The Athletic FC Tactics Podcast

The Athletic's Michael Cox and Tom Worville join Ali Maxwell to bring you the definitive guide to the many, many roles and positions you may find among attackers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are West Ham genuine top four contenders? Can Leicester do what they failed to last season and hang on to a Champions League spot? The Athletic's Michael Cox and Tom Worville join Ali Maxwell to examine the contrasting tactical approaches of the Premier League's gatecrashers and assess whether either side is the real deal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Athletic's Michael Cox and Tom Worville join Ali Maxwell to preview the Champions League knockout stages which get underway on Tuesday night.Coxy has studied the tactics, Worville has mined all the data, and Ali will guide us through all the ties as we look at every single game and every single team left in the competition in detail.The Champions League last 16 in full:RB Leipzig v LiverpoolBarcelona v PSGSevilla v DortmundPorto v JuventusAtletico Madrid v ChelseaLazio v Bayern MunichAtalanta v Real MadridGladbach v Man City Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do Leeds, Nîmes, Montpellier, Union Berlin, Elche, Nice, Freiburg, Brighton, Burnley, and Benevento all have in common?They're all mixing it with the big boys of European football in areas you might not expect. Punching well above their weight or standing out like a sore thumb when it comes to a whole host of different metrics.In this week's ZM pod The Athletic's Michael Cox and Tom Worville join Ali Maxwell to look at why these clubs and their players are among Europe's biggest statistical outliers Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Athletic's Michael Cox and Tom Worville join Ali Maxwell to delve into the world of running stats and explain the many different ways in which they are used in the modern game.We'll look at whether the 'distance covered' stats actually mean anything, at how intense pressing sides may end up running less than you think, and the role of tracking data in the recruitment process.Plus we consult the data to reveal which players top the sprinting, jogging and walking charts in the Premier League. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Athletic's Michael Cox and Tom Worville join Ali Maxwell to tell us what Chelsea can expect from Thomas Tuchel, the tactical chameleon.We'll study his career to date starting with his first job causing a scene at Mainz, his first big gig at Dortmund where he pushed Bayern close but not close enough and then on to PSG who he guided to the Champions League final last season.There's a look at how Pep and Klopp influence his tactical style to differing extents, his preference for using his players in a variety of different roles, his knack for getting the best out of his strikers, and of course the big question is what he'll do with his under performing compatriots Timo Werner and Kai Havertz. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Athletic's Michael Cox and Tom Worville join Ali Maxwell to assess the legacy that Mesut Ozil leaves behind at Arsenal as his seven and half year spell at the Emirates comes to an end.We remember the excitement which greeted his arrival, the way Arsene Wenger had to adjust to fit him in to a playmaker-laden squad, and of course all those assists.There's also plenty of discussion of how it all unravelled for Ozil at Arsenal, when and why did his numbers start to decline? Should he have lead the team to the title in 2015/16? Why didn't Emery or Arteta ever really trust him?All this plus further reminiscing on his career pre-Arsenal and a look at what could be in store for him in Turkey as he gets set to join Fenerbahce Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Athletic's Michael Cox and Tom Worville join Ali Maxwell to bring you the definitive guide to the many, many roles and positions you may find in midfield.What's the difference between a 6 and an 8? What makes a true holding midfielder and is it different to the 'Makelele role'? Why do Argentineans love no.5s so much? What's the difference between an Enganche and a Trequarista? And what on earth is a shuttler?All these questions and more answered as the ZM pod goes box-to-box for the next fifty-five minutesSubscribe to The AthleticRight now you can enjoy the Athletic for just £3.99 per month as part of our January sale.Enjoy great analysis and in-depth features from the very best football writers around, as well as ad-free versions of all of our podcasts. Just go to theathletic.com/zonalmarking to sign up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Athletic's Michael Cox and Tom Worville join Ali Maxwell to explain what's going wrong with Frank Lampard's out-of-form Chelsea side from a tactical point of view.Why have they struggled to beat anyone above them? Why are they so easy to pass through? Is it all down to poor finishing from Werner and bad goalkeeping at the other end? What would be the ideal midfield with the players they have? What's the best role for Werner and Kai Havertz?These are just some of the questions being asked of Lampard at the moment and we've studied the data and the footage to deliver the answers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Athletic's Michael Cox, Tom Worville and Ali Maxwell round off 2020 by looking at all 20 Premier League teams and picking at least one interesting stat, observation or quirk for each of them.You'll find out which team has taken the most throw-ins, the player has had zero touches of the ball in his own penalty area, which team is best at 'winning' offsides, and how about the team who have scored the most goals from outside the box but taken the second-most touches in it?All these and loads more statistical curiosities you never thought you needed to know, until now... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.