The football blog for fans of all clubs
To me, one of the most interesting clubs in Europe is Hearts. You often don’t hear “interesting” and “Hearts” in the same sentence, but this recent iteration is worth following for a few reasons. The biggest is new manager Ian Cathro, one of the few top flight managers actually younger than me. He’s a well-regarded […]
Napoli were in crisis. They had lost midweek in the Coppa Italia to Juventus in a way that left many Napoli faithful and players feeling aggrieved. Results in the league meant they had fallen off challenging Juventus for the scudetto and were barely alive in the title race. And this match meant traveling to Rome […]
If you’ve stepped away from the Italian game for a few years, you will notice that the calcio stereotypes do not necessarily fit. While defence is still prized by the top clubs and the Azzurri will feature one of the best backlines in the world game, Serie A has more diversity of styles and play […]
It must feel wonderful as a manager to not have to worry about tactics. At least, that is what many people assume happens when a team goes up a man. When a player is sent off, the team down a player loses any obligation to create a smart tactical plan. Your goal is to make […]
When you’re a manager, what matters more, the match at hand or the long-term? The answer is a bit of both but when you put together your match day line-up, one or the other must dominate. For many managers in the FA Cup, the long-term is most important. Therefore, the competition has suffered from poor […]
Generally speaking, there are two strategies to deal with the Barcelona possession game. The first, and most often used, is to sit back, hunker down, and hope to hit Barca on the break. The downside is that you must rely on your team to play cohesive defence that can stop a front three that are […]
In this column, we focus on one manager and his decisions before, during, and sometimes after a match. We (and other writers) analyze the decisions and results as if choice works out as it is supposed to. If a club wins, the manager made the right choices; the converse is also true. Sometimes, though, luck […]
