Analysis
Analysing Everton Defensive Woes Under Frank Lampard Tactics – Tactical Analysis
The great Charlie Chaplin once said: “Despair is a narcotic. It lulls the mind into indifference.” This wonderful quote sums Everton’s season up perfectly. The Toffees are not a bad group of players, but their low confidence has poisoned their minds into believing that their current level of play is perpetual. Since David Moyes’ departure [...]
Sanjin Prcic: Could the revived midfielder make for a shrewd summer transfer?
Sanjin Prcić (181cm/5’11”, 76kg/168lbs) has been plying his trade at Strasbourg since joining the Alsace club initially on loan in January 2019 until the end of the 2018/19 campaign before he made his move from La Liga side Levante permanent that summer. The Bosnia and Herzegovina international was born in the commune of Belfort, not [...]
AC Milan: Transfer targets for the Rossoneri
In Milan, evolution is always in progress. While this season could be a significant moment in the chase of a first league title after 11 years, Technical Director Paolo Maldini and Sporting Director Frederic Massara are already looking ahead to strengthen the squad for next season. As we witnessed last season, with Çalhanoglu’s and Donnarumma’s [...]
Hina Sugita: Can she replace Lindsey Horan at Portland Thorns?
A lot has changed at Portland Thorns between the 2021 and 2022 NWSL seasons, with former manager Mark Parsons leaving to become head coach of the Netherlands women’s team (a post he had already been sharing with his Portland responsibilities during the second half of last season), as well as major members of their 2021 [...]
Analysis
Assessing The Potential Options To Replace Darwin Núñez At Benfica – Scouting Report
This summer transfer window, Benfica will face the unenviable task of replacing their prolific goalscorer, Darwin Núñez. Núñez arrived in Lisbon from the Spanish side of Almería in 2020, and over the last two seasons, he has developed into one of Europe’s best goal-scorers. This summer, he will be one of the most sought-after strikers in [...]
Bjorn Meijer: FC Groningen’s academy star linked with Club Brugge
FC Groningen are known for their stellar youth academy, with many quality football players having come through the youth system and subsequently made their senior debuts for the club. A couple of examples include current Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk, as well as Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich legend, Arjen Robben. Today, FC Groningen [...]
Analysis: How to approach Multi-club ownership
Multi-club ownership (MCO) is a growing trend that seems to be here to stay. According to UEFA research, 26 top-flight clubs across Europe are involved in some sort of cross-ownership. Just recently, UEFA identified more than 100 European clubs as being involved in MCO structures, while other research identified over 180 clubs in 2022 with [...]
Chris Willock: Analysing his impressive numbers at QPR
This 2021/22 season has seen Queens Park Rangers fly as high as third place in the Championship. However, recent poor form has led Mark Warburton’s men to slide down the table. Even if the team from West London do not attain promotion to the Premier League, QPR can take a couple of positives from this [...]
Player Analysis
Danilo Scout Report At Palmeiras 2022: A Deep-lying Midfielder Star – Player Analysis
Nearly two years ago, Danilo made his professional debut against Red Bull Bragantino. Currently 20 years old, Danilo has become a key piece of Abel Ferreira’s dynasty at Palmeiras. Despite his young age, the deep-lying midfielder has already won two Copa Libertadores, one Copa do Brasil, one Recopa, and one Paulista. More impressively, he has [...]
Thiago Alcantara: The “liability” who became one of the best in the Premier League
Thiago Alcântara fresh off a UEFA Champions League win with Bayern Munich, took some time to settle in the Premier League when he joined Liverpool in 2020. Last season, the Reds were below par given the huge scale of injured personnel in the squad, but when they were not playing well, some people pointed their [...]
FC Koln 2021/22: How they are pressing their way up the Bundesliga
Although FC Köln aren’t one of Germany’s most successful nor glamorous football clubs, they have a history to be proud of, having won three Bundesliga and four DFB-Pokal titles. After suffering relegation in 2018, Die Geißböcke won promotion back to the Bundesliga in April 2019. Since then, the club has managed to establish itself in [...]
Juanmi: The Spaniard’s impact at Real Betis
Yet another La Liga season is being dominated by the giants: Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. While at the time of writing, Los Blancos have the advantage in the leading spot, there are quite a few contenders for the rest of the Champions League spots. They are followed by Barca, Sevilla and Atleti, but [...]
Clarisse Le Bihan: What can she add to Angel City
Clarisse Le Bihan is a French international player who has just moved to NWSL’s newly registered club, Angel City. She had been playing for Montpellier since 2016 and before that, she had some long and instructive experiences at Guingamp and Stade Briochin. Le Bihan was called for international games in 2015 and played several matches [...]
Raheem Sterling
Premier League 2021/22: Raheem Sterling’s Season So Far
There were rumours about Raheem Sterling leaving Manchester City last summer when City were on the search for a new striker. Failing to sign a new striker meant that Sterling stayed and has played an important role in helping City challenge for their fourth league title in the last five years. The following visualisation shows [...]
Javier Siverio: Hyderabad FC’s Spanish forward
When Hyderabad FC announced the signing of former Paris Saint-Germain striker Bart Ogbeche for the 2021//22 season of the Indian Super League, it was quite evident that the team also needed a backup striker to share the weights of goalscoring responsibility for the team. The 24-year-old Spanish striker Javier Siverio ended up being the chosen [...]
Serie A 2021/22: Chris Smalling’s season so far
Since moving to AS Roma from Manchester United, Chris Smalling is one of the few former Manchester United players to play regularly. Smalling, since moving to the Serie A side, has been one of the first names on the team sheet, whenever fit, for Roma, even after the arrival of former Manchester United manager Jose [...]
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
La Liga 2021/22: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s blistering start to life at Barcelona
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has had a contrasting two halves of the season so far. After being phased out of the Arsenal team by manager Mikel Arteta, Aubameyang secured a move to Barcelona in the winter transfer window and has since been one of the inform players in Europe. The centre-forward has settled in seamlessly to life [...]
Bundesliga 2021/22: Patrick Schick’s under the radar season
Patrick Schick surprised everyone when he finished as the joint highest scorer in Euro 2021 along with Cristiano Ronaldo. Since then, the Czech superstar has not looked back. The 25-year-old currently sits second on the Bundesliga scorers’ chart with 20 goals to his name. Patrick Schick has been on the rise over the last year or [...]
Data Analysis
Paris Saint-Germain had one of the most intriguing transfer windows last summer - one that occurs quite frequently in FIFA career modes and other simulation games. Out of all the incomings that happened, the one with the least amount of hype is one of the ones that has been the most successful. Nuno Mendes' transfer [...]
Analysis
Tammy Abraham Scout Report At AS Roma 2021/2022 – Jose Mourinho’s Revolution Of The Centre Forward
The current European champions, Chelsea, are renowned for their success across the continent, as well as their dominance in England over the last 15 years. While this image of West London clubs remains, the Chelsea loan system is a controversial subject surrounding the club that continues to be on the lips of football fans. Chelsea’s work at Cobham [...]
Tactical Theory: The role of the modern full-back
Traditionally, the full-back position has been regarded as one of the least glamorous on a football pitch. The cliché old saying about full-backs was that they were “players not strong enough to play at centre-back and not skillful enough to play as a winger.” Jamie Carragher once joked that no young footballer dreams of becoming [...]
EFL Championship 2021/22: West Brom’s fall from the top
One cannot bring up the word consistency if they are to describe West Bromwich Albion over the last few years. The Baggies will be spending another season in the Championship - their fourth in the last five seasons - next season. What started off as an amazing season has turned into turmoil for the West [...]
Daichi Kamada
Daichi Kamada Scouting Report: Eintracht Frankfurt’s Japanese Magician
Teams in the German Bundesliga have developed a reputation for strong recruitment over the last decade or so. It is not uncommon for German sides to announce transfers early, well before the move will become official, as they get their business done extremely efficiently. There are trends in the recruitment of Bundesliga sides that are [...]
Nedim Bajrami
Nedin Bajrami Scouting Report – Empoli’s Underrated Midfield Maestro
Who Is Nedin Bajrami? Empoli have been one of the most interesting sides in Europe so far this season. At the time of writing, they sit 14th in Serie A but there is rarely a dull day at the Carlo Castellani stadium, as Gli Azzurri combine an attacking and open style of play with one [...]
Anthony Rouault: The next big centre-back to come out of France?
France has no shortage of extraordinary talents. Whether it's Kylian Mbappé at Paris Saint-Germain, Eduardo Camavinga at Real Madrid or even someone well established like N’Golo Kante at Chelsea, French stars and stars in making are dominating the scene. One such player is Toulouse's Anthony Rouault. The 20-year-old defender is yet to fully get attention [...]
Tactical Analysis: Coaching breaking lines
When in possession and looking to play forward, breaking the lines of an opposition’s defensive shape can be the most difficult process. It can often lead to turnovers of possession, and teams will frequently look to attempt to do so when there isn’t the space or opportunity to play these passes. Forcing these passes often [...]
Tactical Analysis: Five interesting free-kick routines
Set-pieces can be the difference between a win, loss or draw, and in the modern game where teams are looking for whatever marginal gains they can, it is still surprising there are plenty of top-level teams employing basic and ineffective routines from dead-ball situations that have led to little in the way of goals. There [...]