At the beginning of January, I, alongside many members of the footballing community, began to mentally prepare for Liverpool's life without Sadio Mane. In 'Finding the next Sadio Mane – Tactical Analysis', I selected Leipzig's Christopher Nkunku as the perfect man to replace the Liverpool legend, amidst a crowd of Luis Diaz, Emmanuel Dennis and Rafael … Continue reading Why Sadio Mane’s killer instinct makes him a perfect striker
The Canadian Premier League is back! This weekend saw another heavyweight clash between Cavalry and Forge, and a surprise team take top spot in the table. Here is our (ongoing) tactical review of the Canadian Premier League's second round of fixtures.
Last week, the Canadian Premier League kicked off for its fourth season, with the opening set of matches featuring a repeat of last season's Playoff Final. From a personal standpoint, I opened the season with the launch of our Role Continuity Player Evaluation System - our first ever database scoring player habits and on-the-field actions. But anyone who knows this site knows that we're here for the tactics, and the in-depth scrutinization of each and every team. So after our analysis of every single opening match, here is what each team needs to change ahead of the second round of fixtures.
One of the most common questions thrown my way is the typical - "How do you know what you know?" or "How did you develop your tactical craft?". Well, I finally have an answer for you.
For the past few seasons, the attention on Manchester United's transfer business has surrounded their inability to sign a world class defensive midfielder. However, with United floundering under Ralf Rangnick's style of play, greater defensive concerns have been illuminated in the past few months.
What a player does on a football pitch from a pure on-the-ball event perspective, quantifies only a small percentage of their actual role or influence on a match. What a player does off the ball can often be the key to a good performance, allowing a player to enhance their on-the-ball metrics in the process. So this begs the question - how can you evaluate a player's performance if they weren't really all that involved in the action, but stuck to their specific role perfectly?
"If Manchester City win the match, the title race is over." - every Premier League pundit in existence. Well, Manchester City didn't win the match, so what happens now? First of all, what a match. Second of all, I am of the firm belief that Manchester City thoroughly outclassed Liverpool on the day, and that Raheem Sterling should have been ruled onside from that VAR disallowed goal (surely it's too close to say clear and obvious?). But I digress. I am not here to talk about refereeing decisions. Instead, the tactics! So let's jump into it, and discuss whether or not the title race is over, or in fact, still with everything to play for.
The Canadian Premier League's fourth season kicked off this past weekend, ending with a heavyweight fixture between last season's Playoff Final contenders. Despite Forge FC's dominance in the match, Pacific FC pacified much of Forge's central penetration, and were clinical in front of the goal in securing the win. Here is our match analysis.
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