Goalkeeper is an outstanding shot-stopper but does not excel at passing and this is reflected in how Manchester United playDavid de Gea has been named in the PFA team of the year in five of the past six seasons. He has been Manchester United’s player o…
Jorginho will be key in midfield but Gonzalo Higuaín and Sergej Milinkovi?-Savi? would really give the squad some heftBy Martin Laurence for WhoScoredHaving been in the pipeline for a few months, Maurizio Sarri’s arrival came as a relief for the majori…
The changing of the tactical guard at the World Cup was marked by early exits for Germany and Spain, and now the pace and aggression of France shows the way forwardWhen France won the 1998 World Cup, they brought cross-culturalism – which in football i…
The changing of the tactical guard at the World Cup was marked by early exits for Germany and Spain, and now the pace and aggression of France shows the way forwardWhen France won the 1998 World Cup, they brought cross-culturalism – which in football i…
Kylian Mbappé and Mario Mandzukic offer very individual forward threats but the clash of two midfields boasting energy in abundance could be mesmerisingGiven how Croatia struggled to deal with the pace of Raheem Sterling in the first half against Engla…
Five tactical posers for Gareth Southgate and Zlatko Dalic, from England’s set pieces to setting up around Mario MandzukicThe big decision Zlatko Dalic has to make lies in midfield. Does he play Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic deep with Andrej Kramaric in…
Mexico highlighted the vulnerability at right-back, where Danilo and Fagner have struggled to fill Dani Alves’s shoesThere was a spell, for the first 20 minutes or so, when it seemed Mexico might be able to trouble Brazil. Carlos Vela was getting the b…
Tactical postmortems must also factor in those things which cannot be planned for, as Spain and Germany can attestNo side, perhaps, is ever so much itself as when it is going out of the World Cup. When teams – or at least those with aspirations to the …
Still waters run deep for last-16 opponents whose Juan Quintero is a proven dead-ball specialistIt was a moment that Idrissa Gana Gueye would surely rather forget. The Everton midfielder’s casual application to defending Senegal’s near post from a corn…
These days we know someone ran 12.345km during a game. An admirable figure but did he run to help? To get in the way? As he ran, did he think? We need the context. If not, let’s leave the numbers for something elseLet’s not allow the uncertainty of res…
Low strike rate has its roots in the bunker mentality created by the growing gulf between rich and poor and the lack of time more talented teams have to develop attacking tacticsIt did not take long – it never does – for all the pre?tournament hype to …
The glut of goals from set pieces suggests that those coachable, controllable moments could be more important than a team’s style in open playHave you noticed that England are all the rage in Russia and I’m not talking about their clothes, their social…
England assistant manager reveals the influences and considerations that led to England’s decision to play a back three in RussiaIt was over dinner one night in Sochi when the idea was crystallised. Gareth Southgate was with his assistant, Steve Hollan…
José Mourinho’s dig at Antonio Conte has diverted attention from the FA Cup final’s pivotal confrontation in which Chelsea’s midfield could be overrun by Manchester United“I’m not,” José Mourinho said after Manchester United’s home win over Liverpool i…
As the gulf grows between rich and poor clubs so, too, does a culture in which some teams enter games accepting the only way they can compete is by not competingTactics are always contingent, never discreet. No manager can ever casually decide how he w…
Spending £50m on a full-back may seem extravagant but it demonstrates the position’s importance in the modern gameAccording to some people, any club who can afford to spend £50m on a full-back should be champions. I have lost count of the amount of ti…
Spending £50m on a full-back may seem extravagant but it demonstrates the position’s importance in the modern gameAccording to some people, any club who can afford to spend £50m on a full-back should be champions. I have lost count of the amount of ti…
Liverpool’s physicality and ferocious pressing mean the tactics that served Roma against Barcelona will have to be redesigned for the Champions League semi-final first legTwo problems dominate all others before Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final at …
Arsène Wenger’s lively forwards were undermined by shoddy defending on a day when Newcastle all but secured safetyThe quest for meaning, the need to form the unbearably random constituents of our existence into some kind of order, to create a narrative…
By the benchmark they have set, Manchester City were terrible at Liverpool – light up front, porous at the back and less than tigerish in midfield – and they need to react quicklyOnly three managers have outwitted Pep Guardiola this season, and while W…
