A Podcast About Tactics

In Episode Thirteen, we're joined by Stephen Russell (@SRFootball_ on Twitter) to talk about Ange Postecoglu and the impressive renaissance of Celtic Football Club last season.  Stephen is a recent graduate of a Sport Management degree, moving on to his Masters in September, who has spent the past few years conducting tactical analysis for The Cynic, a Celtic outlet. More recently, he moved into a job working with football probability so expect to hear lots about his Expected Points model. In the course of the episode, we talk about the context that Postecoglu entered into at Celtic, how Postecoglu turned around the early season form, and what to expect from the Australian next season. Enjoy!  

In Episode Twelve, we're joined by Lewis Ambrose (@LGAmbrose on Twitter) to talk about Borussia Dortmund and how playing in a league that is dominated by Bayern Munich impacts the club's tactics. Lewis is an Arsenal fan who spends most of his time watching the Bundesliga, especially Borussia Dortmund, and who writes about English and German football with an analytical slant. Lewis works for OneFootball, writes for Arseblog and has his own German football newsletter, which you can find at: fussballinenglish.substack.com. In the course of the episode, we talk about the recent history of Borussia Dortmund, the mistakes the club have made in their overall approach, and the ultimate realities of how inequality impacts their approach. Enjoy!

In Episode Eleven, we're joined by Carlon Carpenter (@CarlonCarpenter on Twitter) to talk about the role that tactics play in the life of a performance analyst. Carlon is Tactical And Video Analyst at StatsBomb and also works with Bath City FC in the National League South as a performance analyst. In the course of the episode, we talk about the way to connect the dots between tactical analysis and deliverables, and how to present these to players and staff in ways that are actionable and relevant. Enjoy!

In Episode Ten, we're joined by Erik Elias (@erikelias_ on Twitter) to talk about Erik ten Hag's career as a player, as a manager, and about the future of his new club: Manchester United.  Erik is a football scout from the Netherlands, now consulting a professional club in Europe. He also runs Between The Posts, a website about football tactics that publishes match reports about the top five leagues in Europe. In the course of the episode, we talk about Erik ten Hag, the influences on his managerial style, his development as a coach, the switch that took place between his time at Utrecht and Ajax, and look forward to his time at Manchester United to get a sense of how it will go. Enjoy! Further Reading: Here's a representative piece from Between the Posts which comprises a match review on the Manchester City - Real Madrid fixture from last week: Manchester City – Real Madrid: Madrilenian Miracle Resists Mancunian Mastery (4-3) 

In Episode Nine, we're joined by Alex Collings (@alexfrco on Twitter) to talk about Olympique Lyonnais and the tactical impact of being a talent development club. Alex is a scout for af recon, has written for Scouted Football and is 1/3rd of the Football Per 90 pod. In the course of the episode, we talk about the history of Lyon, their place within a Ligue 1 that is tactically evolving, and the effect that being a talent producer can have on your tactical identity. Enjoy!

In Episode Eight, we're joined by Chris Summersell (@ChrisSummersell on Twitter) to talk about the challenges of instilling a tactical identity in a new team. Chris is a UEFA B licensed coach who is about to start working within the women's system at Hibernian in Scotland. His coaching career has carried him through youth football working with Brighton & Hove Albion, preparing coaches to teach the FA Level One course, and more recently, working with the Hearts women's youth teams. In the course of the episode, we talk about how Chris will develop his game model before implementing it on the training ground, the idea of game models and how they function, and what a training week will look like for him. Enjoy! Further Reading: In the course of the interview, we mentioned Chris's piece on blocking in defensive phases: Are Liverpool breaking a sacred defensive code? 

In Episode Seven, we're joined again by Tiago Estêvão (@TiagoEstv on Twitter) to finish off our conversation about the role tactics play in scouting. Tiago is a Scouting and Recruitment Analyst at a Serie A club, he has the most encyclopaedic brain about footballers out of anyone else in the world, and he has the finest moustache in world football too. In this episode, we divide our time in two: talking about scouting the attacking and defensive aspects of the game. We round out the discussion by answering some listener questions. Enjoy!

In Episode Six, we're joined by Ábel Mészáros (@BundesPL on Twitter) to talk about the tactical aspects of the most exciting title race in the top five European leagues: Serie A's title race.  Ábel covers Serie A for the Hungarian TV channel Sport TV, he does consultancy work within the football industry, and he has previously covered the Bundesliga as well. In the course of the episode, we talk about the context behind this season's title race in Serie A, the importance of managerial upheaval, if there is such a thing as a "national" tactic, and we break down the tactics of the five teams at the top of the table.  Enjoy!

In Episode Five, we're joined by Om Arvind (@OmVAsports on Twitter) to talk about Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti, Zinedine Zidane and the role of tactics at the elite level. Om is the editor of the Managing Madrid channel, the host of the Las Blancas podcast, he runs a Substack called Tactical Rant and he has written for various outlets such at Analysis Evolved, Analytics FC and the Woso Collective. In the course of the episode, we talk about the context surrounding Real Madrid the club, the impact this has on the tactical, whether or not Zidane was a good manager, and then investigate the topic of tactics at an elite club. Enjoy! Further Reading suggested by Om or mentioned by him in the episode: Zinedine Zidane the Manager: How Zizou positioned himself to lead Real Madrid - Andrew Murray, FourFourTwo Applying 'Floor Raising' & 'Ceiling Raising' to Football Coaches - Om Arvind, Tactical Rant Substack Pep in the Knockouts - Grace Robertson, On Football Substack

In Episode Four, we're joined by Jamie Hamilton (@stirling_j on Twitter) to talk all about his recent medium piece "Vanishing Point: Why Pep Guardiola is Football's First Post-Modern Coach" and the place of philosophy in football tactics.  Jamie is a UEFA A-licenced coach, he is working as a development academy coach in Scotland right now and he is also a football writer whose Medium blog can be found here.   In the course of the episode, we walk through Jamie's recent piece, talking about the history of tactical evolution before trying to answer the question whether or not philosophy is a useful resource for football coaches.  Enjoy!             

In Episode Three, we're joined by Tiago Estêvão (@TiagoEstv on Twitter) to talk all about the role tactics play in scouting. Tiago is a Scouting and Recruitment Analyst at a Serie A club, he has the most encyclopaedic brain about footballers out of anyone else in the world, and he has the finest moustache in world football too. In this episode, we talk about the importance of context, working to a game model, scouting players who play in structured vs. unstructured systems, and why league effects aren't as important as people think in scouting. Enjoy!            

In the second episode of A Podcast About Tactics, we're joined by two guys who are Manchester United supporters, data analysts, two of the most beautiful men who appear on your Twitter timelines but also often personae non gratae on Manchester United Twitter: Kees van Hemmen (@HemmenKees) and Aaron Moniz (@amonizfootball). During the course of our chat, we talked about what their tactical expectations were going into the Rangnick era, how the early experiments played out, how Rangnick has the team looking in and out of possession, and what the future looks like for Manchester United tactically. Enjoy!            

At the beginning of a new tactics media outlet (this podcast...), where better to begin than in conversation with Constantin Eckner (@cc_eckner on Twitter). Constantin started working as a freelance journalist in his teenage years, mostly covering football and politics. Over the course of his career, his work has appeared on the BBC, ESPN, DW, The Times, Eurosport, Deutschlandfunk and many more. He is now working as a multimedia host and commentator. But most importantly for us, he helped found and continues to edit Spielverlagerung, a leading football tactics website. In this episode, we talk about the emergence of Spielverlagerung, the route taken by many of his colleagues into the football industry, and the things Constantin has learned from working in the tactics media space. Enjoy!