The Champions League switched from being a glamour trophy to the single defining symbol of a side's season. Nowhere is that more true than Paris Saint-Germain. Read more »
Soccer Analysis
Neymar, PSG & Using The Champions League As The Measure
Barca Still Testing The Limits Of Lionel Messi After All These Years
There is no full accounting for Lionel Messi, but the players around him-they can be found out more easily than Barcelona's record suggests. Read more »
Searching For The Next Great European Striker In Luka Jovic
There are three distinct traits that showcase how seamlessly Luka Jovic's goalscoring ability could fit in the modern European game: inside the box goals, the late-running nature of those goals and the number of first touch goals. Read more »
20 Months Lost In One Match: Pep Guardiola Turns Pragmatic In Europe
Singular matches decided by a moment or mistake adds to the mystique of the Champions League, however incompatible it may be with Pep Guardiola's thinking. Read more »
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium & The Changing Table Stakes Of Modern Soccer
How not to get left behind in European soccer without outside investment, when spending over a billion dollars on a new stadium offers no guarantees of success, is one of the many paradoxes of the modern game. Read more »
Bundesliga Match Report: Bayern 5, Dortmund 0
This match showed off the best of Bayern: their pace, attacking, pressure, and mentality and obsession to dominate matches for 90 minutes without any break. Read more »
Roberto De Zerbi And The Burden Of Possession-Based Branding
Roberto De Zerbi is in his critically-acclaimed independent phase of his career. What he loses or gains when he moves to the Hollywood stage remains to be seen, but that’s also a story we’ve seen before. Read more »
How Gregg Berhalter Disorganizes Defenses For The Social, Modern Age
Gregg Berhalter's style promotes movement, spacing, and pressing. And considering his affinity for explanation, plus the way we devour information online, perhaps he'll further progress another generation of tacticians as well. Read more »
Serie A Match Abstract: Inter 3, AC Milan 2
That was not only one of the best Milan derbies in recent memory, that will surely be one of the matches of the season. Read more »
MLS Adopts The Language And Story Of A Selling League
If last season was about clubs signing young South American talent, then this season presents the other side of that equation. Yet there is a tension between player development and building a cohesive, competitive side. Read more »
Puma Jerseys And Scale: City Extends Their 24/7 Global Brand
Ambitious jersey deals are just one example of how the internet is reshaping the footballing world. Likewise, the deal also gives Puma the opportunity to tap into the CFG network as a player would. Read more »
Real Madrid Finally Reaches A Point Of Harsh Self-Assessment
The advantage of being the biggest club in the world is that when all else fails, you can afford to be spectacularly unsubtle, remake the shape of an entire squad in the span of a single summer. Read more »
Transfer Bans & Rows: Sarri Navigates Another Chelsea Week At Chelsea
The mentality and pestilence brought on by instability looks to set Chelsea into a culture of short booms like Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte initially experienced, followed by an inevitable decline regardless of the manager. Read more »
Valverde, Simeone And The Search For Continuity In La Liga
How can two teams searching for continuity feel so different? Even with Ernesto Valverde more successful from a trophy standpoint last season, his signing feels like an existential acceptance that Messi must carry the team. Read more »
The Presence Or Absence Of Imagination
In the end, the most important aspect of style is having one, to look like you're trying to do something a specific way, and succeeding. Liverpool and Atleti had styles in their UCL matches this week against Bayern and Juventus. Read more »
Gasperini's Atalanta Project: Fitness, Failure & Regional Inspiration
That Gasperini is finding success at this relatively late age shows there are foundational truths of the game, about pressure and fitness, regardless of the current tactical moment. Read more »
Premier League Match Report: City 6, Chelsea 0
How does Maurizio Sarri recover from this? It was the heaviest defeat for Chelsea in 28 years and they looked lost as a team. Read more »
Tactics, Mentality, Cooperative Football: Maurizio Sarri Hits A Wall
Maurizio Sarri, perhaps too successful too early in the season, is a victim of his own success and expectations. Read more »
The Fundamental, Unavoidable Problem Of VAR
VAR is exhausting and the on-pitch litigating has only intensified, because the players don’t know (or don’t care) what’s supposed to be reviewable and not. Read more »
Spygate and PowerPoint: Marcelo Bielsa Impacts The Championship
Marcelo Bielsa's press conference quickly gained momentum online, turning into a uniquely 2019 moment. Read more »