When Pep Guardiola or Darth Vader’s awesome destructive creations go wrong it tends to be for the same reasonsThere are many issues with Return of the Jedi, not the least significant of which is the fact that it ends in essentially the same way that A …
When Pep Guardiola or Darth Vader’s awesome destructive creations go wrong it tends to be for the same reasonsThere are many issues with Return of the Jedi, not the least significant of which is the fact that it ends in essentially the same way that A …
United’s lack of an overarching plan is now clear for all to see, with Ole Gunnar Solskjær not entirely free from blameWhere does this rank in the litany of dreadful Manchester United performances? Not quite as bad, perhaps, as the equivalent game of t…
By now the malaise at Old Trafford has deep roots – only equally deep systemic change can put it rightAll in all, it’s been an excellent week for Manchester United. There was progress in the Carabao Cup and the announcement of record revenues of £627.1…
Sokratis Papastathopoulos’s blunder against Watford is part of a recent trend that will have many sides questioning whether the adoption of this high-risk strategy is worth itL ast Sunday, when the Arsenal defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos attempted t…
Sokratis Papastathopoulos’s blunder against Watford is part of a recent trend that will have many sides questioning whether the adoption of this high-risk strategy is worth itL ast Sunday, when the Arsenal defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos attempted t…
Sheffield United’s innovative tactics are derived from the influence of Pep Guardiola and changes in the lawsL ast Saturday, Rochdale scored a brilliant goal against Southend, working the ball from front to back in 16 rapid passes. As is the way of thi…
Football’s occasional ability to provide a wrinkle frustrates Guardiola’s dreams of order despite a dominant performanceFootball remains a magnificently capricious sport. You can crush its competitiveness with a self-perpetuating structure that leads t…
The midfield problems at the root of Frank Lampard’s early defeats as Chelsea manager will have been familiar to anyone who followed the ups and downs of his playing careerC enturies from now, when the world is a wasteland and football exists only in t…
Using AI to script the coming season is novel but data should not be viewed as a deeper magic underpinning the universeOn the morning of 1 April 2000, the Test Match Special commentator and Manchester United fan Dan Norcross woke up next to the West Ha…
Gareth Southgate has led a revolution that has produced better results and entertainment while England’s cricketers have also benefited from a more aggressive attitudeAmong the myriad skills that are employed in different sports one that is shared by a…
Liverpool and Spurs rely on the role to wreak havoc in attack and Saturday’s game will show how the position has evolvedIt is quarter of a century since Jack Charlton observed after the 1994 World Cup that full-back had become tactically the most impor…
For the elite clubs press-and-possess remains the dominant mode and the league’s less wealthy simply cannot competeOnce upon a time, not so very long ago, football was a game in which two teams battled for the ball and, when they had it, tried to score…
Manager likes to play his way regardless but Chelsea’s win over Guardiola’s side in December was not down to his masterplanSometimes things in football just happen. The most extraordinary victories can be achieved by teams whose tactical schemes have s…
Manager likes to play his way regardless but Chelsea’s win over Guardiola’s side in December was not down to his masterplanSometimes things in football just happen. The most extraordinary victories can be achieved by teams whose tactical schemes have s…
It is 125 years since the first false nine and its history since is fascinating as much for its failure to become a dominant tactic as for its many successful applicationsAt times it feels in football there is nothing new, merely the reinvocation of ol…
The Norwegian’s man-management at Manchester United has been top class – but the game against Tottenham will show whether he has the tactical nous to beat the bestNobody realistically doubts that Manchester United’s game against Tottenham on Sunday rep…
