Steve Bould, former Arsenal coach and assistant manager has taken up a new post after a year away from football as the Head Coach/Manager of second-tier Belgian side, Lommel SK.   In 2020 Lommel SK were acquired by the City Football Group (CFG). This is the consortium of football clubs that are owned by the…

The hugely anticipated match between an unbeaten and top-of-the-league Arsenal side and the recently rejuvenated Manchester United finally comes to its head at Old Trafford. It was the first meeting between Erik Ten Hag and Mikel Arteta, with both managers once apprentices of Pep Guardiola. All these made up for an intriguing encounter.   Going…

Manchester United battled to secure a 0-1 away win against Southampton, recovering from their early disappointments during the first two Premier League game-weeks by collecting their first six points in two consecutive games after a valuable home win against Liverpool.    Crucially, there were plenty of important ideas and tactical plots throughout the game that…

A disastrous start threw Erik ten Hag into the baptism of fire that is Manchester United. The English version of Hollywood FC, where there always appears to be a mountain of problems around the corner. Every minute detail that could be an issue is held under a metaphorical magnifying glass and used as content for…

Edin Terzic’s Borussia Dortmund managed to secure their 4th victory (third 1-0 win) during 5 Bundesliga games this season after beating Hoffenheim at Signal Iduna Park. The most important thing has been done, but the black-and-yellows still have some areas to improve, especially during the final part of the match.     The German-Croatian coach…

One point separated them last season, one point separated them in 2018-19. One has Joao Cancelo, one has Trent Alexander-Arnold. Both have the world’s two most influential managers of this generation. When it comes to Manchester City and Liverpool it is a tooth and nail, neck and neck fight for supremacy with minuscule margins of…

Chelsea hosted crosstown rivals Tottenham Hotspur during the second gameweek of the 2022/23 Premier League season. Whilst this is a fixture that often sees tensions rise and emotions boil over, this particular game became especially heated as the opposing managers spent much of the second half antagonising one another. And whilst the potential cinema of…

 Juego de Posición refers to the distinct philosophy of play that Pep Guardiola uses in his teams. Translated to ‘Positional Play’, it is a philosophy that seeks to create an advantage over the opposition by a focus on the positioning and the movement of players to generate superiorities.   The philosophy originates from the Dutch…

The Erik ten Hag era has officially begun at Manchester United — well, sort of. The Red Devils began their pre-season tour with a 4-0 victory over long-time rivals, Liverpool. Of course, it was only a friendly game and three of United’s four goals were scored against a Liverpool side consisting largely of reserves, but…

French club Olympique Marseille decided to act quickly after Argentinian coach Jorge Sampaoli surprised the club with his resignation.   The 62-year-old complained about a lack of transfer activity, something that his predecessor André Villas-Boas also lamented, and the Ligue 1 side has swiftly appointed a coach with a lower profile in Croatian tactician Igor…