arteta stats xg
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How Stats Are Warping the Way We Watch Football

You’d be surprised how many opinions about a footballer’s performance now hinge on a number between 6.3 and 8.1. No context, no nuance, just a number. This is what happens when apps like Sofascore and FotMob go from being helpful tools to being the entire conversation. The overreliance on football stats is not just changing…

Kerlon Football Manager Wonderkid
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Forgotten Wonderkids of Football Manager: Where Did It Go Wrong?

There’s a strange joy in finding a wonderkid on Football Manager before anyone else knows their name. That rush when you sign a 16-year-old for peanuts and five seasons later he’s bagging goals in a Champions League final. Football Manager has a knack for spotting talent long before it breaks through. Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney,…

football fakes con ali dia
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The Football Fakes: The Game’s Greatest Impostors

Imagine turning on the TV to watch your club’s new signing make his debut, only to realise within minutes that he can’t even trap a ball. Now picture discovering that this same player had convinced your manager he was an international star with nothing more than a few phone calls and a smooth story. That’s…

Jose-Mourinho-Tactico-Tacticos
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Football Tacticos and the Death of Football Conversation

“You see, they’re in a 3-2-5 in possession, inverted full-backs creating the box midfield. But out of possession, it’s more of a 4-2-2-2, with the wingers engaging the second phase in a hybrid press.” Now, read that again and ask yourself, what have you actually learned? The rise of Football Tacticos – those self-styled tactical…

Jabulani at 2010 World Cp
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The ‘Jabulani’ & Its Controversial Effect on World Football

“It’s shameful letting us play such an important competition, where a lot of champions take part, with a ball like this”—Gianluigi Buffon. The World Cup in 2010 was one of the most incredible events in modern history. Taking place in South Africa, it would be the first time that an African nation hosted this major…