Articles
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The Swan Song That Never Was: Aritz Aduriz’s Last Dance
In a career spanning over two decades, securing 219 goals and 63 assists across 573 appearances is no small feat. Yet, injury woes, a global pandemic, and a slightly premature retirement was not how Aritz Aduriz would have expected his final campaign to conclude. In another world, Aduriz would have played in the all-Basque final…
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The Curious Case of Atalanta’s Disappointing Exports
Since Gian Piero Gasperini joined Atalanta in the summer of 2016, La Dea have exceeded expectations and many star players have emerged, with a few of them transferring to bigger clubs. But unfortunately for their buyers, very few of the players who moved from the northern Italian club have sustained their impressive form outside of Bergamo.…
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KRC Genk: The Starting Point From Some of Football’s Biggest Current Stars
Situated in eastern Belgium near the German border, KRC Genk are one of the country’s biggest football clubs. Belgian champions just a season ago, Genk have enjoyed a very successful spell since the early 2000’s with three Belgian First division titles in total as well as three Belgian Cups and four Belgian Super Cups. …
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How Djibril Cissé Became Auxerre’s All-Time Top Goalscorer at 23
Football is known as ‘the beautiful game’ by all of its devotees, but there are elements of the sport that are, in some contexts and to some people, wholeheartedly terrifying. During his prime years, Djibril Cissé was one of those elements, fused by a repertoire of attributes that left opposing fans and defenders equally helpless,…
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The Ethical Dilemma Plaguing MLS’s Orlando Venture
As a diehard football fan, I remember back at the beginning of May, in my football-deprived state, placing each and every Bundesliga match post-restart in my calendar, my days at mercy of the German officials overseeing scheduling times. Quarantine and COVID-19 had taken a toll, and I had been unable to conjure any effective…
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How Ciro Immobile Became One of Europe’s Most Deadly Strikers
In his four seasons at Lazio, Ciro Immobile has scored a breathtaking 118 goals in all competitions, marking him out as one of Europe’s most elite forwards and proving that he has lived up to legendary Juventus defender Ciro Ferrara’s early praise during his early years at the Old Lady. However, before his move…
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Tactical Analysis: Kylian Mbappé’s Off-The-Ball Movement
All forwards want to score goals, but only a few are capable of doing it consistently. Besides pinpoint finishing, the main element that sets elite goal-scorers apart from regular strikers is their positioning and off-the-ball movement that enables them to always be in the right place at the right time. Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian…
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Tactical Analysis: North London Derby
In the 2015/16 season, Arsenal and their North London rivals were competing at the upper echelon of English football, the Gunners finishing second in the league behind Leicester City whilst Tottenham placed third in the table. Five years on with three games left to play, they came into this game directly competing with Burnley for…
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Scouting Report: Gaetano Castrovilli
Although the likes of Federico Chiesa and Frank Ribéry have taken much of the limelight for Fiorentina this season, the true breakout star in Tuscany has been their midfield metronome, 23-year old Gaetano Castrovilli. The Italian has had a breakout season for La Viola this season, excelling in manager Giuseppe Iachini’s 3-5-2 alongside Erick Pulgar…
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Kevin De Bruyne: From Troublesome Teen to Generational Playmaker
“Sometimes you could slap Kevin around the head because he didn’t listen. He was a stubborn boy,” KRC Genk technical director of youth Koen Daerden explains. Considering his now cool and down-to-earth persona, it’s hard to imagine Kevin De Bruyne as being a handful in training, but it wasn’t bad behaviour that caused several…
