Articles
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Erling Haaland: How Good Can He Be?
The past week we have all been talking about how Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé can be the next Ronaldo-Messi after their sumptuous performances in the Champions League. And when you look at Haaland’s numbers they are simply ridiculous. He has scored 43 goals in 43 games for Borussia Dortmund, 6 goals in 7 games…
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Eberechi Eze: The South London Magician Who’s Enchanting Selhurst Park
Eberechi Eze said in his very first interview for Crystal Palace that he’d come to entertain. Even with all the turbulence surrounding Palace’s yo-yo season, it’s obvious now he meant it. The 22-year-old signed from QPR last summer for an initial fee of £16 million after several other clubs including Tottenham Hotspur had shown…
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Tactical Analysis: Liverpool’s Struggles in Front of Goal This Season
As we have seen this year, Liverpool’s lack of goals has been evident in comparison with the last two seasons in which the team was in great form and was able to score consistently. After 25 matches, Liverpool currently sit sixth in the Premier League — level on points with crosstown rivals Everton — having…
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A Starry Night at the San Siro? Analyzing Red Star Belgrade’s European Chances
For decades, the prospect of drawing FK Crvena zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) in Europe would be enough to thoroughly excite fans across the continent. Over 30 years since their last European trophy, this is no different. They notoriously possess one of the most imposing fan bases. In addition to this, their long-established unity and passion…
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Tactical Analysis: Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid Out of Possession
When you think of Atlético de Madrid’s playing style, you immediately think of a strictly defensive team that plays direct football and exploits counter-attacks. You get a flashback of the 2013/14 season where most of the games they would start winning and then defend in a low block 4-4-2 for the rest of the game. …
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Emiliano Buendía: The Man Driving Norwich to Promotion
Since arriving from Getafe in June 2018, Emiliano Buendía has become one of those players that you just have to watch; somebody who puts bums on seats (or at least did prior to COVID-19 regulations). The Argentine attacking midfielder’s sensational form has driven Norwich City to the top of the Championship table with 9 goals…
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Julen Lopetegui’s Revival at Sevilla
Since beginning his managerial career as an assistant coach with Spain in the 2003 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, Julen Lopetegui has racked up a rather impressive CV, albeit one that has come with frustrating misfortunes. He received his first managerial opportunity with Rayo Vallecano in 2003, but he would last just 10 league matches before…
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Oleksandr Zinchenko: More Than Just a Utility Left Back
Manchester City have been quite exceptional of late – at the time of writing, they are on an English top-flight record winning streak spanning 18 games and don’t seem to be in the mood of stopping anytime soon. One key difference between this run and their previous exploits under Pep Guardiola is that they have…
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Weston McKennie: Andrea Pirlo’s Jack-Of-All-Trades
When Andrea Pirlo replaced Maurizio Sarri as Juventus manager on August 9, 2020, nobody knew how his team would shape up. He was appointed with zero experience at all in professional football; he was originally hired to coach the Under-23 side but then took over from Sarri after Juventus were eliminated from the Champions League…
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How Manchester City Created Space Against Newcastle’s 5-4-1
Despite Manchester City’s success against low blocks since the arrival of Pep Guardiola in 2016, they have always struggled against the 5-4-1. When questioned by Gary Neville in August 2018 about whether or not Guardiola had been implementing new tactical ideas in pre-season training, he replied “Yes, we found a lot of problems to attack…
