The most important areas of the physical capacity of a player are; × Acceleration / Deceleration. × Agility. × Core Strength. × Stamina. Other areas are supplementary and subjective to the requirements of the player’s role / zones of operation and the team’s game-model.

attempting to excuse an erratic, poorly performing game-model with the notion that it was aimed at “improving physicality” or “raising physical floor” always sounded ludicrous, didn’t it? well, here’s a nice article written by a sports scientist telling that the notion is false.

i’ve always said it that Xavi’s Barça had so many similarities to Erik’s United. replace “Xavi’s” with “Erik’s” and this tweet would still make perfect sense. it’s not necessarily the principles with them, more the failure to properly transmit the sub-principles to the players.

this is interesting. i never knew this many people had such a limited understanding of athleticism, and — this less surprising — its importance in a sport like football.

Ground power is lacking, his full range of motion is not easily accessible, forced to expend ridiculous energy just to protect the ball against big athletes, can't snap into challenges, no burst, no bite... This is the opposite of Verratti. His passing is not even that good.

i like that Rodri refers to all of Busquets, Rice, Jorginho, and Casemiro as players that can “manage the game”. it means he shares the belief that the best ball-winning & organizer DMs both provide control of the game, just in different ways.