Many novel trends at the turn of the 2010s have become more mainstream concepts as the years have passed. For better or for worse, one such idea is defending with five men at the back. In this piece, we explore the trends and variants associated with this basic setup at EURO 2020. Written by Emmanuel […]

Germany had some good moments to start off with, but eventually England’s man-oriented pressing and stability in possession brought them game control, especially with Germany falling into quite a passive defensive stance. The game drifted somewhat for long periods due to the stability focus of both teams, but England eventually broke through in the second […]

The clash of two methodical setups on a mild afternoon in Copenhagen gave the impression that Spain’s match with Croatia would be a terse affair. But, the contest could not have gone any more differently. In a matchup of needless excitement, blunders from the back and suspect game management gave way to one of the […]