Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking) header
Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking) profile picture

šŸ“° @TheAthleticFC šŸ“• Zonal Marking (https://teapaw.org/t.co/fS2lRhH2ml) šŸ“— The Mixer (https://teapaw.org/t.co/0eHRc0WfPC) @KingstonianFC fan

London
Joined November 2009
Photo by Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking)Photo by Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking)Photo by Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking)Photo by Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking)Photo by Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking)Photo by Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking)Photo by Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking)Photo by Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking)Photo by Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking)Photo by Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking)
The 2024 version of The Mixer is out now. The most comprehensive account of the Premier League’s on-pitch development over its first 32 years. Amazon link ā¬‡ļø amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0008708…
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Michael Cox retweeted
Mikel Arteta says Declan Rice can go up a level this season. He’s been taking up more right-sided positions and the assist versus Liverpool shows how that can help him provide more creativity in open play. ā¬‡ļø nytimes.com/athletic/7747305…
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Mikel Arteta says Declan Rice can go up a level this season. He’s been taking up more right-sided positions and the assist versus Liverpool shows how that can help him provide more creativity in open play. ā¬‡ļø nytimes.com/athletic/7747305…
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Only one-quarter of the way through the season, granted, so a small-ish sample size, but he's been operating more in what might be considered the De Bruyne zone.
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Michael Cox retweeted
Lisandro Martinez was in the World Cup best XI but he’s been the worst player in the Premier League so far this season. Has been responsible for five goals conceded now. Just looks like he’s given up. ā¬‡ļø nytimes.com/athletic/7741484…
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Lisandro Martinez was in the World Cup best XI but he’s been the worst player in the Premier League so far this season. Has been responsible for five goals conceded now. Just looks like he’s given up. ā¬‡ļø nytimes.com/athletic/7741484…
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Sometimes I think it’s time to stop tweeting things like ā€œThey appointed the Lokomotiv Moscow director of football, who had managed one top-flight season in the previous decade (when he appointed himself as manager)ā€ and then I see a tweet like this teapaw.org/sampilger/status/21147…
Eddie Howe would be the most underwhelming appointment as Manchester United manager for nearly 50 years since Dave Sexton?
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An excellent gameplan from Mourinho to exploit the gaps in Barcelona's defence brought a 2-1 Real Madrid win in the Clasico. Quick switches of play, runners into the channels, slick passes from out to in. šŸ”½ nytimes.com/athletic/7726228…
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new project: the Women's World Cup finals. Here's 1991, and technically the '1st FIFA World Championship for Women’s Football for the M&Ms Cup'. Both sides using a sweeper. 40mins each way. Mia Hamm in defence. Lots of backpasses. No visible M&Ms. ā¬‡ļø nytimes.com/athletic/7714692…
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Michael Cox retweeted
A Premier League weekend of ferocious tackles and pretty lenient refereeing. We’re told that this is what fans want, which is possibly true. But the long-term effect of too much ā€œletting the game flowā€ is actually that games don’t "flow" at all. ā¬‡ļø nytimes.com/athletic/7704488…
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A Premier League weekend of ferocious tackles and pretty lenient refereeing. We’re told that this is what fans want, which is possibly true. But the long-term effect of too much ā€œletting the game flowā€ is actually that games don’t "flow" at all. ā¬‡ļø nytimes.com/athletic/7704488…
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Four winning goals in the Premier League this weekend, and three of them took a touch off a defender on the way in. The Isak one wasn't *really* a deflected goal, but the Iwobi & Madueke winners were classics of the genre. Why is it happening more? ā¬‡ļø teapaw.org/Zonal_Marking/status/2…
Here's a lengthy investigation into what many are calling the biggest scandal in Premier League history: the huge number of deflected goals these days. 14% of all goals so far this season. What's going on? ā¬‡ļø nytimes.com/athletic/7648810…
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Fulham 1-0 Hull. An absurdly dominant 1-0 for Fulham, who completed the fourth-most passes in the PL this season (behind Man City x 3). Jakirovic made all five subs before Arbeloa made any. King & Affengruber very good. The same needed next weekend. ā¬‡ļø nytimes.com/athletic/7699110…
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Very much agree with this. It's been excellent in recent years. Murphy's analysis is often really interesting. Rooney is a good addition. All the presenters are good. It's obviously no longer the only way to watch highlights but it's adapted pretty well. teapaw.org/timstillman_/status/21…
Feel like this needs saying given *gestures at world*, but Match of the Day has been an objectively really good show for a good few years now. Really good analysis without being overbearing.
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England/Wiegman going 2-3-4-5 across the defence this week - traditionally the preserve of Dutch/Belgian sides - having previously respected the English numbering system is, for me, game’s gone territory.
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I basically think that teams based primarily around pressing are (a) vulnerable to cheap bookings and (b) largely incapable of ā€œsitting inā€ with 10 men. Gravenberch’s changed the game but should it have meant three concessions in 15min? nytimes.com/athletic/7683534…
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As a fan of a southern non-league team who has had heard lots of "Man City will be in your league next year!", it's finally time to speak up. Havant are in the Southern League. If promoted: National South. They wouldn't be in the same region as Man City. teapaw.org/hirstclass/status/2109…
ā€˜Anfield or Havant, we’ll be there’ — defiant fans go bananas for Man City. Gauging the mood of City and Liverpool fans before and during yesterday's match w/@willisbennett11 Big thanks to @mcfc_lw for his help. thetimes.com/sport/football/…
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Here's a lengthy investigation into what many are calling the biggest scandal in Premier League history: the huge number of deflected goals these days. 14% of all goals so far this season. What's going on? ā¬‡ļø nytimes.com/athletic/7648810…
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An outlier due to a small sample size, or a genuine long-term trend? The classic answer is, of course: a bit of both.
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This tallies with something I've never heard mentioned at all, but is really quite crucial to football: the considerable rise in the percentage of blocked shots over the last 20 years. Read on for more: nytimes.com/athletic/7648810…
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