On November 20, Monaco welcomed Paris Saint-Germain at the Stade Louis II, in search of a victory to continue their two-match winning streak. Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel’s side looked to build on their impressive form prior to the international break and add onto their lead at the top of the Ligue 1 table.   With star…

Out of all the 20 teams in La Liga, José Bordalás’s Getafe are the most antithetical to the possession-heavy style of play that has encompassed Spanish football over the past decade. Their extremely direct play in possession combined with their high intensity, physical pressing off the ball has been a constant menace for most sides…

The most cited quotation in tactical theory can be attributed to Johan Cruyff, who once said, “If you have the ball you must make the field as big as possible, and if you don’t have the ball you must make it as small as possible.”   This is for good reason, as it encapsulates a…

“Just over a year since their lowest point, Southampton reach their highest point”, said Sky Sports commentator Rob Hawthorne as Southampton, albeit temporarily, rose to the top of the Premier League for the first time in their history after a comfortable 2-0 win over Newcastle on the most recent Friday Night Football.   Southampton sat…

Before taking charge of Stade de Reims, Olivier Guégan took a tour across Europe to observe several training sessions and matches and get a glimpse of their respective managers’s patterns and tactics. He went to Rome to study Rudi Garcia’s Roma side, he went to Madrid to analyze Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid, and he even…

Since taking charge of Manchester United in December 2018, Ole Gunnar Solskjær has proven time and time again his ability to grind out a victory against top opposition. He demonstrated his tactical nous in his fifth Premier League match, which saw United muster a 1-0 victory against Tottenham Hotspur. A month later, Solskjær sealed a…

Gian Piero Gasperini’s Atalanta side bounced back from a thumping 5-0 defeat to Liverpool in the midweek as they hosted Antonio Conte’s Inter to a 1-1 draw on Sunday. Gasperini’s side looked sharp and a far more organised outfit than they did in midweek.   Inter will also take encouragement from the result as they…

Over the past decade, few rivalries have lived up to the hype on such a consistent basis as Der Klassiker. Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund’s clashes tend to provide a heaping dose of excitement and nerves, and in the most recent fixture on November 7, the match between Hansi Flick’s Bayern and Lucien Favre’s Dortmund…

“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…