Antonio Conte’s appointment as Juventus manager in 2011 marked eight years since the Old Lady had last won an official league title. With the Calciopoli scandal resulting in their relegation from Serie A, the noughties were a relatively dark decade in Juventus’ history. However, Conte, alongside the head of recruitment Beppe Marotta, combined to ensure…

  In the second battle between master and apprentice, it was the latter, Mikel Arteta, that came away victorious against his old boss Pep Guardiola in this year’s first FA Cup semi-final. Arsenal defied expectations and beat a heavily favored Manchester City 2-0 in Wembley, in part due to their head coach’s effective game plan,…

Since joining Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2018, Thomas Tuchel has managed to get his team to play excellent attacking football, after implementing some distinguishable game principles and recurring patterns without sacrificing the creativity of his players.    This is an approach that has been effective so far, with the likes of Marco Verratti,…

A superficial glance at Roberto De Zerbi’s career thus far would present a misleading image of one of the most exciting young managers in Europe.   Since hanging up his boots in 2013, the Brescia native managed Serie D side Darfo Boario, before winning the Coppa Italia Lega Pro with his former club Foggia, only…

All forwards want to score goals, but only a few are capable of doing it consistently. Besides pinpoint finishing, the main element that sets elite goal-scorers apart from regular strikers is their positioning and off-the-ball movement that enables them to always be in the right place at the right time.   Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian…

In the 2015/16 season, Arsenal and their North London rivals were competing at the upper echelon of English football, the Gunners finishing second in the league behind Leicester City whilst Tottenham placed third in the table. Five years on with three games left to play, they came into this game directly competing with Burnley for…

Since taking charge of Napoli on December 11, 2019, Gennaro Gattuso has made the Partenopei click on all cylinders, who currently sit sixth in the league, firmly in the path for Europa League qualification. More importantly, they won their first trophy in six years, defeating Perugia, Lazio, Inter, and Juventus en route to winning the…

Going into the game against Manchester City, Steve Bruce’s Newcastle had just lost once in their previous five matches, only conceding six goals and scoring 10 in the process. The Toons have sat comfortably mid-table this season and they were looking to continue their good form on Wednesday with a draw or victory at the…

Be it José Mourinho’s Centurions or Zinedine Zidane’s three-peat winning side, Real Madrid have always been associated with attacking football and massive trophy hauls. However, everything changed after the departures of Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer of 2018.   Real Madrid went through three managers in one season, were eliminated in the Champions…

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City took on newly crowned champions Liverpool this past weekend. Despite the Premier League being wrapped up following City’s loss against Chelsea, this game was an opportunity for City to warn Liverpool of next season’s title challenge.    Guardiola clearly had a plan in mind to spoil Liverpool’s title celebrations, and his team…