Aston Villa secured their first points of the season in an intriguing Friday night football affair. Building rapid attacking transitions was the key to unlock Everton’s defense. Marco Silva’s team, once again, showed problems in their buildup, as they struggled to handle a relentless, fast-paced Villa. Tactical analysis and match report by Joel Parker. Not […]
A solid game plan by Ole Gunnar Solksjær got undone by a wonderfully crafted set-piece goal by Ruben Neves and a penalty miss by Paul Pogba in Molineux as the teams shared the points. Manchester United looked very much in control, despite not creating many chances. United found the opener with a nicely worked goal, […]
In a game of two halves, Chelsea’s attacking blitz on Leicester had them clinging on for dear life, but time took its toll as the home side’s intensity gradually faded, as did their ability to control events. The away side’s ‘lightbulb moment’ was minor but made all the difference to provide their second half flourish. […]
Manchester City were held to a draw against Tottenham Hotspur, despite being the far better side. City dominated the game for large stretches as Spurs struggled to deal with their dangerous wing attacks. Spurs, on their turn, could rarely break through City’s pressing when they had the ball. Despite this, a long range strike from […]
In a familiarly tight encounter, treble holders Manchester City edged past European champions Liverpool in the Community Shield thanks to a penalty shoot-out. Pep Guardiola was as unorthodox as ever, with his team asking Liverpool very different questions than the last time around, opening the scoring as a result of one of them. Liverpool’s second […]
It is difficult to give a coach or a team credit after losing 6-0, especially in a cup final. However, against this extremely dominant Manchester City team, any kind of new ideas on how to defend are significant. Javi Gracia, who proved himself as one of the most successful coaches of the season by overachieving […]
Brighton were no match for Manchester City, who crowned themselves Premier League champions for the second season running. This game served as a prime example of how we will remember most of the domestic matches by Guardiola’s City: demolishing an opponent that sits back in a low block with positional play, quick combinations and dribbles […]
Leicester almost turned the Premier League title race on its head. They nearly managed to steal a deserved point from the Etihad, striking a fine balance between stubborn defending and composed possession play. Despite being repetitive and well-contained, City’s attacking ways generally manage to find an exploitable weakness one way or another. In this game, […]
A firecracker first-half gave us three goals, a potential red card and end to end football throughout. The second half was much the same; a tumultuous match that peaked in the 85th minute, where a winner may have helped decide the Premier League title race. Tactical analysis and match report by Tom Quartly. This tasty […]
It was tight, it was fierce, and chances were scarce. As expected, Watford – Wolves turned into a tense affair with heated tussles in a match that was much more down to moments, as opposed to what came of sustained periods of pressure. Tactical analysis and match report by Peter M. The battle for the […]