“The game of football can be divided, split, and broken down into many elements. But as a team, there are certain passages of play you will always encounter. In this video, we will explain the 10 categories of phases of play; In-possession, out of possession, transitions, and set-pieces. Explained by Eric Laurie. Illustrated by Philippe Fenner.”
YouTube
Weston McKennie and his teammates beat Mexico with goals and then taunted them in song.
“Michael Jackson’s 1988 song ‘Man in the Mirror’ — a classic tune, but no one’s idea of a rousing sports arena jam — was blaring over the stadium speakers late on Friday night as the U.S. men’s soccer team rollicked and embraced happily on the field. A bit less than half an hour earlier, Christian Pulisic had charged toward the sideline to celebrate the first of the Americans’ goals in their 2-0 victory against Mexico, lifting the front of his No. 10 jersey to reveal the same phrase, ‘Man in the Mirror,’ scrawled in permanent marker on his white undershirt. At that moment, even reasonably well-informed American soccer fans might have been left scratching their heads at the references, struggling to understand what, exactly, was afoot. …”
NY Times (Video)
“With eight wins from eight, 27 goals scored and zero conceded, Denmark qualified for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ in stunning, swashbuckling style. But when Politiken, one of the country’s daily newspapers, dubbed 2021 an ‘almost perfect year’, the reason for qualifying the description was obvious. The events of 12 June, and Christian Eriksen’s horrifying on-field cardiac arrest, are never far from Danish minds – or from conversations around their team. Rather than cast a shadow, however, the trauma of the Eriksen incident – and the response to it – has served to solidify bonds within Kasper Hjulmand’s team and unite the nation around them. …”
FIFA
W – Kasper Hjulmand
Italy remain top of Group C on goal difference despite being held in Rome
“Jorginho’s last-minute penalty miss ensured the race to finish first in 2022 World Cup qualifying Group C goes down to the wire as top two Switzerland and Italy played out a gripping draw. The Chelsea player blazed over after VAR was used to rule that Ulisses Garcia had shoved Domenico Berardi. Giovanni Di Lorenzo headed Italy level after Silvan Widmer’s superb opener. The Azzurri hold the edge going in to the last round of games with a goal difference two better than the Swiss. It means a straight shoot-out between the pair for top spot on Monday, with Italy at Northern Ireland and Switzerland at home against Bulgaria….”
BBC
“Luis Suárez arrived first. And in the ordinary run of things, for a city like Salto — a sleepy place tucked into a distant corner of a tiny country — that would have been its claim to fame: producing one of the finest strikers of a generation. Except that, precisely three weeks later, a second arrived. Edinson Cavani grew up only a few streets from Suárez. The curiosity that the two players who would, for more than a decade, help turn Uruguay’s national team into one of the most potent in the world were born in such quick succession, in such proximity, lends their origin story a faintly fantastical gleam. Lightning, after all, is not supposed to strike twice. …”
NY Times
“After Roy Hodgson’s retirement from the game, many thought Crystal Palace were doomed for relegation. However, with a couple of new signings and a more energetic, attack-minded style of play, Patrick Vieira has taken Palace to new heights. While they sit just tenth place in the table, Vieira’s Eagles have now gone unbeaten in their last six matches, including a massive 2-0 win to set title-contenders Manchester City back a peg. Even in matches they’ve lost the season, the signs of what’s to come from Palace in the future are promising. So with that, here is a tactical analysis of Patrick Vieira’s new-look Crystal Palace. …”
The Mastermindsite
How Patrick Vieira’s Impressive Tactical Revolution Is Taking Shape at Crystal Palace (Sep 23, 2021)
W – Patrick Vieira
“Luciano Spalletti is crafting a Napoli side with the characteristics of his recent predecessors. Possession-based and quick in attack, like the side of Sarri. Ruthless in defensive with a cohesive press, like the sides of Ancelotti and Gattuso. And as Alex Stewart explains, the first title since 1990 isn’t out of the question. Illustrated by Henry Cooke. …”
YouTube
“So begins Mexico’s most challenging – and most frigid – World Cup qualifying window. Following a promising start to the Octagonal with four wins and two draws, manager Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino and his squad will now embark on a demanding two-game away trip against the United States (Nov. 12) and Canada (Nov. 16). There’s much more than just World Cup qualifying points on the line here. After already losing to the USMNT twice this year in the Nations League and Gold Cup finals, Mexico will seek to avoid a potential third consecutive defeat since June. As for Canada, Mexico have had some issues with John Herdman’s team after narrowly defeating them 2-1 in the Gold Cup semifinals and being held to a 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw at the Estadio Azteca in October. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. …”
MLS Soccer (Video)
“Welcome, friend. Welcome to a brave new world. Forget about the metaverse — Football Manager is the only alternative reality people like us will ever need. For here, within the confines of our laptops, we can live our dreams, write our stories and be the people we always knew we could be. But, by thunder, there’s a lot going on, isn’t there? Stick with me and I’ll guide you through it. We’re going to strip it all down and work on the basics. So start a new game, select career mode and, for the sake of argument, pick Tottenham Hotspur and hit ‘Quick Start’. There will be a short pause as your computer rumbles through the set-up process. Use this time to remind yourself that nothing good comes easily. …”
FM22: The definitive beginner’s guide to Football Manager
Football Manager 2022 (Video)
Football Manager 2022: The 20 best non-European teams to manage in the new game
FM22: Managing Newcastle United on Football Manager (Part 1)
Football Manager 2022 wonderkids: The 20 best young players to sign in FM22
Football Manager 2022: The 20 best teams to manage in the new game
“After the Tottenham squad had spoken to their colleagues at Chelsea about what to expect from Antonio Conte as head coach, some felt a degree of trepidation. This is perhaps understandable. After all, they would have been told about the ferocious work ethic, the instructions during training that are so relentless he has to constantly suck throat lozenges and the volcanic temper that can erupt when things are not going his way. Most who have worked with Conte have a story or two to tell. … But they will also be working with a head coach who likes to foster a team spirit and camaraderie, and demands that his squad become a tight-knit group. This is what it’s like to play for Antonio Conte…”
The Athletic (Video)
W – Antonio Conte
“On a weekend when the other teams in the mix for the European places stumbled – draws for Monaco and Marseille, a defeat for Nice – Sunday night fixture looked like an appealing one, with Lyon traveling to Rennes. It was no shock that the match would feature so much attacking play but it was a surprise that nearly 90% of it came from Rennes. They ran out convincing 4-1 winners to move up to fifth in the table, just a point behind Nice and Marseille. The result was something approaching a shock given Lyon’s impressive recent form and the fact that Rennes were missing a handful of important players. …”
Guardian
Barcelona’s Copa del Rey-winning squad of 1928.
“The history of Futbol Club Barcelona begins from the football club‘s founding in 1899 up until the present day. FC Barcelona, also known simply as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The team was founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English, German and Spanish footballers led by Joan Gamper. The club played amateur football until 1910 in various regional competitions. In 1910, the club participated in their first of many European competitions, and has since amassed fourteen UEFA trophies and a sextuple. In 1928, Barcelona co-founded La Liga, the top-tier in Spanish football, along with a string of other clubs. As of 2020, Barcelona has never been relegated from La Liga, a record they share with Athletic Bilbao and arch-rival Real Madrid. The history of Barcelona has often been political. Though it was a club created and run by foreigners, Barcelona gradually became a club associated with Catalan values. In Spain’s transition to autocracy in 1925, Catalonia became increasingly hostile towards the central government in Madrid. The hostility enhanced Barcelona’s image as a focal point for Catalonism, and when Francisco Franco banned the use of the Catalan language, the stadium of Barcelona became one of the few places the people could express their dissatisfaction. The Spanish transition to democracy in 1978 has not dampened the club’s image of Catalan pride. In the 2000s – a period of sporting success in the club and an increased focus on Catalan players – club officials have openly called for Catalonia to become an independent state. …”
W – History of FC Barcelona
W – Joan Gamper
How society and politics gave us Catenaccio and Total Football
A Brief History Of FC Barcelona
Paulino Alcántara: Barcelona’s Filipino icon who blazed a trail for Messi
The importance of Catalonia – past and present – to Spanish football
In the pantheon of modern-day greats, where do Sergio Busquets’ unique talents rank?
YouTube: Barcelona, Johan Cruyff & Catalan Independence, La Masia: The History of Barcelona’s Academy
Barcelona face PSV in the 1977–78 UEFA Cup semi-finals. They also finished the season as Copa del Rey winners.
“As Pablo Fornals ran on to Jarrod Bowen’s through-ball midway through the second half, the London Stadium fell into one of those pregnant silences that were probably the greatest loss of the time without fans. Over the course of what can only have been two or three seconds but felt far longer, you could almost hear the thought processes. First, was he going to get his shot in? Yes. Then, was he set to measure his finish? He was. Then, was his shot going to beat Alisson? It did, just about, carrying on into the net despite a hefty touch by the keeper. Is the London Stadium still disliked by West Ham fans? Perhaps it is. …”
Guardian: Jonathan Wilson
Guardian: Kurt Zouma earns West Ham victory as Liverpool run ends with Alisson errors
West Ham United 3-2 Liverpool – Tactical Analysis – How Moyes’ Men Claimed Victory
“It’s possible to have too much of a good thing. And in Manchester United’s case, it’s possible to have too many good attackers. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is compelled to play as many of United’s big-name attackers as possible. But in doing so is sacrificing balance and defensive awareness. As Michael Cox writes playing Cristiano Ronaldo, with little defensive desire, is making United worse. Illustrated by Marco Bevilacqua.”
YouTube
“If Paris St-Germain are a Hollywood blockbuster, says David Bellion, then Red Star are an indie film directed by Ken Loach or Michel Gondry – one about the oldest and undoubtedly hippest football club in the French capital. Making links between football and the arts comes naturally to Bellion, the former Manchester United and Sunderland striker who is now creative director at Red Star, a cult French third division team who like PSG have a brand that resonates with fans around the world, but for different reasons. Founded in 1897, they sit at the heart of Saint-Ouen, a diverse, working class suburb of northern Paris, and were formed by Jules Rimet, the longest-serving Fifa president whose name gleams on the original World Cup trophy. …”
BBC
W – Red Star F.C.
Roma’s 2016/17 side played a classic Italian style that was Gasperini’s own introduction to senior football as a player in the seventies.
: “A Dutchman praising an Italy side beating his home nation is still a rare sight in football, but you heard the sound of that very pin drop after Louis Van Gaal’s praise this week. ‘For the first time,’ Van Gaal enthused at a Firenze press event, ‘I really loved watching an Italian team play.’ Roberto Mancini’s Italy walked away 1-0 winners against the Netherlands but, for those of us who’ve stuck with Serie A through its 21st century makeover, the manner of Mancini’s foot-ball—one featuring a team effort to win the back high and early—was nothing new. You could say current Serie A coaches Paulo Fonseca and—for a far longer spell of paying his dues over the last fifteen years—Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini have a hand in it. …”
Part I: The Seeds of the High Press
Part II: Moving From Year Zero to Club Legend
Part III: Building a Club Institution
A mid-season midfield partnership between Javier Pastore and Gianluca Mancini helped draw opponents into pressing Roma’s makeshift 4-3-3 phase while building up inside the Giallorossi half.
“Bayern Munich’s 5-1 battering of Leverkusen, RB Leipzig’s stuttering start to the season, and Dortmund’s unruly Erling Haaland reliance have all combined to make the 59th Bundesliga season one of the driest title races in recent memory. With the Bavarian giants set to retain their 10th consecutive Meisterschale, it is time to visit the Zweite Bundesliga for hopes of a title challenge. There, Germany’s second division is living up to its billing as The Greatest Zweite Bundesliga of All Time. The numerous fallen giants aren’t just providing a spectacle of unrivaled terrace culture, but the football on the pitch is as competitive as ever, with just 4 points separating 1st and 4th. …”
Breaking the Lines
Breaking the Lines: St Pauli – Culture, Politics, and Pirates
That split-second when everyone thinks the ends justify the means.
“Not once, in two decades, had David Beckham heard the moment. He had witnessed it at the time, of course. More than that, in fact: He had summoned it and created it and lived it. He had, presumably, watched the moment more than once in the intervening years, too. But it was not until a couple weeks ago that he sat down and listened to it. The moment he did was — obviously — captured for posterity, a social media post as meta as they come: a man recording his own reaction to a recording of himself. As Beckham listens, he has a look of fierce concentration on his face, mixed with just a little genuine concern, as if he really does not know how it all ends. The audio plays in the background, an echo of his past: the last couple minutes of the BBC radio commentary of England’s meeting with Greece on the road to the 2002 World Cup. …”
NY Times (Audio)
“If his words at the time are to be believed, Daniel Levy never planned for it to be this way. His stated intention, when ENIC took over Tottenham Hotspur in 2001, was to hold the fort as non-executive chairman and then find someone more experienced to do the job. Like so many others who find themselves in powerful positions in football, though, he loved the thrill of it. What’s more, he felt he was good at it. Whether it was rival chairmen, managers or agents, Levy relished every negotiation. Oh, how he relished a negotiation. Two decades on, he is arguably the most high-profile executive in the Premier League. Some would say famous. Others, both among Tottenham’s fanbase and among that strange community of Premier League owners and directors, would say infamous. …”
The Athletic (Audio)
The Athletic – Antonio Conte to Tottenham: Why talks broke down in the summer, why it’s happening now and what to expect (Audio)
“The Blizzard is a quarterly football magazine edited by Jonathan Wilson, published in both download and hard copy formats by Blizzard Media. The magazine was originally sold on a pay-what-you-like basis. The Blizzard took its name from an eclectic Victorian Sunderland-based newspaper set up by Sidney Duncan, which ran for 12 issues and was established in 1893. Wilson, who also comes from Sunderland, wanted to replicate the eclectic nature of this publication. The Editor’s Note, which began Issue Zero, set out the magazine’s ethos as an alternative to that which was currently available in football media. … The Blizzard accommodates longer articles than a typical football magazine, with pieces up to 8000 words long. Topics are often more obscure and esoteric than other magazines, aiming to either cover little-explored components of football culture, or to take new perspectives on previously well explored issues. …”
Wikipedia
The Blizzard
“According to Sports Business website Sportico, the MLS’s top three most valuable franchises as of 2021 are Los Angeles FC, Atlanta United and LA Galaxy, valued at $860m, $845m and $835m respectively. Yet Newcastle United were recently sold for $415m, and West Ham United are estimated to be worth $508m. So how can the MLS be more valuable than the Premier League? Seb Stafford-Bloor explains. Illustrated by Henry Cooke.”
YouTube: Why Are MLS Teams So Expensive?
MLS 2021: Who is the highest paid player in US soccer?
W – Expansion of Major League Soccer
“The 2021–22 FA Cup is the 141st edition of the oldest football tournament in the world, the Football Association Challenge Cup. It was sponsored by Emirates and known as the Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes. The winners will qualify for the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League group stage. Premier League side Leicester City are the defending champions, having beaten Chelsea in the previous year’s final. The FA Cup is a knockout competition with 124 teams taking part all trying to reach the Final at Wembley in May 2022. The competition consists of the 92 teams from the Football League system (20 teams from the Premier League and the 72 in total from the EFL Championship, EFL League One and EFL League Two) plus the 32 surviving teams out of 637 teams from the National League System (levels 5–10 of the English football league system) that started the competition in qualifying rounds. …”
W – 2021–22 FA Cup
billsportsmaps
W – FA Cup
BBC – FA Cup
Heleno de Freitas (Boca)
“El Gráfico is an Argentine online sports magazine, originally published by Editorial Atlántida as a print publication between 1919 and 2018. El Gráfico was released in May 1919 as a weekly newspaper, and then turned to a sports magazine exclusively. It began to be scheduled monthly from 2002, and was discontinued in 2018, continuing only on internet. El Gráfico is widely the most regarded sports magazine in Argentina and Latin America. The magazine was nicknamed La Biblia del deporte (‘The Bible of sports’) due to its chronicles, notable journalists and collaborators and its photographies. … The best selling era of El Gráfico was during the 1986 FIFA World Cup when Argentina crowned champion, with 690,998 sold. The second place in the ranking of all-time best seller magazine is for the 1978 FIFA World Cup with 595,924. Diego Maradona was the sports man with the most appearances on the cover: 134, followed by Daniel Passarella (58) and Norberto Alonso (54). …”
Wikipedia
Angels with Dirty Faces – Jonathan Wilson: 15 – Our Way
Diego Maradona: A genius and the soul of a nation – Jonathan Wilson
El Pibe del Barrio: Understanding the Latin American archetype and what it means for U.S. Soccer
“… 3) Off-key De Bruyne struggling for form: On 59 minutes there was the rare sight of Kevin De Bruyne being substituted, Manchester City’s talismanic midfielder having been clumsy of touch, short of a yard and generally misfiring. Pep Guardiola is a big fan but he is also ruthless and this was the correct decision. Of the 30-year-old, who has struggled with injuries, he said: ‘Kevin is such an important player for us and an excellent person. He is trying more every single day [to return to top form]. Today he made a step forward in many things. About playing or resting him – this is my decision because I know a lot of information about a player. In seasons there are highs and lows, big moments and the next one [game] is another challenge, another opportunity. Kevin knows it. He has done more than good since he arrived here and wants to continue to do it. The problem is when he gives up trying, says it doesn’t matter. That is not the case with him.’ …”
Guardian (Video)
“A run of two wins in nine games in all competitions had led to all sorts of head-scratching, not to mention a few worried mumblings about Brendan Rodgers and whether he might think fifth place, an FA Cup and a Community Shield was as much as he could realistically achieve at the King Power Stadium. Things have looked a little less scary in the Halloween season, though. That emphatic 4-2 win over Manchester United kick-started a run of four consecutive victories (well, three, plus a shoot-out win against Brighton and Hove Albion in the EFL Cup). OK, they conceded eight goals in those four games, but one thing at a time. Ironically, perhaps the biggest concern for Leicester right now is the major positive of their season: the form of Youri Tielemans. …”
The Analyst
W – Youri Tielemans
YouTube: Youri Tielemans’ wonder goal puts Leicester City in front of Brentford
“The tactician has started his stint brightly for the Bavarian club. Julian Nagelsmann arrived at Bayern Munich this summer with a reputation as someone who is not afraid to make changes to ensure success. The 34-year-old hasn’t tinkered as much as expected, however, and a star-studded squad have responded to his promptings with a dominant start to the season. If this is what Bayern are like now, just think about how good they will be when their players are fully used to every little aspect of Nagelsmann’s coaching manual. The former Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig supremo moved to Munich in the summer having proven his ability to bring the best out of players, and now he looks to have earned the respect of some of the biggest names in the game. …”
How Julian Nagelsmann made his mark at Bayern Munich (Video)
W – Julian Nagelsmann
YouTube: Julian Nagelsmann’s Bayern Munich Tactics Explained | Bayern Munich 2021/22 Tactical Analysis
“‘This won’t last forever,’ Pep Guardiola said during his final season as coach of Barcelona’s first team in 2012. ‘Sooner or later, we will stop winning. Then is when we will have to see if we have faith in the way we are and the way we play.’ Barcelona had grown used to winning at that point — during Guardiola’s four years as coach they lifted 14 of the 18 trophies available, including two Champions Leagues and three La Liga titles. Everyone around the club was also proud of achieving such success with a team based around homegrown youth products, while playing an attractive style of football they believed was rooted firmly in their club’s unique ‘Barca DNA’. Almost a decade later, it is fair to say that Barcelona have stopped winning. …”
The Athletic (Video)
When deeper, Conte’s teams prioritise compactness over pressure and work to block spaces centrally and force the opponent wide. When the ball is moved, all players move across in unison.
“No one can have missed that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer seems to be on the brink at Manchester United and clinging onto his job as the club’s manager. It’s being reported that the Norwegian needs positive results in the coming matches to remain in charge of United, highlighting United’s indecisiveness regarding their managerial situation. Surely, if the club officials were 100% behind Solskjaer, they would keep him regardless of the result at Tottenham on Saturday, or Manchester City next week? Equally, if they doubt him, why is he still in charge? …”
Running the Show (Video)
“For the first time since September 2017, the Premier League’s top three all played at 3pm UK time on a Saturday and it resulted in a gripping, action-packed afternoon full of mixed fortunes for the English top-flight’s title-chasers. The big winners were Chelsea, who earned a 3-0 victory at Newcastle to lead the division by three points. Liverpool sit second after throwing away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Brighton, while 10-man Manchester City suffered a shock 2-0 home loss to Crystal Palace. …”
BBC (Video)
August 24, 2019: “In life, it takes time to create successful ideas and concepts. Scientists and researchers spend years, even decades, analyzing and studying data to create trials or a study before publishing the results to the world. … I mention this because it may seem odd at first to take a 17-year period and be able to identify seven overarching and different tactical revolutions in soccer in Europe. However, Michael Cox has long established himself as a tactical observer par excellence and his new book argues that the dominant soccer cultures in Europe in the recent past have existed for merely 2-4 years. Zonal Marking: From Ajax to Zidane, the Making of Modern Soccer makes the claim that we have seen six dominant styles of soccer in Europe since 1992 with each based around a national soccer culture. …”
World Soccer Talk
Intelligent football: Michael Cox and the rise of tactical analysis (Oct 2020)
Zonal Marking
Vox in the Box: Michael Cox
amazon
YouTube: Football Tactics with Michael Cox (Zonal Marking)(Aug 13, 2019)
“Following the high octane clash between Man City and RB Leipzig in the Champions League that ended with 9 goals, Pep Guardiola called out the fans for their lack of attendance. And there were a lot of empty seats, but why? Written by Seb Stafford-Bloor, illustrated by Marco Bevilacqua. …”
YouTube
“A corner. A roar goes up from the crowd. It puzzled Jose Mourinho when he first came to England how fans reacted to their team winning a corner kick ‘with the same applause as a goal’. Yet corners are a valuable weapon in an attacking team’s armoury. But should they be inswinging or outswinging? In the past 10 Premier League seasons, 3.4 per cent of corners resulted in a goal. So far this season, we are slightly above average at 4 per cent. In fact, last weekend, six teams in separate matches scored goals from a corner. Arsenal, Southampton, Newcastle, Watford, Brentford and West Ham all profited while Chelsea also won a penalty from a corner, which they converted. …”
The Athletic
“Ronald Koeman knew even before he arrived in Barcelona that his journey as the club’s manager had ended. His team had just lost for the second time in four days, beaten by Real Madrid on Sunday and then by modest Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday. It was marooned in ninth place in La Liga. There could be, the club decided, no way back. The decision to fire Koeman was made while he and his players were still in transit. Barcelona’s president, Joan Laporta, had spent the flight back from Madrid consulting with several executives, according to Sport, the Catalan newspaper, and then informed Koeman that he had decided to end his 14-month tenure. A statement from Barcelona made the decision official a little after midnight. …”
NY Times
“Over the past six years, Budapest-based clubs have won the Hungarian league title, with the country’s biggest name, Ferencváros, crowned champions in the past three seasons. After a period in which the likes of Videoton and Debrecen sat at the top, the capital city has regained its power in the Hungarian game. This season, there is a new challenger in the form of Kisvárda, a provincial club from a small town in the Northern Great Plain region of the country that sits on the Budapest to Ukraine railway line. Kisvárda has a population of 16,500 and was once a strong Jewish town until the second world war. Tragically, many were sent to Auschwitz and as a result, there are very few Jews in Kisvárda today. Kisvárda, which was originally founded in 1911 and now carries the full name Kisvárda Master Good FC, are top of the Hungarian OTP Bank Liga after 10 games, a point ahead of Ferencváros and Puskás Akadémia. …”
Game of the People
W – Kisvárda FC
Joachim Löw
“Group B of UEFA Euro 2012 began on 9 June 2012 and ended on 17 June 2012. The pool was made up of the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Portugal. Germany and Portugal progressed to the quarter-finals, while Denmark and the Netherlands were eliminated from the tournament. Group B was dubbed by many the ‘group of death’ of Euro 2012. All four teams were in the top 10 of the FIFA World Rankings at the start of the tournament. … Ultimately, Germany defeated Denmark 2–1 after Lukas Podolski and Lars Bender scored for Germany in the 19th and 80th minutes, respectively, despite an equalizer from Michael Krohn-Dehli in the 24th minute. …”
Wikipedia
W – Joachim Löw
W – 2014 FIFA World Cup Final
Guardian: German model bangs the drum for club, country and the people’s game (Dec. 2012)
Germany and Argentina face off in the final of the World Cup 2014
“Over the previous international break, we all laughed as Louis van Gaal shot back at a journalist deriding the Netherlands manager for supposedly defensive football. ‘You have a vision for newspapers and that’s fantastic,’ he said. Once the Dutch coasted past Turkey 6-1 the next day, that unspoken next sentence became obvious. It was Van Gaal himself, the man in control of his selection and team tactics, who was the one in the room with the best vision for a football team. Fiery encounters with Dutch journalists are far from confined to the international scene. …”
Football Paradise
W – Big Three (Netherlands)
“Football, in the contemporary sense of the term, can be traced back no further than the mid-19th century, after it became, in 1863 to be precise, a game of clear structure. Though a primitive counterpart of the modern game, many of the stipulations outlined by the then-newborn Football Association remain in some form to this day – kickoffs following a goal, forbidden use of the hands and an early offside rule – any attacking player ahead of the ball was deemed offside, though this was quickly revised to closer resemble the rule today. Hence, there can be little argument to oppose the suggestion that football began in England, at least as an organised sport. …”
These Football Times
“The map page is pretty self-explanatory, it being my usual basic location-map. The map-page also includes 2 charts – one chart which shows each current club’s Seasons-in-1st-division; the other chart shows the full German football titles list (including the pre-Bundesliga/amateur years from 1903 to 1963). There is one small addition I have made: on the map I have shown the promoted and relegated teams, via small color-coded boxes…green-edged boxes for the two promoted sides (Bochum and Fürth), and red-edged-boxes for the two relegated sides (Schalke and Bremen). Also shown, not on the map-page but further below, are captioned photos of the promoted clubs’ venues [Bochum and Fürth]. …”
billsportsmaps
W – 2021–22 Bundesliga
“Manchester United were booed off the pitch at Old Trafford after suffering a 5-0 humiliation at the hands of their fierce rivals Liverpool. The pressure mounts on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, whose side were outclassed in every area of the pitch during Sunday’s match. Mohamed Salah was the star for Jurgen Klopp’s team, scoring a 12-minute hat-trick (either side of the break). Liverpool remain unbeaten in 13 matches this season across all competitions, and are one point behind Premier League leaders Chelsea. Here, Oliver Kay and Dominic Fifield analyse the key talking points from Old Trafford… ”
The Athletic
Guardian: Salah’s crowning glory for Egypt in sight after feats for club and continent
NY Times: Goals Rain on Manchester United, Covering the Boss With Blame
Guardian: Manchester United rout had been coming: nobody has a clue what they are doing (Jonathan Wilson)
SI – Manchester United 0-5 Liverpool: Mohamed Salah Reaction To Sensational Performance On Instagram (Video)
BBC: Manchester United 0 – 5 Liverpool
The Athletic: Liverpool humiliation should be the death knell for Solskjaer’s reign
The Athletic: Rest, right-side connection, mentality: Lijnders on how Salah has become ‘unstoppable’ for Liverpool (Video)(Oct. 2021)
“When an attacking side have a wide free kick, around 40 yards from goal, there is a very established way to defend that situation. The defending team positions themselves in a line, holding an offside trap to keep the opposition away from goal, and then run back and attempt to head the ball clear. Here’s Liverpool doing that away at Atletico Madrid in midweek. This is how almost all big clubs defend this type of situation. Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Inter, Paris Saint-Germain all do pretty much the same thing. Chelsea and Manchester City are more aggressive with their positioning, defending higher up, but it’s the same idea. But now, there are outliers — and they’re almost all in Serie A. …”
The Athletic – Michael Cox
“Even by the most charitable estimate, Camp Nou is barely more than a third full by the time the teams stroll on to the field. The Champions League anthem blares, drowning out the thin applause that had greeted the players. Fans pockmark row upon row of sun-bleached seats, stretching into the sky, lost in the vast stadium. On the far side, Barcelona’s motto, its statement of self — més que un club — is spelled out in the seats. As the players fan out, taking their positions, the lettering is still readable. To the left, in the arena’s second tier, where there was once a club sponsor’s logo, a yellow patch has spread. …”
NY Times
“Brentford have already shown the Premier League that they will be tough opponents. The fact that they run their club differently to most others has been widely reported. But what do they do differently? How have they adapted the ‘Moneyball’ theory? What other staff departments have they introduced? Written by Alex Stewart, illustrated by Alice Devine. …”
YouTube: How Brentford’s Moneyball Approach Works, The Rise Of Brentford, Barnsley & Moneyball In The Championship! | Explained (May 2021)
W – Brentford F.C.
“Since replacing Thomas Tuchel in early January, Mauricio Pochettino has been able to stamp his mark on Paris Saint-Germain. This is something that shouldn’t be taken for granted. The former Spurs boss hasn’t changed the team radically and it was hard to see a replica of his Tottenham too, as he barely had time to coach the team into his playing style, as PSG played a game every four days since his appointment. The team is made by the players and Pochettino has the exact same ones that Tuchel had, as PSG haven’t signed a single player during the winter transfer window. It’s no surprise then that Pochettino relied heavily on the legacy of Tuchel’s work at the club, only changing small details. Marginal details maybe, but still important enough to shape PSG playing style in a different way, making the new manager’s touch visible on the pitch. …”
Hudl (March 2021)
Five ways PSG could line up with Lionel Messi
YouTube: Pochettino PSG 4-2-3-1 MASTERPIECE | Mauricio Pochettino PSG Tactical Analysis
After 32 years of establishment lies, media smears, inquests, trials and retrials, the families of the Hillsborough dead have yet to see anyone held accountable, October 21, 2021: “On a grey morning in May this year, the English legal system’s epic failure to secure justice for the families devastated by the Hillsborough disaster finally ground to its dismal conclusion. Ninety-seven people were killed due to a terrible crush on an overcrowded terrace at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough football stadium on 15 April 1989. Since then, the families have endured a 32-year fight for the truth to be accepted – that the main cause of the disaster was police negligence, and for those responsible to be held accountable. …
Guardian
“Amid the rolling countryside of rural Cheshire, the village of Mottram St Andrew belongs to a footballers’ enclave known locally as the ‘Golden Triangle’. Prestbury, the neighbouring village, was once calculated to have the highest number of millionaires per head in the country. Wilmslow, a couple of miles in the other direction, is another place for the people who could be described as the haves and the have-yachts. Nowhere, though, is showier than Alderley Edge, where car enthusiasts gather every weekend to take pictures of the souped-up Ferraris and Lamborghinis that roar up and down the high street. … Then, on the night of October 21, 2011, the peace was shattered. …”
The Athletic (Video)
W – Mario Balotelli
YouTube: Manchester United 1-6 Man City – Highlights & Goals – Mario Balotelli: Why Always Me?
“Football is a simple game. Besides perhaps the offside rule, which may be complicated to an outsider who doesn’t watch the game, the rules are pretty self-explanatory. You learn these from the first moment you kick a football around your garden or schoolyard, and they transition into second nature fairly quickly. Often, however, you may hear anecdotes of ancient football that seem unthinkable now, potentially via Alan Smith tediously explaining to you via commentary on a video game that we used to have square goal-posts, where a lot more bounced out than went in. …”
These Football Times
W – Back-pass rule
ESPN: Football was (re)invented in 1992: the early chaos of the backpass law (Video) Aug. 2017
“Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in the mood to play the hits. Manchester United’s most ardent fans, he said, were ‘the best in the world.’ The players who had the privilege to wear the team’s colors were the ‘luckiest’ on the planet. And, of course, there was the inevitable nod to history, to the club’s ‘habit’ of clawing victory from the maw of defeat. Solskjaer was glowing, and with good reason. United had just given Atalanta a two-goal head start in the Champions League and recovered to win regardless. Cristiano Ronaldo had delivered, yet again. United had been at the bottom of its group at halftime, flirting with elimination, but now it sat comfortably at the top. The fans sang Solskjaer’s name as he gave his postmatch television interviews. …”
NY Times
“A corner kick is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defending team. The kick is taken from the corner of the field of play nearest to the place where the ball crossed the goal line. Corners are considered to be a reasonable goal scoring opportunity for the attacking side, though not as much as a penalty kick or a direct free kick near the edge of the penalty area. It is legal to directly score from the corner kick. When a goal is scored in this fashion it can be called an Olympico goal, and less commonly the English equivalent Olympic goal. …”
Wikipedia
YouTube: Corners really aren’t that effective. Here’s how they could be better.
Alessandro Del Piero taking a corner kick for Sydney FC.
“Soccer is the global sport. It is so universal that it often intersects with global events. One can read 20th-century world history through international soccer. A major theme of the century—European colonialism—is written all over the sport. In 1974, as the last African countries were winning their independence, colonial dynamics erupted on the biggest soccer stage of all. The 1974 World Cup in West Germany was the first time a Black team made it to the tournament, won eventually by West Germany. (They beat the Netherlands in the final.) In fact, it was two Black teams: Zaire, the first sub-Saharan African team to qualify, and Haiti. In the collective consciousness of football history, both teams are remembered for their dismal performance. But is this legacy justified? …”
Africa Is a Country
“Existential angst over competitiveness shouldn’t overshadow the fact we are looking at possibly the best team in Europe. We’ve seen it before, but it’s still difficult to know exactly how it should be characterised. It was brilliant, beautiful, ugly, deflating, awe-inspiring and a huge letdown all at the same time. Bayern Munich’s hegemony shows no sign of letting up and neither does it show any potential for being less of a source of conflicting feelings and views. …”
Guardian (Video)
“In one sense, Manchester United’s 4-2 defeat by Leicester could be considered something of a freak result. The scoreline was 1-1 for the majority of the game, both sides significantly overperformed their xG, and four of the game’s six goals came in the frenetic final 12 minutes — three of them scored by Leicester. It was one of those brilliant periods where strategy and tactics go out of the window, giving way to chaos and luck. … The poster boy for their current malaise, of course, is Cristiano Ronaldo. …”
The Athletic
Atlas Van der Hage
“The European Championships this summer were a lesson in team play, for both the robust attacking outfits and the overly conservative. Disregarding his country’s catenaccio history, Roberto Mancini looked to dominate play even against the brilliant Spanish, the summer’s premier ball-hoggers, and Italy were crowned eventual tournament winners on the back of brilliant team goals. Roberto Martinez’s Belgium set up with three defenders and focused heavily on attacking play, as did a somewhat lackluster Germany. On the flipside, France were unable to repeat their 2018 triumph with Didier Deschamps sticking to a pragmatic tactical setup. Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions similarly played deep and found few moments of true attacking promise, but their cohesiveness worked wonders. And then there was Portugal. They, like France and England, typically played deep, negative football, but their only respite came from one man, not their teamwork or cohesion. …”
Football Paradise
“Ryan Reynolds and Wrexham. Two names that would have never been associated with each other. But thanks to an inherent entrepreneurial instinct, an Always Sunny In Philadelphia actor, and the Netflix documentary, Sunderland ‘til I die, Ryan Reynolds is now the co-owner of the National League outfit. How did this happen? Matt Slater writes, Craig Silcock illustrates. …”
YouTube: When Hollywood came for Wrexham FC
ESPN: Wrexham AFC have Hollywood owners, Premier League hopes and TikTok sponsors. But first, Tamworth
“As the Premier League returns, there is a player at every club (well, apart from Crystal Palace apparently) that you feel should be getting more minutes on the pitch. He might have battled back from injury, struggled to make an impact since joining last summer, or be a teenager who is still developing but he might just be the difference — if only your manager takes a chance on him. The Athletic’s data analyst Tom Worville has produced squad profiles for each club to show the number and percentage of minutes played when set against the age of the player in question. You can expect to see most of the footballers our writers have chosen in the bottom left-hand corner — i.e. they’re young and have not had many minutes so far this season — but there are exceptions. Let us know whether you agree with the selection for your club in the comments section below… ”
The Athletic
“Football is nothing without its mavericks. Unfathomable men and women whose exploits on and off the pitch keep opponents and teammates alike guessing. Players whose downright unpredictability forces fans to fall in love with them. In 2015, coming off the back of an impressive 21-goal haul for Marcelo Bielsa’s Marseille, André-Pierre Gignac rejected El Loco’s offer to prolong his time on the French Riviera and did something thoroughly unexpected, moving 6,000 miles west to Monterrey, Mexico. Narrative is a powerful thing. … Turning down such offers ensured that Gignac had carved his name into the heart of every Tigers fan before he even kicked a ball. …”
These Football Times
W – André-Pierre Gignac
YouTube: Gignac Scoring the most Outrageous Goals in Mexico !!
Celtic’s David Turnbull is congratulated after scoring on his return to Motherwell.
“A last-gasp goal from Craig Halkett gave Hearts a 1-1 draw with leaders Rangers at Ibrox. John Lundstram’s wonderful first-half strike from 30 yards had given the home side a deserved interval lead but they could not add to it as the game went on. And after Jambos boss Robbie Neilson was sent off by referee Don Robertson with three minutes remaining, a mistake by home keeper Allan McGregor from a corner allowed Halkett to nod in at the back post to keep the visitors unbeaten in the league and still a point behind the champions. …”
Guardian
“Since taking over from Gennarro Gattuso in May 2021, Luciano Spalletti has turned Napoli into one of Serie A’s most formidable units. While a fifth place finish in the 2020-21 season was a fine result for Gli Azzurri, it wasn’t what they had hoped for, nor what they could have achieved. In came Spalletti and POOF(!) the team are now on an unbeaten run at the start of the 2021-22 season, winning seven from seven. After Inter Milan broke Juventus’ long-standing record last season, the Napoli faithful will now be hoping Serie A might be theirs for the taking this year. Here is a tactical analysis of Luciano Spalletti’s new-look Napoli. …”
The Mastermindsite
Forbes: Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli Top Early Serie A Table, But Can They Challenge For The Scudetto? (Video)
Napoli appoint Luciano Spalletti as new head coach
W – Luciano Spalletti
The Moments that Cost Roma the 2010 Scudetto (Video) (April 2020), Where Did It All Go Wrong for Luciano Spalletti? Part II: 2008-2017 (Video)
“Raphinha turned in another eye-catching performance for Brazil on Thursday by scoring twice in the home side’s 4-1 victory over Uruguay in a World Cup qualifier. Brazil took the lead after 10 minutes when Neymar chested down a pass from Fred and rounded the keeper before firing low between two defenders on the goal-line. …”
ESPN
ESPN: Loss to Neymar’s Brazil leaves Luis Suarez’s Uruguay with fight to reach World Cup (Tim Vickery)
YouTube: Brazil vs Uruguay 4-1, Argentina vs Peru 1-0, Chile 3 Venezuela 0 (Resumen Completo)
Referee Horacio Elizondo of Argentina shows the red card to Zinedine Zidane 2006 World Cup … Berlin, Germany, July 09, 2006.
“… Yet that law was only instigated in 1992. Those that watched football throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s still find themselves wondering why the defence doesn’t kick the ball back to the goalkeeper to waste some time. Of all the rules that have been introduced to football over the years, perhaps none have been as influential as the decision to issue players with yellow and red cards for infractions of the rules of the game. The backpass rule that we’ve just mentioned is widely considered to be one of the game’s most successful changes, but it has never had the ability to influence a match in the same way that a sending off has, for example. …”
Yellow And Red Cards In Football
Who has more red cards in their career: Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?
W – Fouls and misconduct
YouTube: Who invented the red card?
“If the UEFA Nations League final between France and Spain was a trailer for the next era of international soccer, then I can’t wait for the feature film. Here were two teams that, when playing at their peak, could make a good claim to be the best on the planet. We had Spain, whose intricate patterns of passing bewildered Italy during this summer’s European championships, and who were the only team to make Roberto Mancini’s champions look consistently vulnerable. … To be reductive, this final was poetry against pragmatism: and France duly and sometimes dully prevailed 2-1. Still, some might say, it was only the Nations League, right? A tournament formed as no more than a series of glorified friendly fixtures. Who truly cares? …”
The Ringer
Scissors Kick 