When analysing modern-day defenders, we look ahead more these days, what do they bring to the table? How good are they with the ball? How do they aid their team in playing further up the pitch? Or do they need to “stop wearing gloves in order to give a frightening impression”, as per Zlatan Ibrahimovic?…

“We cannot replace him” remarked a tearful Pep Guardiola after Sergio Aguero’s final game, a 5 nil thrashing of Everton.   Since then Manchester City have pursued a £125 million deal for Harry Kane which famously fell through and are now many bookies favorites to sign Erling Haaland in the summer.   It’s highly unlikely…

It’s unusual for a player to make an immediate jump from the National League to the Championship, but that’s exactly what Huddersfield Town’s Sorba Thomas did at the start of last year when he joined from Boreham Wood.   Yet whilst the signing was understandably met with little fanfare, the 23-year-old has proven to be…

Since the professionalization of football, the players that are linked to the most dominant part of the field have carved out a niche for themselves in the importance and transcendence of their team: the midfielders.   It was not until 1880 when the inverted pyramid (2-3-5) was born at the University of Cambridge, the first…

As happens across the world, supply chains are determined by natural resources. And football, for as much as we may desire it to be anomalous from the forces that contour the outside world, follows the same pattern.   Hence why an army of scouts descend on the less-heralded pitches of South America and increasingly Africa…

Raul de Tomás (RdT from now on) is perhaps one of the most underrated players in LaLiga. This might be because he plays at Espanyol, one of the recently promoted sides.   However, it is clear that he is possibly the best player in his team, and could be playing at a team of a…

It’s almost impossible to conceive of a world where Erling Haaland remains at Dortmund next season.   In July, the Norwegian superstar will be entering the final 12-months of his contract, and with the second largest market value on the planet, Dortmund need to do anything in their power to make sure he doesn’t leave…

To quote Dominic Shaw, Middlesbrough Editor for Teesside Live, in November 2020: ‘Anfernee Dijksteel is getting better by the week. His game is maturing by the week. He’s growing in confidence by the week. Imagine what he’ll be at the end of this season, never mind in a couple of years.’   Fifteen months of…

Niklas Süle’s football education had started at Eintracht Frankfurt’s youth academy which preceded a short stint at minnows SV Darmstadt.   He joined Hoffenheim’s academy in 2010 while current Manchester United manager, Ralf Rangnick was manager. This was a few years after German businessman and SAP co-founder, Dietmar Hopp decided to invest into the club from Sinsheim…

Domenico Berardi has arguably been one of the most exciting players Italy has produced in the last decade or so. Despite a period in his career when he was struggling with injuries, the 27-year-old has become a talisman for provincial club Sassuolo since it first played in Serie A back in 2013/14.   Although Juventus…