Sunday, 06.07.2025
@JudahDavies Email: [email protected]
Borussia Dortmund hosted Hoffenheim in an exciting Bundesliga clash on Saturday afternoon. Favre’s men were the league leaders with a 7 point lead over title rivals Bayern, and victory in this game would be another crucial step towards a first Bundesliga title since 2012. For the visitors, one win in their last 9 league games had seen them fall behind in the race for Champions league qualification.
Two of the pre-tournament favourites met in Kazan for the first knockout game of the 2018 World Cup on Saturday afternoon. Lionel Messi’s Argentina had scraped through the group stages, whilst France strolled through their group in solid, but unspectacular fashion.
Fresh from their last-gasp win in their first group game, Gareth Southgate’s England side took on Panama in Nizhny Novgorod on Sunday afternoon. England blitzed their way to a 6-1 win in a fairly one-sided and unspectacular game. There were however, a few interesting details during the game.
Back to back holders, Real Madrid met Liverpool in the 2018 Champions league final in Kiev. Without a league title to fight for, or any other trophies this clash had dominated the thoughts and preparations of both sides since they progressed from their respective semi-finals.
For much of the early stages of this season I have been unable to write for various reasons. During that time there were a number of interesting games and impressive performances. In this series I will analyse aspects of some of these matches.
For much of the early stages of this season I have been unable to write for various reasons. During that time there were a number of interesting games and impressive performances. In this series I will analyse aspects of some of these matches.
For much of the early stages of this season I have been unable to write for various reasons. During that time there were a number of interesting games and impressive performances. In this series I will analyse aspects of some of these matches.
The 6th game week of the Bundesliga season delivered a number of interesting clashes. Bosz’ table-topping Dortmund hosted their great rivals Gladbach led by Dieter Hecking, and this was accompanied by the battle of the talented young German coaches as Nagelsmann and Tedesco’s team’s clashed. In both matches there were interesting approaches to build-up with structures focused on using the available space left by the opponent to progress. The analyses therefore have a small conceptual element included.
In football there are two broad categories of defensive approaches; zonal defending and man-marking. Each approach has sub-divisions; however, the two styles differ mainly on reference points. In zonal defending each player references their team-mates and the ball, in man-marking however, the reference point is the opponent.
SV-Coaching is our practical-related category. The content combines technical, tactical and physical aspects into a holistic training approach, that focuses on decision making under variable space, time and opponent pressure. The coaches should take and adapt the ideas to find exercises suited for themselves.
