arteta stats xg
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How Stats Are Warping the Way We Watch Football

ByPaddy Keogh

You’d be surprised how many opinions about a footballer’s performance now hinge on a number between 6.3 and 8.1. No context, no nuance, just a number. This is what happens when apps like Sofascore and FotMob go from being helpful tools to being the entire conversation. The overreliance on football stats is not just changing…

Kerlon Football Manager Wonderkid
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Forgotten Wonderkids of Football Manager: Where Did It Go Wrong?

ByPaddy Keogh

There’s a strange joy in finding a wonderkid on Football Manager before anyone else knows their name. That rush when you sign a 16-year-old for peanuts and five seasons later he’s bagging goals in a Champions League final. Football Manager has a knack for spotting talent long before it breaks through. Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney,…

Jose-Mourinho-Tactico-Tacticos
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Football Tacticos and the Death of Football Conversation

ByPaddy Keogh

“You see, they’re in a 3-2-5 in possession, inverted full-backs creating the box midfield. But out of possession, it’s more of a 4-2-2-2, with the wingers engaging the second phase in a hybrid press.” Now, read that again and ask yourself, what have you actually learned? The rise of Football Tacticos – those self-styled tactical…

Damien Duff Shelbourne
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Damien Duff and The Growth of the League of Ireland

ByJake McLoughlin

It’s November 1st, and Shelbourne have just taken the lead against Derry City. “Duffer, Duffer, Duff-er-er-er” screams from the lungs of the travelling Shels’ fans, to the tune of The Cranberries ‘Zombie’. 250 kilometres south, the same chant is ringing around Tallaght Stadium by the Block E Boys and travelling support of Waterford FC as…

Sporting Fingal
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Sporting Fingal FC: The League of Ireland’s Shortest Success Story

ByNeil Madigan

Sporting Fingal was a club that only had 965 days of activity but left their mark in outstanding fashion. The club were formed, won an FAI Cup as a First Division side, got promoted to the Premier Division, mounted a title charge, and made their European debut all in the space of their three-season existence….

FC Romania fans
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Rooted in Pride, Driven by Passion: FC Romania

ByPaddy Keogh

In 2006, a small group of Romanian friends in London formed FC Romania with little more than a football and a shared dream. What started as a weekend hobby soon grew into something bigger—a beacon of pride for the Romanian community in the UK, a lifeline to their homeland, and an unexpected journey up the…