Football Tactics
Tactical Analysis: Bayern Munich’s continued dominance against Barcelona shows just how far the Catalans have fallen
Just under 13 months after that historic 8-2 demolition in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal, Barcelona and Bayern Munich were back at it – this time for the blockbuster Matchday 1 Group E clash of the 2021/22 campaign of the tournament. A few things changed after that, most notably for Barcelona who saw new manager Ronald Koeman taking charge, Lionel Messi leaving, and a few more notable departures taking place including those of Luis Suárez and Antoine Griezmann, both of whom went to Atlético Madrid. Bayern’s core squad, meanwhile, remained relatively unchanged, though, key defenders Jérôme Boateng and David Alaba departed while the likes of Dayot Upamecano and Marcel Sabitzer came in from RB Leipzig, along with new manager Julian Nagelsmann. Still, old wounds remained unlicked, and...
Performance Analysis: Cristiano Ronaldo’s Dream Manchester United Return against Newcastle United
Over 12 years after his last match for Manchester United – the 2009 UEFA Champions League final which saw Barcelona emerge with the coveted trophy – Cristiano Ronaldo was back in a red shirt at the club level. In that time away, he had gone and basically won everything he possibly could with Real Madrid and later Juventus alongside his Euro 2016 success for Portugal, establishing himself as one of the best football players in the world. Eventually, though, his gargantuan salary became too much to handle for Juventus, who were happy to move him on this summer. A bit of a transfer saga developed as Manchester City seemingly declined to sign him initially but after failing to land Harry Kane looked all set to bring him to the Etihad Stadium, however, a last-minute twist saw the Portuguese int...
Tactical Analysis: Hansi Flick’s managerial debut for the German National Team against Liechtenstein
After Louis van Gaal’s outing with the Dutch national team, Hansi Flick became the second man in two days to make a return to his national team in a coaching role after a gap of seven years. In his case, though, this was the first time that he was right at the helm, having been an assistant to Joachim Löw (the man who he was now replacing) previously. He only took on one managerial role thereafter as the majority of his time was spent as the sporting director of the DFB, but that was about as successful a stint as you will ever see as the former midfielder won it all with Bayern Munich as he completed an incredible sextuple in 2020. The German national team job was not much easier, although his first assignment wasn’t overly daunting as he took his squad to face Liechtenstein – a side that...
Tactical Analysis: Louis van Gaal’s solid return to management with the Dutch National Team against Norway
Just over seven years after the end of his last stint with the Dutch national team, Louis van Gaal was back again. This time, he was replacing Frank de Boer, who faced the sack after a disappointing Euros campaign that was riddled with tactical issues. His job was, of course, to fix those problems, and the first chance he got to show some of his work in practice came against Norway in Group G of the European Qualifiers for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. Heading into the match, the Netherlands were second in their group and just a point behind leaders Turkey, but with both their opponents on the night and Montenegro level on points with them, a win was imperative to keep their qualification campaign on track. The first thing we got to see was, obviously, his line-up, which saw a number of key fi...
Scout Report: How Lukaku can unlock Premier League title for Chelsea
This transfer window keeps getting crazier and crazier. Just days after Manchester City smashed the British transfer record to sign Jack Grealish, Chelsea have come very close to matching it as they have signed Romelu Lukaku for roughly £97.4 million. He has put pen to paper on a -year contract reportedly worth over £10m plus bonuses per year. Welcome home, @RomeluLukaku9. 💙#LukWhosBack pic.twitter.com/P43CAIVqfU — Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 12, 2021 The 28-year-old forward spent his childhood days in various clubs based in Antwerp, his birthplace, before moving to Anderlecht’s youth academy. He made his league debut at the age of just 16, after signing his first professional contract 13 days before his birthday. In two full seasons in the Belgian top-flight, Lukaku t...
Arsenal target is Allegri’s ideal midfield conductor at Juventus
In a rather forgettable season, Juventus had their nine-year reign as Serie A champions ended by rivals Inter Milan in 2020/21. An embarrassing loss to Porto saw the Old Lady bow out of the Champions League round of 16. The sacking of Andrea Pirlo seemed inevitable. Massimiliano Allegri has now returned to his former club, where he won five consecutive Serie A titles. He will be eager to bring Juve back to the top. In a bid to revamp the squad, the Italian giants are looking to bolster their midfield. Manuel Locatelli is reportedly the number one midfield target for Juventus. He has also been linked with Arsenal and Liverpool. Juventus vice president Pavel Nedved: “We’re in talks with Sassuolo to sign Locatelli. We’re convinced we made the right bid to reach an agreement, we’re really conf...
Bordeaux star is Arsenal’s perfect replacement for Martin Odegaard
With the return of Martin Odegaard to Real Madrid, Arsenal have a creative hole in Mikel Arteta’s preferred 4-2-3-1 system. The Gunners could try and re-sign the Norwegian, but a move seems unlikely at the moment. An attacking midfielder is the key to Arsenal’s ability to get the ball into dangerous areas and create chances. Although there are still question marks around Arteta’s tactical style, it needs someone who can dominate the space between the opposition’s midfield and defensive lines and weigh in with goals. Such a player would allow the dynamic wide runners like Nicolas Pepe, Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe to use their pace and exploit space behind opposition defences. SL View Arteta desperately needs to replace Odegaard, and Bordeaux’s Yacine Adli is the ideal man for the ...
Tactical Analysis: How England nearly caught Italy off guard in the Euro 2020 final
This was it. A month, 50 games, and 140 goals after the curtain-raiser in Rome between Turkey and Italy, this was the ultimate stage of the Euros – the final. Coincidentally, Italy represented one half of the story. while hosts England were the other. Just as he had done against Germany, Gareth Southgate went for a back-three system, although the difference here was that he was not mirroring his opposition, but instead working against a 4-3-3. That decision took less than two minutes to make a lasting impact on the match, as England scored the fastest-ever goal at a Euro final. After an intense battle, Italy found an equaliser in the second half to take the game beyond the normally allocated 90 minutes. There were no goals in extra time either, so penalties were needed to decide the winner...
Tactical Analysis: How Argentina’s disciplined defending helped them beat Brazil in the Copa América final
After 27 matches of enthralling South American football, we reached the final of the 2021 Copa América, where Brazil and Argentina were set to do battle. The Seleção were the defending champions, and with an unbeaten record to this stage involving just one draw, they certainly were the team to beat. Argentina, on the other hand, had the chance to become the joint-most successful side in the competition’s history with a 15th title, but it would be the first since 1993 as Lionel Messi had never won a major international trophy for his country. An intense battle ensued, with crunching challenges and utterly disgusting fouls flying everywhere, but in the end, Argentina triumphed thanks to the only goal of the match. The standard of football on show was not particularly high for the a...
Tactical Analysis: How Italy outclassed Belgium in the Euros
The 16th edition of the European Championships continued to deliver football and entertainment of the highest order as we entered the quarterfinal stage, and the biggest clash of the last-eight featured Belgium and Italy, who squared off in the Allianz Arena in Munich. Both sides had exited in the quarterfinals in Euro 2016, but one of their fates was set to change here. Belgium had a couple of key players including Eden Hazard out due to injury, while Italy were fit and firing as Roberto Mancini had a winning formula working brilliantly even before the group stage started. After a hard-fought 90 minutes, Italy emerged 2-1 winners thanks to a couple of very good finishes in the first half. In this analysis, we will take a look at how Roberto Mancini’s side were able to beat the Belgians, a...
Euro 2020 Matchday 2 Review: Italy, Belgium and The Netherlands progress, Scotland hold England, Germany blow Portugal away & much more
The second matchday of Euro 2020 once again featured 24 nations participating in 12 fixtures across the six groups, and there is lots to unpack from the week’s action. So, let’s get straight into it in this review: Group A Turkey and Wales faced off in Baku for the Group A opener, and it certainly was a tense affair as the two sides were fighting to have a realistic chance of reaching the knockouts. Turkey looked rather hopeless against Italy, and they weren’t particularly good in the first half here either as their defence was pulled apart effortlessly and there was space available almost everywhere in their half. Gareth Bale often dropped deep for Wales, and from such positions, he attempted a fair few chipped passes in behind the Turkish backline. Aaron Ramsey was most often the recipie...
Tactical Analysis: How Scotland’s in-match adjustments contained England in the Euros
For the 100th time in a competitive football match, less-than-friendly neighbours England and Scotland prepared to face each other. This was their first clash at the Euros since (look away Scottish readers) 1996, which was also at Wembley Stadium, where a certain man with bleached hair scored a rather good goal. This time around, England and Scotland’s match was their second group game, but the difference was that the hosts had won their opening clash while the visitors had lost theirs, as opposed to both drawing. So, this game bore greater importance for Steve Clarke’s side, who needed to win to keep their chances of progression to the knockouts in their own hands. A gripping tactical battle followed, which involved both managers making various changes during the match to give their side ...
