Soccer Analysis

Slaven Bilic's Search For Something Extra

by Yu Miyagawa

Upon his return to West Ham, Slaven Bilic observed that the club have "something special about them." With the EPL as tumultuous as it's been in years, this season represents the best chance for Bilic to unveil just enough tactical nous to claim a Champions League spot. Read more »
What's At Stake With Xabi Alonso

by Yu Miyagawa

If Bayern Munich find Champions League success this season, through the right foot of center back Xabi Alonso, it won't only end in a trophy, but perhaps signal a new direction in soccer tactics - the counter to the counter-press. Read more »
Making Sense Of The Insane Transfer Fees For Martial, Sterling

by Leutrim Rexhaj

Anthony Martial and Raheem Sterling have been highly productive at a young age, but they remain unproven which brings a great deal of financial risk for the two Manchester clubs. Read more »
Rebuilding The Juventus Midfield In One Summer

by Yu Miyagawa

Sami Khedira, Juan Cuadrado and Hernanes are exactly the type of low risk, high reward deals that Andrea Agnelli hit time and time again to rebuild Juventus the first time around. Read more »
Liverpool Rediscover Their Balance

by Yu Miyagawa

For a manager who came to Liverpool with expectations of building another "Swanselona", the emphasis on physicality could be interpreted as an admission of a failed ideology. Maybe you can have it all - the nastiness and the passing. Read more »
The Future Of Atletico Madrid Is Now

by Yu Miyagawa

We've never seen Diego Simeone mold a player from a young age outside of Koke. In the upcoming years, we will get to see what a Simeone player truly looks like with this new generation, which may end up being a different Atleti paradigm altogether. Read more »
The Basque Friendly In Boise

by Yu Miyagawa

How can a soccer team embody the Immigrant Experience? We traveled to Boise, home of 15,000 Basque residents, to cover a very important Athletic Bilbao friendly. Read more »
Grading The Deal: City Buys Raheem Sterling From Liverpool For $76M

by Christopher Reina

City spent a lot of money to get Raheem Sterling, but he makes them much better, while it is all about how that money is spent for a Liverpool club that can't afford to stay average for much longer. Read more »
Bielsa, Sampaoli And The Anxiety Of Chilean Influence

by Yu Miyagawa

Bielsa and Sampaoli's revolution occurred on the fly, molding the small, technical, quick attackers the country already produced into results. The Copa America side represents the middle ground where tactics and players meet to overcome the trivialities of never having won in 99 years. Read more »
A Summer Fit For Manchester

by Yu Miyagawa

The Manchester derby last April showed both sides at their best, even if with City, it was only a glimpse - and a blueprint for this summer. Read more »
Barcelona's 122-Goal Monolith

by Christopher Reina

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar became a shatterer of worlds this season, slowly developing the chemistry to form an attacking trio unlike any we've ever seen. Read more »
Champions League Final Preview

by Christopher Reina & Yu Miyagawa

Examining how Barcelona and Juventus were built, how they reached the Final and how each club can win the ultimate prize in Berlin. Read more »
Reviewing The 14-15 Premier League Season

by Christopher Reina

The 14-15 Premier League title chase had very little intrigue, Jose Mourinho and Chelsea made sure of that. But here's how the top-7 compared statistically. Read more »
Revitalizing Bayern Munich: Pep Guardiola’s Next Challenge

by Yu Miyagawa

Pep Guardiola was hired at Bayern with an intellectual and monetary blank check, free to let his mind wander. He's delivered the Bundesliga with ease, but his legacy will be defined by how he builds his roster for Europe. Read more »
The Shape Of Dortmund To Come

by Yu Miyagawa

Thomas Tuchel arrives with Jurgen Klopp’s innovative approach to crowding space in the midfield, an emphasis on youth players, and perhaps most importantly, high hipster ratings. Read more »
Champions League Semifinals Preview

by Christopher Reina

For Barcelona to win the Champions League, they will have to defeat their former legendary manager and then very possibly their biggest rival in what would be a Clasico in Berlin. Read more »
Pellegrini's Broken Squad

by Yu Miyagawa

While Manuel Pellegrini showed he can manage a big club to success, he’s more interesting as the restless indie filmmaker forced to experiment on a small budget. Maybe the blip this season, and potentially his third season managing the club, never mattered in the big scheme of Manchester City. Read more »
United In Hibernation

by Christopher Reina

Manchester United is in third place in the EPL a year after being crisis, showing money and a little flexibility will always carry more currency than a well-considered plan. Read more »
Monaco: Moneyball With A Billion Dollar Budget

by Yu Miyagawa

In an unexpected move, Monaco ran like a club with a fraction its means in its frugality and youth development, featuring buzzwords like sustainability. As a result, Dmitry Rybolovlev found something money can’t buy – an European identity. Read more »
The Alternating Visions Of The 3-4-3

by Yu Miyagawa

If Brendan Rodgers’ breakthrough with the 3-4-3 came from the day-to-day desire to keep his job, Pep Guardiola only explores the largest questions. Read more »

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