Marcelo Bielsa, let me save your staff some time

Pretty much everyone in the soccer/football world has heard by now that Marcelo Bielsa sent staff to spy on the training sessions of all of Leeds United’s opponents, that he admitted as much in a press conference, and that he then unveiled a substantial amount of his opposition analysis on Derby County. He also revealed that as many as 20 other people work on opposition analysis at Leeds United, and they spent 360 hours analyzing old Derby matches. And this is where I think I can save them some time. In his own words, here are the key points that…
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What happened to Liverpool’s Naby Keita?

Naby Keita. Just a few years ago, his name evoked fervent exaltation in some sectors of the soccer analytics community – he was the young midfielder who could do it all, with apparently unlimited talents both attacking and defending. Now, he can’t get a game for Liverpool. What happened? To answer this question, I think it’s important to understand where Keita started. Following an impressive maiden season in Europe at Istres, he began 2014-15 playing a combination of defensive midfield and central midfield at Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga. Even as a defensive midfielder, he pushed the ball…
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What does Manchester City’s win over Liverpool mean for the title race?

It was the biggest match of the season so far, at least at the top of the table: Liverpool, leading the Premier League by seven points, traveled to second-place Manchester City in hopes of ending the title race early. At least, that was the narrative coming from the media. Manchester City were narrowly victorious, but does this mean the title race is back on? Before the match, the bookies gave Liverpool roughly a 60-65% chance of winning the league, with Manchester City at about 30-35% and Tottenham around 5%. It’s worth pausing for a moment to consider what that meant….
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