Daily Archives: December 29, 2024

Pace, swerve, angle – the art of the ‘olimpico’, football’s (usually) rare phenomenon

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“Oscar Wilde once famously wrote that ‘to concede one goal direct from a corner is a misfortune, to concede two in eight days looks like carelessness.’ The thoughts of Oscar, noted corner-kick scholar, may have been rushing through the heads of anyone associated with Manchester United recently after they allowed not one but two ‘olimpicos’ — which, if you’re not familiar with the term, means scoring directly from a corner — in just over a week, in two different competitions. The first came from Son Heung-min in that madcap Carabao Cup quarter-final against Tottenham, his corner sailing over second-choice keeper Altay Bayindir and into the net. The second saw Matheus Cunha flummox Andre Onana, with the help of some judiciously positioned Wolves defenders, in the Premier League on Boxing Day. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)

‘It’s always intense’: The eight teams leading the fight for Premier League promotion

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“… Burnley had just beaten promotion rivals Watford 2-1, a scoreline unreflective of the home side’s superiority. Both clubs were at the beginning of the Championship’s un-festive, five-games-in-15-days Christmas and New Year fixture special. The home fans witnessed a sixth win in eight games and had been given fresh evidence of a team that captain Josh Brownhill tells The Athletic is ‘gelling more and more… getting stronger and stronger’.All in claret and blue could look forward with confidence to the next game – Sheffield United away. …”
NY Times/The Athletic

Liverpool’s corners: ‘Sugar huddles’, more inswingers – and room for improvement

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“It has been hard to find fault with Liverpool’s performances this season. Six points clear at the top of the Premier League and making serene progress in the cups, this has been a dream start to the Arne Slot era. There is, however, one metric where the Dutchman may find room for improvement: corners. Liverpool are the top flight’s leading scorers this season with 40 but, according to Opta, only two have come from corners — a steep decline from the Jurgen Klopp era, when they would regularly lead that particular metric. Their set-piece struggles were underlined against Leicester on Boxing Day when Liverpool won eight corners in the first half but failed to create a chance from any of them. …”
NY Times/The Athletic

Premier League half-season review: Tactics and trends that have shaped 2024-25 so far

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“This week brings up the midway point of the 2024-25 Premier Leagueseason. It’s already been a memorable campaign, with Liverpool clear at the top, the two Manchester clubs in turmoil and the increasingly-familiar sight of the three promoted teams in the bottom three. But what have been the tactical and numerical trends that have captured our experts’ attention, and how do they see the second half of the campaign playing out? Ahmed Walid, Thom Harris and Anantaajith Raghuraman discuss their key takeaways. …”
NY Times/The Athletic