2016 was an emotional year for the “Tricolor” fans. After a terrible startup at Campeonato Carioca, with only 2 victories, a draw and 3 defeats, coach Eduardo Batista was dismissed from office on February 25. The experienced Levir Culpi replaced him, leading Fluminense to win the Primeira Liga 2016 in less than two months, a competition with clubs from Minas […]
Tag: soccer
FC Porto – Controlling the space in front of the defensive line
After the Portuguese “Clássico” on 4th February between FC Porto and Sporting CP, besides the sensational debut of Tiquinho Soares with the “Dragões” shirt, the goal scored by Alan Ruiz will remain in memory. From that goal, the issue that FC Porto have been coming across this season, especially in the last games, […]
Juventus FC – Game model
Juventus FC and AC Milan faced each other in the quarter-finals of Coppa Italia, which can be seen as a rematch of the Supercoppa that Milan won in penalties. This time it was Juventus who came out laughing with a 2-1 win that took them to the semi final against Napoli. This was a very different […]
Drills to explore and create from wide areas
Intro We will discuss the exploration of the wide areas, to create imbalances in our opponent’s strategy. It is extremely important for a team to be able to use the maximum width of the field to explore those areas, and also to create space in the central lane, so the midfielders can create and play […]
Scouting Report – Amadou Diawara
Recently elected for the best 11 born after 1997 by the italian periodic “Gazzetta dello Sport”, Amadou Diawara, 19 years old, plays an important role in the Napoli midfield. Coming from Bologna, the African born in Guinea Conakry has already 19 games this season in Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League. Usually plays as defensive midfielder, […]
TSV 1860 München
With three official matches for TSV 1860 München, the Portuguese manager has 2 defeats and 1 victory, having being eliminated from the German Cup by the 3rd division sensation team, Lotte, that also left behind Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen. Despite the poor results so far, Vítor Pereira is a man of convictions, persisting on bringing […]
The difference in distribution – Hugo Lloris vs Claudio Bravo
Lloris and Bravo replacements performance in Manchester City 2-2 Tottenham Goalkeeper’s distribution topic is very popular these days, being one of the biggest signs of modern soccer. More and more integrated in the team’s game model, they offer back passing lines and organize the game from behind. In this match in England, in the very demanding Premier […]
Scouting Report – Roberto Gagliardini
From a failed Serie B loan to a millionaire transfer in less than one year. It’s hard to understand the meteoric rise of Roberto Gagliardini. How can a player be valued so fast in such a short period of time? What’s so special about him? That’s what we’ll try to find out. Gagliardini is part […]
Chelsea FC – Antonio Conte and the 1-3-4-3 formation
Since Antonio Conte switched to 1-3-4-3, Chelsea has been unstoppable, with several wins and emphatic performances against top opponents. One team after the other, all fell down, while Chelsea is assuming itself as the leading candidate to the title. Since the switch, Chelsea has 12 wins, 28 goals scored and 2 conceded in 12 games. So what’s […]
Passing technique exercises
Intro In modern soccer, passing technique is considered the key principle of the collective game. After a brief conceptual approach, we will present a series of exercises to work passing technique through contextualized plays. In soccer, the pass is part of the collective technique – the actions that can put together two or more players of […]
Counter-pressing – Bayer Leverkusen vs RB Leipzig
Intro The counter-pressing (or the so called Gegenpressing) is growing in European football. This is a kind of pressure made after losing the ball, and unlike most of the teams that after losing the ball try to move back the lines and readjust quickly on the back, teams practising counter-pressing do exactly the opposite. […]
Mapgies new life
Rafa Benítez is the major responsible for the excellent campaign of Newcastle after the ups and downs of 2015/2016 season. He initiated the season commanding Real Madrid in Champions League, that the Merengues won, but ended without avoiding the relegation of Magpies to the Championship. With only 10 games in the Premier League, the Spanish manager […]
The intelligence in modern soccer
Modern soccer Stopping, thinking and seeing what has changed is always an interesting exercise. Modern soccer is made up of trends and you need to know them in order to understand the game in its essence. In recent years, a paradigmatic sign of how soccer has evolved is given to us by the profile of the […]
Atalanta BC: defensive process
The moment Atalanta BC is one of the big surprises in Serie A so far. Giampiero Gasperini’s team is the hottest in Italian football with 6 wins in the last 7 games. That includes victories against Inter and Napoli at home and an away draw at Fiorentina. There’s plenty of individual talents to check in Gasperini’s […]
SSC Napoli – Game model
After giving Juventus a run for their money last season, expectations were high for Nápoles. Maurizio Sarri’s team dealt very well with the departure of their record-breaking striker Gonzalo Higuain and started the new season with the same offensive punch and beautifully played football. Arkadiuz Milik did his part to help Napoli fans to forget […]