Category Archives: Manchester City

How to move off the ball like a world class winger

“In the modern era, wingers can be as vital to scoring goals and creating chances as any other position on the pitch. Elite superstars like Mohamed Salah and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia have illustrated this to a tee this year, for both their goal scoring prowess and chance creation supremacy. But most young players aspiring to be the world’s best struggle to see the finer details of exactly how the likes of Salah and Kvara find themselves in those scoring positions. With that, we break down how to move off the ball like a world class winger, with real examples from the likes mentioned above, in addition to Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Alex Morgan. …”
The Mastermindsite (Video)

Champions League Quarterfinal Draw Brings Intrigue to Wide-Open Field

“This has been an unusual season, with the break for the World Cup adding to a rare sense of unpredictability. This looks to be the most open Champions League in years, with the only side clearly in form, Napoli, never having previously gotten this far in the competition. It’s almost certainly too early to say the presence of three Italian sides in the quarterfinals represents the return of Serie A as a major power, 13 years since the last Italian winner, but that only one Spanish side got through the group is indicative of the financial difficulties La Liga sides are enduring. Wider trends are one thing, the specific ties another. After Friday’s draw, we assess the four quarterfinal ties. …”
SI – Jonathan Wilson

Taking on the powerhouses: Grimsby’s golden age in the FA Cup

The 1939 FA Cup semi-final between Grimsby Town and Wolves carries on after the crowd had been on the pitch at Old Trafford.
“It’s hard to know what, in the year 2023, looks more far-fetched. That when Grimsby play Brighton on Sunday they will be attempting to reach the club’s third FA Cup semi-final, not the first; or that the previous runs to the last four, which included wins over Manchester City and Chelsea, had nothing to do with David or Goliath. Grimsby’s semi-final appearances in 1936 and 1939 were highlights of the greatest period in the club’s history. …”
Guardian

Liverpool, Napoli and the Problem With Systems

Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool has lost its edge.
“There is no such thing as a 4-3-3. The same goes for all those pithy threads of numbers that are hard-wired into soccer’s vernacular, the communal, universal drop-down list of legitimate patterns in which a team might be arrayed: 3-5-2 and 4-2-3-1 and even the fabled, fading 4-4-2. They are familiar, reflexive. But none of them exist. Not really. …”
NY Times

The Premier League runout songs – from Star Wars to the Stone Roses

“One of the most memorable and/or toe-curling scenes from the documentary series Sunderland ’Til I Die came when budding Ministry Of Sound DJ/new club director Charlie Methven discussed mixing things up music-wise. To replace Dance Of The Knights, the foreboding Prokofiev piece which had been a staple at the Stadium of Light since it was built in the 1990s, Methven got out the figurative glow sticks and suggested they play Tiesto’s 2005 club smash Adagio For Strings. All while affecting a ‘Yeah, sure, I used to spin a little in my time… before I went to work for JP Morgan’ vibe, which didn’t quite mesh with the locals. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Ain’t Got No History? The Most Successful English Clubs

“A football club’s history is wielded as both a source of validation and a sad lament for the passing of better times. Arsenal fans concerned that their club haven’t been league champions for 17 years should think about how Sheffield United supporters feel about the 123 years that have passed since their club finished top of the pile in England. Can we definitively prove Preston supporters think about the year 1888 more than anyone else? No, but it’s true. …”
The Analyst

Pep Guardiola ‘delighted’ with Manchester City’s draw at RB Leipzig

“Pep Guardiola launched a characteristically counterintuitive defence of his approach after half-time in Manchester City’s draw against RB Leipzig. City were held to a disappointing 1-1 score in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, but despite being dominated for long periods of the second half Guardiola refused to make a single substitution, and afterwards explained that he was wary of Leipzig’s danger on the counterattack. …”
Guardian (Video)

Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

“1) Potter faces uphill task to convince fans. Stamford Bridge was not a happy place after Chelsea’s insipid defeat by Southampton. There was no holding back. Loud boos greeted the final whistle and the mood near the dugout was ugly. A fair few fans were bellowing abuse at Graham Potter and the worry for Chelsea’s head coach, who has been in the job only since September, will be that he has already lost the crowd. Chelsea supporters loved Thomas Tuchel and many do not see Potter as an upgrade on the German. …”
Guardian

European Super League: This week was a glimpse of what that world could look like

“Liverpool vs Everton, Paris Saint-Germain vs Bayern Munich, AC Milan vs Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal vs Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund vs Chelsea, Barcelona vs Manchester United. From Monday to Thursday, this week’s football fixtures have offered night after night of glamorous, high-profile match-ups between some of European football’s elite clubs. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Premier League: Who is your club’s ultimate cult hero?

“It was Valentine’s Day on Tuesday, so what better time to uncover the unsung heroes that only supporters of your club actually care about. Here’s who our fan community chose. …”
BBC

The best goalkeeping performances in Champions League history – ranked

“There’s been plenty of brilliant individual performances in the UEFA Champions League down the years. Lionel Messi vs. Man Utd, Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Juventus, Ronaldo (R9) vs. Manchester United are some of the standouts from the outfield players, but what about goalkeepers? Well, here’s the five best from the boys between the posts. …”
90min

Manchester City and the Bruising Battle to Avoid Losing It All

“The phone rang at 8 a.m., and the Manchester City communications official answered right away. A reporter was on the line, requesting comment on the news emanating from the Middle East that morning in 2008: that City, a Premier League soccer team with an unremarkable history and dust gathering in its trophy cabinet, had just been purchased by a wealthy Arab sheikh, the brother of the ruler of the United Arab Emirates. … Within an hour, the news that Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan had become the owner of Manchester City was out. A new era had begun. With the stroke of a pen, a venerable, well-liked and occasionally tragicomic member of English soccer’s establishment had become one of the richest teams on the planet, a usurper-in-waiting to the game’s elite. …”
NY Times
YouTube: Could Manchester City be relegated?

Champions League last-16 preview: Analysing each team’s tactics

“Europe’s top competition is back. For those who have missed the soothing tones of the Champions League anthem, fear not. The knockout stage is upon us and we have 16 more games to feast on over the next four weeks. Using FiveThirtyEight’s well-respected prediction model, Bayern Munich stand as favourites to win the competition, edging ahead of Manchester City, Real Madrid and dark horses Napoli. However, we all know how knockout football works — do not expect things to go the way you might predict. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Arsenal’s consistent selection has helped them but evolution may be required

“In the first half of the season, the consistency of Arsenal’s selection provided the foundation for their success. From pre-season through until January, manager Mikel Arteta was largely able to keep his preferred XI on the field. But after taking just one point from their last two Premier League games, Arteta must be toying with the idea of whether to twist rather than stick. …”
The Athletic

Manchester City May Fall, but Soccer’s Billionaire Era Lives On – Brian Phillips

“… I thought about Mrs. Grayle on Monday, when the Premier League quietly posted a statement on its website charging Manchester City, the most dominant club in the past decade of English soccer, with more than 100 violations of league financial rules stretching back to 2009. Man City is famously rich, but it hasn’t been rich all that long. … Which meant—to be technically precise again—money. …”
The Ringer

Manchester City are winning, but have problems in possession

“The problem for A-grade students all over the world is that a B on any test raises eyebrows. Despite their recent victories, Manchester City’s performance on the ball has not been as convincing as it was early in the season, or recent years. The movement and the dynamics against Wolverhampton Wanderers last Sunday felt like City were picking up their rhythm, but against Arsenal it was off the pace again. …”
The Athletic

Premier League mid-season review: Who wins the title? Who gets top four? Best signing?

“Will Arsenal hold off the challenge of Manchester City to win their first Premier League title since 2004? Who has been the best signing of 2022-23? And what about the worst? What’s been your goal of the season? And how about your favourite game? We asked a group of our writers to review the Premier League season so far — and their responses feature a lot of Mikel Arteta and Erling Haaland… ”
The Athletic

Arsenal’s clever corners and their importance in the Premier League title race

“On April 10, 1993, Manchester United needed a win to regain top spot in the inaugural Premier League season. A draw against Sheffield Wednesday would not have been enough to return to the summit with only five games remaining afterwards. The final minutes of that game played a major role in United’s first Premier League title. …”
The Athletic

Pep Guardiola’s extraordinary criticisms of Man City’s players and fans explained

“‘Of course I’m going to defend you until the last day of my life at the press conference,’ Pep Guardiola once memorably told his Manchester City players. Just how concerned must he be, then, to have come out with all of this? On Thursday night, after his side produced a stirring comeback from 2-0 down at half-time to beat visitors Tottenham Hotspur 4-2, he spoke at length about their lack of desire. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Manchester United head into season’s second derby transformed by Ten Hag

“Manchester United’s turnaround between October’s derby with Manchester City and the return fixture on Saturday suggests Erik ten Hag can be the man who finally casts Sir Alex Ferguson’s gilded era in sepia. At the Etihad Stadium United were blitzed 6-3 by the champions, going 4-0 down before half-time and 6-1 down after 64 minutes, on a dark afternoon for the club that featured hat-tricks from Erling Haaland and Phil Foden. …”
Guardian

Ornstein: Arsenal hire ‘Tekkers Guru’, Zaha to stay at Palace, Hazard talks, West Ham in for En-Nesyri

“Arsenal face an FA Cup third-round tie at League One side Oxford United tonight, as Mikel Arteta’s men attempt to continue their progress in a campaign that has seen them become Premier League front-runners. Arteta is at the centre of a rebuilding job which, after a troubled period, appears to be turning the side into a competitive force once again — and the efforts to improve show little sign of abating. …”
The Athletic (Video)

A single step that cost Kepa Arrizabalaga and Chelsea the only goal against Manchester City

“… There has been a big improvement in Kepa Arrizabalaga’s performances since Graham Potter and his staff took over at Chelsea but he was at fault for Riyad Mahrez’s winner for Manchester City. He failed to cut out Jack Grealish’s cross and Mahrez snuck in at the back post ahead of Marc Cucurella to finish. Where did it all go wrong? Arrizabalaga’s initial positioning was good. He was facing the ball but slightly angled with his body open to see the play in front of him. He was almost in the sweet spot of being aggressive off his line to cut out the cross, yet close enough to his near post should Grealish try and sneak one past him. …”
The Athletic
The Athletic: Man City’s Plan A looked doomed to fail at Chelsea – it was Plan C that worked in the end – Michael Cox
The Athletic: Manchester City were far from fluent against Chelsea but did what champions do – won (Video)

A Demarai Gray wondergoal, but also fight, spirit and resilience from Everton

“A turn, a drag-back, a slip, a stumble — a seemingly inauspicious spell. But the ensuing moment of sorcery? The firework denouement on New Year’s Eve? Astounding. Even if Demarai Gray never does another noteworthy thing in an Everton shirt, he will be remembered for this one spectacular, surreal and joyous moment by generations of Blues to come. His 64th-minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium could be the greatest away goal scored by an Everton player in the Premier League era. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Arsenal excellent, Tottenham flawed: When the ‘Big Six’ splash the cash, has it worked?

“The summer of 2021 brought Arsenal’s new recruitment strategy into sharp focus. Just over £140million ($168.4m) was spent transforming a squad that had staggered to an eighth-place finish in the previous Premier League season and not one new arrival was over the age of 23. It was all premeditated, all part of a plan. In came Ben White, Aaron Ramsdale, Martin Odegaard, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares, each bringing more potential than an obvious pedigree. ‘That has to be Arsenal,’ said Edu, the club’s technical director. …”
The Athletic

Erling, Alfie and the Haalands’ lingering links to Leeds

“Gary Edwards accepts that time plays tricks on the mind, but even so, he is adamant his story is true. It goes back about 10 years and involves a social event arranged by the Leeds United Supporters Club of Scandinavia (LUSCOS). Edwards was there and a Leeds fan he was chatting to pointed to a boy standing near them in the room. … Nobody at LUSCOS is sure if Erling actually attended one of their dinners and none of them can remember that occasion specifically but, apocryphal or not, Edwards’ tale stems from the close proximity of the Haaland family to Leeds. …”
The Athletic

The half-spaces as a key chance creation channel

“It has long been hypothesized that ‘Zone 14’ is the holy grail of chance creation. The ideas around this concept were built around a study from the late 1990s that specified that successful teams had a higher frequency of getting into this zone when compared against their peers. Since opposition clubs often compact central channels out of possession, it’s logical to reason that teams who are more successful in advancing into one of the most congested areas of the pitch are more successful overall. …”
The Mastermindsite

The Premier League returns … do we all remember what was going on?

“This season’s Premier League. Remember it? It kicked off back in August before taking a six-week hiatus so we could all enjoy the first ever winter World Cup. Well, it’s back on Boxing Day, so now seems as good as time as any to provide a quick primer for readers who, like this column, may have been so preoccupied by events in Doha they’ve been being paying scant attention to goings on closer to home. …”
Guardian

What’s Next for Julián Álvarez, Argentina’s Breakout World Cup Star?

“The otherwise perfect image of Lionel Messi thrusting the World Cup trophy into the sky while perched on the shoulders of Sergio Agüero contains an unfortunate blemish. It’s an awkward reminder of what could’ve upended this whole achievement. There’s Messi, exalted, on a raft of Argentina players and fans in various states of rapture and euphoria, and then, behind and above him, ruining it, is Lautaro Martínez. Going into the tournament, the 25-year-old striker had scored seven goals in 15 Serie A appearances for Inter Milan; he’s led Argentina’s line for most of the last four years, playing a decisive role in the 2021 Copa América victory. …”
The Ringer

The Ten Commandments of Gegenpressing

“Space is critical in football, give your opponent too much of it, and you get punished; make the best of little space or try to profit from little space, and you might get rewarded with a goal. This creates a problem for every manager, irrespective of the philosophical divide: how do I limit and control my opponent’s use of space with and without the ball? To this end, Gegenpressing is a tantalizing option; Gegenpressing (counter-pressing) is simply winning the ball immediately after losing possession. The opposition’s intention after getting the ball is to start a counter; hence their defensive organisation is broken, leaving them vulnerable because their players are quite apart in the quest to score a goal. …”
Breaking the Lines
What is Gegenpressing and how it evolved into one of the most revolutionary tactics in modern football?
The Athletic: Liverpool are the masters of chaos – and the polar opposite of Manchester City
YouTube: What is Gegenpressing?

Premier League managers and referees: ‘What sort of message does this send?’

“After Jurgen Klopp was sent off in Liverpool’s ill-tempered 1-0 win over Manchester City last weekend, Dr Tom Webb posted an image on Twitter similar to the one above of the Liverpool manager screaming at assistant referee Gary Beswick. ‘What sort of message does this send to people watching?’ wrote Webb, who co-ordinates the Referee and Match Official Research Network. ‘It’s images like this that make people think #referees are fair game… ‘if coaches and players in the Premier League are doing it, then it must be OK’… it isn’t and it certainly won’t help the trend of referee #abuse.’ …”
The Athletic

Liverpool vs Manchester City deconstructed: The bitterness, the briefings ⁠– and what’s next

“At 27 minutes past six on Sunday evening, Anthony Taylor blew his whistle at Anfield to bring the curtain down on Liverpool’s thrilling and tempestuous 1-0 victory over the reigning Premier League champions Manchester City. But the drama was only just beginning. The game itself was action-packed. Jurgen Klopp was sent to the stands after exploding in fury at the non-award of a foul and Pep Guardiola said members of the Anfield crowd threw coins at him while he was watching the game from the touchline. …”
The Athletic

Football has elevated time-wasting into a sophisticated art form

“As a pastime, or indeed lifestyle, time-wasting is undervalued. To do nothing takes real imagination; to produce nothing requires a strong moral core. The idle person does not, among other things, perform unnecessary cosmetic surgery or release an album of swing covers. The most courageous way of experiencing time is through inaction – to remain quite still and feel the minutes crawl across the face. Time-wasting in football, however, is the preserve of knaves and shysters. …”
Guardian

Liverpool’s unmovable Van Dijk shows Haaland is a stoppable force

“Virgil van Dijk puffed out his cheeks and wrapped his arms around Joe Gomez. Mohamed Salah may have been Liverpool’s match-winner but this enthralling 1-0 triumph over Manchester City was built on firm foundations. Van Dijk has found himself in uncharted territory this season. His crown as the most complete centre-back in world football has slipped. As Liverpool’s defensive vulnerability has been repeatedly exposed, his form has been held up as a symptom of the team’s decline. There have been uncharacteristic errors and accusing fingers pointing in his direction. …”
The Athletic
The Athletic: Liverpool vs Manchester City and a dearth of proper wide options

Salah shines as Klopp earns tactical triumph amid his touchline theatrics

“Towards the end of this thrilling, slightly wild afternoon at Anfield, Jürgen Klopp could be seen with his arms outspread, a tableau of pathos, disbelief, astonishment, bewildered to find himself handed a red card by Anthony Taylor and sent from his touchline. As Klopp whirled away, almost sprinting from pitchside, air‑guitaring wildly, still barking and yelping and pointing, it was hard to disagree with his look of stunned surprise. This made no sense at all. How exactly had Klopp managed to last 85 minutes out there? …”
Guardian (Video)
SI: Liverpool Proves It Has Plenty of Fight Left in Drama-Filled Win Over Man City – Jonathan Wilson
BBC – Liverpool 1-0 Man City: ‘Why Liverpool had to wait for Joe Gomez to get back to his best’ – Martin Keown analysis
Liverpool 1-0 Man City: Player ratings as magic Salah fires Reds to win
Liverpool vs. Manchester City score: Mohamed Salah nets winner at Anfield as Jurgen Klopp sees red (Video)
Guardian: Klopp’s reliance on the undroppables reveals Liverpool’s soft underbelly

Every 2022-23 Premier League third kit rated

“Yes, we’re into the second half of October but only now can The Athletic rate the good, the bad and the ugly of this season’s Premier League third kits, as it’s taken this long for them all to finally be unveiled. Bizarre colour schemes, tributes to bridges and digital front-graphic panels, third kits are usually a heady cocktail of the experimental and the sublime, and this year is no different. …”
The Athletic

Premier League is asked if it has investigated Manchester City owner over Russia allegations

“The Premier League has been asked to confirm whether it has investigated the billionaire owner of Manchester City Football Club under its ‘fit and proper’ owners’ test, over allegations of helping Russian oligarchs avoid western sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, the deputy prime minister of the UAE and a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi, has been accused in media reports of helping to allow rich Russians to evade sanctions by moving their assets, including superyachts and private jets, to the Emirates. …”
Guardian

Manchester United top the table (in paying off departed managers)

“The relentless pursuit of success comes at a cost. For Manchester United, the cost is an estimated £60million spent on sacking managers and their backroom staff since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in May 2013. David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick all received compensation. This financial outlay is more than Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur have spent changing their manager in the same 10-year timeframe. …”
The Athletic

Manchester United’s flawed press made life far too easy for City

“Manchester City were irresistible in attack throughout their 6-3 victory over Manchester United on Sunday afternoon. They constantly showcased the patterns we’ve come to expect: Kevin De Bruyne overlapping and then crossing, Bernardo Silva dropping deep in midfield and then pushing into the channel, Phil Foden drifting inside from the right, Jack Grealish storming forward from the left, and Erling Haaland banging in the goals. When City work the ball into the final third, they sometimes feel unstoppable. …”
The Athletic – Michael Cox

Watching three Premier League derbies in three days

Arsenal fans make their way to the Emirates from Gillespie Road on derby day
“Super League proposals, globalisation, games potentially being played abroad, the hunger for European football… it’s felt for a while that this might be the future of the game. Ask your typical English football supporter which fixture they first look for in June and chances are they’ll say their team’s local derby. …”
The Athletic

UEFA Champions League Preview: Big clash in Lisbon, while Juventus need a win

“While Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez claims there are too many inconsequential matches, the Champions League group phase pushes ahead with matchday three. Matches that look quite appetising can be found right across Europe, from London to Leipzig to Lisbon. …”
Game of the People

Manchester City played digital football. United are a dial-up version

“… With 44 minutes gone at the Etihad Stadium Manchester City scored a goal that brought the usual cheers and roars, but also something else, the urge to laugh. City had already spent the first half playing football that seemed to have benefited from an operating system upgrade, demonstrating the latest miracle processor against a batch of red-shirted patsies. The move to make it 4-0 was a moment of super-compression, lines cut in a perfect zigzag from outside City’s penalty area to the far left-hand corner of the Manchester United goal without friction or drag or loss of scale. …”
Guardian (Video)
NY Times: How Do You Stop Erling Haaland? You Don’t. (Video)
The Athletic (Video)

The Crisis Clubs: a Weekly Guide to Premier League Turmoil

“In case you hadn’t noticed, each week the Premier League has a specific team in crisis. Bad form, shock results, poor management, unforced errors; some or all of these factors can plunge one of the division’s 20 sides into momentary turmoil, transforming them into the main character in Premier League narrative for that week. More often than not the crisis club will be a member of the Big Six but not always and, no matter who it is, the next set of fixtures will invariably throw up a new team to take up the crisis mantle, and the nation’s attention will pivot instantly to the league’s new whipping boys for the week. Here, then, is an ongoing guide to the Premier League’s crisis clubs in 2022-23. …”
The Analyst

Premier League Big Six – when did they have their best days?

“Over the past few years, we have supposedly seen the ‘best ever’ club sides in the Premier League and even Europe. When Liverpool and Manchester City went head-to-head in 2019, some were quick to proclaim them the greatest of all time, but in 2019-20, City fell short and a year later, Liverpool’s defence of their Premier crown was rather tepid. The real test of a great team is consistency over a period of time and both of these clubs have shown they have that quality. …”
Game of the People

“Cup Sides”: Do they exist?

“Some sites are just good, right? They’re in the race for the most trophies most years, and while they invariably meet some disappointment along the way, the pots and pans usually start to pile up. Now think of Manchester City or Manchester United under Alex Fergurson or Liverpool in the 1970s and 1980s. However, other teams seem to do better as pure cup sides. A look back to the 1970s and 1980s and a look at the two major domestic cup competitions seems to confirm this. If we start our last ‘ah, those were the days’ in 1970 and look at that decade’s FA Cup competition, for example, we see certain teams with a distinct ‘cup pedigree’. …”
UK Daily

Champions League: Michael Cox’s tactical guide to this season’s leading contenders

“Judging by the bookmakers’ odds, there are eight sides who stand a decent chance of winning this season’s European Cup. Broadly speaking, they look familiar from last season — few clubs have undergone a dramatic overhaul in terms of their starting XI and only one of these eight clubs appointed a new manager in the summer. If you haven’t watched any of the favourites since last season, here’s the lowdown on their approaches for 2022-23. …”
The Athletic

Money to Burn: Lessons From the Premier League’s Transfer Window

“… This is what the Premier League does every year, of course: Every summer, and most winters, its clubs descend on Europe, the cash from infinitely spiraling television deals burning a hole in their pockets, and proceed to hose an entire continent with money. They swamp it, they flood it, they drown it with their wealth. And then, at the end of August, they go home, armed with a few more Brazilian playmakers and Swedish strikers, ready to play the games that will earn the money for them to do it all over again in a few months. …”
NY Times

The Earliest Premier League Sackings

“News broke just before 9am on Tuesday morning that Bournemouth had fired their manager Scott Parker, only four games into the 2022-23 season. The man who had stylishly guided the club back into the top-flight saw his side lose 9-0 at Liverpool on Saturday and, unlike Ralph Hasenhüttl, who has survived not one but two 9-0 defeats as Southampton boss, Parker has been dispensed with before September, reportedly more because of differing views on Bournemouth’s transfer strategy than the Anfield shellacking. Either way, Parker’s departure is one of the earliest in Premier League history, but which unfortunate managers have been sacked even earlier into the season? Read on to find out. …”

Real Madrid & the Role of Tactics at Elite Teams

“ Does a team need a complex tactical structure to be elite? In recent times we have seen complex tactical approaches from managers and clubs like Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and even Julian Nagelsmann’s Bayern Munich. But does a club need one to be successful? Real Madrid would argue not. Jon Mackenzie explains, Marco Bevilacqua illustrates.”
YouTube

Is this the worst Premier League foul ever?

“Some fouls leave you wincing. Some are debatable. And some leave players with lasting damage. The Premier League is widely regarded as the most competitive league in the world, so naturally, there have been some hefty challenges. But which is the worst foul committed in the Premier League? Seb Stafford-Bloor writes. Philippe Fenner.”
YouTube

What the Champions League Is Lacking

“PARIS — There will be stories, of course. There are always stories. The Champions League delivers them so frequently and so reliably that it is impossible to dismiss the nagging suspicion that all of this might just be scripted, the product of some complex simulation being run from a secret lair in Nyon. Robert Lewandowski, clad in the blue and red of Barcelona, will return to Bayern Munich, only a few weeks after forcing his exit. Manchester City’s visit to Borussia Dortmund will see Erling Haaland standing once more before its Yellow Wall, that great force of nature no longer at his back but marshaled in his face. …”
NY Times
The Athletic: Champions League draw analysed – The biggest games, the shocks in store, the toughest groups

Premier League at 30: How football has changed

“‘Football didn’t start in 1992.’ It did not, but it did change forever. Next week marks the 30th anniversary of the Premier League replacing the Football League First Division at the top of the English football tree. Here is what has happened in those 30 years and how the Premier League and the world has changed. …”
BBC (Video)

The Evolution of Goalkeeper Passing in 30 Years of the Premier League

“The Premier League kicked off 30 years ago today and Manchester United’s only goal in their infamous 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United was assisted by goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel. The iconic Dane would end that season having created as many goals as Ian Rush and Paul Ince, and in the first top-flight season to contain the new back-pass rule, nearly every goalkeeper concentrated his efforts on getting rid of the ball as hard and fast as possible; the nation echoed to the sound of pumped and thumped Mitre Deltas. 30 years on and David De Gea’s ongoing issues with playing short passes to his defenders was one of the main factors behind Manchester United suffering a humiliating 4-0 defeat to Brentford on Saturday. No position has evolved more than the goalkeeper in these transformative three decades and here are some illustrations to show how. …”
The Analyst

Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

“… 3) Hammers looking to find rhythm. David Moyes was in no mood to deliberate after West Ham slipped to a second successive defeat, though it was not for the want of trying at Nottingham Forest; they had a goal disallowed, twice hit the underside of the crossbar and Declan Rice saw a penalty saved. Moyes said he hopes their Europa Conference League playoff first leg at home to Viborg on Thursday will help them establish some rhythm after a disappointing start. …”
Guardian

Why the through ball is becoming a dying art in European football

“The number of through balls in the UEFA Champions League dropped 50 per cent between the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons. In Europe’s top five leagues, the number of through balls dropped on average 30 per cent over the same period. In the Europa League, it dropped 24 per cent. The through ball is not extinct, but it is endangered.Before examining why, we need to define the term. FBref data define a through ball as a: ‘Completed pass sent between the back defenders into open space.’ It is a complex pass to complete, hence the number of through balls is never particularly high and is in fact lower than the goals-per-game total in Europe’s top divisions. …”
The Athletic (Video)

What you may have missed on the Premier League’s opening weekend

“The Premier League is back — and it was a dramatic opening weekend with promoted Fulham holding would-be champions Liverpool to a draw, Erling Haaland scoring two goals on debut for Manchester City and Manchester United losing at home, with Cristiano Ronaldo starting the visit of Brighton on the bench. But away from the main talking points, our The Athletic staff have picked out some of things you may have missed from the first round of 10 matches. Let us know what you spotted in the comments section below. …”
The Athletic

Haaland made clever runs but Nunez gave lesson in how to attack space in behind

“… Pep Guardiola was not concerned about the chances new Manchester City signing Erling Haaland missed, but was instead glad with the positions he occupied in the first place. Missing big chances on his debut in the Community Shield put Haaland in the spotlight. Yet there’s more to dissect in Haaland’s performance against Liverpool than those spurned opportunities. Guardiola was right about Haaland being there, but sometimes the service on Saturday from his City teammates was poor. Such as this moment below when Haaland bends his body to maintain an onside position, waiting for a pass from Kevin De Bruyne that does not come. …”
The Athletic

How Manchester City used their narrow full-backs to control midfield against West Ham

“‘They were so good. Tactically, they completely outdid us today.’ West Ham United manager David Moyes was so impressed with Manchester City’s performance against his club yesterday that he spent half of his post-match press conference talking about Pep Guardiola’s side. Specifically, their narrow full-backs. …”
The Athletic

The Ted Lasso fan’s guide to the Premier League: Your starting point for the 2022-23 season

“We’re not sure when Ted Lasso’s third and (maybe) final season will drop, but it’s never too early to start preparing for how you’ll fill the void once it ends — and this week provides the perfect opportunity. AFC Richmond won promotion back up to the Premier League at the end of the show’s second season, but the real thing kicks off on Friday for another year with plenty of comedy and drama of its own. So if you’re one of the many Ted Lasso fans who haven’t gotten invested in the real-life Premier League just yet, now’s the time to dive in — if only so you’ll be prepared for all the new details sure to be included in season three. Ted Lasso’s landmark licensing deal with the Premier League means lines between the two will be blurred more than ever when it does return. …”
The Athletic (Video)
BBC – Premier League 2022-23: Everything you need to know as new season starts (Video)
NY Times: They Got to the Premier League. Staying? That’s the Hard Part.

Predicting the transfer market: Nunez, Haaland and league exchange rates

“It was hardly surprising that at least three of the Premier League’s leading clubs were interested and, ultimately, that one of them ended up taking the plunge. The striker had scored freely in his domestic league, was a good age and, on the face of it, had all the attributes — physical in particular but technical too — to succeed in England. … Either way, it is interesting to cast your eye down the table below and wonder what the numbers will look like for Manchester City’s Erland Haaland and Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez — the Premier League’s two biggest imports this summer — at the end of their first season in England. Nunez came off the bench to score in Saturday’s Community Shield victory whereas Haaland missed a sitter late on, but how will their contribution be viewed in May next year? …”
The Athletic (Video)

Salah and Núñez seal Community Shield glory as Liverpool sink Manchester City

“As an augury of the 2022-23 season Liverpool will be the happier as Jürgen Klopp’s side already appear a slick team ready for serious combat. Manchester City do not. Pep Guardiola was hardly concerned about losing this first ever Community Shield staged in July but may scrutinise how Erling Haaland was near-anonymous throughout as this, despite the manager’s post-defeat protestations, disrupted the side’s rhythm. …”
Guardian