At some point, there was no turning back as Maradona took control over Diego, with the armor of a persona shielding the person from a combination of idolatry, crippling addiction, and the hostility of Italy at the time. Read more »
Soccer Analysis
Maradona Documentary Review: Pieces Together A Player, A Place, A Time
Serie A Match Abstract: Juventus 2, Inter 1
One could boil this match down to Sarri being able to bring in a Higuain-type of striker late into the match and Conte lacking that option. The more things change with a new style of Serie A, the more they stay the same. Read more »
Granit Xhaka, The Myth Of Captaincy And Signaling A Team's Aspirations
Analytics could further change the perception of a captain's importance. Granit Xhaka was bought by Arsenal partly due to his underlying statistics, especially with a high "packing" metric. Read more »
La Liga Match Abstract: Real Madrid 0, Atletico Madrid 0
We don't necessarily ascribe defending to Real Madrid, but it looks like Zinedine Zidane went back to basics after an early season spent on the hot seat. Read more »
Inaki Williams Blends A Club's Past With A Portal Into The Future
Inaki Williams could have played for any other club in the world, but he chose Athletic. For Athletic, Williams represents both a celebration of its past, but also a portal into how the club may survive and thrive in the future. Read more »
Soccer Reflecting Life: How Samuel Eto'o Defined His Era
With his journey, there may be no footballer who better represented what it meant to be shaped by the game, by how the game could move, by what it could give and take away. Eto'o may not have been the defining player of his era, but no player experienced the era more deeply. Read more »
James Maddison Finds Creativity...Within A Midfield Structure
It's a cliche to put down opposing opinions by saying how someone only scrolls through clips and doesn't watch the game, but James Maddison straddles both. His passes will go viral. Yet his off-ball work will also satisfy the analysts. Read more »
Premier League Match Abstract: Arsenal 2, Spurs 2
Although they blew a two-goal lead, this feels like a point earned for Mauricio Pochettino's side as they were able to hold off immense Arsenal pressure throughout the second half. Read more »
Frank Lampard Searches For Character, Know-How In Youth
Even without challenging for a title, Frank Lampard could do everything right - he could be a good manager with an ability to develop young players - and still fail to get results due to the circumstances he inherited. Read more »
La Liga Match Abstract: Athletic Bilbao 1, Barcelona 0
Ernesto Valverde's side brought little in the way of new ideas for their playing style. They continue to overrely on Messi - or any genius - to win matches without any combination play to create space for their nine-figure attack. Read more »
End-To-End Stuff: Sports Betting
An unfortunate and ubiquitous reality in England and, probably soon, here in the U.S., are suffering carnival barkers who say they want you to win big but are actually trying to rob you. Read more »
End-To-End Stuff: National Federations
The USSF has revealed itself to be much more like a private, money-making concern than a benevolent nonprofit that's supposed to look after the welfare of American soccer and its most accomplished athletes. Read more »
End-To-End Stuff: Videogames
While the actual soccer world is vast, fraught, and fluid, videogames like FIFA, PES, and Football Manager create the illusion of a more legible universe. Read more »
2019 Premier League Opening Weekend Diary
Overreactions define the opening weekend in any sport, but we still check in on Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool, City, Chelsea and Manchester United. Read more »
End-To-End Stuff: The Sweeper Keeper
It's not a new position, but the sweeper keeper is at its peak in 2019. It's closer than it ever has been to an orthodoxy. Read more »
End-To-End Stuff: The Soccer Bar
When you strip away the peculiar trappings of American soccer fandom, the affectation and unctuous cultishness of it, you find people killing time together before they spill out into the street two hours later and the slow rhythms of daily life resume. Read more »
The Essential 50 Of The 19-20 Premier League Season
The following is a list of the 50 essential players and managers who will define the 2019-20 Premier League season. Read more »
End-To-End Stuff: The Number 10
James is a number 10 in a sport that hardly uses them anymore. Sometimes uniqueness is not an asset; it only makes you an awkward fit. Read more »
End-To-End Stuff: Political Action
Sports, especially a game as global as soccer, can and should be powerfully politicized. Why wouldn't you pull every lever available to you, to help create a world in which your greatest worry really is how well your team plays on the weekend? Read more »
End-To-End Stuff: The Long Throw
The viability of the long throw, and the way we think about it, depends upon how it's deployed. Does its use spawn from a searching ingenuity or simply a lack of other ideas? Read more »