“If you want guarantees you should buy a washing machine. There are no guarantees in football anymore,” Ralph Hasenhüttl famously stated in his first press conference as Southampton manager on December 6, 2018. In contrast to Hasenhüttl’s parabolic statement, it seems like the biggest guarantee of the Premier League so far this term is the…

Having been relegated to the Bundesliga 2 at the end of the 2018/19 season, the future was not looking particularly good for Stuttgart fans. They had only come up to the Bundesliga two years prior, and in their first season, managed an impressive 7th-place finish. They then slumped down to 16th in the league the…

The first Der Klassiker of the 2020-21 Bundesliga season did not disappoint. Hansi Flick’s Bayern Munich side took on Lucien Favre’s Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park where the two German heavyweights put on a thoroughly entertaining end to end display. Although Bayern ran out 3-2 winners, Dortmund would’ve felt that they deserved more from the…

Roberto De Zerbi’s Sassuolo faced off against Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo with several key players including talisman Francesco “Ciccio” Caputo, Domenico Berardi, and Filip Đuričić missing. In response to this, De Zerbi changed to a fluid system that allowed them to interchange between a 3-4-3 in possession and a 4-5-1 mid block off…

  Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City side travelled to Elland Road on Monday night to take on an in-form Leeds United side. With Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds side having just thrashed an in-form Aston Villa side 3-0 and Rodgers’ Leicester side having beaten Arsenal 1-0 the previous week, the game promised to be an intriguing contest.  …

Since taking charge midway through the 2018/19 season, Julien Stéphan has completely changed the course of Stade Rennais Football Club. Having spent the past three years managing Rennes’s B team, Stéphan replaced Sabri Lamouchi on December 3, 2018, when the Brittany club were 17th in Ligue 1. After a string of victories which saw Rennes…

Going into their game on Sunday, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Mikel Arteta found themselves in tough positions. Both managers had raised eyebrows with some worrying performances and languished in the bottom half of the table. Questions were being asked about the impact these managers had in their respective tenures.   Traditionally, when clubs like Manchester…

The biggest transfer saga of the summer ended up with a whimper, not a bang. After weeks of speculation, Lionel Messi announced his decision to remain at Barcelona for another season, continuing his legendary 19-year-spell at the Catalan club. While Manchester City will be disappointed in their latest failed attempt to pry the Argentine superstar…

After beginning their Champions League campaign with a statement victory in Paris, Manchester United welcomed RB Leipzig ahead of what would prove to be another huge European night for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.    Last season’s semi-finalists dominated possession at Old Trafford, but the Red Devils in a rare 4-4-2 diamond formation dominated the match –…

After returning to the top flight for the first time in 16 years, Leeds United have enjoyed a phenomenal start to life in the Premier League under Marcelo Bielsa. From their first game against Liverpool, they made it clear that they would not sacrifice their style of play for any opponent; Bielsa’s side dominated possession…