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News, articles, analysis and
opinions about football

ANALYSIS

Pajor: Wolfsburg's Journey to the Goal

Ewa Pajor is known for her skill, vision of the game, and specially for her goal-scoring ability. This talented Polish forward has left an indelible mark on Wolfsburg and football in general. In this article, we will explore how Pajor plays and why she is considered one of the best players in her position.

ARTICLE

High Pressing: Block vs Duels

The idea of high pressing has gained a significant weight in modern football. It is a key factor for teams who want to be proactive in the game and dominate their opponent with the ball. But, is there only one way to press high? The answer is obviously 'no'. At Ekkono, we have been analyzing these approaches and categorized them into two styles: Pressing in Block and Pressing in Duels. In this article, we will explain the main characteristics of each style, their pros and cons, and show some examples of teams who press using each style.

ANALYSIS

Arsenal: The Rise of the Gunners

Arsenal has been playing great for most of this season. Mikel Arteta has managed to build a team that plays beautiful and bright football in a combinative style, dominating most of its opponents. In this article, we will analyze how Arsenal plays at both the offensive and defensive phases and highlight the characteristic principles of the team.

ARTICLE

Goalkeeping Fundamentals in the Build-up

Typically, coaches do not pay attention to the individual fundamentals of the goalkeepers as carefully as they usually do when it comes to the other players. Most of the time, they concentrate on the objectives of the players in the defense and attack and do not clarify the expected objectives to the goalkeepers. However, the goalkeeper role cannot be underestimated in both offensive and defensive phases, so we decided to propose some solutions that would help improve the performance of the team.

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Vinicius Jr. The Power and Control

When it comes to the Brazilian footballer Vinicius Jr., the slogan 'power is nothing without control' couldn't be more fitting. As a player, Vinicius possesses a rare combination of explosive speed and incredible ball control, making him a constant threat to opponents on the field. His dribbling skills and ability to beat defenders one-on-one are particularly impressive, showcasing his exceptional control over the ball. It's no wonder that he has quickly become a key player for Real Madrid and a rising star in the world of football.

ARTICLE

Offensive Transitions. How to Master Counterattacks?

Offensive transitions are one of the unfairly underrated topics in nowadays approach to football analysis. Compared to the attack and defense, transitions stay in the shadow. In this article, we explain the different subphases inside offensive transitions and which tactical intentions teams should have for each of them.

ARTICLE

How to Build a Successful Game Model

In the past years there has been a huge evolution when it comes to game models. But, has it been in the right direction? In Ekkono’s view, building a game model is like drawing a tree. In order to be successful, you must draw a very detailed tree full of tiny branches first and then only keep those branches that will be part of the game model.

ARTICLE

Performance Keys in a Game Model

What does Griezmann, Morocco and Argentina have to do with Nara Club (Japan)? In this article we talk about the ‘Performance Keys’, as part of the Ekkono Method Pros approach to game models. These concepts help teams elevate their performance throughout the season. At Nara Club (Japan), three performance keys were implemented last season, helping them keep a very solid level throughout the whole season and helped them become champions and promote in the J-League.

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Argentina: Attack the Left Channel

Argentina are FIFA World Cup champions after one of the most dramatic finals in history. Many will recall this game as anything we’ve ever seen before, surpassing all of our expectations. Yet, these is so much more details that have escaped the public eye after all the celebrations and World Cup aftermath. As you know, at Ekkono we like to dive much deeper and analyze aspects of the game that are normally never seen. Today we will consequently look into the “Hidden Key” for the Argentinian national team in this final and understand how their tactics and playing style boosted their success against a very impressive France to become FIFA World Cup champions.

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Messi's New Wingman

Leo Messi has found his new wingman. The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner forged a terrific society with Jordi Alba for over a decade at FC Barcelona and he now seems to have found a new partner at the Argentinian national team with Nahuel Molina. The 24-year-old right back from Atletico de Madrid has proven a very solid mutual game understanding with 'La Pulga', becoming the "Hidden Key" for Argentina in the World Cup

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Wide Offensive Transitions

The Quarter-final match between the two European powerhouses of France and England gave us a true spectacle, along with the possibility to perform an in-depth dive on how France was able to overcome England through clever tactics and continue their World Cup dream. Along with this analysis, we will also look into similar tactical patterns from the rest of the World Cup semi-finalists. France, Croatia, Morocco and Argentina share this "Hidden Key" that has shaped their playing style and become part of top four teams in the World Cup.

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Lucas Paquetá: The Quiet Brazilian Maestro

The current West Ham midfielder, born in Rio de Janeiro, has established himself as a player with consistent level in European football. Yet, many don’t seem to appreciate his unique and valuable contributions to the teams he has played for. His role is unfortunately often overseen. Paquetá is a player that tends to strive as an advanced midfielder in a three-man midfield, as this formation allows him to contribute with his flexibility and adaptability to the different game scenarios.

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Youssef En-Nesyri: The Moroccan Dromedary Unchained

Morocco’s striker has been key for his team during the group stage at Qatar 2022 World Cup. Despite not playing with regularity at Sevilla during this season, En-Nesyri has played all three matches as a starter and played a very important role, both in attack and defense. En-Nesyri, is one of the few strikers in this World Cup edition who have proved to be a true team player, in both phases of the game, providing efforts to help their team elevate their performance.

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Joao Cancelo: There's Something About Joao

João Cancelo has proven to be one of the best full-backs in the World, playing at both flanks for Manchester City. The Portuguese started his career as a deep right full-back at Valencia showing good dribbling abilities. His consolidation in the elite came under Pep Guardiola, who elevated his comprehension of the game and performance level, hence being able to adapt his positioning - outside or inside - based on the team needs. This usual performance level and confidence, however, has not shown during this first phase of the World Cup.

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Rest Defending: Defend While Attacking

France, the current World Cup title holders, are one of the candidates to also win the 2022 edition. Most are focusing on Griezmann and Mbappé, as the major threats the French national team has in attack - after Benzema and Nkunku injuries during the training camps before starting the World Cup. In this analysis, though, we want to focus on their center backs - Upamecano and Varane - and their behavior in the attacking phase.

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

The Next Generation: The Golden Boys

Gavi, Pedri, and Musiala are some of the main leaders of this next wave of football players as they continue to prove that they are world-class despite their age. These three wonderkids portray a new way of playing, one that focuses on the game-understanding approach to football rather than a physical one. Hence, in this article we explore and analyze the role of these three key players with their respective national teams across the first fixture of the World Cup.

ARTICLE

A Defensive Look on Perception

In this article we discuss that perception is more than just looking for open spaces and seeking free teammates and direct opponents. As coaches, we should teach players what they should be looking for and thinking of throughout the game, depending on the episode and place they are playing in. And when being in a defensive phase, the team must already know what will happen and how they should reaction once they recover the ball.

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Lewandowski: The Goal-Scoring Machine

In his very first season with FC Barcelona, Robert Lewandowski continues to prove that he is a world-class scoring machine. Lewandowski has been an essential player within Xavi Hernández’s system, while also demonstrating to be a role model and leader for his teammates. In this analysis, we illustrate the major striker principles Lewandowski exercises that allows him to understand the different situations of the game and therefore score many goals.

ARTICLE

Recruiting Process: Criteria to Select the Right Players

Getting it right when it comes to signing a player is very easy if you have a large amount of human and economic resources. In this article, though, we are not going to focus on this segment, but on the rest of the clubs, which we will divide into two categories: first and second tier clubs with no access to international competitions and clubs that do not compete in the highest national categories.

ARTICLE

Set Pieces: The Importance of Strategy in Modern Football

Today’s game of football is played at an impressive pace. Yet, decisive and paused moments such as set pieces have the power to determine the outcome of a match. In this article, we analyse and discuss the importance of set pieces and strategy in modern football. We will further explain how coaches can implement technical and tactical training in their teams to outsmart opponents.

ARTICLE

Less is More: England Triumphs in the Best EURO Cup in History

The WEURO 2022, which ended last Sunday, has been the best in history for many reasons. The physical and technical level has been extremely high, with no team out of tune. The spectacle has been comparable to the games of the final phases of the WUCL and that is why the television ratings and attendance at the stadiums have been so high.

ARTICLE

Should your team train every week based on your next opponent?

Coaches often prepare game plans as if they were chess battles, but reality shows that in many cases the situations that were anticipated don't occur as imagined. But why? In this article we will discuss about the reasons, and which premises you should consider as a coach when preparing a game plan, to be successful.

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Olympique Lyonnais: Europe Queens of Pressing

Olympique Lyonnais recently won their 8th UEFA Women's Champions League trophy against FC Barcelona (3-1) in the final played at the Juventus Stadium (Torino, Italy). The French champions based their game plan in a very well organized pressing that did not allow Barcelona have a comfortable build-up during the whole match. In this analysis, we will try to illustrate how Lyon structured their defensive structure.

ARTICLE

Specific Content: When should you start training them?

In football, open skills are much more prevalent than closed skills. This means that when planning training sessions, coaches must take into account this specificity and work on specific content in their drills. The question most coaches ask themselves, though, is from when should they start working in these type of skills.

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Ada Hegerberg: Norwegian Class in the Box

Ada Hegerberg is the all-time leading goalscorer of the UEFA Women's Champions League at the age of only 26. The Norwegian striker has lead Olympique Lyonnais to 5 straight Champions League trophies (2016-2020), scoring in three of the Finals. She has proved to be a world-class topscorer, as we could recently see in the semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain, where she scored in both games and help her teammates create many chances with her movements.

ARTICLE

Which Type of Content Should Be Taught to U14-U18 Players?

Soccer players need to master many concepts in order to play well in training and matches. We need to sort these concepts as players need to learn them from when they are children until they retire. Players go through different stages and in each of them there is content which is more appropriate to be taught than other.

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Ralf Rangnick and the Red Bull Factory

Rangnick has been credited as the architect of the high-pressing game widely used nowadays by a number of top teams. Coaches such as Jürgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, Julian Nagelsmann, Hansi Flick, Ralph Hasenhüttl and Jesse Marsch have all been influenced by him to varying degrees.

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Marcelo Bielsa: 'El Loco' football style

The argentinian coach has recently left Leeds United after a series of bad results. This late events, though, won't make Leeds fans and football fans in general forget the nice football displayed by the Yorkshire team under Bielsa's unique football style.

ARTICLE

How to evaluate performance in the Initiation Stage (U13)?

In this article we will discuss about how should performance should be evaluated during the initiation stage.

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Gavi: The master of 'cuadrados'

Gavi is one of the most important players for Xavi Hernández. The 17-year-old, graduated from La Masia is playing a key role for this new FC Barcelona team, developing his game in the 'cuadrados'.

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Alexia: The Queen of football

Alexia Putellas is the World's best football player after winning the 2021 Ballon d'Or and FIFA The Best awards. This is our analysis of her game!

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Graham Potter's Magic

Brighton is playing some of the Premier League's best football under Graham Potter. We analysed them & extracted some conclusions!

ARTICLE

How to evaluate performance in the Initiation Stage (U13)?

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Gavi: The master of 'cuadrados'

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Alexia: The Queen of football

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

Graham Potter's Magic

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Blog

News, articles, analysis and opinions about football

Blog

News, articles, analysis and opinions about football

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News, articles, analysis and
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