Whilst David Moyes faces the impossible task of replacing Sir Alex Ferguson as the Manchester United manager next season (albeit under the guidance of Ferguson himself in his new role at Manchester United), Everton FC’s future is uncertain at best. Everton are faced with a few options: do they opt for a Moyes-like Malky Mackay? [...]

Both West Brom and Southampton possess teams that are full of underrated or unheralded players. I have identified both as teams with criminally underrated players in the central midfield areas: Yacob and Mulumbu for West Brom; Cork and defensive stalwart Morgan Schneiderlin for Southampton. Within football circles all four players have impressed and we could well [...]

Since both the Spanish national team and Barcelona have dominated the world with attacking, possession-based football, such philosophy has become increasingly popular. Some Premier League teams are already trying to implement tiki-taka, hoping it will make them successful. It makes accurate midfield passers much more valuable, as they are fundamental to ball-circulation. Winning the battle [...]

This season’s two top scorers, Robin van Persie (18) and Luis Suárez (16), have been central to Manchester United and Liverpool teams who have had varying levels of success. Two very different players stylistically, the pair have established themselves as the Premier League’s striking elite. Van Persie’s game is a clinical one, and with the [...]

Since joining Arsenal from Ajax in 2009, Thomas Vermaelen has been integral to Arsene Wenger’s side despite the Gunners’ lack of silverware. The Belgian defender has established himself as one of the Premier League’s best and despite an injury-hit season in 2010/11 and a dip in form at the beginning of 2012/13; he has been [...]

Attracting huge attention from the media, Luis Suarez isn’t just an ordinary English Premier League player. Whether it’s a racial row with Patrice Evra, a handball against Mansfield, that brought brave non-league team’s FA Cup dream to an end, or the diving admission made recently by the Uruguayan himself, his name is sure to hit [...]

Much is said about a team’s ability to hold onto the ball nowadays. Playing a ‘ tiki taka’ possession game is all the rage in the modern-day game and such a style is commonly laid out as the foundational philosophy many clubs and their youth sides. Keeping the ball makes a lot of sense and is a [...]

I wrote a few weeks ago about the correlation between goals and final third passing and I think it would be a good time to review the current data as we come to the end of the year. If you look at the table at the bottom of the page you will see that Man [...]

Liverpool and West Ham played out a hotly contested match at Upton Park. Liverpool just edged the encounter with two goals from former West Ham players (a Glen Johnson screamer & good finish from Joe Cole) and one own goal by James Collins. Despite the close margin, Liverpool created triple the scoring chances of West [...]

Brendan Rodgers return to his former club ended in a balanced 0-0 draw. Both teams played similarly controlled passing styles. Both also created a fair number of scoring chances, but neither displayed the ability to finish them. Liverpool will feel they were closest to three points at the end of the day. Raheem Sterling hit [...]