How Alvaro Arbeloa OUTCLASSED* Vincent Kopmany
(*had kylian mbappe run in a straight line while all of bayern munich's defenders forgot that the goal is located in the middle of the field)
I don't think anyone has really grappled with the fact that a guy who wears Skechers really might win the Ballon d'Or.
I wrote about how Spurs used new some numbers terribly and ended up with a super-expensive team of players who can't pass: www.espn.com/soccer/story...
Not sure there's anyone else who's been there for the entire modern history of soccer analytics
In college, we came up with a thing where our coach was supposed to yell out different cities and colors to call set pieces. The trick: any city represented play A, and any color represented play B. Then, the first time we tried to use it in a game, he just yelled the word "COLOR", and it was dead.
"Sweden are celebrating a spot in the World Cup. They didn't win a single game in qualifying."
uh ... yeah ... "through", not "trough"
If you're into reading the things I've written, I'm planning on sending out links trough my not-dead-yet newsletter: nograssintheclouds.substack.com
Probably a combo of Odegaard being out, Gyokeres just not being involved in buildup at all, Hincapie not being as good on the ball as Calafiori/MLS, and some risk-aversion/team-wide jitters.
I wrote about this earlier in the week: Arsenal have just kind of stopped playing out of the back/being able to play out of the back. Maybe The Odegaard Effect, but it definitely showed up today.
www.espn.com/soccer/story...
"About 85 percent of losing teams were 'winning' at some point, according to win expectancy."
What a great Mo Salah game looks like in 2026:
-goes like 1/10 in take-ons
-trips over the ball on two breakaways
-misses four huge chances
-scores once, assists once, leads all players in touches inside the box, xG, and expected assists
The two Liverpool-Wolves games — same teams, same locations, three days apart — were a nice little experiment to show just how volatile soccer is from a game to game basis, even when nothing fundamental changes at all.
ICYMI: The USL emailed every Championship player an FAQ doc that included guidance on “crossing a picket line” and “Union membership resignation.”
An active player said teammates couldn’t find it until they checked spam. “I just think it’s a bunch of bullshit.”
Full report at @us.theguardian.com.
If both teams have more fouls than shots, the game should be canceled at halftime. No one gets any points.
The Premier League has been terrible to watch this season, and the league is stuck in a tactical stalemate that can seemingly only be broken by corner kicks and throw-ins. I wrote about how one brave coach might be able to break free: www.espn.com/soccer/story...
Liverpool scored a bunch of goals from set pieces recently, so you know what that means: Arsenal fans are back, posting “kill yourself” on Instagram pictures of my fiancée.
Every time you see a team from the Turkish Lig play, there's:
-a guy with the widest mohawk you've ever seen
-Ryan Babel
-someone the announcer keeps calling Marvin but whose shirt says "Ataturk Bocuckglu"
-Fatih Terim
-at least one backup striker who had a sex scandal in Serie A
The new Moneyball is diving facefirst into the bottom of another guy's foot.
I have one (1) rule in life: respect, honor, and embrace the spirit of the Ronaldo haircut. I will give money to anyone who does the same.
Igor Tudor has been screaming and gesticulating on the sideline for 75 straight minutes, as Tottenham continue to be exactly as bad as they were under the previous manager.
Liverpool in the first 85 minutes without their best playmaker: 0.5 xG
Liverpool in the final 10 minutes after they brought on the guy who can throw the ball far: 1.2 xG
