Articles
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The Zweite Bundesliga: Europe’s Most Entertaining League Next Season
The footballing world has barely recovered from the European Championships, and yet the domestic season is already here, with Germany’s second division starting today. Another 38 gameweeks of gut-wrenching drama is upon us, impossible to call, yet still certain to end with Hamburg failing in the most spectacular of fashions at getting promoted. Whilst…
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Did the Old Trafford Protests and ESL Debacle Force the Glazers to Wake Up?
In all the bucket load of chaos that was football in 20-21, the biggest game in English football was postponed due to fan protests spilling over. In extraordinary scenes at Old Trafford before they were scheduled to play Liverpool, a large group of protestors painted the sky red with flares and bellowed chants making their…
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Tactical Analysis: Cycle Over Division
Football is often divided into the ‘four moments’ (in possession, out of possession, attacking transition, defensive transition) as a framework for analysis, however, by doing this, are we ignoring the complex, fluid nature of the game? Watching and analysing Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli (17/18 especially) and Italy at Euro 2020, alongside reading the intriguing Pep Confidential,…
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Player Analysis: Nicolò Rovella
Italy won its first European Championship for the first time since 1968 when it defeated England on penalties in the Euro 2020 Final but its path to the final was impressive and delightful. Coach Roberto Mancini encouraged a more possession-based philosophy compared to his predecessors and the Azzurri embraced that proactive mentality. Nicolò Barella,…
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Player Analysis: Dembo Darboe
The stench of brutal police intervention at anti-Lukashenko protests around Belarus festered long after the protests themselves, clouding opinions worldwide of the former Soviet republic. Once that became old news, plans to assassinate the much-maligned dictator emerged and were quickly foiled by his friends at the FSB. And last but not least, the fiasco…
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The Best Performers From the 2020 European Championship
It took a year longer than planned due to some rather unforeseen circumstances, but the 16th edition of the UEFA European Championship (adamantly titled Euro 2020 even though it’s 2021) finally got underway on the 11th of June. After precisely a month’s worth of action across Europe featuring the continent’s best national sides, Italy lifted…
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The Best Performers From the 2021 Copa América
It’s a shame that Amazon or Netflix were not making a documentary following the 2021 Copa América, because if they were, we would have a lot of juicy content. Not from the matches or the main tournament (which was incredibly exciting in itself), but from all the drama prior to it. Three locations, national team…
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Gold Cup: High-Scoring Canada Ready for US
The Canadian men’s national team flies into the Gold Cup quarter-finals. But first, they’ll face a major test against the United States on Sunday in Kansas City. After securing a spot in the Octagonal Round, the 2021 Gold Cup presents an opportunity for Canada to continue their growth path and can be a proving…
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Moments of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup – Part 3: Magdeburg 1973-74
The words East Germany throws up understandable connotations to people such as the Berlin Wall and the infamous Stasi. When it comes to sport in East Germany the main connotation is to do with underhand tactics like their doping program mainly targeting their Olympic athletes from the 1960s onwards to the fall of the Berlin…
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Player Analysis: Kalvin Phillips
In their first Premier League match in 16 years, with a breathtaking match against defending champions Liverpool, Leeds United have shown that they came to play football with love and fill the hearts of the spectators with the beauty of football. Leeds’s free-flowing football, holding the ball possession and constant attack gave immense rejoicing to…
