Articles
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Tactical Analysis: Arsenal vs. Manchester City
In the second battle between master and apprentice, it was the latter, Mikel Arteta, that came away victorious against his old boss Pep Guardiola in this year’s first FA Cup semi-final. Arsenal defied expectations and beat a heavily favored Manchester City 2-0 in Wembley, in part due to their head coach’s effective game plan,…
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Tactical Analysis: PSG’s Attacking System Under Thomas Tuchel
Since joining Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2018, Thomas Tuchel has managed to get his team to play excellent attacking football, after implementing some distinguishable game principles and recurring patterns without sacrificing the creativity of his players. This is an approach that has been effective so far, with the likes of Marco Verratti,…
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Tactical Analysis: Roberto De Zerbi’s Sassuolo
A superficial glance at Roberto De Zerbi’s career thus far would present a misleading image of one of the most exciting young managers in Europe. Since hanging up his boots in 2013, the Brescia native managed Serie D side Darfo Boario, before winning the Coppa Italia Lega Pro with his former club Foggia, only…
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Why Milan Decided to Stick With Stefano Pioli as Manager
AC Milan have decided to confirm Stefano Pioli as manager for next season, a choice that, quite frankly, no one expected. Ralf Rangnick was supposed to become the new manager, as heavily reported in Italy during the last months. However, the deal has fallen apart for unknown reasons, most likely the fact that there…
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Fiorentina’s False Hope Under Rocco Commisso
Whenever there are signs of progression and hope, they quickly manifest into despair and disappointment. Sadly for Fiorentina supporters, this is symptomatic of their club’s history and the 2010s were no different. The arrival of Italian-American businessman Rocco Commisso has brought renewed enthusiasm but the results over the 2019/20 campaign so far suggested that…
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How Liverpool Conquered the Premier League and Europe
“If it’s possible, can we be the hardest team to beat in the world?” That quote was from Jürgen Klopp’s first Liverpool press conference in October 2015, and it seems he has spoken the truth into reality. 30 years after Alan Hansen lifted the English Division One Title above his head, Jordan Henderson replicated…
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Feyenoord City: How a Stadium Project Created a Divide Between Fans and Their Club
A few things are a trademark of a football club’s identity. Its colours, its crest, its fans, and very often, its stadium. The last is one that sticks around for ages, something fans call their home and something they can associate with for a long time. Moving stadiums or modernizing them to accommodate the…
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Watford’s Last-Gasp Escape Attempt From Relegation
Perspective is important in all situations, and when you consider that Watford hadn’t won a Premier League match this season before a 2-0 win over Norwich City in November, the fact that survival is in their own hands is quite impressive. Although they are not completely out of it in terms of the odds on…
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Jungen Wilden: VfB Stuttgart’s Glorious Wild Youth
European football has a rich history of teams being successful thanks to their academy and homegrown talent – Celtic’s Lisbon Lions of the late 1960s under Jock Stein where every player was born within 30 miles of Glasgow, Manchester United with the fabled Class Of ’92, and Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona which saw the likes of…
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Manchester City: A Club at a Crossroads
Former Manchester City CEO Garry Cook, when tasked with overseeing and facilitating the transition of the club, once requested his representatives to present him a vignette of the club’s defining moments. What he got back, he says in an interview with The Athletic, “was Bert Trautmann holding his neck in the 1956 FA Cup…
