As the Copa Libertadores edges ever closer to its conclusion, two of the tournament’s juggernauts find themselves head to head in a two-legged semi-final. Those teams, Palmeiras of Brazil and River Plate of Argentina, are a couple of the most storied clubs in all of South America. To add an extra layer to the intrigue,…

Milan have enjoyed a rip-roaring start to the season under manager Stefano Pioli, currently atop the Serie A table after 16 matchdays and set to face Red Star Belgrade in the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 after topping their group of Lille, Sparta Prague, and Celtic. Whilst Zlatan Ibrahimović has received most of the…

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City set English football alight in the 2017/18 campaign, becoming the first Premier League team to record 100 points, whilst also breaking a host of records: most wins (32), most goals (106), most points ahead of second (19), and best goal difference (+79). The following season, City completed an unprecedented domestic quadruple,…

  By: Russell Pope Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Johannes Schmedt  – Getty Images

Three years ago, Lille Olympique Sporting Club were entrenched in a crisis. The appointment of Marcelo Bielsa as manager had not had the desired effect, with ‘El Loco’ freezing out experienced veterans such as Vincent Enyeama, Rio Mavuba, and Marko Baša and coming to blows with sporting director Luís Campos in a power struggle over…

One of the crucial concepts to understanding positional play is that of superiorities as they dictate in practical terms how to be decisive in the respective phases of possession. These superiorities are numerical, positional, and qualitative. In this article, I will investigate the process of how these superiorities are achieved.   Numerical Superiorities    This…

After a decade of mediocrity that saw them languish in the shadows whilst their eternal rivals established an unprecedented hegemony in Scottish football, things are looking up for Rangers. Steven Gerrard’s side currently sit 13 points above Celtic (who have two games in hand), and after finishing atop a group of Benfica, Standard Liège and…

The Manchester Derby on Saturday ended in a stalemate, with neither side being able to find the back of the net. This was only the fourth occasion that the two sides have faced and the end result has been goalless since 2005.   Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was conservative in his approach to the…

The popularity of the 3-4-3 formation originated during the late 1980’s and early ’90s in Italy, when an influx of center-backs occupied Serie A. Originally created as an extremely offensive formation, the evolution of the 3-4-3 into its current variations has made it a versatile formation that can be now be used for attacking and…

Europa League side Dundalk FC managed to win back the FAI Cup from rivals and League of Ireland champions Shamrock Rovers after a 4-2 extra time win at the AVIVA Stadium. David McMillan, who deputised for the League of Ireland’s top scorer Patrick Hoban who missed out with an ankle injury, scored a hat-trick to…