Articles
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Player Analysis: Teun Koopmeiners
Arne Slot’s AZ Alkmaar grabbed the attention of European football fanatics last season, finishing second in the Eredivisie (tied on points with Ajax), advancing to the Europa League knockout round, and boasting an expansive style of football. The ‘Cheeseheads’ boast a wide range of talents that have ascended from the academy to the first team…
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Tactical Analysis: Leeds United vs. Leicester City
Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City side travelled to Elland Road on Monday night to take on an in-form Leeds United side. With Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds side having just thrashed an in-form Aston Villa side 3-0 and Rodgers’ Leicester side having beaten Arsenal 1-0 the previous week, the game promised to be an intriguing contest. …
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Player Analysis: Diogo Jota at Liverpool
After an incredible two-year spell that saw Liverpool win the Champions League and lift the first Premier League trophy in club history, Sporting Director Michael Edwards was tasked with a new challenge: purchase a young forward with enough versatility to play across the front three, who was comfortable coming off the bench and fighting for…
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The Miracle Match of 1950: England vs. USA
Up until recent years, you would almost always struggle to find comparison in terms of stature and wealth of footballing talent when it comes to the United States of America and England. Many other sports serve the reverse purpose, but football belongs on the east side of the North Atlantic, or so many would believe.…
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Tactical Analysis: Julien Stéphan’s Rennes
Since taking charge midway through the 2018/19 season, Julien Stéphan has completely changed the course of Stade Rennais Football Club. Having spent the past three years managing Rennes’s B team, Stéphan replaced Sabri Lamouchi on December 3, 2018, when the Brittany club were 17th in Ligue 1. After a string of victories which saw Rennes…
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Player Analysis: Ali Akman
It is somewhat ironic that Ali Akman was born in Yıldırım, a district of the Turkish city of Bursa which translates into English as ‘thunder.’ As they say, you can take the boy out of thunder, but you can’t take the thunder out of the boy. Just ask Emilijus Zubas, Erhan Erentürk, Atilla Özmen,…
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The Reawakening of Hirving Lozano at Napoli
When Mexican international Hirving Lozano arrived at Napoli in August 2019, his transfer from Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven was seen as a landmark moment. The transfer fee of €38 million plus bonuses was the most the Partenopei had paid for a player at the time, it was the highest figure the Rood-witten received for a player,…
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Trusting Method in the Midst of Madness: A Manchester United vs Arsenal Review
Going into their game on Sunday, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Mikel Arteta found themselves in tough positions. Both managers had raised eyebrows with some worrying performances and languished in the bottom half of the table. Questions were being asked about the impact these managers had in their respective tenures. Traditionally, when clubs like Manchester…
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How Lionel Messi Could Fit in at Manchester City
The biggest transfer saga of the summer ended up with a whimper, not a bang. After weeks of speculation, Lionel Messi announced his decision to remain at Barcelona for another season, continuing his legendary 19-year-spell at the Catalan club. While Manchester City will be disappointed in their latest failed attempt to pry the Argentine superstar…
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Player Analysis: Georges Mikautadze
At 20 years of age, Georges Mikautadze is on track to have a breakthrough season. Born in France to Georgian parents, Mikautadze spent seven years at Lyon’s academy, before spending a lone season at AS Saint-Priest in the French lower tiers. He joined Metz’s academy in 2017, and in 2019/20, he scored eight goals in…
