On Saturday August 17, 2021, shortly after Bayern’s big 3-2 win over VFL Wolfsburg, Hansi Flick announced his decision to leave Bayern Munich at the end of the 2020-21 season. The news left the Bayern board reeling, and the club now having to navigate the final stretch of the season under the uncertainty of not knowing who their next manager will be. So who should be their next manager? Bundesliga Daily brings us some of the key candidates for the job.
April 20, 2021, will go down in history as the day when European football was saved, and in large part, saved by the fans of the game. Sir Matt Busby famously said, "Football is nothing without the fans", and it was proven right when fans of all Premier League clubs involved in the creation of the Real Madrid led European Super League protested against their own clubs and owners. Liverpool fans took down banners inside the stadium and replaced them with protest banners outside the stadium instead and fans of Chelsea FC took to the streets to protest before their match against Brighton & Hove Albion, even prompting club legend Petr Cech to jump off the team bus and plead with them to move out of the way. The owners of the six English clubs got the message loud and clear, "WE DO NOT WANT THE SUPER LEAGUE." This is how fans stopped the European Super League from happening.
AS Roma are still far from the side they were many years ago, but they have enjoyed two of their better seasons over the last decade since Paulo Fonseca arrived at the club. The Portuguese manager came to Roma with a respectable reputation, having led Shakhar Donetsk to three league titles and a 74% win rate in his three seasons at the club. During his first season in charge at I Giallorossi, Fonseca led AS Roma to a fifth place finish in Serie A - securing Europa League football for the team. Roma have since performed well in the competition this season, with a semi-final against tournament favourites Manchester United to play for in the next few weeks. Their performances in the Europa League have outshone their relatively sub-par season in Serie A, with the side currently in seventh place. Nonetheless, if Fonseca's team were to pull out a miracle and make the Europa League final, this season would be seen as a complete success. With that, here is a tactical analysis of Paulo Fonseca's AS Roma this season.
On Sunday April 18th, 2021, twelve of Europe's elite clubs made a shocking announcement that they had agreed to take part in a "European Super League". The announcement was instantly condemned by UEFA, FIFA, the FA, and fans around the globe...not to mention the Futbol Masterminds. Rhys, Kausty and special guest Vivek dissect some of the many issues to do with the European Super League, before delving into a discussion on racism in football and England's Euro 2020 squad. Submit questions and follow the show @futbolmasterminds on Instagram, or on themastermindsite.com.
After a fantastic midweek win in the CONCACAF Champions League against Club Leon, Toronto FC looked beaten and battered before the whistle even blew on Major League Soccer's opening day. The Reds looked lackluster throughout the match, struggling to put up a fight against a Montreal defense full of mistakes. This is our tactical analysis of Montreal's 4-2 win over Toronto FC on the opening round of the 2021 Major League Soccer season.
Earlier this week, Adi Hütter was announced as the next Borussia Monchengladbach boss. Unfortunately for him and his current Eintracht Frankfurt team, he didn't make the best impression on his new club this weekend, suffering a 4-0 defeat. Adi Hütter's team were lifeless and ineffective, and let Gladbach walk all over them. So as this managerial merry-go-round saga continues, we analyze Borussia Monchengladbach's 4-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.
After a slow start to the season, Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid are now flying on all cylinders, currently on a 14-match unbeaten streak that's propelled them toward the top of La Liga and the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Zidane doesn't have the same squad that won him the Champions League in three back to back years between 2016 and 2018, but he is getting the best out of what he has at his disposal once again. After a massive 2-1 win over Barcelona in El Clasico this past weekend and the side securing a place in the UEFA Champions League semis, the side could be on a path toward victory in either competition. As a result, we now take a look at the tactics Zinedine Zidane has deployed throughout the 2020-21 season at Real Madrid.
In the merry go round that is the Bundesliga managerial landscape at the moment, Adi Hütter has officially been announced as the next Borussia Monchengladbach boss. The announcement came just days after leading his team to a massive win over third place VFL Wolfsburg, with Die Adler in poll position to qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season. Monchengladbach on the other hand, sit just eighth in the table, after a stop and start second half of the season. Part of Gladbach's lack of form could be down to the other big managerial announcement of 2021 in the Bundesliga - Marco Rose's imminent arrival at Borussia Dortmund. However, Hütter's achievements with Frankfurt are monumental in comparison to Gladbach's disappointing season. That makes it all the more confusing why he would leave a side about to participate in the UEFA Champions League for one that is not guaranteed European football next season. Nonetheless, the surprise announcement gives us the perfect opportunity to eulogize everything Adi Hütter has accomplished at Eintracht Frankfurt.
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