Welcome to Part II of our search for 2021’s breakout stars, where we use the Twenty3 Toolbox to help identify those who are primed to explode this year. Part I gushed over the passing style of Teun Koopmeiners, the spritely creativity of Emile Smith Rowe and the boldness of Roger Ibañez. Here, we select three…
Things just keep moving. A decade ago, possession percentage wasn’t yet on peoples’ minds; now, the biggest symbol of stats in football — expected goals (xG) — is calculated with computer modelling. That’s quite a change. However, just because there’s an algorithm involved doesn’t mean it’s difficult to understand. The concept is pretty intuitive, even…
Football is and forever has been perpetually evolving, but things have really sped up over the last decade. Previously, roles were defined by positions. Everyone had a rough idea of what to expect from each area of the pitch. Now, though, one position can be, and regularly is, filled by a number of players all…
Eintracht Frankfurt have a habit of taking undervalued strikers and turning them into goal machines. Sébastien Haller and Luka Jović both caught the eye when calling the Deutsche Bank Park home. Their impressive output resulted in West Ham breaking their club record to sign the former, while the latter moved to Real Madrid, with the…
The Data Game series sees Twenty3 speak to prominent writers and figures from the world of football to get their opinion on the use of data and analytics in the beautiful game. In the third instalment, we spoke to Mark Carey, who co-hosts the Football Fanalytics podcast and is the Data Analyst at The Athletic. Here’s what Mark…
At the beginning of a new year, it’s always a good time to remind oneself that there is hope for everyone. That each of us has the space and capacity to grow, to learn, to evolve, to strengthen, to become a truer or better version of ourselves. Even football teams who haven’t scored in six…
James Maddison’s post-match interview following Leicester City’s 2-0 win over Chelsea was a refreshing one. The versatile midfielder spoke candidly about a number of things, but there was a big focus on how he’s gone about improving his goal return. The 24-year-old found the back of the net against Frank Lampard’s side to take his…
The ‘new norm’ is now just the norm. It’s almost been a year since stadiums were filled with supporters, ten months since writers and journalists had access to players and managers in real life as opposed to just Zoom, and seven months since football returned with a vengeance in the UK, with more games now…
It’s been 350 minutes since Liverpool last scored in the Premier League. For context, you could watch Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame back-to-back with time to spare. The Reds went from rampant to blunt in the blink of an eye. Since the 7-0 win over Crystal Palace, they’ve netted just once. In the space…
Erling Haaland. Ryan Gravenberch. Eduardo Camavinga. The list of young players who broke out in 2020 was a truly star-studded one, with these three imperious names only scratching the surface when it comes to fresh faces in leading roles. So who’s next? Who will be 2021’s Haaland, Gravenberch or Camavinga? With the help of the…