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Evaluating the Mental Model
We all want to be able to predict the future. The better you can predict the future, the more control you have once it arrives.
Every allocation of resources is a bet on what’s to come. Liverpool invested in sophisticated analytics and it paid off – other clubs are now following suit.
Amidst the rush to innovate […] -
No cutting edge
As La Liga, Serie A and the Premier League line up to join the Bundesliga in resuming play, all eyes have been on Germany to try to work out what the impact of playing behind closed doors has been. Why has home teams’ win percentage in the Bundesliga almost halved?
It’s not that home teams have […]
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Two more subs
After the International Football Association Board’s decision last week, leagues can now allow up to five substitutions per game rather than the usual three. We look at some of the potential consequences should leagues implement the new rule.
Which teams would benefit the most?
Squads with the greatest strength in depth are the most obvious beneficiaries. This […]
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Finding signal in the data
A lot is often made of the fact that Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk does not make many tackles. The Dutchman averages almost exactly one a game, less than every other central defender at England’s “Big 6” clubs bar one. Paolo Maldini famously said “If I have to make a tackle then I have already made […]
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Goodbye to home advantage?
There’s no advantage in football like home advantage. Its main underlying drivers, as far as we know, are familiar conditions, less travel and, of course, a dominant local crowd behind the home side. Now, with the prospect of football being played behind closed doors, at least for the rest of this season and if not […]
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One year later
Postponing UEFA EURO 2020 until next summer may be disappointing for fans and players, but it was ultimately the only decision. Now national teams and coaches have the unique opportunity of planning for two major tournaments back to back, with the World Cup taking place the following year in Qatar. So what will the extra […]
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The undervalued team of the decade
With the end of the decade upon us, we are all thinking about the best teams, players, and moments of the past ten years. Naturally, a consensus emerges over time and most lists of the best players of the decade tend to be slight variations on the same few players. We wanted to take a […]
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The disappearance of the number 10
The number 10 has often been seen as the most creative and flamboyant player on the pitch. Graceful movement and a deft touch, they opened up the possibility of football being an art where simplicity should be treasured. But what’s happened to the trequartista, enganche or free-role playmaker over the years since the game has […]
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Why football is better than rugby
“Football is the only sport you can have 30 chances to 2 and still draw or even lose,” said a frustrated Pep Guardiola after a 2-2 draw with Tottenham in August. “In basketball, tennis, golf if you do what we did against Spurs, you win. That’s why this sport is so fascinating.”
Guardiola isn’t wrong – […] -
X strategy
Underachievement is easier to spot and much more talked about than overachievement in football, at least at times. Last season Real Madrid changed three managers and suffered their worst La Liga points total (68) since 2001-02. On the other side of Madrid, and much less talked about, Getafe finished 5th (59) and missed out on […]
