Southampton took the lead early on via a goal from Adam Armstrong, who had joined in the summer to replace attacking talisman Danny Ings, who left for Aston Villa for a whopping fee of £30 million after refusing to sign a new contract extension.   With Ings missing out on a homecoming due to injury…

On November 2, 2021, Tottenham Hotspur announced the managerial appointment of Italian phenom Antonio Conte; a sluggish start to the new Premier League season under previous manager Nuno Espírito Santo saw the club slump to 9th in the table following four consecutive London derby defeats to Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Arsenal, and West Ham.   Eventually,…

Xavi finally made his debut as a coach in the Barcelona dugout. Since the departure of Lionel Messi at the beginning of the season, it has been evident that this season is going to be very difficult for Barcelona. As Antoine Griezmann was released on the transfer window deadline day, Barcelona’s star-studded forward line suddenly…

Aston Villa have certainly seen better times, and it’s no surprise they recently sacked Manager Dean Smith after a horrible run of form that saw them lose six out of seven matches in all competitions. But Villa and Smith had been there before, at the tail end of the 2019-20 Premier League season, Villa were…

After a long-winded managerial saga that saw chairman Daniel Levy unsuccessfully try to appoint Antonio Conte as manager, Tottenham Hotspur were forced to settle for ex Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo who, after a promising start, lasted a mere four months with the Portuguese manager being sacked on November 1 after a poor run of…

Heading into the 2021/22 Championship campaign, the vast majority of prediction tables were identical in personnel when it came to the teams expected to finish from 1st to 4th: Bournemouth, Fulham, West Brom and Sheffield United. But whilst the table’s top end is accurate for three of the league’s seemingly superior foursome 17 games into…

The Jupiler Pro League (Belgian first division A) has largely been dominated in recent years by just a handful of teams. You would have to go back to 1997 to find a champion whose name isn’t Club Brugge, Gent, Genk, Anderlecht, or Standard Liege. If you travel all the way back to 1935, you enter…

Since replacing Claude Puel as Leicester City manager on February 21, 2019, Brendan Rodgers has led the Foxes to the FA Cup and FA Community Shield and back-to-back fifth-place finishes. Under Rodgers, Leicester have emerged as one of the most tactically flexible teams in Europe, often displaying high-tempo electric football and defensive solidity.   Ole…

In their final match before the November international break, Manchester City thrashed Manchester United 2-0 via an early own goal from Eric Bailly and a goal from Bernardo Silva on the cusp of halftime. It was a scoreline that simply did not tell the full extent of City’s dominance, and a performance that leaves Ole…

Antonio Conte is, no doubt, one of the best innovators in the modern era. This makes his move to Tottenham Hotspur not only exciting but a true test to the genius of Conte. Spurs, for too long and since the peak Mauricio Pochettino days, have lacked a true tactical identity that can take them to…