Yearning to mimic the glory days under an old star, Manchester United looked to break their four-year trophy drought with a win in this final. But Villarreal had other ideas. As a compact defensive block met an aimless offensive setup, over two hours of sparring in a grueling finale saw the Spaniards round off the […]
Barcelona came into this game looking to punish their rivals for dropping points the night before. But the contest was far from plain sailing. Facing a high 4-4-2 press from the home team, their issues in the buildup phase and a shock setback set the tone for a tight duel where a superstar had to […]
It was quite the struggle for these opponents when it came to the creation of clear-cut chances – despite positive periods for both. They each faced off against similarly narrow shapes and each battled a high press. The result saw regular direct play on show with the flanks attracting plenty of attention, as Sociedad came […]
Entering this game off the back of a drubbing, Real Madrid’s early strike saw them start the match as they would have liked to go on. However, their control of the ball gradually waned, and Villarreal’s personnel adjustments in their 4-3-3 shape bore fruit late in the day. Tactical analysis by Emmanuel Adeyemi-Abere. After his […]
With Ronald Koeman at the managerial helm, this was the beginning of a new Barcelona chapter. A dazzling Fati performance highlighted the cohesive left flank of Barcelona’s 4-2-3-1 formation. From the support from Alba and De Jong to the central connections being constantly available, Barcelona’s left caused plenty of danger. Villarreal failed to deal with […]
Unai Emery might have thought he was on the cusp of a good result. Arsenal’s decent first half display managed to mostly contain Leicester’s threat while creating chances off their own back. However, a second half midfield collapse proved too much to handle following many missed opportunities. Tactical analysis and match report by Peter M. […]
Vitória’s defensive organization made this game an uneventful affair from an attacking point of view, as Arsenal were often stuck in their u-shaped circulation and unable to make breakthroughs. Eventually Arsenal took the lead from a Shkodran Mustafi set-piece header, but were unable to hold on as Bruno Duarte secured a late equalizer for Vitória. […]
For any top six team, facing Wolves is usually a tough prospect. This may be even more true for a side such as Arsenal, whose struggles were on show despite a new-look midfield. The visitors gave them a helping hand in the first half, but the second half only amplified what Arsenal lacked as the […]
A match so painfully short of effective attacking mechanisms that neither team pushed on to be the dominant force, as both sides mostly mirrored each other’s defensive shape. The most that could be said on the invention front was Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s various tweaks throughout, which were positively reactive but equally limiting at times. Tactical […]
In a match filled to the absolute brim with high quality chances, it is a bit of a mystery how there was only one goal prior to the eightieth minute. In the leadup to a devastating end, Adi Hütter’s approach was as clever as it was naïve, given the subsequent gap in quality in each […]