Kevin Villodres: Malaga’s fearless dribbler attracting La Liga’s big clubs
Málaga CF have produced some excellent players through their academy system in recent years. AC Milan duo of Brahim Díaz and Samu Castillejo, West Ham’s Pablo Fornals and Sevilla’s Youssef En Nesyri are some of the best academy graduates Málaga have produced. According to an analysis by the CIES Football Observatory, Málaga have the same [...]
Jorja Fox: Chelsea’s latest academy star
Chelsea Women have been the undisputed queens of English women’s football in recent seasons, which has come down to excellent recruitment each summer that has allowed them to build and develop the squad ahead of each new campaign. However, as well as adding talent from outside the club, Chelsea also develop their own academy players [...]
Tactical Analysis
Crystal Palace: Contrasting Their Defensive Principles Under Roy Hodgson And Patrick Vieira Tactics
After Frank de Boer’s utterly disastrous four-game tenure at Crystal Palace back in 2017, the club were left rock bottom of the Premier League. The board brought in former Liverpool and Internazionale manager Roy Hodgson to rescue the sinking ship from impending doom. The experienced coach did just that and managed to stay on for [...]
Akim Zedadka: Clermont Foot’s standout soon-to-be free agent right-back
After spending his first years in professional football jumping back and forth between Ligue 2 and Championnat National 1, while moving from Istres to Lens to Marignane Gignac, Akim Zedadka (173cm/5’8”, 72k/158lbs) made his way to his Clermont Foot on a free transfer in summer, 2019. This move has been very positive for the club [...]
Premier League 2021/22: Looking at Solskjaer’s squad rotation
Manchester United have once again started the season very poorly under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The Red Devils are nine points behind leaders Chelsea. Solskjaer has come under a lot of scrutiny for the brand of football that his team are currently playing in spite of having one of the best squads in the league. Not [...]
Memphis Depay
La Liga 2021/22: Analyzing Memphis Depay’s Start To Life At Barcelona
Barcelona have had a torrid start to the season with the Catalan club sitting ninth in the table and winless in their last four league outings. Adding to that, their manager Ronald Koeman was sacked after just 14 months in charge of the club. But one Barcelona player who has stood out so far is [...]
Serie A 2021/22: AS Roma’s season so far
Jose Mourinho is back in Italy, managing AS Roma. After having somewhat an excellent start to the season, Mourinho’s men are currently sixth in the table, three points behind fourth placed Atalanta, losing their last two league games while conceding five goals. The Giallorossi have also failed to win their last two European games. So [...]
Bundesliga
Bundesliga 2021/22: Jude Bellingham Data Analysis Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund are second in the 2021/22 Bundesliga table and are only four points behind defending champions Bayern Munich as one-third of the season is already over. One player who has been absolutely vital to Dortmund this season is a teenage star from Birmingham - Jude Bellingham. The 18-year-old midfielder signed for the German club [...]
Ligue 1 2021/22: The surprise packages at the top of the table
Paris Saint-Germain have a 10 point lead at the top of the 2021/22 Ligue 1 table. However, what comes below them is a bit of a surprise. RC Lens, who finished seventh in their first Ligue 1 campaign since 2014/15 last season, are now second in the table. Nice, who appointed Lille’s title winning coach [...]
Barcelona: How will they look under Xavi?
A new era dawns at Barcelona. Ronald Koeman has been sacked following a series of bad results and now, it's time for the prodigal son, Xavi Hernandez, to take over and lead the Catalans back to their best. The former legendary midfielder has been in a managerial role for a couple of years now, creating [...]
Analysis
Edson Álvarez Scout Report At Ajax 2021/2022 – The Intelligence Of Erik ten Hag’s Holding Midfielder
Under Erik ten Hag tactics, Ajax have been playing attractive football and achieving good results in recent years, such as entering the UEFA Champions League semi-final in 2018/19. Some great players, including Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt of Juventus, emerged from the Dutch side, but their replacements have been interesting too. Edson [...]
Head Coach Analysis
Igor Tudor Tactics At Hellas Verona 2021/2022 – Tactical Analysis
The 2021/22 Serie A season has been full of surprises. Napoli and Milan sit at the top of the table, still unbeaten after 12 games, seven points clear of the champions Inter, and Juventus struggling in eighth place. The managerial changes didn’t only affect those teams’ performances, though. Despite not being title contenders, the under-the-radar Hellas Verona have impressed [...]
Magazine
Ben Brereton Diaz made headlines this summer when he was surprisingly selected to represent Chile in Copa América. Brereton’s mum is from Chile, and despite him having represented England at youth levels, Brereton made his Chile debut this summer in the South American football showcase — Copa América. This took the footballing world by surprise, causing [...]
Scout Report: The best stars to look out for in Eastern Europe
I remember a point when I was growing up when football in Eastern Europe had a genuine sense of mystique. The UEFA Cup (now the UEFA Europa League) and The European Cup (now the Champions League) would offer a rare glimpse into the players and clubs of which much was spoken but not known. This [...]
Mohamed Camara: RB Salzburg’s young defensive midfielder
Erling Haaland, Naby Keïta, Sadio Mané, Dayot Upamecano, Enock Mwepu, Patson Daka, Dominik Szoboszlai. The list of players who have been signed or developed by Red Bull Salzburg and then sold for a significant profit is not never-ending, but it is extensive. The Austrian side have developed a reputation for not only playing high tempo [...]
Maurizio Ganz: Has his spell at Milan Women been a success or a failure?
Maurizio Ganz is a 53-year-old head coach and ex-football player who started coaching Milan Women in 2019 after gaining some experience at clubs like Ascona, Bustese and Taverne. Fans' opinions on Ganz’s spell at Milan differ, although most of them are not satisfied with the way the team has been managed lately. Therefore, in this [...]
Newcastle United: Analysing The Magpies’ recruitment strategy
The last few years were very turbulent at Newcastle United and fans were very unhappy with how club owner Mike Ashley led the club. His inability to keep his promises to the fans and poor behaviour towards the club history and legends like Alan Shearer were the reasons why he was public enemy no.1 in [...]
Cody Gakpo
Cody Gakpo Scouting Report – Why Do Bayern Munich Want To Sign The PSV Winger?
Within the last two decades, generational talents such as Marc Overmars of Arsenal, Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten of AC Milan and Arjen Robben Bayern Munich have left their mark on the football world and will never be forgotten. Another element that should not be forgotten is where they took their first steps to [...]
Tactical Analysis: The intelligent movements of elite defenders
Here we go, article #3 in the intelligent movements series. Having written, “Tactical theory: the intelligent movements of elite attackers,” for the October magazine and last month’s tactical analysis, “Tactical theory: the intelligent movements of elite midfielder,” it’s time to drop deeper down the pitch to analyse the backline. Much like the midfielders article, this [...]
Tactical Analysis: Counter-pressing principles and how to coach them
The image adorning this article is of one of three coaches who have championed counter-pressing and used it to great effect tactically: Jürgen Klopp, Jesse Marsch and Marco Rose. It is, perhaps, of no surprise that the latter two have come through the Red Bull organisation, where Ralf Rangnick has instilled a culture of high-intensity [...]
Luke Thomas: Is Leicester’s left-back close to an England call-up?
Fitness has been an issue for Luke Thomas since the start of the season. The England U21 left-back has had a bit of a stop-start season thus far, having played (and started) in eight games for Leicester in all competitions this term. When fit, he’s likely a starter — potentially even in with a chance [...]