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	<title>Think Football</title>
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	<description>The Thinking Person&#039;s Football Website</description>
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		<title>Tactical Analysis: Would Leighton Baines be a success at Manchester United?</title>
		<link>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10106</link>
		<comments>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10106#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 May 2013 09:54:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amit Singh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[England]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Premier League]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Special Feature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tactical Analysis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Everton FC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leighton Baines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Manchester United]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Patrice Evra]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sylvain Distin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkfootball.co.uk/?p=10106</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Now that David Moyes has moved to Old Trafford to become the Manchester United manager speculation has increased that he might look to poach some of his former Everton players, most notably Leighton Baines. Patrice Evra has been a great servant to United but at 32 is seen by many as being on the decline, whilst Baines is perceived to be the best full-back in England by many of his supporters. But would signing the England left-back make sense for Manchester United? What role does Baines play at Everton? Baines is primarily a left back of course but his role is somewhat different to a typical left-backs as he is used as the clubs primary attacking outlet and creative presence. If we analyse his action areas below from the sides recent 1-0 win over Fulham we can understand this point further: As we can see from this graphic Baines is an incredibly attacking player, spending the majority of the game in the opposition’s final portion of the pitch down the left. In fact, he spends the least amount of his time in the most defensive portion of the pitch, with over half of his play in the oppositions half, demonstrating [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Statistical Analysis: Would signing Kolo Toure make sense for Liverpool FC?</title>
		<link>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10130</link>
		<comments>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10130#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 May 2013 09:54:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amit Singh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[England]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Premier League]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Special Feature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tactical Analysis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kolo Toure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Liverpool FC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Manchester City]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkfootball.co.uk/?p=10130</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Kolo Toure will be available on a free transfer from Manchester City this summer, having been used only sparingly this season, making just ten starts for City. With Toure now aged 32 he will be seeking a new club who can give him games and as such he has been increasingly linked with Liverpool who have seen their talismanic centre-back Jamie Carragher retire this season. As such Brendan Rodgers might look to Toure as an experienced Premier League defender who can fill the void left by the out-bound Carragher. Toure vs. Liverpool&#8217;s other centre-backs Pass accuracy Average passes per game Average defensive actions Headed duel success Tackle success Kolo Toure 88% 28.7 7 40% 74% Daniel Agger 89% 49.8 8 61% 72% Martin Skrtel 90% 46.2 9 70% 85% The above table compares Toure to Liverpool&#8217;s two main centrebacks now that Carragher has retired. If we assess the table two thing stand out. Firstly how few passes Toure plays in comparison to the two Liverpool players (although this is partially down to less game time) and also how poor Toure&#8217;s headed duel success is. Whilst Toure has a slightly superior tackle success to Daniel Agger his overall duel success is [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tactical Analysis: How well has Ramires done in Chelsea&#8217;s 4-2-3-1 formation?</title>
		<link>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10108</link>
		<comments>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10108#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 10:01:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amit Singh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[England]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Premier League]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Special Feature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tactical Analysis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chelsea fc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Frank Lampard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jose Mourinho]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ramires]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkfootball.co.uk/?p=10108</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ramires was an integral player in Chelsea&#8217;s Champions League winning campaign but at times this season he has come into criticism from fans and from pundits alike. Typically he has been used in a 4-3-3 for Chelsea but this season the move to a 4-2-3-1 has impacted on his performances with the Brazilian playing a more reserved role, but how can we assess his performances for Chelsea in this new role? Statistical Analysis Total tackles won Tackle success Goals Pass accuracy Chances created per game Ramires 85 76% 5 85% 0.57 Lampard 27 75% 15 82% 0.93 Mikel 40 78% 0 89% 0.31 One area that Ramires has had to develop this season is the defensive side of his game. It is worth noting that he has done this very well with only 5 players in the Premier League completing more tackles than Ramires this season, who also boasts a 76% success rate going into tackles. As we can see above he is by far Chelsea&#8217;s most prolific midfield tackler with over double the number of tackles made by Mikel and almost four times as many as Lampard. Ideally Ramires would be utilized in a three man midfield where he can get [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tactical Analysis: Do Man United need to strengthen their wing options?</title>
		<link>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10142</link>
		<comments>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10142#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 10:01:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amit Singh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[England]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Premier League]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Special Feature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tactical Analysis]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkfootball.co.uk/?p=10142</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Manchester United have traditionally had very strong players to choose from on the flanks. That being said, in recent seasons this has not really been the case, particularly this year. United did try to strengthen in this area in the summer, reportedly going in for Lucas Moura and also Eden Hazard, however the club were unsuccessful in both pursuits and had to settle for their current personnel. Despite a brilliant season in which the club wrestled the title back from Manchester City, is this their biggest area of weakness? Performances of their wingers Goals scored Chances Created Percentage of total goals Percentage of chances created United wingers 2 109 2.3% 24.8% The club have had Nani, Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia to choose from as their primary wingers this season with Danny Wellbeck also getting some game time and as such I have analysed their performance this season in the table above. These four players combined have scored just two goals between them this season, in what has been a relative area of weakness in an otherwise very strong title winning Manchester United side. The players have created almost a quarter of the sides chances this season but in the [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Is Chelsea the only option for Jose Mourinho after his controversial stint at Real Madrid?</title>
		<link>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10083</link>
		<comments>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10083#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 09:57:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amit Singh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[England]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Italy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Premier League]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rest of Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chelsea fc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jose Mourinho]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Madrid]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkfootball.co.uk/?p=10083</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Having been defeated by Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-final, relinquishing their La Liga title to Barcelona and losing the Copa Del Rey final to Atletico Madrid has marked Mourinho&#8217;s third and probably final season in Madrid as a failure. Mourinho described this season as &#8216;the worst of my career&#8217; in his first full season without winning a major trophy (he did win the Super Cup at the start of the season) and the club have now officially stated that he will be departing the club this summer. Having suffered at the hands of the media and after a string of high profile fallout&#8217;s in the context of his &#8216;worst season,&#8217; is Mourinho&#8217;s stock now at an all-time low? Has he been a &#8216;failure&#8217; at Madrid? Mourinho was brought into Real Madrid with the remit to bring the team back to the top of European football. Real Madrid have been relatively unsuccessful in recent seasons, particularly living in the shadow of their rivals FC Barcelona. Madrid had not managed to get past the 2nd round of the Champions League for several seasons which meant that Jose Mourinho was supposed to deliver European success as well as topple Barcelona&#8217;s monopoly domestically. Whilst [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Statistical Analysis: Would Man City be better off without Carlos Tevez next season?</title>
		<link>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10101</link>
		<comments>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10101#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 09:57:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amit Singh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[England]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Premier League]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Special Feature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tactical Analysis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carlos Tevez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Manchester City]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkfootball.co.uk/?p=10101</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Carlos Tevez has been a significant figure for Manchester City since moving to the club from their bitter rivals Manchester United. The Argentine forward has scored 58 times in 107 appearances for City, but, with certain personal issues considered, his consistency questionable and his commitment also often dubious, would City be better off without him? Statistical Analysis: Apps Goals Conversion Chances created per game Pass accuracy Tevez 33 11 14.7% 1.8 84% Aguero 29 12 18.5% 1.3 82% Dzeko 31 14 20% 0.9 69% Tevez does compare well with his team-mates, but notably he has scored the least amount of goals and has the worst conversion rate despite making more appearances than the other two forwards. Aguero is probably the clubs prized striking asset though, having outscored Tevez and boasting a better conversion. There is a feeling that the two Argentinian strikers are quite similar both in style and build and as such it might be worth the club signing a slightly different option in the summer. That being said we can see his major strength here as he creates more chances per game and has a better pass accuracy than Aguero or Dzeko. Tevez from an observational point of view [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Are Portuguese teams like Benfica becoming feeder clubs for Europe&#8217;s richer clubs?</title>
		<link>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10091</link>
		<comments>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10091#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 09:59:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tim Simon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[International]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rest of Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Special Feature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Axel Witsel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Benfica]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Luiz]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FC Porto]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Javi Garcia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Portugal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Super Liga]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkfootball.co.uk/?p=10091</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Following on from my piece on the business model of FC Porto, the policy of buying players cheaply and selling them on two or three years later for a higher price which has worked for them over the last decade, here is one on their rivals Benfica’s similar method. In recent years Porto’s rivals Benfica have begun to adapt the same policy. Historically, players who play in Portugal leave for a bigger challenge, a chance to play at a top, top European club who are consistently challenging for Europe’s biggest prize. In recent years it has seemed to happen more, Benfica look to have learnt from their rivals business and have begun to tap into the Latin American market too. Both clubs realise that players who play in these countries are available for much cheaper than players who play in Europe. The fans know that at the end of each season that they will lose their top stars but they also know that they will be replaced. The success of one team at Benfica and Porto usually only lasts one or two seasons until other clubs in Europe snap up their star players. Look at last summer, Porto sold Hulk [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tactical Analysis: Where do Chelsea need to improve next season?</title>
		<link>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/9985</link>
		<comments>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/9985#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 10:15:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amit Singh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[England]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Premier League]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Special Feature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tactical Analysis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Benitez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chelsea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lampard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mourinho]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkfootball.co.uk/?p=9985</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Having all but wrapped up a top four finish Chelsea&#8217;s season has been salvaged somewhat. A Europa League final tonight would add the icing on the cake to an improved last few weeks under Rafa Benitez. That being said in context this season must be regarded as a failure. The club were knocked out of the Champions League Group Stages, have lost three cup finals and fell way off the pace in the Premier League despite a strong start under Roberto di Matteo. Winning the Europa League put the gloss on what was a poor season if you consider the number of trophies Chelsea were chasing in August. This raises the question 1) where did it all go wrong? And 2) where do the club need to improve. Defensive options Chelsea have a decent defensive record in the Premier League this season, on paper they have the joint third best defensive record but this is in the context of a decline in defensive standards in the Premier League more broadly. Chelsea&#8217;s inability to keep clean-sheets is what cost them in the Champions League, particularly when they failed to hold a 2-0 lead against Juventus at the start of the tournament. [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tactical Analysis: Will Darren Bent&#8217;s limitations put off potential buyers?</title>
		<link>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10048</link>
		<comments>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10048#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 10:15:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amit Singh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[England]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Premier League]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Special Feature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tactical Analysis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aston Villa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christian Benteke]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Darren Bent]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paul Lambert]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkfootball.co.uk/?p=10048</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When Paul Lambert dropped Darren Bent at the start of the season in favour of the young and unproven Christian Benteke many observers were surprised and even shocked. However, Bent has scored just 2 goals this season compared to Benteke&#8217;s prolific 19 goal haul which now more than vindicates the managers decision to drop Villa&#8217;s record signing. Not only does Benteke offer more of a goal threat but he also offers a lot more to Villa&#8217;s all round play, with Bent looking to be somewhat limited in his play. Bent is now certain to leave Villa but will his limitations deter potential buyers? Bent&#8217;s limitations Starts (Subs) Goals Conversion Aerial Duels won Pass Accuracy Chances Created per game Darren Bent 7(8) 2 14.3% 37% 69% 0.8 Benteke 32(2) 19 26% 57% 65% 1.5 The stats are obviously skewed given that Bent has played far fewer games but we can see here that Benteke is a much more prolific goal scorer. Further to this he makes more chances for his team-mates and also is a better aerial outlet, winning far more headers than Bent. To truly gauge Bent&#8217;s limitations we only have to look at the last time he played 90 [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>What went wrong? A look at Jose Mourinho&#8217;s high profile fallout&#8217;s at Real Madrid</title>
		<link>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10053</link>
		<comments>http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10053#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 10:30:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Wilde</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[England]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Italy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Premier League]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rest of Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jose Mourinho]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Madrid]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thinkfootball.co.uk/?p=10053</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Jose Mourinho’s time at Real Madrid will be coming to an end shortly and he certainly isn’t going out quietly. Real Madrid even cancelled the pre-match press conference ahead of their league meeting with Espanyol on Saturday to try and keep him quiet for at least a few days in a bid to calm the air ahead of Friday’s cup final. His three year stint as coach at the Bernabeu has been very controversial. During his tenure he’s successfully managed to upset, annoy, insult, anger and even assault people. Excited for next season, Chelsea fans? Here’s a look at some of the people The Special One has crossed. As there are so many, it’s impossible to list them all, so here’s a few of the most important ones over the past three years. Iker Casillas Potentially the most famous of Mourinho’s spats. This is about as big a row as is possible for a Real Madrid manager. Club and National Team captain, Iker Casillas. Madrid’s number one for 12 years, and one of the most important players in Real Madrid’s history. Reduced to the bench under Jose Mourinho since the turn of the year. Reports in the media have long [...]]]></description>
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