“In this Sensible Transfers series, In this series, we will analyse teams, identify problem areas, and suggest solutions in the form of incoming players. With Antonio Conte Tottenham Hotspur have already shown signs of improvement. But with Conte comes an expectation to sign players that fit his way of playing. Spurs have players in certain positions of genuine top class ability (for example, in attack), but have inefficiencies in defence and centre midfield. So who would Tifo sign? Seb Stafford-Bloor suggests solutions. Illustrated by Craig Silcock.”
YouTube

“The hardest thing in life to live up to is expectations. In football, expectations on clubs, managers and players have never been higher. As fans, on top of expecting players to give their all-in games, we want them to be the epitome of perfection in their position. We expect strikers to be as equally proficient outside the box as they are inside of it. We expect midfielders to thread Xavi like through balls, cover the midfield like N’Golo Kante, and score goals like Frank Lampard. Now, these wild expectations have turned to centre backs. Beforehand, there was no requirement on centre backs to be fast; or even bring the ball out of defence. Reading the game well, putting in strong challenges, and winning aerial duels was enough. However, that has all changed. …”
Breaking The Lines

“… The Counter Kingdom. A week’s march leads your squad across a frozen tundra dotted with igloos. You show the locals your leopard ball and they kick it around clumsily on the ice. No one appears to know how to put it in the mixer, if they even understand what you’re asking about — it’s hard to tell. They speak in inscrutable tongues: Italian, Spanish, Broad Norfolk, Black Country. Frankly, these people seem less interested in playing with the ball than in keeping you from kicking it, which is a little weird, but as long as you don’t get too close they’re a pretty peaceful bunch. Farther up the snowy coast you meet a druid. …”
The Athletic
****The Athletic: Who never fouls? Who presses? Who hoofs it? What our data experiment says about your team
****The Athletic’s football analytics glossary: explaining xG, PPDA, field tilt and how to use them (July 2021)

“Tottenham announced their financial results recently and whilst the headline figures may have seemed depressing, can new manager Antonio Conte spend to improve the club’s chances of winning a trophy? Kieran Maguire explains why. Illustrated by Philippe Fenner.”
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ESPN – Tottenham’s Antonio Conte calls for January signings: We need to improve squad (Video)

“With the constant evolvement of football tactics and with the defensive systems becoming more and more structured and organised, any football fan needs to understand the basics of defending in football. Defending is applying pressure, both as a player and as a whole team, on the opponent to prevent him from progressing forward to your own goal. A team can mark and press every player, but then there will be no room for error because when the marker gets passed, the team is immediately outnumbered. Then you can defend zonally, but you can’t let the opposition have all the time they want on the ball too. So there are a lot of defensive strategies applied by any team and for any particular match, according to the current circumstances. Football teams in the modern era defend as a unit, and every player is getting a particular defensive task in every game. …”
Total Football Analysis (April 2020)

“Wolves are consistent again this season under new manager Bruno Lage who arrived in the summer from Benfica, replacing his fellow countryman Nuno Espirito Santo who moved on to Tottenham Hotspur. Similar to Espirito Santo, Lage aims to play a hyper-compact system with three central defenders providing a strong foundation and wingbacks who provide width just behind or level with three forwards who lead the line. Examining Wolves’ season up to this point will tell you one thing concretely, they haven’t really skipped a beat since switching managers. At the time of writing, the club sit 8th in the Premier League with 24 points after 17 games played. Almost halfway through the season, Wolves look solid, consistent and difficult to break down, despite having not scored a ton of goals. …”
Breaking The Lines
The Athletic (Aug. 2021)
W – Bruno Lage

“Ah, the life of a goalkeeper. Sometimes you’re the hero, you have to do a lot of shouting and one mistake makes you a high-profile villain. It’s a strange life. In better news, you get to wear gloves in cold weather without any old boy pundits asking whether you’re ‘soft’. On top of all of this, you have to be able to play out from the back these days, start moves, pick out passes under pressure and often play very high and act as a sweeper. You need a full skill set. But it wasn’t always quite the same. A video emerged last week of keepers from the 1970s and 80s hoofing it. You might have seen it. If not, here it is. …”
The Athletic

“Counter Attack is a football (soccer) strategy game which lasts for 90 minutes. The two players (‘managers’) each control a team of 11 players. Every player has a unique set of skills that the managers try to best utilize during play. Managers control how the players move, pass, dribble, tackle and shoot. Duels between players on the pitch – whether tackles, shots or headers – are determined by a combination of the unique player skills plus a dice roll. During movement phases, a sand timer is used to keep the pace of the game up. Counter Attack features everything you’d expect in a game of football, from corners to free kicks, penalties to red cards and injuries. …”
Revolution Beats (Video)
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