Football Tactics

It's a Monday so we notice and how could we notice something other than Liverpool who now have two very well-deserved hands on the Premier League title? Anyway, today I want to talk about defending against false 9s so strap in [thread]

The diversity of team styles in the 2024-25 Premier League increases the importance of forcing the opponent to play the game that suits you more than it does them. www.nytimes.com/athletic/612...

I wrote a little bit about quantifying the impact of fatigue on ball-striking/finishing for players. Do players get tired in-game? Or between games without rest? talatabont.substack.com/p/do-tired-p...

𝑒𝑥𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠: 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑟 📋 tinyurl.com/ex-press [pdf]

Just how good are Bournemouth this season? Took Nottingham Forest to school today. Here are some secrets to Iraola’s success so far this season on the @theathleticfc.bsky.social podcast w/ @jonmackenzie.bsky.social @philhay.bsky.social and from 🇪🇸 @dermotmcorrigan.bsky.social pod.fo/e/2a25ac

Exclusive interview with Andoni Iraola: the almost reluctant coach driving the post-Guardiola world - giving his players the freedom to attack - his plans when he plays wealthy teams - how football changes faster than ever - Basque influence - his own aims www.independent.co.uk/sport/footba...

Ah yes! Another Monday afternoon on our gradual trudge into the future… Which means we notice! And today I’m noticing something that has maybe gone largely unremarked at Spurs given the general misery of things recently… but Postecoglou has been evolving… [thread]

Piece on Arsenal’s pressing in the first half against Tottenham, which I thought was brilliant. www.nytimes.com/athletic/606...

Great from @markcarey93.bsky.social on why deep runs are so key. No PL team has completed more through balls than #AVFC, with Watkins & Vardy having the highest volume of runs behind. This pushes back defences & makes space for Villa's 10s. He's still very important www.nytimes.com/athletic/605...

It’s Monday afternoon so we gird our mental loins and turn our minds to noticing things… And today I want you to come with a bit of a thought experiment with me as we consider Arsenal’s FA Cup loss to Manchester United from the weekend… [thread]

New post out today. Was burning a hole in the drafts box. open.substack.com/pub/absolute...

Enzo Maresca doesn't want Chelsea to be a heavily transitional team, but their counter-attacking threat has been useful this season. Piece on how they are using it well. www.nytimes.com/athletic/600...

It’s Monday and so you know the drill. We’ve got time for one final noticing before Christmas... And I thought I would do something a bit different because I wanted to talk about how Man City kept Amad Diallo quiet in the Manchester derby... until they didn't... [thread]

This is an updated version of an analysis we made last year, following a request from @jonmackenzie.bsky.social, using data from the top 5 leagues. This simplistic approach, based on NP xG vs. xGA, suggests that defensive solidity is more important, even at the expense of attacking performance

Since that promising 2-0 win at Newcastle, we've lost 5-2 to Arsenal, 3-1 to Leicester, and barely beat 19th-placed Wolves. Lopetegui has failed to convince me that we're heading in the right direction. Keeping him is delaying the inevitable, I fear. Listen here. open.spotify.com/episode/201g...

Thought Newcastle's out of possession approach was brilliant vs @lfcr.bsky.social, so here are few things they executed with some of the intentions (at least my interpretations of them) behind #Liverpool