In quite fantastic fashion, there is an abnormal representation of centre-halves on set-piece duties. Normally associated with banging in the goals from free kicks and corners, several NWSL teams instead have one of their centre-backs as a key taker of set-pieces. This begs the question we should always be asking in analysis - and that is...why?
The NWSL is back! This season, TheMastermindSite.com aims to bring more coverage to the NWSL and the women's game, including tactical analyses, player profiles, and as much as we can pull off within the scope of all the other exciting football around. So with that, let's kick off the NWSL season in style, with our match analysis of the very first fixture in this league for Angel City FC, as they secured a fashionable win over the NC Courage.
The handball rule in football has long been one of the most debated rules in the increasingly less beautiful game. The rule has been broken for decades, and each year attempts to fix the law only seem to make it more dubious. This year in the Premier League (2020-21), it seems as though the law has changed to enforce a policy in which any time the ball strikes the arm, and the arm is away from the body at all, it's going to be called as a handball. Unfortunately, this is the dumbest thing they could have done to try and solve the handball mysteries of seasons past, and has no regard whatsoever for the biomechanics of how footballers move on the pitch. Here are a few reasons why the law needs to change for good and why handball is currently ruining the game for everyone.
Rhys is joined by Canada Soccer expert Sam the Man to discuss the 32 greatest players to ever play for the Canadian Women's National Soccer Team. For the first time ever, the winner is declared before the show even begins, but Rhys and Sam still go through the bracket to see how everything will play out. Players discussed include the likes of the illustrious Diana Matheson, Sophie Schmidt, Charmaine Hooper and of course, the one and only, all-time great Christine Sinclair.
Despite much of the attention of the tournament surrounding VAR, the FIFA Women's World Cup in France was a large success and saw record viewing audiences around the world. The Americans ultimately came out victorious for the fourth time in their history but they weren't the only nation to shine at this summer's tournament. Here … Continue reading FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 – Team of the Tournament
What many thought to be the Group of Death is now complete with England topping Group D with a stunning nine points from three matches. The Lionness finished their group stage matches with a glorious win over Japan, getting their redemption from 2015 when they were knocked out at the hands of the Japanese in the semi-finals. Here is The Mastermind Site's tactical analysis for Japan vs. England as Group D comes to a close.
Group E kicked off yesterday with Canada beating Cameroon, and now both opening fixtures of Group E have been played, both ending in 1-0 score-lines. Canada's victory against Cameroon was fairly comfortable, while Netherlands had to really dig this one out and were only able to snatch it right at the end from a resilient New Zealand side. Here is The Mastermind's Tactical Analysis for New Zealand 0-1 Netherlands.
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