“Once more as we enjoy the plot and intrigue surrounding the league boiling up to a deliciously non-tepid level, the all important momentum is halted by the intervention of a wholly undesired and largely trivial wander into the international arena. That said, the time off gives plenty of time for recruitment and sadly i’m going to have to rule myself out of the running for the Sunderland job; the threat of relegation is simply too great a risk at this stage of my managerial career and I feel the organisation has not sufficiently embraced the modern analytical methods I espouse…” Stats Bomb

“A lot has been made of the rise of counter attacking as a tactic in the Premier League this season, but there is nothing particularly new about it. It is not as if more teams are doing it than before, but it is being highlighted because the likes of West Ham, Leicester and Crystal Palace have had notable successes playing that way. What I think has changed is that more managers understand the need for pace.” BBC

“When playing against a team that sits behind the ball and focuses on maintaining a compact defensive unit, using a target player has its benefits. Many teams will concede that they have inferior levels of playing ability to their opposition and so will see fit to ‘park the bus’. In a compact team, the gaps between each player will be small and so their opponents will find it difficult, not only to play penetrative passes between these gaps but will also struggle to find space to receive the ball between the defensive blocks, i.e between the defensive line and midfield line. One way in which the side in possession can break these lines, however, is by utilizing a target man.” Outside of the Boot

Long ball
In association football (soccer), a long ball is an attempt to move the ball a long distance down the field via a cross, without the intention to pass it to the feet of the receiving player. In Continental Europe the style is called kick and rush. It is a technique that can be especially effective for a team with either fast or tall strikers.^[2] The long ball technique is also a through pass from distance in an effort to get the ball by the defensive line and create a foot race between striker and defender. While often derided as either boring or primitive, it can prove effective where players or weather conditions suit this style; in particular, it is an effective counter-attacking style of play in which some defenders can be caught off-guard. …” Wikipedia

“After weeks of patiently waiting for new information we are now aware of some of the Football Manager 2016 New Features with the game due for release on November 13th. For the first time ever, you will be able to customise the appearance of your manager and see him on the touchline. This will include being able to alter height, clothing colours and upload a profile picture to get an image that looks like you or the real life manager/player that you are looking to emulate.” Squawka

Football Manager 2016 Features, Screenshots & FM16 Videos
“Finally some of the new Football Manager 2016 features have been announced throught out the last day, something I have been eagerly anticipating for a 3 month time. While Football Manager 2016 will be available for PC, MAC and Linux, Sports Interactive have not forgotten about the tablet and mobile users by introducing an all new line up of different Football Manager 2016 versions giving you the chance to play FM16 wherever and whenever – building on the mantra of FM15. New this year is Football Manager Touch 2016 and Football Manager Mobile 2016.” Passion4 (Video)

“When Moussa Sissoko moved to Tyneside from Toulouse in the January of 2013, it was a classic Newcastle United signing. A 23-year-old French international, with bags of potential, signed for a knock down fee with just six months remaining on his contract.” backpagefootball

“Global Soccer Network‘s main target is it to revolutionize the modern day scouting in soccer. Influenced by ‘Moneyball’, Michael Lewis’ international bestseller, they have considered possibilities of how scouting in professional football could become more effective and created their unique rating system, the GSN-Index. We thank Dustin Bottger, CEO of Global Soccer Network, for his time and valuable insight.” Outside of the Boot

“Sporting website The42.ie have published a selection of interesting insights, garnered from a discussion between Paul Fennessy and Cormac Moore about the latter’s new book The Irish Soccer Split, in a piece entitled, ‘Why don’t we have an all-Ireland soccer team and will we ever see one?’  The Irish Football Association (IFA), founded in Belfast in 1880, was, of course, the original football association in Ireland and was, at that time, officially representative of the entire island. It remained the sole national governing body for a period of over forty years.” backpagefootball

“While football fans are generally an angry bunch, Liverpool fans might be slightly worse. In the last three years, there haven’t been many decisions or instances that they have all agreed upon. The decision to let go of a bald, talented 21-year-old was such an occasion. Liverpool have seven points on board and have won two games and drawn a tough away fixture against Arsenal. But a major issue with the Reds is the dearth of creativity, especially in the midfield. No wonder Liverpool fans feel like it was criminal to let the player go. But in fairness to Brendan Rodgers (and Steven Gerrard), the midfielder admitted that the Liverpool manager tried his best to make him stay.” Outside of the Boot

“Short termism is rife in football coverage these days. From the insatiable desire to learn 5 things from each match day to the pendulum swing in Falcao’s perceived talent level between last summer and this. It’s common to hear strikers’ peaks and troughs talked about in terms of confidence, hunger and desire, as though each change in output is the result of some tweak in the internal machinery of the player’s mentality and training. But how much of this is true and how much can be attributed to statistical noise? Take these three players, for instance. Goal-scoring in 6 consecutive season adjusted for minutes played. Who do you think they are? Which player is the best?” Stats Bomb

“Born on the 18th April 1970 as Francisco Jemez Martin, to the son of a flamenco singer, Paco has always admitted that he would have followed in his father’s musical footsteps if he had the talent for it, however he has proclaimed that he had ‘neither the voice nor the talent for it’. Instead his father helped shape his career in a different way. With his father being an avid Cordoba fan, it was Cordoba that Paco joined, and made his debut in the Segunda Division B as an 18 year old as a tough tackling centre-back.” Outside of the Boot

“Premier league new boys AFC Bournemouth picked up their first ever top flight win in a 7 goal thriller at Upton Park. The game was characterised by drastic swings of momentum for both sides, though on the overall balance of play, Bournemouth certainly deserved to win the match and were rewarded for their refreshing attacking bravery.” Outside of the Boot

“Atletico kicked off their 2015/16 La Liga campaign against newly promoted side, UD Las Palmas. The game had some interesting tactical strategies with the yellow men from Las Palmas quite secure in defence.” Outside of the Boot