analysis

It's been a tough start to the season for Everton, but Saturday's 3-0 victory over Aston Villa brought a smile to every Everton fans' face. Goals from Phil Jagielka, Romelu Lukaku and Seamus Coleman won them the game. It was a difficult first half for the hosts, Aston Villa did have some threat but in the second half it was all Everton. What was it that won them game? Lets break the game down.   Starting Line-Ups Everton played in …

This article was written by Jed Davies at the start of the 2013/14 season looking at Mauricio Pochettino's tactics. We thought it would be worth a re-publish now that he's been appointed Head Coach at Tottenham Hotspur. The list of former pupils who attended the school of Marcelo “El Loco” Bielsa appears to be doing quite well these days: Barcelona’s Gerardo Martino and Southampton’s Mauricio Pochettino are both amongst that long-list. In hindsight it would have been an obvious choice …

Throughout the season, I have spoken of March as a month that would make or break Liverpool's season. Upon the completion of those five fixtures, the Reds sit top of the league with six games to go. There seems to be an infinite number of factors swinging in the favour of the Brendan Rodgers men which are heavily influencing this incredible season. The Reds face the task now of winning their last 6 games to take the league title back …

Liverpool made it four wins in a row with a 3-1 victory to go temporarily top of the league until the resolution of  Arsenal and Chelsea's meeting on Monday night. A high tempo first half performance which gradually picked up intensity as it went on, saw Liverpool put the game out of sight early. It proved difficult to match the fluidity and co-ordination in the pressing shown against Spurs last Sunday. However despite not quite reaching those peaks without the …

Pressing. Many people think it's as easy as: See the ball... Chase the ball... Win the ball. As I wrote about in my tactical analysis of Liverpool's win over Spurs, a critical element of Liverpool's victory was their ability to press throughout the game and dominate the ball. As Brendan Rodgers put it they 'were like animals without the ball', and this isn't always easy to achieve. Successful pressing is dependant on group understanding, collective perception of ball, opponent and …

So with the hype surrounding Jose Mourinho's return to the Premier League slowly dying down, and his presence now becoming a reality, Chelsea are setting their sights on a successful season in which they can potentially upset the recent dominance of Manchester City and Manchester United. Mourinho referred to this career move as 'the last step in my formation as a manager', which may mean he feels he has now been a journeyman long enough, and has experienced the varying …

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This article looks at how well each Premier League team has fared against the teams in the top half and the bottom half of the league this season. We take a look at which teams have taken the most points against the teams in the top half, as well as which teams have scored and conceded the most goals against the teams from the top half of the table and against the teams in the bottom half of the table. …