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Player Analysis: Patrick de Paula
Football has bore witness to countless rags-to-riches stories, but perhaps no country has had more than Brazil. Dani Alves would wake up every day at 5 a.m. to help his father pick melons, Rivaldo grew up in a poor area of Recife and lost several teeth due to chronic malnutrition, and Gabriel Jesus painted the…
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Tactical Analysis: Borussia Dortmund vs. RB Leipzig
Matchday 15 of the 2020/21 Bundesliga season saw Borussia Dortmund travel to RB Leipzig looking to improve on their last away game where they lost 2-0 to high flying Union Berlin. RB Leipzig were the in-form side going into the game, having only lost once in the Bundesliga so far this season. The last time…
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Vivianne Miedema: The WSL’s Deadliest Finisher
When we talk about female strikers, there is one name that pops up instantly – Arsenal’s number nine, Vivianne Miedema. The Dutch striker is arguably the most prolific striker to have graced the world of women’s football, let alone the Women’s Super League (WSL). As Ian Wright rightly tweeted, “Every single goal Viv scores is…
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Football in Alaska and Hawai’i
Waqaa! Cangacit? / Aloha! Pehea ‘oe? The first greeting is in Yup’ik, the language most widely spoken in Alaska, while you have just guessed the second one – Hawaiian, the language para excellence from the archipelago of the American Union. I hope you are ready to the next step in our trip around the world.…
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How Pitso Mosimane Built a Dynasty with Mamelodi Sundowns
It was October 2011. Just over a year on from having the biggest football party on their doorstep and making history by becoming the first African country to host a FIFA World Cup, Pitso Mosimane’s South Africa were going into the final round of qualifiers for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. A shock…
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Analyzing Leicester City’s Defensive Strategy Under Brendan Rodgers
Tactical flexibility is vital in football. Being flexible as a team, whether this is through different personnel in different positions or team shape in and out of possession, allows you to be largely unpredictable and therefore adds great variety to football. It essentially makes you more difficult to defend against in the sense that it…
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Player Analysis: Dani Olmo
Dani Olmo is a 22-year-old Spanish left-sided/central attacking midfielder who currently plays in the Bundesliga for RB Leipzig. Born in Terrassa, Catalonia, Spain, Olmo started his footballing career in 2006 at RCD Espanyol’s youth academy where he quickly made a name for himself at a very young age. Olmo was snapped up by FC…
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Analyzing the Roots Behind Sheffield United’s Decline
Chris Wilder was named the runner-up manager of the year by the League Manager’s Association last July. Less than 7 months later, his Sheffield United side sit bottom of the league with only 2 points from 17 games. The Blades took the Premier League by storm in the 2019-20 season as they finished 9th, on 54…
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Player Analysis: Gerard Moreno
It’s been nearly 15 years since Villarreal, a small-town team from the Comunitat Valenciana, put together one of the most astonishing Champions League runs of all time. Finishing top of a group in which Manchester United finished bottom, they dispatched of Glasgow Rangers and Inter Milan in the knockout stages, before narrowly losing out to…
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Player Analysis: Bradley Grobler
Things were all square between SuperSport United and Kaizer Cheifs at the Lucas Masterpieces Moripe stadium before Bradley Grobler lobbed the ball into the net, following an Itumeleng Khune mistake. In what already is a heated race for the Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot, Grobler has laid the foundation for his most prolific season ever. He…
