FC Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich: The Principles Of Creating Superiorities In Positional Attack – Tactical Analysis
Football is a sport which is intertwined, interconnected and inseparable. Clearly, those who have created and developed Positional Play are exploring the most uncomplicated way to secure the best strategies to beat the opponent and avoid losing. That’s the eternity defence-attack relationship. Everything in football is connected, indeed. There are many definitions and principles of [...]
Data Analysis: Finding the gems in Israel’s golden generation
Over the last couple of years, Israeli football has become a very attractive market for European clubs. More and more players attract the interest of top clubs in Europe’s professional leagues. With Israel hosting the U17 European Championship last year, doing a good job in the U21 matches and a fantastic U19 squad, the future [...]
Spurs Women: How they have improved with Beth England in attack
Since their arrival in the FA Women’s Super League, Tottenham Hotspur Women have consistently struggled in one area more than most: scoring goals. In the 2021/2022 campaign, Rehanne Skinner’s side scored 24 goals; by comparison, the top three WSL teams all scored in excess of 60 goals. For added context, Chelsea’s Sam Kerr was the [...]
Cagliari Calcio
Claudio Ranieri Tactics & Coaching Style At Cagliari 2022/2023
32 long years after moving on to bigger and better things within the game, Claudio Ranieri is back in Sardinia at the helm of the 1969/70 Serie A winners Cagliari. Fans from an older generation will have fond memories of ‘The Tinkerman’ with Gli Isolani, rising from Serie C to Italy’s top-flight division in back-to-back [...]
Vasco da Gama: Finding a 10 to replace Nenê
Shortly after 777 Partners became the official owners of Vasco da Gama in late 2022, the Rio de Janeiro side secured promotion back to the first division in the last match of Série B. Despite being one of the biggest clubs in Brazil, Vasco spent two years in the country’s second division. The new owners [...]
Hearts Women: Their tactical development under Eva Olid
There are many women’s football leagues around Europe that don’t perhaps get the attention that they deserve, either through low fan interest, lack of broadcasting or a combination of both, and those in Scotland have undoubtedly fallen into that category over the years. However, this season, there is a definite change in the air, with [...]
Levi Colwill: Should Chelsea consider recalling the centre-back?
Chelsea have had quite a busy transfer window. London’s Blues completely dominated the market with signing after signing, outbidding and ultimately outspending the opposition to ensure multiple marquee arrivals. Players such as João Félix from Atletico Madrid, Enzo Fernández from Benfica and Mykhaylo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk were just some of the bigger names to [...]
FC Schalke 04
FC Schalke Analysis – Their Fall, Rise And Fall Again
When you hear the phrase ‘fallen giant’, you may be forgiven for thinking of former Bundesliga titans FC Schalke. Cast your mind back 12 seasons ago for a moment — Schalke had reached the UEFA Champions League semi-final in 2010/11, having put current champions Internazionale to the sword after the Italian club’s treble-winning campaign under [...]
Valencia: Their problems under Gattuso and Voro
Gennaro Gattuso followed in the footsteps of Claudio Ranieri and Cesare Prandelli as the third Italian manager to lead Los Che. He voluntarily resigned from his role at Valencia on January 23. Just a little time has passed since Gattuso's dismissal. Still, Valencia's old reliable Salvador González, better known as Voro, is back in charge [...]
Manchester United Women: Their push for a UWCL spot – scout report
At the moment of writing the article, Manchester United Women are at the top of the FAWSL with 32 points, one point ahead of Chelsea who are yet to play a match, and three points ahead of Manchester City who are battling for the title as well. Then, they are followed by Arsenal who are [...]
Data Analysis: Defensive records of each team in EFL League One
Throughout the history of football, most successful teams have thrived on a strong defensive foundation. Of course, there are exceptions to that rule — teams that approach games with the mantra of simply outscoring the opposition. Each of the three divisions within the EFL is notoriously difficult, physical, and unpredictable, and in modern years, the gap [...]
We are approaching what’s known as the squeaky bum time of the league season. As we are nearing the final third of the Premier League 2022/23 season, with most teams having played 22 games, the relegation race is heating up. With a number of managerial changes already in the bottom half of the table, teams [...]
Karel Geraerts
Karel Geraerts Tactics: His Success At Royale Union Saint-Gilloise
At the end of the 2021/22 campaign, after a magnificent season back in the top flight where they almost won the Belgian Pro League, Felice Mazzù left his post as Royale Union Saint-Gilloise to become manager of Brussels rivals RSC Anderlecht. The Belgian side did not have to look far to find his replacement, with [...]
La Liga 22/23: Alexander Sørloth’s season so far
Alexander Sørloth, the 27-year-old Norwegian centre-forward, has had an interesting career so far. Starting out at Rosenborg, he has since played in the Netherlands, Denmark, England, Belgium, Turkey, Germany and Spain across different loan spells and permanent moves to different clubs. The below visualisation shows where Alexander Sørloth ranks for some of the key metrics [...]
Serie A 2022/23: Sergej Milinković-Savić’s season so far
One of the most complete midfielders in Europe over the last few seasons has been Lazio’s Sergej Milinković-Savić. The 27-year-old seems to be attracting interest from a number of top European clubs every summer only to stay with Lazio and perform at his best every season. In 2022/23, Milinković-Savić has once again been one of [...]
Bundesliga 2022/23: Do Bayern Munich need a summer rebuild?
Three teams are on the same points (45) and are separated only by Goal Difference at the top of the Bundesliga table — Bayern Munich (1st), Dortmund (2nd), and Union Berlin (3rd). Two points separate SC Freiburg at 4th and Eintracht Frankfurt at 6th. An interesting title race is ahead to look out for. One [...]
Ligue 1 2022/23: Branco van den Boomen’s season so far
One player from Ligue 1 who has been spoken about quite often in recent times is Toulouse’s Branco van den Boomen. The 27-year-old midfielder signed for the French club in the summer of 2020 and played a massive role in helping Toulouse get back to Ligue 1 in 2022. This season, he has once again [...]
Data Analysis
Middlesbrough have been the form team of late, not just in the EFL Championship but in the entire English football pyramid. In the 17 league games since the appointment of Michael Carrick, Boro have lost just three games, drawn once, and won the other 13 games. One player who has stood out for them is [...]
Premier League 2022/23: Analyzing each team’s Home and Away form
We are approaching the final phase of the Premier League 22/23 season. With most teams having played at least 22 games, Manchester City are top of the table level on points with, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, although the Gunners have a game in hand. Behind them are Erik Ten Hag’s high-flying Manchester United. Eddie Howe’s Newcastle [...]
Data Analysis: Why consistent defensive contributions are so difficult
For years, Virgil van Dijk and Liverpool have given no quarter to opponents, attacking opponents with a sense of ruthlessness and relentlessness. The spoils were a Champions League title and the much-coveted Premier League crown. The tables have turned. Liverpool is underperforming and van Dijk has come under scrutiny by the global football media. Liverpool's [...]
Marijan Budimir: His pressing principles with Hajduk Split U19s
Since initially joining the club as a youth team coach back in 2016, Marijan Budimir has performed a few different roles at Hajduk Split, including assistant manager for the senior squad. The 42-year-old’s proudest achievements with the Dalmatian club have come during his tenure as U19s boss, a role he’s occupied since 2019. Hajduk Split [...]
EFL League One 2022/23: The favourites to get promoted
The EFL Football League is one of the most exciting groups of leagues in the world. The number of teams competing, the volume of matches and the competitiveness make League One one of the leagues to watch out for every year. This season, the top two, Plymouth Argyle and Sheffield Wednesday, are comfortably away from [...]
Analysis
When a player attracts the attention of Manchester City, Arsenal and Southampton in the same transfer window, there is no doubt that he is someone with an exceptional talent. And this is the case of Ousmane Diomande, the 19-year-old centre-back who is yet to land in the Premier League, as he was signed by Sporting [...]
Tactical Theory: The art of the disguised pass
Every day, coaches work relentlessly on the training ground to translate their philosophies, principles and ideas into real life. Whether the style used to create chances is patient or direct, if the aim is to use overloads and isolation or rotations, the goal is the same for every team: create space in dangerous goalscoring opportunities. [...]
Odin Thiago Holm: The next member of Norway’s Golden Generation
Norway has become a gold mine for Europe’s top teams. The recent moves for players like Casper Tengstedt or David Datro Fofana to top teams like Benfica and Chelsea, respectively, demonstrate the watchful eye Europe’s elite clubs are keeping on the talent coming out of the country. The nation where names like Erling Haaland or [...]
Hjalmar Ekdal: How he will help Burnley achieve promotion
As the 2022 Allsvenskan campaign ended, teams around the world snapped up talents from Sweden. Brighton got Yasin Ayari from AIK and Ulsan Hyundai got both Gustav Ludwigson and Darijan Bojanić, and Williot Swedberg joined Celta de Vigo last summer. Meanwhile, as Burnley’s EFL Championship title challenge continued, Vincent Kompany looked to strengthen his squad, [...]
Sivasakthi Narayanan: A poacher in the making for India
Sivasakthi Narayanan is a true poacher in the making for India. The 21-year-old striker was groomed by Raman Vijayan — a great striker himself — before then being scouted by Bengaluru FC; he is now marking his footprints in the Indian Super League, the top tier of India. In this tactical analysis in form of [...]
Analysis
Tommaso Baldanzi Scout Report At Empoli 2022/2023
Italian football has long had a love affair with number ‘10’s. The history of Calcio is littered with incredible talents who shone in that position and with that number. My own conscious memory of football includes the incredible football shown in this country by Channel 4 as they covered Italian football on Sundays. The likes of [...]