Everton’s Nikica Jelavić and Aston Villa’s Darren Bent used to score for fun but are now suffering after their managers have demanded a more patient approach. Here’s why the classic number nine has gone from superhero to supersub… The transformation of English football in recent years has been as swift as it has been profound. Changes off the […]
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Pretty football and the Nash equilibrium
Ignore Barcelona. Ignore Spain. Ignore 1982 Brazil, Total Football Holland, and the Invincibles. What if the real footballing lesson about aspiration and beauty lies not in art, but in economics? This I have learned from John Forbes Nash, the Nobel Laureate depicted by Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind. In the movie version, Crowe/Nash advises […]
Sir Alex continues to confounds the opposition and even his players
In continuation of our recent post regarding The Football Philosophy of Sir Alex Ferguson in the 2012/13 Season, we try to make sense of Fergie’s ever-evolving strategy which has launched Manchester United back up to the top of the Premier League table. Although United’s current position is a familiar sight, the way the wily Scot […]
The Football Philosophy of Sir Alex Ferguson (2012/13)
The classic 4-4-2 has been labelled a neanderthal system of football, even by Sir Alex Ferguson himself, and has not been relied on in its purest form for quite some time. A tale of diamonds, wingless wonders, has not regularly inspired Sir Alex’s team talk instructions. Then again, the manager has made a habit of change […]
How Barcelona’s Great Start to the Season Masks Their Defensive Woes
The Blaugrana have suffered this term but have managed to turn it around in all but one game despite defensive problems which have already threatened to derail their campaign. … They looked assured enough against a Hoops side feeding off scraps in the early stages, but breakaway attacks brought moments of discomfort for the Catalans, […]
Why Suarez must trust his teammates
There is no doubt that Luis Suarez should be the focus of Liverpool’s attack as he continues to be highly effective as the team’s striker. Although the Uruguayan’s goal return is still quite prolific, he leads the other top scorers of the league as far as shots are concerned, as featured in the Top Scorers […]
Building a new City
Since that epic finale to last season’s English Premier League, and having clinched their much famed £1billion title, Manchester City have begun work on a £100 million training complex. It is said to be modeled around the La Masia football academy in Barcelona, which is known to have produced world class talent like Iniesta, Xavi […]
Role of the new No. 10 in the EPL
In Italy, they refer to him as the trequartista. In Argentina, he’s the enganche. In England … we don’t really have a name for him. English football terminology has never quite come up with a definitive word for the player who occupies space between the opposition lines of defence and midfield – not quite a […]
What Barca means to Palestine
Barcelona Football Club arguably brings more joy to Palestinians than any other institution in the world. That’s certainly my impression after almost three years in Gaza and the West Bank. Every time the Catalans take to the field you can guarantee you’ll struggle to get a table in the bars of Ramallah and the shisha-infused […]
Johan Cruyff – Interview
It was 30 years ago, that Johan Cruyff played his last match in the European Cup, the three-times winner and four-times finalist bringing the curtain down on one of the great odysseys of the game in Amsterdam against, of all teams, Celtic. Not that the man himself knows, of course. Frankly, he hasn’t a clue. […]
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