#match analysis

Every match has two layers.

There's the football itself — the goals, the saves, the substitutions, the tactical adjustments. That layer gets analyzed everywhere. Numbers, models, expected goals, pressing maps. All useful, all important.

But there's another layer underneath, and it's the one I keep coming back to: the story.

Every fixture carries weight that the data doesn't quite capture. A team in freefall meeting a team rediscovering itself. A manager under pressure in front of a crowd that hasn't decided yet whether to back him. A player returning to a club that didn't want him anymore. A derby where the standings barely matter because the rivalry is older than both managers combined.

These stories don't replace the analysis. They sit alongside it. They explain why the same match between the same two teams can feel completely different in October than it does in April.

This blog is a small space where I write about that side of football — the narrative, the pressure, the meaning underneath the result. My main work appears at BettingTipHub, where I bring this story-driven perspective to match previews and football analysis. Here, I'll occasionally write a quieter, longer piece about what makes certain matches feel the way they do.

If you read football the way I do — looking for the story behind the scoreline — you're in the right place.

— Noah Collins

i feel like i start every analysis with this but........our ability to carry on despite everything >>>

like in the past few days, trent, dom AND ali got injured and we had 2 INJURIES in the first half...AND WE WON 4-1

our injury list this szn has been insane. our ideal first choice XI probably hasn't played together in months.

AND WE'RE FIRST. truly incredible and all credit to the boys' mentality and klopp's ability to adjust (lfc medical team, i would like a word...)

kwev (again) stepped up and rose to the occasion

ibou let a few too many players sneak past the line in the first half.....but nothing came of it and the fact that that's my main criticism shows how consistently great he has been throughout the szn.

connor was so good and given what he's been through lately, it's great to see him play so well. ynwa <3

endo, macca and curtis all were good today and they looked good together, which is so crucial given domi's injury. domi and curtis seem to bring out the best in each other, but it's good that this trio is getting more comfortable (even if curtis is injured now)

darwin was so good and i'm gen so proud of his finish for the first goal.

also regarding that goal.....JOTA'S HEADER WAS UNREAL. exquisite, honestly, which is saying something given how much of a treat his goals are.

macca's control for his goal was steller and its great to see midfielders get in on goals

mo salah scoring on his return is just perfect. snow salah is here. it was all classic mo salah as well: running onto a ball, nearly putting a defender on his ass, and muscling his way through it all to neatly slot it away into the corner

big gakkers goal! great work from him to just put the game away and hopefully boost his confidence

great performance from luis in this match as well. an assist and i think he created the most chances? he complimented and enhanced mo, darwin, diogo and cody throughout the game.

also ibou singing w the fans was so cute

overall, very happy with the performance, especially given our injury crisis. BUT PLS NO MORE!!!

So thought I might as well break down my thoughts on today’s match, plus the post-match interactions. It was the second Blues match that I’ve gone to see and from the perspective of a Blues fan it was a more pleasant, if not still slightly painful, match to watch.

some final thoughts:

in the first half in particular, Wälti’s position disrupted the flow of the attack— you could tell that disruption was gone the moment Joe moved her into defence in the second half.

that said, the defence during the entire game felt relatively solid— there were only a handful of moments where I felt arsenal were truly under threat, and that’s a big testament to leah Williamson’s watchful eye. I genuinely feel like she pulls the entire defence together.

The first half felt very messy to watch, especially in moments where players lead into each other’s space and cluttered up the field by playing games that were slightly too small for comfort, given man city’s pressure.

However, that doesn’t mean there weren’t moments of brilliance— the wings felt slightly underused but whenever arsenal pressed forward in attack (Lisa Evans & Beth Mead in particular), the attack felt like a well-oiled machine. Little’s assist for Miedema’s goal was excellently timed, and perfectly executed.

they came into the second half a lot cleaner, despite the fact that man city continued with their risqué challenges & tackles. It’s a shame that Jordan Nobbs missed her chance to bring Arsenal up to two to set themselves ahead, but it’s entirely forgivable given she went to ground a few times during the game and has only just returned from injury.

personally, i understand the strategic importance of wasting time, but it felt remarkably contrived any time anyone went to ground. however, i’m not going to balk in the face of a much-needed win— it’s a relief to be back on the top of the table after Chelsea’s upset. When looking back on the game, particularly the second half, it’s relatively galvanising to see that arsenal have pulled themselves together somewhat.

I would have also liked to see more substitutions from joe aside from his stock-standard last-minute time wasting substitutions. I think wälti could have been subbed off earlier in favour of other defenders, and I think that miedema, with her recent calf injury, should’ve been protected more than she has. If she’s out— joe loses his topscorer. Doesn’t feel like something you would risk.

all in all, a good game, if a bit mixed. I can’t say much in the way of man city’s tactics, but with several key players down it also felt like they were scrapping for possession out there. they’ve had a bit of a rough run as of late.

Onto next week!

Twice a season this fixture comes around and I dread it every year. Bilbao is my second team in La Liga and I was really hoping for a European spot, a miraculous resurgence, but they came looking for a draw and it really wasn’t a good performance by them at all.

It was also not the best performance by Real Madrid. The first half was mind numbingly dull and even for most of the second, bar a ten minute spell at the start of the second half, we just looked lethargic, playing like our heart wasn’t in it. And part of me says, okay. That makes sense. Our season is over, we have nothing to compete for, it should be a given that the intensity drops. But the other part of me doesn’t understand it at all. Because I’m still waking up at god awful hours to watch this team kick a damn ball around. If I was smart I would cancel my TV subscription until next season starts, because I now have to pay extra to find a provider here in the States that shows La Liga matches. But no. I’m going to keep wasting $10 a month to watch these idiots give me performances like these. And I know $10 a month doesn’t seem bad but as a broke college student trying to scrape enough money to go to law school, I can assure you it is. So I don’t understand them when they say it is hard because they have nothing to play for. These are professional athletes, aren’t they supposed to want to win no matter what? I literally have to be restrained during pick up matches because I’m so competitive, I always want to win whatever game I’m playing and I’m not getting paid millions of dollars to kick a ball around. So no, I don’t understand.

But let me move off of that and talk about tactics for a moment. I will never understand why we don’t play Asensio on the right. He looks twice the player when he can cut in on that magical left foot of his. I don’t mind if he comes on as a substitute on the left, like he did a couple of times last year to stretch the game, but why do managers keep playing him there? He didn’t look confident or sure on the ball, though despite all of that, I would say he was still a bright spot in the match. Just his off the ball movement showed what an intellegent footballer he is. I also thought Kroos had a pretty good game, which was good to see because for me he has had a very poor season. But he looked good on the switch today and even contributed defensively. Vallejo was also a bit of a stand out and it was his last minute interception in our own penalty box that started the play that resulted in Benzema’s first goal.

On a side note, I’m not sure what Llorente and Ceballos did to Zidane but his complete lack of trust in them worries me. A lot.

Bilbao usually sit and counter. They are a robust and physical side. I thought we handled the physical battle well today, and Vallejo quieted Inaki well in this match. But until the second half, we really struggled breaking down Bilbao. I’m not sure we really did anything either to disorganize them. They just seemed to fall apart and we started to capitalize. Maybe that is unfair and there were some other tactical tweaks I didn’t notice in the second half, other than “more intensity.” I’d like to see a bit more of an offensive plan than “go out there and try hard,” but we all have to be patient right? Brahim was a bright spot when he came in and I feel like this is something we need. In a possession game, we need someone to actually move the ball forward. Whether this is passing or dribbling, we need a vertical player. And one of the first things Brahim did when he came in was drive the ball forward. Finally, some life in the team.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Football RPF Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Dele Alli/Eric Dier Summary: Rest and recuperation, and the entire contents of a small Repino supermarket.

Recitty rec: A sweet, snack-based fic as a warm up for the game tonight.

Gary Lineker: And now it’s over to Etal for a round-up of what slashwatchers and RPF fans will be on the look out for tonight. What have you got for us, Etal?

Thanks Gary, and may I just say congratulations on an excellent shirt performance over the tournament and that I remember your 1987 legs with enormous fondness?

So, as the nation suffers a collective nervous breakdown due to antic football hopes, political disintegration and it having been sunny for a whole week, let’s take a moment to consider what tonight’s World Cup semi might have in store for those for whom romance is the main criteria for success:

1. First up, Jack Butland, Danny Rose, Marcus Rashford, Rufus Loftus-Cheek, Harry Kane and Fabian Delph are all clearly characters in a Regency period m/m romance about rakes and innocent stable boys lately arrived from the country to the stews and molly-houses of London.

2. Kieran Trippier is a total yeoman, with a maverick streak, who will never give up and will work to his last breath, end to end, to service Harry up front. He’s Sam, in search of a Frodo, but maybe he’s his own Frodo.

3. Jesse Lingard’s everything, but particularly his beautiful smile.

4. I’ve got 5Live on and the English fans have a new song to the tune of Atomic Kitten’s ‘You can make me whole again’ which goes ‘Southgate you’re the one/you still turn me on/ football’s coming home again’. A lad was just interviewed and said “I’ve basically fallen in love with Gareth Southgate. He’s been voted the sexiest man alive [he hasn’t btw, he just made that up] and I would, I definitely would.’ They’re doing it unconsciously bless them, but they’re falling in line with the Boss/Daddy and his waistcoat thing like a bunch of girls. And doesn’t it feel good eh lads?

5. Gary, you’ll want to keep an eye on Eric Dier/ Dele Alli. They have Oliver/Elio names, play for Spurs and are in love. They are currently at coffee shop AU stage on AO3 and look to have real staying power. 

6. I’ve totally fallen for the narrative that these are not a bunch of spoiled show-ponies. Trippier was let go from the youth team at Manchester City because he was small and naughty, he had to fight for a place in a first team; Southgate survived national opprobrium; Jamie Vardy was playing non-league football, working in a factory, after Sheffield Weds let him go, but he worked his way up until he won the Premiership for Leicester. Some measure of deserving it.

i did indeed go to the game and I’ll be more than happy to do a recap- you may regret you asked for one though because this could get quite long.

So I rock up to the match and go to pay my ticket. First difference that I see between wsl and primera matches: the prices to get watch. Each ticket was 10 euros, there were no discounts for children like the wsl has, they don’t even play in a proper stadium (literally my ex-team were playing at the same time on the pitch next to them like wtf) nor on real grass, there were no iberdrola signs up announcing it as anything other than just a regular match, there were people watching from outside in protest for not wanting to pay that much. Like all this pre-stuff was slightly insane, it’s the first division of women’s football in spain for goodness sake and this is all they get? I know there’s a lot of internal problems with Rayo and their presidency so that will have a lot to do with it but come on, they deserve so much better.

Now to the actual game though, as exemplified by the lack of goals, the first half was quite equal although I’d say el rayo managed to dominate slightly causing the most issues. However both Babett and especially Samara were doing a great job as fullbacks making sure el rayo wasn’t able to capitalise on all of the attacks they were having. Rayo Vallecano were playing with five at the back from what it seemed so tacón had a minimal amount of opportunities to create problems for them and rayo’s defense was great at quickly closing down any gaps that jakobsson or asllani could capitalise on. Basically, Tacón in this half was playing very skillfully individually but when it came to passing and creating play between them they either kept the ball for themselves until it was taken off them or the passes went wrong. Babett (it must be the ex-wolfsburg effect lol) even made a couple of good crosses into the box but, like what happens with cgh, no one was there to recieve them.

in the second half it kind of turned tables for a bit with tacón pressing more and having a few more shots on goal. Samara came off which was a shame but Esther came on and Babett changed sides (they clearly rely on her to be versatile enough to do whatever job needs to be done) and the defense continued to work pretty well. However, Rayo was not giving up and Guerrero started playing as fullback I believe so their line up changed to only 4 in the back which meant that they kept pressing whilst Tacón’s anxiousness and desperation started to get the best of them. The penalty (not sure what happened there it was on the other end of the pitch that i was at) was given away and Oriana clinically scored. Chi started walking everywhere, as in if I’d barely seen her enter into play before for the last 15 minutes she was nowhere to be found, Jakobsson kept really trying but Rayo made sure there was always someone on her, and Asllani had clearly zoned out. There were a few relatively good connections between between the swedes, mostly jakobsson crosses, but Asllani didn’t quite get the them. There was one where she practically had a free goal in front of her and instead headed it just over. Jakobsson literally was on two knees for a good few moments metaphorically pulling her hairs out but Asllani by this point had very much given up. Jakobsson was frustrated but at least she was showing emotion when passes weren’t going well. Eva Masdeu came on for Rayo and was a great added help in both the midfield and defense but Rayo was clearly becoming tired. Which meant that finally finally Malena found herself with a lot of space to drive the ball forward and take a stunner of a shot from outside of the box to equalise the match. And that was basically the end of that, whilst all the bench went wild and Malena and the other ogs all went over to celebrate Asllani, Jakobsson, Chi and I think one other just ran back with the ball and didn’t even go over to join in the group hug that was going on. If that doesn’t tell you enough about the group dynamic then I don’t know what does. The whistle went soon after ending a match that was okay but not satisfactory enough for either team

BRO IT WAS GREAT. As in the score was not what I wanted to see and it was clearly not a very equal performance, but it was still amazing to see them all play. Captain Magda shouting in English and being super supportive and encouraging was great to witness, there’s a reason why she was made captain and she’s more than pulling it off. Tbh she wasn’t given much of an opportunity to shine as Birmingham didn’t cause many scares, Bright on the other hand.... my word what a goal. She zoomed up that pitch and made such a clinical finish that one would think it was a weekly event, my mouth was literally hanging open for a good minute afterwards. Bachmann played well on the wings but always seemed to mess up her final touch/pass, she was clearly going for goal as she got put up as striker near the end but yesterday just wasn’t her day. Maren Mjelde was absolutely fantastic, particularly merciless as right back but really opening up the game all round. Beth England was just being her usual self sentencing every pass and shot she took, and Ji really got the team going with that initial free kick.

As for Birmingham, they were lucky Lucy Staniforth was back but not even she could stop the on-going attacks. I thought Abbi Grant had a great match considering she was on Maren’s wing, she was constantly on the move really pressing high and getting some good balls in. Side note: she had to go round the pitch when she was subbed off and it was really sweet to see all the kids run up to talk to her and ask for autographs/photos. Chloe Arthur also stood out for me in the midfield, opening up the game as much as possible and stopping Chelsea from really wrecking havoc on the pitch.