Monday, 10.03.2025
Two teams seeking to disrupt the status-quo of the ‘big six’ in the Premier League met on Sunday afternoon at the King Power Stadium. Both sides have seemingly aimed to control more possession this season as the next stage in their evolution.
Borussia Dortmund are in a tough spot. The German powerhouse have established themselves among the best teams in Europe and even more so in the Bundesliga where there is a considerable gap between Dortmund, Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig and the rest of the pack. Dortmund are expected to command the action on the pitch, and they themselves like to be in command.
Constantin Eckner and Abel Meszaros go to place where the sun never shines to take a close look at the three Bundesliga teams that are currently at the bottom of the table. Among other things, they discuss Mainz’s structural issues, Schalke’s possession game, and Cologne’s ineffective high press.
Constantin Eckner and Abel Meszaros examine some of the winners of the Bundesliga transfer deadline, analyse Bayern Munich’s last-minute shopping tour, dissect VfB Stuttgart’s attractive playing style, talk about the reasons for Eintracht Frankfurt’s success and discuss whether Werder Bremen are the worst 7th place team in recent memory.
Following on from the first of this two part series where the predominant offensive structures Manchester City used were outlined, this part will examine the methods used to create chances within the aforementioned structures.
Manchester City were the most potent attacking force, in Europe’s major five leagues, during the 2019/20 season. They ranked first for expected goals (xG), shots taken and goals scored compared to the other top performing teams in Europe.
Constantin Eckner and Abel Meszaros discuss whether anyone can stop Bayern Munich from winning their ninth title in a row. They also talk about Dortmund’s youth, RB Leipzig in the post-Werner era, the hole that Kai Havertz has left at Bayer Leverkusen, Schalke’s downturn, and much more.
German Club TSG Hoffenheim has reached 6th place, allowing them to play on the international stage in the upcoming season. How did Hoffenheim perform after the re-start following the Corona-break? What are the key characteristics, including their principal strengths and weaknesses?
After one whole year of ‘commitment’ to ‘project youth’, Frank Lampard signed off on approximately £200,000,000 of footballers to revamp his side’s core. How he plans on moulding these players into a coherent system is certainly one of the main challenges he’ll address this season. If he achieves to solve such a dilemma – if you could call it that – the West London outfit could very well be a third side to challenge at the very top of the table.
This FA Cup third-round tie was truly a game of two halves where Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal matched-up against Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds. The game was won in the second half after Arsenal improved dramatically following a poor first-half display. This analysis will discuss Arsenal’s initial issues in their build-up, how Leeds outplayed their pressure much more effectively and then Arteta’s changes for the second half which changed the dynamic of the match.
