3) Again, drifting into space, scanning multiple times before/in possession, and engaging defenders before releasing the pass

2) Re-engaging and making a hard near-post run, then recycling position again just before the own goal

3 little moments I loved from Tsakiris in the #Quakes74 win:

1) Excellent spatial awareness to scan, find space, and hit a 1-time pass to the 3rd man run

YouTube spoke the truth

Ok, no free kicks conceded in Zone 14 this summer…what a FK from Guler

No hyperbole - this is the worst defending I have ever seen

An absolutely incredible run - all the best! Your work helped me appreciate the game on a deeper level.

And here's the fantastic Scouted article! bsky.app/profile/scou...

Interestingly, both US and Mexico are net-buyers, while the Dutch - like most other UEFA countries - are net-sellers.

US: Net $142 Mil buying
MEX: Net $14 Mil buying
NED: Net $285 Mil selling

Full data is here: inside.fifa.com/transfer-sys...
(3/3)

Top 5 buying countries from US, with Brazil and England tops

Mexico mostly sells to Spain

Dutch sell to Big 5 leagues

When we look at the Top 5 buying countries from each league:
- Brazil and England top from US
- Spain by far the biggest buyer from Mexico
- Dutch a tier above and export to the Big 5 (2/3)

Avg transfer fee for the US, Mexico, and Netherlands, 2021 to 2025. The Dutch league is usually a tier above, but were closer in 2021 and 2024.

Interesting transfer view in the latest @scoutedftbl.com email, so I looked at MLS v. LigaMX v. Eredivisie.

Here is avg transfer fee received. It surprised me that all 3 were on par in 2024. (1/3)

What an outstanding article - well done, Chris!

Bring this saxophonist to the World Cup

Good read from @pcattry.bsky.social

Totally co-signed on this quote on Pulisic, too

I’d like to see him as part of a front two, similar to Milan. His defensive workrate is solid with 3 midfielders and a wingback behind him. Ideally, Balogun becomes less isolated, too.

It was fascinating how varied this was at a club level, too. Certain teams embraced 5 subs immediately, others were more reluctant.

Data from FBref in 2021 when they still had Statsbomb pressing data!

I am exhausted on behalf of this Romanian midfield

In the latest @scuffed.bsky.social , Poch had praise for Tessmann’s intelligence. If he starts playing there regularly for Lyon, I’m open to it, though I think his home is midfield

Mike, thanks for documenting your experiments, too!

I analyzed this same trend last year. Claude helped tremendously in some areas (ex: aggregated data sets) while requiring more oversight in others (ex: classifying Leeds as a Championship club)

Yes, he played 1 match for Milan before the Atalanta loan! I always struggle with how to present those situations

USMNT european-based players and the number of minutes they've played in the 2025/26 season. Richards, McKennie, Tessmann, Dest, Weah, Aaronson, Balogun, and Tillman with the most favorable situations

Inspired by @themlg.bsky.social, here's a Claude-generated USMNT view of the Euro pool.

That upper-right group of Richards, McKennie, Tessmann, Dest, Weah, Balogun, Aaronson with the strongest case of "play often at a good club."

This is quality, thanks for sharing!

DeJuan Jones with 3 outstanding defensive plays in the last 5 minutes

Matias Almeyda, beautiful martyr of man-marking

The Sports Gene nails this dynamic www.goodreads.com/book/show/16...

Thrilled to see futi launching! Here's 4 bunkering outliers in MLS last year, with varying degrees of xG success.

Data from friends old (@americansocceranalysis.com) and new (@futi.live)

Well done, Michael! This felt like a classic ZM analysis

#397: Luca de la Torre joins the pod

@scuffed.bsky.social did an excellent interview with Luca de la Torre that made me think he’s a future coach open.spotify.com/episode/45A4...

And Pulisic’s chance was the only good Milan chance of the match. Thank God for Maignan!

We’ve had fantastic collective pressure when we lose the ball - best I’ve seen under Poch #usmnt