It’s well-documented how much data is used in football these days. Data plays a pivotal role in club decision-making, whether to guide recruitment or inform tactical decisions. But how can data be used to benefit players? The likes of Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Arsenal’s Ben White have been...
England face a formidable opponent in the UEFA Euro 2024 quarter-finals as they will have to beat one of the best-ever versions of Switzerland to progress to the semi-finals, where they will need to take on either the Netherlands or Türkiye. England’s journey in the competition has been successful so...
Liverpool concluded their season in third place in the Premier League, amassing 82 points. They trailed Arsenal in second place by seven points and Manchester City in first place by nine points. Liverpool remained a strong contender for the title until the final stages, marking a significant improvement from their...
The English Premier League is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most illustrious domestic competition in world football. This has not necessarily translated to success on the international stage for England in recent years. With that said, however, they were finalists four years ago in the 2020 tournament on...
Is there a more polarising figure in football at the moment than Trent Alexander-Arnold? The 23-year-old Liverpool and England right-back is widely admired for his ability in the attacking phases and there are few if any players out there who have a more effective passing range than the young Englishman....
Who Is Darwin Núñez? 22-year-old Darwin Núñez has moved from Benfica to Liverpool and signed a contract until 2028. The Portuguese club had previously announced the Uruguayan's departure and revealed details about the transfer. Accordingly, the striker has moved for 75 million euros. With bonus payments, the sum could rise...
The highly anticipated UEFA Champions League 2021/2022 final saw two of the best teams in the world go up against each other. In the end, Real Madrid gained the edge in a very tight battle, winning their 14th Champions League title. The former AC Milan and Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti...
Diogo Jota arrived at Anfield last summer from fellow Premier League club Wolves for £45 million. Jota’s career is an interesting one. He started off at Pacos De Ferreira, where he was impressive. Subsequently, he got a move to Atletico Madrid, where he never made an appearance. He had two...
For this video, we've taken the excellent recent piece by Lee Scott on using our custom in-house scouting tool, xGOLD, to find players that profile as being similar to Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold. If you've not subscribed to our YouTube channel, now is a good time to do so!
A key part of modern recruitment is understanding how to use data effectively as a part of your process. While I would never suggest that a player, at any level, should be signed purely based on their data profile it is still important to understand the story that the data...
Breaking down a low block is something that top sides around the globe can face on a weekly basis. The reason opponents engage in defending in this way is to reduce the opportunity of being caught out and ensure they remain organised, stay compact, and consequently reduce space for the...
This month, I have finally gotten around to writing part two of my previous analysis on the transferable elements between American football and football set-pieces (also known as soccer to some). When originally planning the first article, I had planned to detail specific plays used in the NFL by teams, but became...
League One side Lincoln City hosted the defending Premier League champions, Liverpool, on Thursday night in the third round of the EFL Cup. After finishing 15th in the third tier last season, Lincoln City jumpstarted this campaign by winning their first five matches in September. The Reds began their league title...
If you have read Jonathan Wilson’s extraordinary book Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Soccer Tactics, you are well aware of football’s historic march from attack-centred formations and subsequent footnotes. As the book portrays, football tactics started with attack-minded systems, then became more defensive in pursuing results. Tactical trends and formations followed...
Trent Alexander-Arnold is one of the finest Liverpool academy products in recent years, and his success can already be compared to that of Michael Owen, Steve McManaman, Jamie Carragher, and many others who also made their way through the ranks of the Liverpool academy. However, Trent didn't have a proper...
One of Bayern Munich fans' greatest fears was that they wouldn't be able to find someone to replace their legend Philipp Lahm at right-back. Besides, Jogi Löw may have thought he would have the same problem in the German national team. However, Bayern and the national team now don't have to...
All football fans love a homegrown talent and none more so than the Anfield faithful. Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp embraces his club’s culture and traditions and gives opportunities to the club’s young talents. So when injuries hit first choice Liverpool right-back Nathaniel Clyne in the 2016-17 season, Klopp looked to...
