“In an era when football is criticised for its tactical homogeneity, an interesting debate has arisen around the idea of defending a crossed free kick. It had become the accepted approach to use a high defensive line, keeping opponents away from the box and leaving space in front of the goalkeeper. But in recent years, particularly in Italy, an alternative has emerged. In Serie A, it’s common for teams to sit deep, often in two separate lines, and then come forward and attack the ball. Historically, the Dutch approach to football is very different from the Italian one, particularly in terms of defensive lines. Whereas Italian football is renowned for deep defending, Dutch coaches want their sides to push up. …”
NY Times/The Athletic – Michael Cox
Why Liverpool’s ‘Italian’ method of defending free kicks seems to be more effective
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“The Bundesliga is back and this season it will have its own weekly column, which will focus on major stories on the pitch, but also from German football as a whole — the terraces, the culture and, because it’s Germany, the governance too. On Matchday 1, Bayern Munich thumped RB Leipzig 6-0, Borussia Dortmund let a late lead slip against St. Pauli, drawing 3-3 at the Millerntor, and Koln celebrated their return to the top flight with a 90th-minute winner in Mainz. Not such good news for Bayer Leverkusen, though. …”
“In his first year in charge, Hansi Flick turned a Barcelona side struggling to find their identity into the ultimate entertainers. Barca won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa de Espana and also reached the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in six years, scoring 174 goals across 60 matches. Along with the intricate passing sequences they have traditionally been known for, the Catalans embraced directness and verticality, becoming one of Europe’s best counter-attacking sides. Here, The Athletic break down how this Barcelona side play the game. …”
“Football quite often shows that it isn’t aware of its own absurdity, and a prime example of that came last week when Enzo Maresca was discussing Levi Colwill’s knee injury. Colwill is likely to miss most of the season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament, which given he started 35 league games in the 2024-25 campaign, is enough to put a wrinkle in anyone’s plans. Maresca’s immediate solution was to suggest that Todd Boehly further loosened the already pretty loose Chelsea purse strings and furnish him with a new signing to plug the gap. …”
“Two late goals from Liverpool in the opening fixture of their Premier League campaign papered over some very big defensive cracks. 
“C’est la vie is the motto Tijjani Reijnders lives by, the one that inspired his trademark shoulder-shrug celebration he performed on his debut for Manchester City. That’s life and, yes, this — running football matches — is what I do. Deal with it. The Premier League certainly got the message. He played a key role in all of City’s goals in their 4-0 away win against Wolves: orchestrating the first, scoring the second, assisting the third and doing the leg work for the fourth to rank among the best debuts the division has ever seen. …”
“Arsenal began their attempt to go one better in the Premier League title race this season with a 1-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford thanks to a ‘new’ set-piece routine. Avram Glazer was in attendance at Old Trafford and saw the team he co-owns line up without fit-again goalkeeper Andre Onana and striker Rasmus Hojlund, who 
“Have you missed football? Probably not, because it never really stopped. But if you were struggling, fear not, because the Premier League is back. Three hundred and eighty matches, 282 days, 20 teams, endless grumbling about VARs, and almost certainly a new officiating debate that none of us have dreamed up yet are waiting just around the corner, all starting when reigning champions Liverpool host Bournemouth on Friday at 8pm BST/3pm EST. 
“Richard Masters sat down in a low armchair and awaited the barrage. The Premier League CEO has been doing the rounds on the eve of the new season and on each occasion has been assailed by the same opening question. The Premier League’s legal battle with Manchester City is unresolved. There has been absolute silence in this calendar year. Can anyone, and especially the Premier League’s most powerful figure, explain what is going on? …”
“Landing transfer targets at Newcastle United this summer has been a bit like trying to nail jelly to a wall. Last week, Benjamin Sesko became the latest player to turn them down, signing for Manchester United instead and joining a list that includes Hugo Ekitike, James Trafford and Joao Pedro. Newcastle made bids for all four players this summer and ended up missing out on each of them. They also tried and failed to sign Dean Huijsen, Bryan Mbeumo and Liam Delap. On top of that, Alexander Isak, the club’s talisman and biggest asset, is attempting to force through a move to Liverpool. …”
“As Alexis Mac Allister stepped up to take Liverpool’s second penalty of the Community Shield shootout on Sunday, Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson lingered by the post, water bottle in hand. His eyes flicked between Mac Allister, the referee, and the list of shooters taped to the bottle he was holding. Moments earlier, Mohamed Salah had blazed his attempt over the crossbar and Jean-Philippe Mateta had scored to give Palace the advantage. A save now could be decisive. Henderson glanced once more at his cheat sheet. …”
“Tactically, the Premier League is in a real state of flux. After four consecutive title-winning years with a distinct, possession and territory-based style, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City were reduced to a third-place finish on 71 points in 2024-25 — their worst since Guardiola’s debut campaign of 2016-17. Meanwhile Liverpool cruised to the title in their first season post-Jurgen Klopp, with Arne Slot’s side developing a reputation for their flexibility and adaptability. They had 25 wins and only lost twice across the first 34 matches, by which point the trophy was theirs. Nottingham Forest showed European football can be earned with a throwback, defend-first and counter-attack strategy, while for the second season running all three promoted teams were relegated. So what might we expect from 2025-26? …”
“It was the Community Shield, and that should not be forgotten. There isn’t anybody who has been watching English football for any period of time who hasn’t made the mistake of taking too seriously a conclusion drawn in the midst of the traditional curtain-raiser, giddy on the sight of Wembley in its pomp and the return of competitive club football from the summer wilderness. … They are learning a new system, the 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 hybrid of last season yielding to a 4-2-3-1. It’s not a huge shift but Wirtz, as the most advanced of the triangle of central players between the centre-backs and the centre-forward, is very much a forward, whereas Dominik Szoboszlai, who tended to be the most advanced of the central midfield triangle last season, is an attacking midfielder. …”
“It’s now been over two decades since Arsenal were last crowned Premier League champions. Five FA Cup victories have eased the long wait in the years since, but an elusive 14th league title remains the priority in north London, with a third consecutive second-place finish under Mikel Arteta last season only fuelling their determination to go one better this time around. Arsenal’s recruitment drive this summer speaks to that ambition, having invested close to £200million into the squad, already the second-most lavish window in the club’s history. Martin Zubimendi was the first to arrive, one of Europe’s most coveted deep-lying midfielders, before the arrivals of Noni Madueke and, in particular, Viktor Gyokeres, began to hint at a change of approach at the top of the team — both bringing more direct dribbling and raw power to the front line. …”
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“Tom Byer inhales, one of fewer than a dozen breaths which it feels like he takes over the course of a 90-minute interview, and, from his Tokyo living room, begins to outline his unique theory of player development. ‘When you can close the gap between the very best and the least developed, that’s where the magic happens,’ he says. ‘That’s what you see today in Japan. Our players are some of the most recruited players in the world right now. But the thing is, most people can’t explain why Japan have become so good. And that’s because they don’t understand grassroots football.’ …”
“BBC Sport’s Graeme Langford heads deep into the Arctic Circle to see some of the most beautiful football pitches on the planet.”
“What if some of the biggest names in world football had chosen to play for Jamaica? From Premier League legends to Champions League winners, these players all share one thing in common—Jamaican blood. Today, we’re ranking 11 world-class footballers who could’ve worn the green and gold. These aren’t just names—they’re icons, ballers who shaped football history and carried a heritage that could have changed Jamaica’s journey forever. Some were born on the island, others grew up abroad, but their roots connect them to Kingston, Montego Bay, and the rhythm of the Caribbean. …”
“Players are the focus of any football transfer storyline. Managers, agents and club owners add to the intrigue, of course, but it’s a relatively new role which has been garnering increased attention with every transfer window — the sporting director. Fundamentally, the remit of the sporting director is to be a link between the coaching staff and the club’s hierarchy, providing continuity, sustainability and a stable strategy in the club’s football operations. …”
“It was the brown envelopes that kept falling through the letterbox that filled Dean Windass with foreboding. Windass was a spiky but effective striker whose 18-year senior career had taken him through all four divisions, including spells in the Premier League with Bradford City, Middlesbrough and Hull City, plus the Scottish top flight with Aberdeen. While he was never one of the game’s superstars, he had earned good money at a time when English football was booming. …”
“For one of the key architects of Belgium’s golden generation, his aim was simple — ‘I want to teach the most difficult football.’ Bob Browaeys sits back in his chair at the Belgian FA’s base in Tubize, just south of Brussels. The 56-year-old coach is affable, a former goalkeeper with huge hands and a propensity to push his seat away from the table in excitement when he talks. This is a space-age facility — underlighting in the boardrooms, 11 first-grade pitches, and the literal footprints of the country’s former greats leading towards its doors. …”
“World Cup 1962, hosted in Chile, is up there with World Cup 1938 as the least fabled editions of the tournament. There’s a common link between them: they’re the only two World Cups where the defending champion has triumphed. And this one came as little surprise — it was almost impossible to find a tournament preview that didn’t imply that Brazil were strong favourites. …”
“At Trump Tower, the new home of FIFA in Manhattan, Gianni Infantino hailed the Club World Cup a ‘huge, huge, huge success’ on Saturday. The president of soccer’s world governing body later posted on Instagram that the tournament had ‘taken over the United States and united people in joy’. FIFA has been on a victory lap since Chelsea’s 3-0 victory against Paris Saint-Germain in Sunday’s final in front of an 81,118 crowd at MetLife Stadium, a few miles to the west in New Jersey. … Dynamic pricing and empty seats. FIFA adopted a dynamic pricing approach to tickets, where prices fluctuate according to supply and demand. For high-interest sports and music events, this can lead to prices skyrocketing in value but during the Club World Cup, where not a single game was a complete sellout, these costs often tumbled instead due to a lack of demand. … Similar deals emerged with different universities during the tournament as FIFA scrambled to avoid tens of thousands of empty seats becoming a regular occurrence. The group-stage games recorded an average of 35,000 spectators, but the size of the venues chosen — largely NFL stadiums with capacities of more than 60,000 — left big gaps in the stands. The dynamic-pricing market made for some absurd fluctuations. Standard admission pricing for the semi-final between Chelsea and Brazil’s Fluminense at MetLife was 
Empty seats were an issue at Club World Cup games
“The Hungary national football team represents 
“The final for the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup is set. After a valiant fight from teams across the globe, from South America, to the Middle East, to Africa, East Asia and Oceania, it is two European titans who collide in the showpiece final on Sunday, July 13. Much has been made of the gruelling calendar the summer tournament has thrust upon its participants, but Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain have outlasted the rest in the searing American heat in their hunt for the trophy — and healthy prize fund on offer. …”
“Sixty-two games down, one game to go, 192 goals scored and almost 2.5million people through the turnstiles. The Club World Cup has thrown up more questions than answers, but when it comes to identifying the best team on the planet, there is surely no debate. Any lingering doubts were blown away in the stifling heat of East Rutherford, New Jersey, as 
“Joao Pedro scored two brilliant goals as Chelsea secured their place in the Club World Cup final with victory over Fluminense. The Brazilian, who started his career with Fluminense before moving to Britain, scored with a brilliant finish from outside the area in the first half and then calmed his celebration against his former club. …”
“When it comes to Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid, nothing seems to be a coincidence, and that applies to the emergence of Arda Guler. Madrid’s new coach has been taking care of every detail since he took over in May, with the 20-year-old Turkey playmaker one of the main beneficiaries of his arrival. After their 
“For those unaware, FIFA has established its own Technical Study Group (TSG) to analyse the Club World Cup this summer. Led by their chief of global football development, Arsene Wenger, the panel contains former players and coaches — with Esteban Cambiasso, Aliou Cisse, Tobin Heath, Jurgen Klinsmann, Roberto Martinez, Gilberto Silva and Pascal Zuberbuhler unpicking the key insights from each game. 
“Ignore all the fluff that occurs in the middle of the pitch for a moment. Real Madrid’s winning reputation is built on their clinical efficiency in both boxes. Never was that more true than against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday afternoon, with Kylian Mbappe and Thibaut Courtois showing how fiercely skilled they are in such crucial moments. There was a glimmer of hope for a Dortmund comeback after substitute Maximilian Beier’s goal made it 2-1 in the 92nd minute, but Mbappe’s expert finish restored Madrid’s two-goal lead barely 90 seconds later. …”
“If the starting line-ups contain names such as Michael Olise, Jamal Musiala and Kingsley Coman on one side, with Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on the other, there is a high probability of entertainment. Yet how both teams approach the game factors in whether we see the individual flair or not. Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich didn’t disappoint the audience on Saturday, with their proactive and positive approaches resulting in a 
“It was billed as the game of the Club World Cup and it did not disappoint. Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich produced a breathless game that had just about everything in Atlanta, and not all of it good. There was a serious injury to Bayern’s Jamal Musiala, two second-half red cards for PSG’s Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernandez and late drama with an overturned penalty decision in the French club’s favour. Musiala’s injury was the most serious incident, the German international badly damaging his left ankle in a collision with PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. It left both sets of players shocked and cast a cloud over this occasion. …”
“With apologies to the fans of the clubs that have been eliminated from the FIFA Club World Cup, it’s a relief that this tournament’s penchant for upsets and excitement hasn’t ended after the group stage. Like 
“This is where the Club World Cup gets serious. Football’s new-look global competition may not have convinced every sceptic so far, but the line-up for the last eight offers an intriguing mixture of European aristocrats, Brazilian excellence and even an outsider in 
“A frustrated Jobe Bellingham will miss out on a first competitive meeting with brother Jude after being booked in Borussia Dortmund’s 2-1 win over Monterrey in their Club World Cup last-16 game. Earlier in the day, Jude Bellingham helped Real Madrid defeat Juventus 1-0 to set up a potential quarter-final against his brother at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, on Saturday. …”
“It is nine weeks since Sheffield Wednesday last played a home game but the flyposting around Hillsborough helps to illustrate a long summer of rancour. ‘Chansiri out’ is the simple, scrawled message, set against a collage of cult heroes and trophy lifts. Wednesday’s happiest recent times in the early 1990s, when they were regulars in the upper echelons of the top flight and frequent travellers to Wembley in cup competitions, seem a long time ago. It is 25 years since they were last in the Premier League and Wednesday now resemble a decaying club under the ownership of Dejphon Chansiri, a 57-year-old businessman whose family own the Thai Union Group (TUG), the world’s largest producer of canned tuna. The money has dried up and so, too, has hope. …”
“Gonzalo Garcia kept up his 
“Al Hilal eliminated Manchester City from the Club World Cup in a landmark victory for the Saudi Arabian team, winning a remarkable last-16 game 4-3 in extra time to cap a day of upsets. The Saudi side have shopped significantly for European stars since the state’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) took control of four teams in the Saudi Pro League in 2023 as 
“Fluminense are through to the Club World Cup quarter-finals after beating Inter 2-0 in Charlotte on Monday. Renato Gaucho’s side started quickly and took the lead after only three minutes via an opportunistic header from German Cano. Inter fans might have hoped that an early setback would spur their side into a concerted response but there was little evidence of that in the rest of the first half. Cristian Chivu’s team eventually managed to build some momentum in the second half but some obstinate Fluminense defending — and the woodwork — kept the Italian side at bay. And, as Inter pressed ever more desperately for an equaliser, Fluminense broke and sealed the game in injury time via a tidy finish from Hercules. …”
“The knockout rounds of the Club World Cup begin this weekend, starting with Palmeiras and Botafogo returning to Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field just two days after 64,811 fans withstood the pouring rain to watch Vinicius Junior come alive with Real Madrid. Everyone’s hoping for some magic in the round of 16 and, if the group stage matches were any indication, we can expect plenty more drama too. With the final whistle of group play now behind us, one of the major talking points from this competition so far has been the volume of disciplinary action handed down by referees. Across 48 games so far, 10 red cards have been issued. …”
“The word ‘soccer’ remains at the heart of one of the most enduring, if comparatively low-key and petty fronts of the culture war. At its most basic level, it’s a transatlantic disagreement over language, but there seems to be more to it than that. The most basic and probably most sensible point of view is that it’s simply one country — America, though there are others — using a word to differentiate one extremely popular sport from a slightly less popular sport. But use the word in the wrong context — which is to say, ‘in England’ — and you can expect paroxysms of disgust from people who seem to think it represents something much deeper. These people are, admittedly, those who are far too easily outraged (check their sent email files and there’s a reasonable chance they have also complained to a TV station about a newsreader not wearing a tie), but it seems like these people think of this as somehow chipping away at the identity of the game, and even themselves. It’s an Americanism, as everyone knows, and this is apparently something to be suspicious of. …”
“After beating Esperance de Tunis with 
“Off-target shots are football’s missed opportunity, in more ways than one. As the analytics revolution began to sweep through the sport in the early 2010s, shots on goal quickly became a key area of interest, with the aim of identifying the game’s most ruthless finishers firmly in mind. Some years after expected goals (xG) came expected goals on target (xGOT) — a metric that estimates the quality of on-target shots, taking into account factors such as the angle from which the shot was taken from, and its placement within the goal frame, to give an indication of how likely the subsequent effort was likely to find its way in. …”
“There was a theme in Xabi Alonso’s first post-match press conference as Real Madrid head coach: improvement will take time. After Madrid’s 1-1 draw with Al Hilal in their opening game in the Club World Cup, Alonso portrayed a calm figure who knew his side were still early in the process. … After a season when Madrid looked porous out of possession regardless of their defensive shape, one thing Alonso needs to improve is the team’s structure without the ball. Madrid’s 4-3-3 against Al Hilal morphed into a 4-4-2 when Alonso’s side were defending in a mid-block, with Jude Bellingham or Vinicius Junior slightly behind Gonzalo Garcia. …”
“… It was a passage of play that featured no-look passes, a backheeled volley, and a game of keep-ball that turned a Champions League match into ‘a kind of rondo’. Peter Bosz was furious. Furious with his own PSV players. … Back in January, PSV were facing a callow Liverpool side who were down to 10 men and trailing 3-2 in the closing minutes. Against the better judgment of Bosz, the PSV players had decided to showboat. … A couple of months later, in South America, Corinthians were beating Palmeiras 1-0 on aggregate in the second leg of the Sao Paulo state championship final. As the clock ran down, Memphis Depay stood with both feet on top of the ball. …”
Scissors Kick 