The Athletic FC Tactics Podcast

This podcast explores the surprise league leaders in Europe's major leagues, including Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, Girona in La Liga, and Nice in Ligue 1. They discuss the tactics, key players, and chances of these teams sustaining their success. The podcast also touches on the excitement around Spanish football this season and recommends cities to visit in Spain. Additionally, they analyze the front five formation, high-scoring games, and the strong defensive foundation of Nice.

After Spurs and Man United suffered defeats in big games this week, where a red card (or two) was a big factor - The Athletic's Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam Tharme join host Ali Maxwell to debate the best ways for a manager to deal tactically with a sending off...Did Big Ange's surprisingly high defensive line make sense, can you stick with three-at-the-back and is it actually harder to play against ten men?Produced by Adonis Pratsides Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Michael informs us - in the beginning - the beautiful game almost completely revolved around the art of 'dribbling'.So, as football continues to evolve tactically, how and why did we reach a point where many commentators are now asking: "Where have all the dribblers gone?"The Athletic's Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam Tharme join host Ali Maxwell to explore...Who are the best/worst dribblers in the Premier League, what even constitutes a 'dribble' and are coaches like Pep Guardiola really responsible for the apparent lack of dribblers today?Plus, how many of Ronaldo Nazario's 414 goals were scored by dribbling the ball round the goalkeeper?Produced by Adonis Pratsides Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ali Maxwell is alongside The Athletic’s Liam Thame, Mark Carey and Michael Cox to explore the varying ‘peak’ performance of strikers, and whether it’s changing over time.From Robbie Fowler who ‘peaked’ aged 20, to Fabio Quagliarella who saved his best ’til 35, the panel dissect why players hit their prime at different ages, but ask if the way we classify ‘peak’ needs updating.Plus, can ones ‘peak’ be predicted, and how is sports science altering the landscape.Produced by Jay Beale. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jude Bellingham's been described as a player 'who can do everything', so Ali Maxwell, challenged The Athletic's Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam Tharme to build the 'perfect' player...A left foot from Messi? As strong as Van Dijk? With Bernardo Silva's brain?Agree or disagree with our selections? Let us know in the comments.Produced by Adonis Pratsides Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ali Maxwell is alongside The Athletic's Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Duncan Alexander to explore the data behind David Beckham's incredible career - to discern just how good a player DB7 really was...The best crosser of the ball of all time? How accurate was the documentary? Our panel dissect the free-kicks, assists, goals and tactical roles to find out.Produced by Adonis Pratsides Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ali Maxwell is joined by The Athletic's Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Duncan Alexander to look ahead to the first Premier League meeting between last season's Top 2: Man City and Arsenal...How often have head-to-head games between the eventual top two Premier League teams decided where the title ended up?And ahead of Man City's trip to Arsenal on Sunday, a tactical preview of where the game might be won and lost and some squad selection headaches for both managers analysed.Produced by Adonis Pratsides & Jay Beale Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Ali Maxwell is joined by The Athletic's Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam Tharme to assess the concept of 'Ewing Theory' - the idea that any team can lose their star player and actually improve?How is this playing out in the Premier League so far this season, at Spurs after Kane... but also at West Ham after Declan Rice, Crystal Palace after Zaha and Brentford without Toney too?And can you become overly-reliant on a goalscorer in particular?The panel also find examples of the phenomenon on the continent and throughout recent history too.Produced by Adonis Pratsides Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ali Maxwell is joined by The Athletic's Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam Tharme to pick out their tactical insights and highlights from the opening round of Champions League group games... Why are Man United so fragile after conceding a goal, and how good was Bayern's Jamal Musiala? - 2:05 As Arsenal cruised to a 4-0 win over PSV in their return to the competition - was that the perfect preparation for this Sunday's North London Derby... and are they a different proposition when Gabriel Jesus leads the line? - 7:55 Did AC Milan and Newcastle BOTH think they were the underdogs at San Siro? - 13:05 Are PSG a better team even if they're less exciting to watch now, having ditched so many of their Galacticos in the summer? - 17:01 Is Julian Alvarez making Man City fans forget about Kevin de Bruyne? - 20:40 ... Later in the pod, the panel preview the North London Derby and discuss Michael Cox's article in The Athletic - where he suggests Chelsea are playing better than their results would suggest! - 23:32 Produced by Adonis Pratsides Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ali Maxwell is joined by Michael Cox, Liam Tharme and Mark Carey to reflect on Jude Bellingham's performance vs Scotland, debate whether Neymar should be considered one of football's true greats, and ask where the Spanish playmakers have gone?Plus, Nigeria's striker dilemma, Bielsa's Uruguay, and Fernando Diniz's anti-establishment tactics.Produced by Jay Beale. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices