Zonal marking, the concept of assigning each defender a specific area to defend rather than marking specific opponents, has been a staple in the tactical toolkit of top-level coaches for decades. It’s a system that requires precise coordination and communication among defenders, but when executed correctly, can be a thing of beauty, stifling even the…

Saudi Arabia recently played host to the Supercopa de España as LaLiga Santander holders Real Madrid faced long-time rivals FC Barcelona in the 251st El Clásico between the two sides. The Spanish giants have largely been neck-and-neck throughout this season’s league title race, therefore this clash presented both sides with an opportunity to build momentum…

On October 25, 2022, Carlos Corberan was hired as head coach by West Bromwich Albion after a dismal start of the season left the pre-season promotion hopefuls 24th in the Championship table and with only one win in the last 11 league matches. Since then, the former Huddersfield boss has taken the Baggies to within…

From Nicolas Jover at Arsenal to Bernardo Cueva at Brentford to Gianni Vio at Tottenham, more and more Premier League teams are investing in set-piece coaches and creating goal-scoring scenarios with well-worked set-piece routines. Today, we’ll be taking a look at four unique corner kicks from the past few weeks of the Premier League season.…

It was the final we were expecting with a lot of oohs, aahs and non-stop drama. France resurrected themselves from the dead to drag themselves into the game only to be undone by the lottery of the penalty shoot-out. One of the tactical cards that Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni played was starting attacks on the…

If I told you during the nadir of Ralf Rangnick’s reign last season (I guess the whole tenure was a nadir) that in the 22-23 season Casemiro would thunder in a last-minute header to equalise against Chelsea away, what would you have said?    You would’ve probably told me I was bonkers and that it…

Space is critical in football, give your opponent too much of it, and you get punished; make the best of little space or try to profit from little space, and you might get rewarded with a goal, just like at a casino. This creates a problem for every manager, irrespective of the philosophical divide: how…

I am quite a bookworm and have been reading a lot recently, two of the books I enjoyed are The European Game by Daniel Fieldsend and The Barcelona Legacy by Jonathan Wilson. Both books mention the ever-controversial Jose Mourinho and his chosen method of training, known as Tactical Periodisation.    What is Tactical Periodisation? It is a training methodology developed by Sports…