Soccer Analysis

Like Atleti, Dortmund and Napoli before them, Bayer Leverkusen is having its indie moment under Roger Schmidt. Through a combination of youth players, intelligent signings, and a consistent tactical platform, Leverkusen have quietly built a foundation for this season. Read more »

The 2014 summer transfer deadline featured characters, stakes, money, and profanity - all the makings of a good Netflix series. The “smart” teams get their business done before the deadline, and “really smart” teams get their transfer in before preseason training. Read more »

Over the long-term, Ángel di María's most important value and why the move should pay dividends despite the exorbitant price is his versatility. United need so many more pieces and he has the ability to conform to a variety of roles and formations. Read more »

Running doesn’t express itself on the field in glamorous ways. But it’s an essential trait that makes the whole machine work in both creating goals and preventing chances. Running is hard work - but it pays. Read more »

José Mourinho has set his board over the past year with a deft, confident hand. Chelsea has a roster capable of playing beautifully at times, but is also chameleonic enough to retain those Mourinho characteristics of grinding out results. Read more »

An entire weekend of free concerts, open practices, and a live “Men in Blazers” culminated with Pep Guardiola ignoring Caleb Porter during the post-game handshake. The universe finds new ways to keep its balance. Read more »

Arsenal has no shortage of attacking midfielders with world-class skill and this feels like a bit of duplication on a certain level, but they have been lacking a physical specimen with the strength and pace of Alexis Sánchez. Read more »

It feels strange to say that United are dark horses to win the league. The quality of teams in the EPL promises that winning will come down to the slightest details, where both Chelsea and United managers thrive. Read more »

Real Madrid has a superstar culture and the lesson they learned from the superstar culture of the Galacticos era was that paying gigantic sums of money is only prudent when you are buying those players young. Read more »

Luis Suárez played only three and a half seasons at Liverpool and his production was unmatched. But it was never as simple as scoring in the three years in between, and his madness will be remembered as much as his goals. Read more »

It’s in the Soccernomics manual for why transfers fail at number 3: stars of recent World Cups or European Championships are overvalued and best ignored. Watching these games with heightened sensibilities, we all get carried away. Read more »

The individual brilliance of the early matches was eventually neutralized by countries with better all-around squads and this was a World Cup that became reasonably predictable once we escaped the group stage. But every single minute was thrilling and worth it. Read more »

Whisper this only when no one’s around, but Argentina has more in common with Brazil than Germany. The difference is that Messi might be the greatest player in the sport’s history. That’s covering the cracks with diamonds. Read more »

Germany is peaking at the perfect time and are clear favorites over Argentina, but there's a distinct reason why we still must play the games. Read more »

Brazil, Germany, Argentina and the Netherlands are the final four countries standing in World Cup 2014. Circumstances favor the European teams, but will they prevail in what will be home matches for both South American sides? Read more »

Lionel Messi has been magic, while Colombia is now the sentimental favorite, but let's take a step back so we avoid dismissing Brazil and the completeness of France and Germany. Read more »

The deluge of goals from Messi, Neymar, Müller, Robben and Van Persie, impressive play from Costa Rica and Colombia, and the bite seen round the world all overshadowed the changing of the era. Read more »

In an era of specialized role, fullbacks became the modern box to box playmaker. Teams with adventurous fullbacks are modern, pressing and attack with fearlessness and speed, and have had impressive success already in World Cup 2014. Read more »

Xavi's generation won and won and won, but the end came swiftly in Brazil. Here's how Spain will come back remade with a new gospel while keeping tiki-taka. Read more »

The blend of strength and skill Belgium puts out there makes them one of the most balanced XI’s and why so many observers are bullish on their chances to go deep. Russia and South Korea are a virtual toss-up to also advance, though the former would be the tougher out moving forward. Read more »