Tag: Premier League
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Player Profile: Maxi Oyedele
Salford-born Maxi Oyedele is one of the recent beneficiaries of Manchester United’s innovative loan scheme for academy players. Under the setup, the 18-year-old joined National League club Altrincham FC on loan – gaining match-day experience while still training with United’s development and first team. United’s website reads, “This group of players will gain an even…
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Role Transition I: Unpacking the Success Behind Iwobi’s Move to Midfield
INTRODUCTION Alexander Chuka Iwobi has been phenomenal this season. The 26-year-old Nigerian has become a key cog of Frank Lampard’s midfield, featuring in every available minute for the Toffees in the Premier League this season. He also leads Everton’s charts in key creative statistics: assists, expected assists, passes completed, passes into the final third, key…
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Analysing The Tactical Tweaks Behind Manchester United’s Recent Resurgence
Introduction The highlight of United’s crucial wins over the past three game-week has been De Gea booting the ball long. After the Brentford defeat, where United got caught out playing from the back, some caution has been employed in the team’s tendencies while the ball is in their defensive third. In this article, I will attempt to…
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United’s Difficulties with 2nd-Balls & the Case for Casemiro’s Inclusion
In their first two games of the Premier League season, Manchester United faced sides who deliberately went long. Here are the numbers vs Brentford: Here are the numbers vs Brighton: Pass Directness = progressive distance/total distance for all pass attempts After United lost those two matches, conversations sparked about Lisandro Martinez’s ability in aerial situations–some…
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The Discrepancies of the ‘Aerial Duel’ stat: Case-Study of Lisandro Martinez vs Brighton
Introduction During Manchester United’s opening season loss, Brighton and Hove Albion disproportionately focussed their attacks down their right-hand side–specifically targeting Lisandro Martinez. Here’s what Adam Lallana said in his post-match interview. With their new signing [Martinez), we know the Premier League’s difficult so we thought we’d ask him questions early on. We landed on second…
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What are Manchester United ‘cooking’ this season?
In anticipation of United’s season opener versus Brighton, this article will highlight some tactical elements they have employed during pre-season–focusing on the budding dynamics down the team’s right flank. Introduction For the past few years, Manchester United have been heavily left-side dominant. Most of our best players played or preferred playing there, and there had…
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Player Profile: Ethan B. Laird
Last season, Manchester United’s matches became increasingly unbearable to watch. The gears of the team were soiled, and Ralf Rangnick, who had been heralded as the spearhead of yet another ‘new era’, became the poster boy for a forgettable year at the club. To make headway and move on from that mess, United appointed Erik…
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Leeds United: the Premier League’s Favourite Crackheads
Leeds United. No team in the Premier League is splitting headlines quite like them. After their heavy 6-2 loss to Manchester United, there are large sections of fans praising or defending the club–both for equally valid reasons. But I’m not here to talk about their in-game performances. I’m here to talk about the historic effect…
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Game-week 30: Review
The return of the premier league was met with great fanfare. The game-week, which lasted for five days, gave fans the leisure of watching a game every day. It was a surreal experience for us all, maybe not for the Arsenal fans. There were still lots of moments to recall from the restart. I’ll be…
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Premier League Restart
It has been three months since the coronavirus disease rendered the Premier League, along with most other leagues, ineffective. But after the long wait, the Premier League is set to return. And I know we all missed it. I did too. The return of our favourite teams may finally allay all our quarantine boredoms and…
BallerzBantz by Joel A. 