals in 8 games on the way to the 2001/02 FA Youth Cup final, Rooney was finally named as an unused sub against Southampton and crucially…
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The Curious Case of Mason Mount – Cobham’s Newest Leader
This title isn’t meant as a form of cheap clickbait. Nor is it meant to attract the many staunch critics of the player – unfortunately and unfairly, a healthy majority claim to be Chelsea supporters. This is a piece on one of Chelsea Football Club’s most underrated, divisive, and crucial players – Mason Tony Mount.…
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Demystifying a Legend: Ryan Giggs
Just to clear things up, the word ‘overrated’ in this context doesn’t mean Ryan Giggs wasn’t a good player, because he was a good player with great achievements. But being ‘good’ was the height of his individual abilities, nostalgia tends to make football fans (especially Manchester United fans) remember him as great or special which…
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Takehiro Tomiyasu: A Transformative Cog in Mikel Arteta’s Youth Revolution
Arsenal’s final signing of the 2021 Summer Transfer Window is Takehiro Tomiyasu. The 22-year-old Japanese international arrives highly acclaimed from North Italian outfit Bologna. Tomiyasu played a variety of roles in Bologna’s backline last season, filling in across the backline including at left back on rare occasions. His primary role is as a right-sided defender,…
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Konrad de la Fuente: Ligue 1’s Newest Wonderkid
It’s arguably premature to sensationalise a 20-year-old youngster just four matchdays into the new season. Those matches are also the first senior games Konrad de la Fuente has ever played outside of Barcelona’s B team, so we’re still in the wilderness regarding his full footballing ability. Yet Konrad, as he prefers to be called,…
