It was 1ºC in Toronto when I woke up on Monday. Buried deep in my covers in the coldest room in the house. White patches still on the ground from the snowfall we had the past week. It was the 70th minute of England vs. Iran in Group B. I slept in because a recentContinue reading “The Conflicted Cup—Traversing the Difficulties of Experiencing the Qatar World Cup”
Tag Archives: Sports
Triplet of Disappointing Results Show Growing Pains for a Raw Bob Bradley Side
The reliance on winning individual battles is concerning, especially in defence, but hopefully with time, Bradley can implement a more constructive and cohesive system for this young, growing team.
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”
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.
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.
Not Enough Portuguese Luck for Germany’s Problem Solving
Germany now look like they could go far this Summer, and Portugal might not even make it out of the group stage should France have anything to say about it on Wednesday. Portugal scored a fantastic goal on the counter and a chaotic goal from a set piece. Germany’s four came from unlocking Portugal’s defence after figuring out they’d have to win the game on the flanks.
A Dynamic David Alaba and How Austria Scored Their Second Goal Against North Macedonia
In the game between Austria and North Macedonia, David Alaba lined up in an odd position—the middle of Austria’s back three. Throughout his career, Alaba has played every position on the left flank, and made his name as the first-choice left-back for many title winning Bayern Munich sides. This past season, Bayern Munich manager HansiContinue reading “A Dynamic David Alaba and How Austria Scored Their Second Goal Against North Macedonia”
An Absurdly Simple Guide on Who to Cheer for during Euro 2020
An absurdly simple guide to help you choose a team to cheer for during Euro 2020. Whether you’re more interested in the on-the-pitch magic (like the dark horse of the tournament), or more interested in the off-the-pitch storylines (like the best looking team)—or simply no longer want to be antiquated when it comes to soccer references—there is a team for you to cheer for.
The Utility Spot 