The Athletic FC Tactics Podcast

The Athletic's Michael Cox and James Horncastle join Ali Maxwell ahead of Serie A returning this week for a look at the next generation of Italian midfielders, starting with a man some have compared to the legendary Andrea Pirlo - Brescia's Sandro Tonali.Tonali has been lighting up Serie A this season and drawing comparisons to Pirlo but is there more to his game than that comparison suggests?Elsewhere we take a broader look at the history of Italian midfielders - be they registas, fantasistas or medianos - and also run the rule over some of the other contenders aiming to grasp the midfield mantle for the Azzuri from the established figures of Jorginho and Marco Veratti to the emerging talents of Gaetano Castrovilli, Stefano Sensi, Nicolò Zaniolo and Nicolò Barella.Sign up to The Athletic for access to Michael Cox's tactical musings and James Horncastle's Italian dispatches plus the best Premier League coverage you'll find anywhere - head to theathletic.com/zonalmarking for a 40% discount Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ahead of La Liga returning this weekend The Athletic's Michael Cox & Dermot Corrigan join Ali Maxwell to look at current state of Barcelona. They discuss how recently installed manager Quique Setien is settling in, how his tactical approach differs from his predecessors, why they're more reliant on Messi than ever, why Griezmann hasn't really hit the heights yet, plus a wider look at what's to be decided in La Liga with ten matches remaining.Subscribe to The Athletic for access to Michael Cox's unrivalled coverage of football tactics & trends  - head to theathletic.com/zonalmarking for a 30-day free trial Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Cox & Ali Maxwell are joined by The Athletic's Bournemouth writer Peter Rutzler to look at what has been a disappointing season for Eddie Howe's side. We pick apart the tactics - which may not be quite as open & entertaining as they once were - and look at the individual players who will be key if the Cherries are to avoid relegation when the season returns. Sign up to The Athletic here to access Michael Cox's unrivalled tactical coverage of the Premier League and get a 30 day free trial Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jose Mourinho spoke to The Athletic's James Horncastle last week for an exclusive interview looking back at his treble-winning Inter Milan side ten years on, so for this week's pod we got James together with Michael Cox & Ali Maxwell for a deep dive into that famous season looking at the tactics, the players and the stories from one of the great sides of the modern era.Subscribe to The Athletic here for access to Michael Cox's unrivalled tactics writing and get a 90 day free trial Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Athletic's Michael Cox & Ali Maxwell are joined by our resident Manchester City writer Sam Lee for a look at the tactical reasons behind City's failed title defence this season.Aiming to evaluate how much of an impact has the loss of Sane made, whether other teams have simply got better at playing through City's press, and assessing the pivotal relationship between De Bruyne and Aguero.Sign up to The Athletic here for access to Michael Cox's tactical musings and Sam Lee's unrivalled Manchester City coverage and get a 90 day free trial Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Athletic's German football writer Raphael Honigstein joins Michael Cox & Ali Maxwell to look at the teams, coaches, and players to look out for when the Bundesliga returns this weekend.Rafa explains how Hansi Flick has turned Bayern's season around, how this Dortmund side compares to Klopp's famous team, and we look at the strengths & weaknesses of the clutch of sides chasing the top two including RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Mönchengladbach. Sign up to The Athletic here for Raphael Honigstein's exclusive Bundesliga coverage and get a 40% discount Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Athletic's Michael Cox & Ali Maxwell are once again joined by our resident Spanish Football Writer, Dermot Corrigan, this time to give Athletic Bilbao the Zonal Marking treatment... A whole host of familiar names including Marcelo Bielsa, Aymeric Laporte and Inaki Williams, a truly unique recruitment policy and a history inextricably linked to English football. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Subscribe to The Athletic here for plenty more from Michael Cox, Michael Bailey and the rest of our unrivalled team of football writers and get a 90 day free trial Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sign up to The Athletic here and get a 90 day free trial Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Athletic's Michael Cox & Ali Maxwell are joined by football data analyst Jay Socik - aka Blades Analytic - for an in-depth look at the tactics that Chris Wilder has deployed in getting Sheffield United to 7th in the Premier League, and how they've evolved over time Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.