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Fifteen years ago, I got my dream job writing for MLSsoccer. Last week, that came to an end. I'm off on my own, and it's time to build something new – with a little help from all of you. tacticsfreezone.ghost.io/an-end-to-my...

A fun little fact that tells you everything you need to know: Per the passing grades from @gradientsports.bsky.social for the Premier League, there are zero Tottenham players in the top 50, and there is one Tottenham player in the top 100.

“This game is terrible”, I think to myself, for the 25th straight week, while watching the richest soccer teams in the world play soccer against each other.

From the "records no one other than me and maybe, like, 14 other people care about" department: Liverpool's win over Qarabag was the most lopsided Champions League match (by xG differential) since 2010.

Not just this, but Benfica didn’t know they needed another goal! They were wasting time! Mourinho subbed on an extra center back in injury time! And they still scored!

Is there a “mute the people who are eating during the Golazo Show” button?

I wrote about how nobody wants a manager anymore -- even if they don't really have a plan for what to do instead: www.espn.com/soccer/story...

My halftime team talk: KICK THE BALL AS HARD AS YOU CAN AND MAKE IT GO INTO THE CORNER OF THE GOAL.

I came up with a new, simple power-rating system for the Premier League. It had West Ham ahead of Sunderland and therefore is perfect: www.espn.com/soccer/story...

Wrote about the state of play for football, getting data, and getting insight, in the aftermath of the FBref news www.getgoalsideanalytics.com/square-one/

Teams ahead of Tottenham in the Champions League: Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool Teams ahead of Tottenham in the Premier League: Arsenal, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Brentford, Newcastle, Sunderland, Everton, Fulham, Brighton, Crystal Palace

I wrote about what Sean was doing with FBref in NET GAINS because publicly available data ultimately makes things better for everyone whose stakes should matter: fans, media, players, and clubs. Yes, even the inane xG convos between supporters are a good thing! Hopefully someone else steps up.

I wrote this two weeks ago. Seems like it might be relevant today: www.espn.com/soccer/story...

If you'd like to read every story I've written in 2025 before the end of 2025, the last one just went up: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Continuing the tradition, I have compiled an end-of-year overview of the soccer analytics content that I liked the most in 2025. This edition includes pointers to about 200 resources, including research papers, blog posts, news articles, podcasts, and webinars. janvanhaaren.be/posts/soccer...

We examined which goalkeeper metrics are the most stable for evaluating performance. Using Spearman correlations, we found that avoiding negative actions is far more stable than save percentage or PSxG. 📊⬇️ www.gradientsports.com/blog/why-sta...

🧵 Thread: I recently looked into the concept of escaping pressure 👇 1️⃣ 3rd player, up-back combos are the most efficient at escaping pressure 🔷 I defined a press-escaping situation as a pass that found a free player (not pressured in 3 seconds), after 2 consecutive ball carriers were pressurized

Check out @americansocceranalysis.com for this year's edition of my MLS Superdraft Big Board. This year, there's more depth and more room for discovery. Also, for college soccer fans it includes ALL Division 1 players regardless of draft eligibility. There's some exciting players coming in 👀

If you enjoy checking this document, then I have good news. I have updated this document to include everything I've written, including a piece about who's to blame for Liverpool's struggles. Hint: it's not Salah or Slot. docs.google.com/document/d/1...

I wrote about the birth and the death of the Group of Death: www.espn.com/soccer/story...

⚽️ Just launched xstandings.com Inspired by FiveThirtyEight, xStandings simulates the rest of the season to forecast final standings: ✅ Title, playoff, relegation odds ✅ Match-by-match win/draw/loss predictions ✅ “What if” explorer for upcoming games

Seven Total Shots, Six Total Cards: The 2025-26 Premier League season

Really tough result for Liverpool. You just can’t afford to lose a relegation six-pointer at home.

Cristiano Ronaldo is so desperate to enter a US market that he has been kept out of for nearly a decade that he's now shilling for not one but two of the worst autocrats in the world newrepublic.com/article/2033...

Outside of one or two seasons, pretty much every Liverpool-City game since 2018 has been the same: City control the game, both teams create a similar amount of chances, and whoever kicks/heads the ball better wins.

A cagey, tactically complex first half where both teams played pretty well? Back in my day, every Liverpool-Real Madrid game ended up with Liverpool outshooting Real Madrid, 45-1, and Madrid winning, 2-0.

I temporarily revived No Grass in the Clouds to write about the strangers on the Internet who are getting mad at the person I'm going to marry about an article I wrote six years ago: nograssintheclouds.substack.com/p/on-set-pie...

Write about the broader implications of data-driven decision-making on the aesthetics of a sport, and Arsenal fans post comments on an Instagram picture of your fiancée. Write an article about how Arsenal are easily the best team in the Premier League, and Arsenal fans … barely say anything.

I wrote about the best team in the Premier League, maybe the best defense we've ever seen, and whether those five open-play goals really even matter: www.espn.com/soccer/story...

Broke out the ol' WHO YA GOT for El Clasico: Kylian Mbappe or Lamine Yamal? www.espn.com/soccer/story...

It was fun while it lasted.

I've always wondered (and feared) what might happen if everyone started taking set pieces seriously. The first eight weeks of the Premier League season might be giving us a glimpse into the future, where soccer no longer features much, well, soccer: www.espn.com/soccer/story...

Two months into the season, @rwohan.bsky.social and I did our first PREMIER LEAGUE RE-RANK. 📉 Liverpool, Brighton, Villa, Forest (duh) 📈 Bournemouth, Palace, Man Utd???, Everton!, the idea of promoted teams surviving (a couple, anyway) www.espn.com/soccer/story...

Follow This Simple, Four-Step Guide and I Promise That Your Terrible, Disappointing, Incredibly Wealthy Soccer Club Will See Results: www.espn.com/soccer/story...

This has been updated! docs.google.com/document/d/1...

I wrote about Liverpool's biggest problem so far this season: the guy who led the Premier League in goals and assists last season. www.espn.com/soccer/story...

The Cubarsi Zone is soccer's version of the corner three.

Here is a list of midfielders I would rather have on my team than Declan Rice:

Story of their season so far: Liverpool are incredible when the other team isn't trying to attack and bad whenever the other team has a reason to punch back. www.espn.com/soccer/story...

Can we predict who will win the Ballon d'Or in 10 years? I tried to do it: www.espn.com/soccer/story...

May we all never have to watch a game that ends with nine center backs on the field ever again.

Burnley completed 81 passes today. Can't remember the last time I've seen a team go 90 minutes without getting to at least 100.

Hello, friends. It's FORWARD PROGRESS DAY. "A cinematic celebration of college football’s exploding influence and a rigorous look at how and why the sport may look totally new once again," according to whoever wrote the summary blurb on Amazon. www.amazon.com/Forward-Prog...

Liverpool: have played zero good games. Also Liverpool: nine points from nine, two points clear at the top, already won two of the toughest fixtures of the season.

That might be the dumbest soccer game I’ve ever seen.

Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha have made Manchester United better. Now they're pretty much exactly as good as Fulham.

I wrote about the best transfers of the past decade that still totally flopped: www.espn.com/soccer/story...

Excited to announce a new paper together with @sigridolthof.bsky.social entitled "Perspectives on data analytics for gaining a competitive advantage in football: computational approaches to tactics". This is a synthesis article that has 3 key objectives www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.... 1 / 4