Analysis
How analysts break down opposition before kickoff
A primer on the video work and data cuts behind a weekly soccer opposition scouting report, and what survives contact with the match.
Analysis
Match and season analysis combining video study with data: shape changes, pressing success, chance quality and where a result was actually decided.
Analysis
How pressing triggers reveal where teams collapse under intensity
A pressing trigger is the moment a defence chooses to strike. Reading those moments — and the collapses they expose — is where match analysis earns its keep.
Analysis
How Arsenal's inverted full-back turned defence into a title-winning platform
By pushing a full-back into midfield to form a back three in possession, Mikel Arteta built a structure that produced control in the middle of the pitch and the division's meanest defence.
Analysis
How goalkeeper distribution quietly rewired build-up play
Goal kicks became the first move of attack once keepers learned to pass like midfielders and laws rewarded playing out.
Analysis
Why box overloads break even the most disciplined low blocks
When five attackers meet a set defence inside the penalty area, geometry starts working for the attack.
Analysis
How PPDA measures pressing intensity and what it misses
Passes allowed per defensive action is football's simplest pressing number, and its most misunderstood.