Articles
-
![]()
Conceptualising Superiorities in Football
One of the crucial concepts to understanding positional play is that of superiorities as they dictate in practical terms how to be decisive in the respective phases of possession. These superiorities are numerical, positional, and qualitative. In this article, I will investigate the process of how these superiorities are achieved. Numerical Superiorities This…
-
![]()
Using the Touchline: A Deep Dive Into Rangers’s Pressing Scheme
After a decade of mediocrity that saw them languish in the shadows whilst their eternal rivals established an unprecedented hegemony in Scottish football, things are looking up for Rangers. Steven Gerrard’s side currently sit 13 points above Celtic (who have two games in hand), and after finishing atop a group of Benfica, Standard Liège and…
-
![]()
Premier League Predictions: Matchday Fourteen
This past week was a busy one with a midweek fixture list in the Premier League. Here’s what to watch out for on Matchday 14. Crystal Palace vs Liverpool Crystal Palace come into this game on the back of a 1-1 draw at West Ham. Yet facing the champions might not prove as…
-
![]()
Oscar: The Brazilian Superstar Who Swapped Chelsea for China
“He isn’t here to just stroll around; he wants to win and I think the fans see that he’s not here just for the money but to make a positive impact,” explains a member of the coaching staff at Shanghai SIPG. For many, when Oscar suddenly swapped the Premier League for the Chinese Super…
-
![]()
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Kai Havertz?
When Kai Havertz made the move from Bayer Leverkusen to Chelsea for a fee of £72 million, it seemed Chelsea had bagged themselves a superstar in the making. Having recorded more goals and assists than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi had at a similar age, Havertz looked set to take the Premier League by storm…
-
![]()
Roberto De Zerbi’s High-Flying Sassuolo Side
Serie A is still often depicted as a defensive league, the home of Catenaccio. Fabio Capello’s 1993/94 AC Milan side did win the Scudetto whilst only scoring 36 goals, so this claim isn’t entirely unjustified, but Italian football has progressed since then. Take Atalanta for example. They managed 98 goals last season and provided some…
-
![]()
Player Analysis: Rıdvan Yılmaz
Fifty-seven percent. That’s the amount of his lifetime Rıdvan Yılmaz has spent at Beşiktaş. The 19-year-old left back joined the club in 2009, at the age of eight. He was born in the working class Gaziosmanpaşa district of Istanbul and grew up in nearby Sultangazi. Like so many kids in the area, Rıdvan honed…
-
![]()
Tactical Analysis: Manchester City 0-0 Manchester United
The Manchester Derby on Saturday ended in a stalemate, with neither side being able to find the back of the net. This was only the fourth occasion that the two sides have faced and the end result has been goalless since 2005. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was conservative in his approach to the…
-
![]()
Gabriel Magalhães: One of the Few Bright Spots From Arsenal’s Torrid Campaign
The centre back position at Arsenal has long been neglected and often shelved by attacking signings. Instead, Arsenal has consistently used stop-gap signings in an attempt to heal a major wound. And consequently, has frequently fallen short in the Premier League and Europa League due to individual defensive frailties and a lack of structure in…
-
![]()
Darijo Srna: Dedication, Dependability and Durability Defined
Growing up as a football fan in Yorkshire, few things caught my eye outside of the spectacular stratosphere of English football. When I wasn’t watching or dreaming of Hull City’s extraordinary ascent through the Football League, the handful of the week’s hours that remained were set aside for swapping Shoot Out cards at school or…
