Germany 0 – Mexico 1
Mexico upset tournament favorites Germany in a game that was as tactically interesting as it was viscerally exciting. Joachim Löw’s Germany set up in their anticipated 4-2-3-1, though with Marvin […]
Category Archives: Analysis
Tactical analysis of a team, player, or game.
Portugal 3 – Spain 3
The first major game of the 2018 World Cup more than lived up to expectations, as the 36th Iberian derby produced a thrilling and high-quality match of that will be […]
Russia 5 – Saudi Arabia 0
Russia produced a dominating win over Saudi Arabia in this opening match of the 2018 World Cup in a game that was more exciting than skillful. Much of the pre-game […]
A Real Manchester Clásico
At the beginning of last season, I wrote an analysis of the first Guardiola-Mourinho Manchester derby, a game that now seems remarkably distant, a relic of a bygone era. The […]
The Manchester Clásico
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City won their first derby against José Mourinho’s Manchester United this past Saturday in a game that was more tactically conventional than had been anticipated, at least in […]
NKOTB 2: Mazz-Puel-Karanka
Last week I looked at the biggest new names in Premier League management; this week, it’s the undercard. Though Walter Mazzarri, Claude Puel, and Aitor Karanka don’t have quite the […]
NKOTHB: Pep – Mou – Tony C
With the possible exception of Manchester United’s mega-signings of Zlatan Ibrahimović, and Paul Pogba, the most exciting additions to the Premier League this season are a trio of managers. Pep […]
Olympics (Women): United States 1, Sweden 1 (3-4 SO)
The United States dominated Sweden but lost on penalties, failing to reach the finals for the first time since the introduction of Women’s football to the Olympics. On balance, Sweden […]
Olympics (Women): Colombia 2, United States 2
The United States dominated their final group stage game with a substantially rotated squad, but errors by Megan Rapinoe and Hope Solo allowed Colombia to tie. In all likelihood, the […]
Olympics (Women): United States 1, France 0
The United States qualified for the knock-out rounds by defeating a French side that were the better team for most of the game. Even so, it was an impressive win […]
