tactical analysis
Tactical Analysis: How Real Madrid overcame Barcelona in El Clásico
Real Madrid and Barcelona may be two falling giants of European football, but their reputation remains high despite their struggles. Therefore, their clash – El Clásico – is still one of football’s biggest attractions, even if not the best from a quality perspective. The latest Clásico on Saturday had something much bigger at stake than pride – the La Liga title. Atlético Madrid looked intent on breaking Madrid and Barça’s duopoly on the Spanish top-flight, getting 50 points in the first half of their season and going clear at the top of the table, but they have slumped incredibly since. Their drop has allowed Madrid and Barcelona back into the title race, with Los Blancos just two points behind their Catalonian rivals going into this match. The hosts came away with a m...
Tactical Analysis: How Manchester City narrowly avoided a huge upset against Cheltenham Town
The FA Cup produced yet another cracker as Premier League title contenders Manchester City visited the Jonny-Rocks Stadium (sadly without John Stones) to face League Two side Cheltenham Town. Pep Guardiola’s side were expected to coast home and advance with ease, but the side with the meanest defence in the fourth-tier last season proved to be a tough nut to crack. Cheltenham battled hard in the first half and went into the break level, before opening the scoring through Alfie May in the second half. City did survive the scare in the end, though, as late goals from Phil Foden, Gabriel Jesus and Ferran Torres saw them come away with a 1-3 win. But, the Robins pushed the Mancunian giants further than even some Premier League teams, so here is an analysis of their spirited performance, C...
Tactical Analysis: How Carles Cuadrat’s Mistakes Played Into Mumbai City’s Hands
The match between Bengaluru FC and Mumbai City was being built up as quite a big one, where the Blues were looking to bounce back from a disappointing run of two straight defeats, while the Islanders wanted to keep their winning streak going. The game itself, however, wasn’t a great battle in any way, as Mumbai dominated it and came away with a convincing 3-1 victory. In this analysis, we’ll take a look at why the match was such a walkover for the Islanders: Bengaluru’s Confusing Defence Bengaluru FC fielded a 4-2-3-1 on paper, but the defended in a 4-5-1 (or at least they tried to). The attacking midfielder and wingers collapsed into the midfield line out of possession, as you will see below: Carles Cuadrat said that a high press would almost always get punished against Mumbai City, so he...
Tactical Analysis: How Manchester City Breezed Past Chelsea
The Premier League match between Chelsea and Manchester City was being built up as quite a big one. Prior to the match, the Blues only had one win in their last five Premier League games but were nearly back to full squad strength as Hakim Ziyech made a much-awaited return from injury. City, on the other hand, were unbeaten in their last six Premier League matches, but with the likes of Ederson, Kyle Walker, Gabriel Jesus, Ferran Torres, Aymeric Laporte and some others missing due to COVID or injury, their squad was looking fairly depleted, so much so that Pep Guardiola named only eight substitutes including three EDS (Elite Development Squad) players. The match, however, proved to be a simple stroll in the park for City. They breezed past Chelsea with unmatched effortlessness and a perfor...
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