Articles
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Tactical Analysis: Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid Out of Possession
When you think of Atlético de Madrid’s playing style, you immediately think of a strictly defensive team that plays direct football and exploits counter-attacks. You get a flashback of the 2013/14 season where most of the games they would start winning and then defend in a low block 4-4-2 for the rest of the game. …
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Emiliano Buendía: The Man Driving Norwich to Promotion
Since arriving from Getafe in June 2018, Emiliano Buendía has become one of those players that you just have to watch; somebody who puts bums on seats (or at least did prior to COVID-19 regulations). The Argentine attacking midfielder’s sensational form has driven Norwich City to the top of the Championship table with 9 goals…
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Julen Lopetegui’s Revival at Sevilla
Since beginning his managerial career as an assistant coach with Spain in the 2003 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, Julen Lopetegui has racked up a rather impressive CV, albeit one that has come with frustrating misfortunes. He received his first managerial opportunity with Rayo Vallecano in 2003, but he would last just 10 league matches before…
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Oleksandr Zinchenko: More Than Just a Utility Left Back
Manchester City have been quite exceptional of late – at the time of writing, they are on an English top-flight record winning streak spanning 18 games and don’t seem to be in the mood of stopping anytime soon. One key difference between this run and their previous exploits under Pep Guardiola is that they have…
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Weston McKennie: Andrea Pirlo’s Jack-Of-All-Trades
When Andrea Pirlo replaced Maurizio Sarri as Juventus manager on August 9, 2020, nobody knew how his team would shape up. He was appointed with zero experience at all in professional football; he was originally hired to coach the Under-23 side but then took over from Sarri after Juventus were eliminated from the Champions League…
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How Manchester City Created Space Against Newcastle’s 5-4-1
Despite Manchester City’s success against low blocks since the arrival of Pep Guardiola in 2016, they have always struggled against the 5-4-1. When questioned by Gary Neville in August 2018 about whether or not Guardiola had been implementing new tactical ideas in pre-season training, he replied “Yes, we found a lot of problems to attack…
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Player Analysis: Brenner
The last few years have proven that MLS has transformed from a “retirement league” to a top exporter of young talents. Alphonso Davies, Miguel Almirón and Tyler Adams are just a handful of the players who have gone from playing in MLS to starting in top five leagues. Rather than go for declining, big-name stars…
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The Secret to Atletico Madrid’s Success: Balance and Adapting to Luis Suárez
Atlético Madrid have enjoyed a very impressive season in La Liga so far. They have accumulated an impressive 55 points with 17 wins, 4 draws, and only 2 losses. They sit comfortably in first place, three points ahead of local rivals Real Madrid despite having one game in hand, and have conceded 16 goals in…
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Player Analysis: Matteo Pessina
Matteo Pessina is not one of the most conventional midfielders in Italian football. A much-traveled player already in his short career so far, he is not a footballer that has settled into one role throughout his career. Despite that, the 23-year-old is starting to emerge as one of Serie A’s most intriguing midfielders. After…
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Scouting Report: Marko Johansson
Marko Johansson has been playing regular football for 4 years now. Still, it feels like he never has had his real breakthrough yet. After years on loan in various Swedish clubs, he has experienced promotion to Allsvenskan, winning it, as well as suffering relegation. Mixing top performances with some less impressive actions, Marko’s last four…
