Analysis
Rodrygo Scouting Report At Real Madrid 2022/2023: The Symbol Of Relationism – Player Analysis
Relationism is one of the hottest topics in the tactical world of football, and with Real Madrid’s constant success in the UEFA Champions League, it only becomes more relevant. In last season’s campaign, Los Blancos shocked the world time after time, making historic comebacks against PSG, Chelsea, and Man City. Against some of the world’s [...]
Alfred Schreuder
Football Coaching Styles: Do Coaching Families Think Alike?
We often hear of these infamous chats between some of the greatest minds in football behind closed doors. The likes of a story detailed by Bayern Munich’s former technical director, Michael Reschke, describing a chat between Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel in a bar in Germany, discussing nothing but tactics and football philosophy over some wine spritzers. Oh, [...]
Luís Freire: Destined to be Liga Portugal’s next top manager
Former players becoming managers — it happens all the time! So often, in fact, we barely bat an eyelid when it happens. There is a widely held belief that having spent years playing the sport and gaining invaluable experience, former players have a unique perspective. Those in power at football clubs believe this will bring [...]
3-2-2-3 Formation
Pep Guardiola Tactics At Manchester City – How He Builds-Up Man City In A 3-2-2-3 Formation
Pep Guardiola Coaching Philosophy High performance does not come from boasting or comparing oneself to others; it's about being your best self and constantly striving to improve. Pep Guardiola is a prime example of this mindset as he consistently develops his style and incorporates new ideas into his philosophy, regardless of their origin. His ability [...]
Analysis
Eder Sarabia Tactics At FC Andorra 2022/2023 – The Meteoric Rise Of Gerard Pique’s Pet-project
FC Andorra have seen an astronomical rise in the last couple of years. In 2018, they were just a fifth-division side in Spain playing their football in front of crowds of no more than 30 people. Fast forward to 2023, however, and this is well and truly a completely rejuvenated club. Not only are they [...]
Analysis
A season from hell is ticking closer towards the end for fans of Wigan Athletic. Having been culpable of not paying players in four instances over the past 11 months, the Latics were deducted three points by the English Football League. While three points doesn’t seem like much of a deadly punishment, it kicked the [...]
Analysis
Massimiliano Allegri Tactics At Juventus – Understanding His Juventus From A Relationist Perspective
Over the last decade, Italy has seen a strong stream of positional/analytical football, with the coach playing a major role in the game. Take Maurizio Sarri, who won the scudetto, as a successful example of this method. Meanwhile, the national team also won the EURO 2020 under Roberto Mancini’s positional tactics. But football was not [...]
Union Berlin: Their evolution into title contenders
Bayern Munich have dominated the Bundesliga over the past decade, leaving little chance for the other teams to compete for the title. Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig have had their time in the spotlight as well, settling a pretty consistent top-four in the premier German tier. However, Union Berlin shifted the scene with [...]
Analysis
How Damien Comolli Led Toulouse Recruitment Recovery From 2020 – Analysis
Let’s take a brief trip back to the 2019/20 season (sorry, Toulouse fans!). As part of the world being thrown into disarray by the global pandemic, Ligue 1 finished 10 games early for all teams except PSG and Strasbourg, for whom it finished 11 games prematurely. TFC ended up rock bottom of France’s top flight [...]
Premier League 2022/23: The Premier League form table
We are approaching the business end of the Premier League 2022/23 season and for the first time in six years, a club that is not named Manchester City or Liverpool could still realistically win the Premier League title. With seven games to go, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are top of the table, four points ahead of [...]
Serie A 2022/23: Finding each team’s deadliest player
As we approach the business end of the Serie A season, it is time to look at the numbers across teams and players. One thing that is quite often being looked to in order to analyse the success levels of a team and its players is the goals scored metric. The race for the Serie [...]
La Liga 2022/23: Sergio Camello’s season so far
Rayo Vallecano have had a very stop-and-start season so far, and the Spanish club have struggled for consistency over the course of the campaign. After gaining some kind of momentum before the World Cup break, Rayo have struggled to win games in 2023, especially since February. As one of the smallest teams in La Liga, [...]
Bundesliga 2022/23: The race for golden boot
While the race between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund to win the Bundesliga title is heating up, with only six games to go, the race to see who wins the Golden Boot is also picking up some pace. One thing for sure is that it won’t be Robert Lewandowski for the first time since 2016/17 [...]
Carla Ward: Her tactical evolution
When Carla Ward took over Midlands Division One side Sheffield United Ladies in 2018 on an interim basis, she could not have thought that within a matter of years, she would be in charge of a WSL club — and one that has ambitions of challenging at the top of the division. Ward’s five years in [...]
Analysis
Erling Haaland is an exceptional football player who combines pace, power, and physicality. Despite his height of 194 cm, he possesses explosive quickness and delicate skill. Haaland has scored an impressive number of goals for different teams, including Red Bull Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund, and Manchester City. He even scored nine goals once in a single [...]
Nigeria: World leaders at developing young strikers
Over the years, Nigeria have produced a plethora of high-level footballers. Augustine Okocha, better known as 'Jay-Jay' Okocha, is a prominent example of the ability they have had to develop players of an extremely high level and talent. One of the positions in which they never found a foothold for very long, from an established [...]
Analysis
Christian Ilzer Tactics At SK Sturm Graz And Why He Is Linked To A Big Move
For the last decade, Red Bull Salzburg have been the most dominant team in Austrian football, with the Wals-Siezenheim-based side winning the last nine Austrian Bundesliga titles. While most seasons it has not been a close title race, this season has been different, as Christian Ilzer’s Sturm Graz have given Salzburg a run for their [...]
Manolo Marquez: How he will improve Goa FC’s ball progression
With the clubs in the Indian Super League trying to hunt down new managers for their side, the Goans have already secured the signing of Manuel Marquez Roca, AKA Manolo Marquez, the head coach of Hyderabad FC. Every Indian football fan knows how he transformed Hyderabad into one of the strongest teams in the league. [...]
Analysis
Unai Emery Tactics At Aston Villa 2022/2023 – Villa’s Remarkable Recovery Post-Steven Gerrard
Aston Villa have been looking like a completely different team following Unai Emery’s arrival at Villa Park shortly before the World Cup. Since Emery’s appointment, Villa have been the third-best team in the league based on points won, with only Manchester City and Arsenal having earned more points. The contrast between the current side and [...]
Ideologues vs Tacticians: The battle for domestic and continental titles
May is the month of champions. League winners are crowned, both continentally and domestically. It's a time of wild exuberance and the devastation of defeat as a season of work and suffering falls just short of the mark. Football fans live for May. As we prepare for the coronation of the champions, it got us [...]
Adrián Guľa
Adrián Guľa Tactics At DAC Dunajská Streda – The Tactical Elements Of Slovakia’s Leading Team
Dunajská Streda are close to winning the first major title in their history. Despite being up against the might of Slovan Bratislava (the biggest millionaire club in the country and the champions for the last four seasons), Adrián Guľa's side have managed to stay in the top half every season and even finished the regular [...]
Imran Louza
James Ward-Prowse Scout Report: More Than Just A Free-Kick Specialist
In recent years in the Premier League, there have been very few who can match James Ward-Prowse when it comes to free-kicks. The Southampton skipper has an astonishing 17 free-kick goals to his name currently, just one short of David Beckham’s Premier League record. At 28 years of age, the midfielder is in his prime [...]
Ligue 1 2022/23: Djed Spence’s season so far
Tottenham Hotspur are having one of the worst possible seasons both on and off the pitch. Manager Antonio Conte was sacked recently and a number of their summer signings have not worked out. One such signing was Djed Spence. The right wing-back was brought in from Middlesborough after an impressive loan spell with promotion-winning Nottingham [...]
EFL Championship 2022/23: Ryan Giles’ season so far
Middlesbrough have enjoyed an impressive turnaround this season. Michael Carrick’s men are in the race to get promoted to the Premier League through the playoffs. One player who has been impressive and played a vital role in this turnaround is left-back Ryan Giles. Giles has played the most minutes among Boro players and the 23-year-old [...]
Premier League 2022/23: Chelsea’s player rotation by minutes
It is difficult to find an appropriate word that describes Chelsea’s season but maybe one sentence can: Frank Lampard has been appointed as the interim manager of Chelsea until the end of the season. That sums up the story, doesn’t it? The London club have had some jaw-dropping transfer windows, both during summer and winter [...]
EFL League One 2022/23: Conor Chaplin’s season so far
Ipswich Town have been one of the most impressive teams in League One — and the entirety of England — this season. McKenna’s men play some scintillating football and have not lost in the league since 21st January 2023. They are only one point behind leaders Plymouth Argyle with three games to go. There have [...]
Paris FC Women: Their road back to UWCL
Paris FC Women are a well-known football team in France with a lot of legacy and history in the Division 1 Féminine as well as in the UEFA Women's Cup, the old name of the current UEFA Women's Champions League. In fact, Paris FC participated in five editions of this tournament: Two UEFA Women's Cups [...]
U23 Superstars: The top performing youngsters you need to be aware of
Whilst data has become more and more a prevalent tool within football in recent seasons, it still has its limitations. Data, however rich and detailed, will always only give you a snapshot of a player. As such, intelligent recruitment departments will combine the use of data with live and video scouting to provide a more [...]
