Soccer Analysis

It would be harsh to judge this season as a failure no matter how it ends, and Sevilla can still win matches based on sheer individual quality. But we've seen glimpses of what could be when the pieces are ticking together, and we've seen Sampaoli and Sevilla win with style. Read more »

It took three seasons at Anfield, but now we have a clear answer of who Adam Lallana is: a leader of pressing movements, a veteran leader in the locker room, and an example for future Liverpool midfielders. Read more »

Financial limitations and constraints bring out the best of a certain kind of manager. In that sense, Eusebio Sacristan's years developing at the Barcelona B team to one day take over a senior side worked but it was Sociedad who reap the rewards. Read more »

The MLS approach to teambuilding has become much more nuanced in the decade since David Beckham arrived. While the salary cap puts sides on an equal playing level, the how remains a vision unique to the architect. Read more »

Barcelona needs some new ideas and some new players. Europe hasn't solved Luis Enrique's side as much as they have simply declined. Read more »

Philipp Lahm and Xabi Alonso's 34 years playing at the senior level speaks a fundamental truth about the game: as much as it's defined by the physicality of power and pace, it is positioning and technique are the last characteristics to age. Read more »

In characterizing Watford as a family, there was an idea that a club can either win trophies by becoming a billion dollar world brand or stay local with mid-table results. The meaning is in surviving the Premier League for one more season. Read more »

The winter window is surely no time to shape a club. But the added depth can power or save the final four months of a season whether the end goal be to avoid relegation or get into the Champions League. Read more »

Sergio Busquets was never Barcelona or Spain's best player, but he was always the most important. The success of the tiki taka era was defined by his play as much as anyone else. Read more »

If you spend enough time studying any group of people, you will find things to like about them. It is a moving experience and it reaffirms what most of us already know: people are infinite. And if we know this, we know to reject misanthropes and bigots. Read more »

The consensus after the initial social media storm is that the new logo represents why Juventus have achieved their recent success - not in the logo itself, but in taking the initiative to modernize before any other club. Read more »

Marcelino left behind an effective framework to win matches in the modern game. The side began to garner comparisons to Atleti and Leicester City in both defensive workrate and quick counter attacks using the pace of their lead striker. Read more »

Europe's giants are more than happy to sell off their spare parts to the Far East at crazy markups, but what happens when China comes for the players they want to keep? Read more »

The best word to describe Napoli is verticality. Maurizio Sarri's style is uniquely suited to combat the modern press with quick, one touch passing out of defense. This is tiki-taka designed to exploit both gegenpressing and social media video engagements. Read more »

If Oscar moved to Shanghai to find himself, Julian Draxler needs to do more of what he has been doing, but on a bigger stage with a stable club like Paris Saint-Germain. Read more »

Real Madrid has jumped ahead of Barcelona and Bayern Munich to be our top-ranked team to finish 2016, while Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid have moved into the top-5. Read more »

From the arrivals of Mourinho, Guardiola and Pogba in Manchester to the success of Zinedine Zidane as manager of Real Madrid and the impact of the Chinese Super League on the transfer market, 2016 was a momentous year. Read more »

One can question whether Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp misjudged their respective goalkeeper signings, yet the more pertinent one is if they will bend to the Premier League, or continue to try to bend the Premier League towards their style. Read more »

The Champions League knockout stages represent Radamel Falcao's opportunity to work his way back in the minds of supporters who never got to see his best. And it may even lead Monaco to becoming a European power, three years later. Read more »

Milan's rebuild follows an ideal theoretical blueprint: a foundation built from the youth academy (Abate, De Sciglio, Donnarumma, Locatelli), finding value in transfer windows (Suso, Bonaventura, Lapadula), sprinkled with the occasional high priced signing (Carlos Bacca). Read more »