Evaluating Ruben Amorim’s Game Model: Can He Make The Jump? – Part 3

Ruben Amorim is one of the most talked about managers in world football at the moment, linked with top clubs all over Europe. This four-part series looks at his game model in detail and how it might translate to one of Europe's elite sides. Part 2 focuses on his 3-1-3-3 and how his teams create chances against both high lines and low blocks.

Evaluating Ruben Amorim’s Game Model: Can He Make The Jump? – Part 2

Ruben Amorim is one of the most talked about managers in world football at the moment, linked with top clubs all over Europe. This four-part series looks at his game model in detail and how it might translate to one of Europe's elite sides. Part 2 focuses on his build-up play.

Evaluating Ruben Amorim’s Game Model: Can He Make The Jump? – Part 1

Ruben Amorim is one of the most talked about managers in world football at the moment, linked with top clubs all over Europe. This four-part series looks at his game model in detail and how it might translate to one of Europe's elite sides. Part 1 introduces his playing style and some of the broad issues that arise.

Fluminense: Dismantling The Pyramid

This piece was first published at https://www.canofootball.com/articles/dismantling-the-pyramid/ The evolution of football tactics in the last 15-20 years has been so rapid that some would even say that we’ve reached an end point. When Jonathan Wilson first published in his book on the history of football tactics, Inverting The Pyramid, in 2008, he argued that “globalisation …

Manchester City 1-0 Inter Milan: Guardiola risks all to free Haaland and Stones

Manchester City finally won their first Champions League on Saturday in what proved to be one of the best tactical battles of the season. Line Ups and Shape It has seemed like Guardiola had finally settled on a winning formula in recent months after the switch to a 3-2-2-3 (W-M) shape in possession, with John …

Portugal 6-1 Switzerland: Portugal’s dribblers outwit Swiss man-oriented pressing

It’s largely been a World Cup for mid-blocks and more passive approaches out of possession. Hence it was refreshing to see two teams pressing high last night in Portugal and Switzerland, with two interesting build-up schemes in response as well. Switzerland opted for a 3-5-2 to play against Portugal's fluid 4-2-3-1, posing an interesting tactical …

A new-look Liverpool attack: Milner offers glimpse of how to adapt to Nunez

Liverpool might have put in one of their worst performances of recent times against Fulham on Saturday but there was nevertheless a glimpse of things to come with how new striker Darwin Nunez will fit into their side, and the implications of his different profile on the team’s tactical direction. Roberto Firmino was arguably one …

Leicester 0-3 Chelsea: Tuchel’s inverted wing backs destroy Rodgers’ set up

Chelsea continued their title charge with a dominant 3-0 win over Leicester. As seen in recent weeks, Tuchel has evolved the play of his Chelsea team by using his wing backs in unorthodox central positions. Not every wing back can fulfil such a role that requires receiving the ball centrally with pressure from all sides …

Ronaldo: Overplacing Importance on Less Important Factors

In one of the free periods whilst I was still at school, my friends and I had a debate. The question we were debating was this: Would you take a defensive midfielder in your team if they were guaranteed to score 15 (non-set-piece) goals a season from inside the box? What did I learn from this and how does it apply to Ronaldo's current situation?

How to destroy an opponent without touching the ball: A Case Study in Mount and Havertz

Chelsea destroyed Arsenal’s defensive scheme in the first half on Sunday, with focused around isolating Romelu Lukaku against Pablo Mari and letting the Belgian do his thing. Around him, however, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz were crucial in creating the conditions for Lukaku to thrive, often without even touching the ball, and it is their role as #10s/inside forwards in Chelsea’s 3-4-3 that will be the focus of this article.