Analysis
How Atlético Madrid’s tactical missteps cost them huge against Chelsea
With a 1-0 deficit to overturn, Atlético Madrid visited Stamford Bridge to face Thomas Tuchel’s still-undefeated Chelsea in the second leg of their Champions League round of 16 clash. Coming back from a goal down was not Atlético’s game – they had never won a Champions League tie after losing the first leg. By contrast, Tuchel’s Chelsea were unbeaten in 12 games, winning eight of those. The German tactician would become the first Chelsea manager to avoid defeat in his first 13 games in charge if he kept this run going, so this was quite an important match from the record-keepers’ point of view too. The Blues cruised to a 2-0 victory despite a couple of initial scares, as goals from Hakim Ziyech and Emerson helped them advance to the quarter-finals. In this analysis, though, we wi...
Tactical Analysis: Pep Guardiola’s experimental field day for Manchester City against Fulham
After returning to winning ways in an emphatic manner against Southampton, Manchester City travelled to Craven Cottage to face a resurgent Fulham. Just after Thomas Tuchel’s failed experiment against Leeds United, Pep Guardiola decided to cross the back line bridge in the opposite direction as he went from a four to a three, and the Spaniard was a lot more successful. Despite a slow and disjointed first-half performance, City eased to a 3-0 victory thanks to quickfire goals in the first 15 minutes of the second period. In this analysis, we will attempt to break down the league leaders’ new system and see if it could have any reusage in the near future. They lined up in a 3-4-3, with Ederson in goal and John Stones, Rúben Dias and Aymeric Laporte in front of him. João Cancelo and ...
AstraZeneca: ‘No evidence’ of higher blood clots risk from coronavirus vaccine
UK-based pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca insisted on Friday its coronavirus vaccine was safe after some countries suspended its use in response to concerns about a potential link to blood clots. “An analysis of our safety data of more than 10 million records has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country” from the jab, a company spokesperson said. “In fact, the observed number of these types of events are significantly lower in those vaccinated than would be expected among the general population.” The AstraZeneca jab, developed with Oxford University, forms the mainstay of Britain’s vaccination programme, and of many developing economies. It is relatively cheap and easier to st...
Ekiti governor urges Nigerians to disregard unfounded theories about coronavirus vaccines
Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has urged Nigerians to disregard any unfounded theories about the efficacy and effects of the COVID-19 vaccines on them saying it is unnecessary introducing sentiments to the health and well-being of the people for whatever reasons. The governor who received the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine alongside his deputy, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, and some frontline health workers on Wednesday emphasised that all hands must be on deck to ensure all indigenes know that the vaccine is safe. He spoke while flagging off the vaccination exercise in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital. Fayemi who stated that his administration had put in place measures to ensure that residents have equitable access to the vaccine said, “The availability of COVID-19 vaccines and its glob...
Tactical Analysis: How Guardiola schooled Mourinho as Manchester City breezed past Tottenham Hotspur
After watching Liverpool lose yet again to Leicester City, Manchester City took on Tottenham Hotspur on the back of an English top-flight record winning-streak spanning 15 games. The last side to beat Pep Guardiola’s rampant side were indeed Tottenham, but this was a completely different affair with both sides on opposite ends of the form table. The result was completely different from the reverse fixture too, as Manchester City emerged deserved 3-0 winners after another brilliant performance. In this analysis, we will attempt to dissect all of the tactical nuances on display in this match. Line-ups Manchester City lined up in their favoured 4-3-3, with Ederson shielded by a back-four of João Cancelo, John Stones, Aymeric Laporte and Oleksandr Zinchenko as Rúben Dias only made th...
Tactical Analysis: How Leicester City dealt a potentially decisive blow to Liverpool’s title-hopes
After that demoralising 1-4 reverse against Manchester City, Liverpool had another tough task on their hands as they took on high-flying Leicester City, who were three points and one spot above them in the table. The Reds’ title-hopes were already a distant memory in this rapid season, but they needed to win here to keep a spot in the top-four. However, it was the Foxes who emerged victorious thanks to a late flurry of goals, denting Liverpool’s top-four hopes and boosting theirs. In this analysis, we will take a look at what went right – and wrong – for both sides. Line-ups Leicester City lined up in a 4-4-1-1, with a necessary change in defence as James Justin had to miss out due to an ACL injury. So, Kasper Schmeichel had Daniel Amartey, Jonny Evans, Çağlar Söyüncü and Ricardo...
Penalty Kings Part II: The Bruno bounce
The art of penalty-taking is certainly not as easy as most people make it out to be. The fact that the xG assigned to a spot-kick is only 0.76 clearly indicates that the taker has a lot to do if they are to convert their big chance from 12 yards out. While most penalties are centred around mind-games between the shooter and goalkeeper where they both try to pre-empt the other’s move, two players have been changing this. They are Jorginho and Bruno Fernandes, who have extremely unconventional penalty-taking techniques, which involve a jump just before the ball is kicked. Jorginho was the inventor of this technique, and we analysed his penalties in the first part of this series, which you should read before getting stuck into this piece. Now, onto Bruno Fernandes’ penalty technique. The Brun...
Penalty Kings Part I: The Jorginho jump
Although facing a goalkeeper from 12 yards with no-one else in your way might not seem too daunting a task to most, Manchester City fans will lead you to believe that it is one of the more difficult aspects of the game. Recently, İlkay Gündoğan (who was – and still is – in the form of his life) joined an elite club of Cityzens who have a penalty success rate of less than 70% in the Premier League, including Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez. Welcome to the club bro https://t.co/h0qs8pp7fF — Raheem Sterling (@sterling7) February 7, 2021 On the other hand, the likes of Jorginho and Bruno Fernandes (who are dubbed ‘penalty merchants’ by the same fans that watch their team attempt to send spot-kicks into lower Earth orbit) have scored 44% of their combined c...
Court dismisses case against CBN’s directives on bank charges
The Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta, Ogun State Capital, has dismissed a suit instituted by a legal practitioner, Olumide Babalola, challenging the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy on Current Account maintenance Fee contained in the Guide to the Charges by Banks and other financial Institutions of January 2020. Babalola had instituted the action in the name of his law firm, Babalola LP, in which he contended that the policy and guidelines of the CBN violated his fundamental human rights. The CBN, through its Counsel, Adeleke Agbola, of Cheakley Chambers, however challenged the suit on the ground that the plaintiff lacked the legal capacity to institute the suit on a policy that affects the public. In his Notice of Preliminary Objection to the Suit, Agbola had contended that the ...
Research: Nigeria records nearly 30,000 tobacco smoking-related deaths
An Abuja-based Centre for the Study of Economies of Africa (CSEA) has reported that a research it conducted had revealed that 28,876 deaths related to tobacco smoking are recorded annually in Nigeria. Marco Castradori, a research associate with the CSEA, revealed this, on Monday, in Kano, at a report dissemination workshop on the health burden and economic cost of smoking in Nigeria. According to Mr Castradori, the number represents around 16 per cent of deaths from smoking-related diseases and above five per cent of all cases of deaths. “Among the disease analysed, nearly 737,366 events are expected each year, of which 127,859 representing 17 per cent are attributable to cigarette consumption. “In terms of costs, these conditions burden the Nigerian healthcare system with nearly N634 bill...
Tactical analysis: How Manchester City broke their Anfield curse with a fantastic victory over Liverpool
It was that time of year again – it was time for the big one. Two of English football’s most rampant and successful teams in the last few years, who had formed an elite century-nearing or even – in the case of Manchester City in 2017/18 – century-completing duopoly. This match was always a title-decider in the last few years, and it had the potential to be just that once again. With the chasing pack stuttering and stumbling (Manchester United drawing late on to Everton and Leicester’s blank against Wolverhampton Wanderers), City were almost running away with the league, as they went into this match two points clear with two games in hand. 13 (non-penalty shootout) wins in a row in all competitions represented their best-ever winning streak, while over 450 minutes without conceding a league...
Rumble in Edo as governor runs government without cabinet
Precisely 129 days into his second tenure as governor of Edo State after his election on September 20, 2020 and inauguration on November 12, 2020, Godwin Obaseki, has not formed his cabinet. This has generated some flaks from different quarters, including the opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC), constitutional lawyers, political analysts, public commentators, residents among others. While others feel that Obaseki has not committed any crime or breached any law, others believe that he is running a one-man administration and must go ahead to form his cabinet. They argued that going by Section 192 of the 1999 Constitution, the governor is obliged to form a cabinet, saying this is a circumvention, which the state House of Assembly should take action on. Obaseki had said that his ...