One of the most anticipated match-ups of the Premier League season’s opening month came in North London, as Arsenal hosted Manchester United at the Emirates. Both teams took significant strides last season, with United finishing third in their first season under Erik ten Hag, whilst Arsenal ended their Champions League drought and finished second. Whilst…

In the vast theatre of human endeavours, where the pursuit of meaning often reveals itself in the most unexpected of places, we find ourselves drawn to the sacred cathedral of football. In this timeless ritual, where passion transcends reason, and the spirit of camaraderie meets the cruelty of fate, a tapestry of narratives unfurls.  …

On Sunday, August 20th, Spain won the Women’s World Cup. The victory was their crowning achievement and had been a long time coming for the team. It was also a product of their youth development, as victories in the U17 and U20 World Cups are a testament to the youth development of the Spanish players.…

The goal of this series is to describe a position of play that had the most pervasive impact on teams’ success across European football during a given season. When looking for commonalities and/or trends in style of play among successful European club teams in the 2022/23 season, it is hard to look past the roles…

Back in March of this year, a few friends and I were sitting in the pub, chatting generally about football and our plans for the year ahead. It turned out that all of us wanted to travel overseas to watch a match, but had never been able to organise it properly.   Long story short,…

Burnley bid farewell to a seven-year spell in the Premier League in 2022 — their longest uninterrupted spell in the top-flight since the ’60s — after suffering relegation, with the club replacing interim manager Mike Jackson with Vincent Kompany. The Clarets parted ways with manager Sean Dyche in April after ten years at the helm,…

In the realm of football, two elemental forces exist:  space and control. The prevailing inclination among many managers is to grasp onto control, manipulating their players as if marionettes on strings, dictating their every move. Much like the intricate game of chess, where the humble pawn typically remains a pawn, save for rare instances when…

Dara O’Shea is the biggest success story of West Brom’s Academy in recent years, going from youth player to captain in four years. Now at 24, his £7 million transfer to Premier League side Burnley has helped stabilise West Brom’s finances whilst leaving them without their most important defender. So how can they replace him?…

In the second half of this two-part series, delving into some of the key and recurring tactical tendencies of Villarreal under Quique Setién, we will cover the Yellow Submarine out of possession. Part 1 of this article focussed on Villarreal with the ball. As a reminder, for this piece, the following LaLiga games were observed.…

After a summer that saw them bring in the likes of Boubacar Kamara and Diego Carlos, things looked promising for Aston Villa. However, they would win just two of their first eleven league matches, grinding out narrow victories over Southampton and Everton, and their early-season struggles would see the club hierarchy make the decision to…