When it comes to profiling or scouting players, one of the more difficult jobs is casting an eye over a youngster. There are many external factors which need to be considered. For example, have they played enough minutes to get a fair read on them? Are they playing in their favoured role or are they…
Manchester United may have spent vast amounts of money over recent seasons but it’s their academy graduates who are playing pivotal roles in their pursuit of a top-four finish. Bruno Fernandes has been the main attraction since his January move but Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood are pushing the Portuguese sensation for the crown of…
No-one has scored more goals since the Premier League restart than Raheem Sterling. But he isn’t alone. You would be forgiven for overlooking West Ham United utility man Michail Antonio, who is level with the Manchester City and England forward on six. The descriptor ‘utility man’ does Antonio a disservice. When he signed for the…
In February 2013, Rami Moghadam pushed a domino that would change football. Rami Modhadam was, is, a designer and art director. And the domino was in basketball. Ted Knutson, of StatsBomb (then: blog, now: company), saw Moghadam’s radar charts and, along with Nat James’, applied the design to football. Although radars had been seen in…
Cristiano Ronaldo hit a double in Juventus’ 2-2 draw with Atalanta on Sunday to take his Serie A goals tally to 28 for the season. Not since 2015/16 has the prolific Portuguese scored more league goals in a single campaign. Remarkably, the 35-year-old is currently averaging a goal a game in the Italian top flight…
At the risk of annoying fans of the other football, the NFL is quite a simple game to understand. You have big players who block, little brave players who run through them, fast players who can catch, and one player who can throw the ball. And then there are tight-ends. They line up on offence…
Liverpool are reigning champions of the Premier League, Europe and the world. Jurgen Klopp, with the help of Michael Edwards and the recruitment team, has put the Reds back on their perch and it’s happened without the club spending eye-watering fees on a regular basis. Yes, the club did part with close to £130million to…
Regardless of whether you’re a Liverpool fan, the Reds winning the title has led to at least one good thing: the story of Harry Redknapp’s CD-ROM of data being made public. From The Athletic: “In [Michael] Edwards’ early days, [Harry] Redknapp called to ask why he could not get anything out of a CD-ROM filled…
In Timo Werner, Chelsea have signed one of the best young forwards in the world. But his arrival may give manager Frank Lampard one of the biggest headaches. The Germany international signed off on his RB Leipzig career with a brace against Augsburg to help Die Roten Bullen to a 2-1 win. The double took…
Liverpool are Premier League champions. Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are battling it out for the Golden Boot and Alisson Becker is leading the race for the Golden Glove. Then there’s Roberto Firmino, a player without a league goal at Anfield all season. In a team filled with overperformers, it can seem as though he’s…