Author Archives: Josh Chau

Conceição Optimizing Cameroon’s Wealth of Attacking Options with Fluidity

It’s always a tough puzzle to solve when a national team is blessed with attacking talent because international tournament football lends itself to prioritizing defence. While Toni Conceição could set Cameroon up very pragmatically as is common practice for many national team managers, he instead opts to set the team up in a way that optimizes its strength and features its best players who are attackers.

Manchester United’s Improved Interpretation of a Familiar System Still Has Its Cracks

There’s a quote: “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. So then what is it called when you do the same thing, but slightly different, and get a glimmer of a different result before ultimately ending up at the same conclusion? The origin of theContinue reading “Manchester United’s Improved Interpretation of a Familiar System Still Has Its Cracks”

The Utility Spot’s 25 Best Albums of 2021

2021 was a year filled with ups and downs. Society buoyed from bleakness to hopeful optimism, and back again. Amid all this, waves of new music were pushed out by artists and bands with the expectation of touring as things looked like returning to some semblance of normal. How did the music of 2021 holdContinue reading “The Utility Spot’s 25 Best Albums of 2021”

Red (Taylor’s Version) Is a Fan Service for Longtime Swifties That Can Smartly Reel in New Fans Too

There isn’t another Taylor Swift record that’s as universally adored by her fans than her fourth record Red. Though divisive among critics for its vast sonic range, Red is a Taylor Swift favourite among fans. The sad tone, and familiar themes of growing up and heartbreak have made Red a fall classic for Swifties these past nine years. It’s no surprise then that the announcement earlier this year of the re-recording of Red was met with intense fervor. Swift’s first re-recorded album, Fearless (Taylor’s Version), was already met with love and adoration, but Fearless is no Red. No, Red is completely different gravy.

Manchester United have a blunt attack. Can Jadon Sancho be the obvious solution?

The switch from a 4-2-3-1 to a 5-2-1-2 simply changed the reason the defence was exposed as opposed to patching up the defensive issues. One fewer attacker and no wide attackers caused United to be fruitless on the counter.

While Manchester United Took the Win, Tottenham Took the Clarity

As poor as Spurs were, and as surprisingly effective as Manchester United were, the 3-0 result is more conclusive for Spurs than it is for Manchester United. For the immediate future, the cool Saturday night in North London will help Spurs more than it will help Manchester United. For Spurs, they’ve left Tottenham Hotspur Stadium one more step towards sacking Nuno Espirito Santo. For Manchester United, their paths both ways on Ole Gunnar Solskjær have merely become hazier.

Donda (2021) – Kanye West

For an album with few bad songs, but a handful of “meh” songs, it shouldn’t be seen as bad as it is. But considering the hope there was for the tenth Kanye West album, the bad songs feel terrible, and the “meh” songs feel bad. Ultimately, Donda will go down in history as failing to live up to the expectations set by both Kanye West and his fans.

Cristiano Ronaldo—Working as Advertised

Cristiano Ronaldo’s debut was a showcase of his strengths and weaknesses that he brings to Manchester United. He floated around the penalty box, weaved in and out between defenders, and finished chances well instead of pressing the opponent, or dropping deep to help the defence. Fans and the team alike would take this tradeoff all season long.

Jish’s July Album Rotation

Welcome to Jish’s Monthly Album Rotation. Four albums I’ve been listening to the previous month and my reviews of them. Some new, some old, some good, some bad. A mix of genres with some albums coming with tons of hype, and some that not as many people have heard of. Here is July 2021.