The Athletic FC Tactics Podcast

Pep Guardiola’s defensive tactics in Manchester City’s Premier League draw at Arsenal last weekend caused quite the stir.Was it a one off? Or has Guardiola’s philosophy been slowly changing in front of our eyes?Host: Michael BaileyWith: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam TharmeProducer: Mike Stavrou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There were a mere 19 goals across 20 games in the Premier League last weekend.Which got us thinking — why so few? And is it partly to do with the influx of new signings creating unfamiliarity and uncertainty?Host: Michael BaileyWith: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam TharmeProducer: Mike Stavrouhttps://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6633559/2025/09/16/premier-league-signings-goals/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special edition of The Athletic FC Tactics podcast - we focus on pressing. What does it involve in the modern game, which teams do it best - and worst - and how has it changed from when it was just called ‘closing down’.Host Duncan Alexander is joined by Mark Carey and Liam Tharme to discuss.Host: Michael BaileyWith: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam TharmeProducer: Mike Stavrou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s the international break in men’s football and that means only one thing… mailbag time!We’re going to answer your questions on all sorts — iPads, subs, mavericks and more!Host: Michael BaileyWith: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam TharmeProducer: Mike Stavrou & Paul Iliffe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we’ll tell you why Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system he insists on using at Manchester United, isn’t functioning.And we’ll look at other examples of managers who seem wedded to just one system - can that approach really work?Host: Michael BaileyWith: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam TharmeProducer: Mike Stavrou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we’re charting the journey from academy to first team football.What are the main tactical challenges in making the jump, and how has the transition changed over time?Host: Michael BaileyWith: Mark Carey and Liam TharmeProducer: Mike Stavrou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One week of the Premier League season down, 37 to go.And today we’re asking whether the English top flight has gone old school… with more long throw-ins than ever, “proper” No.9s and promoted sides threatening to be competitive…Host: Michael BaileyWith: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam TharmeProducer: Mike Stavrou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to The Athletic FC Tactics Podcast. We’re kickstarting the new season with our big Premier League preview show.We’ll analyse the key tactical talking points, managerial changes and the new entrants to the English top flight.Host: Michael BaileyWith: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam TharmeProducer: Mike Stavrou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On episode five of Football Architects we look at how England changed their fortunes from tournament failures to final makers - and in the women's case, winners. Hear from the man who brought about the culture change and brought back pride to the Three Lions.Every episode will also have a written piece on the website, which we will link hereHost: Michael BaileyWith: Jacob Whitehead and Liam TharmeProducer: Mike Stavrou and Abi Paterson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On episode four of Football Architects, we hear from the architects of the data world, who have worked for the biggest football clubs in England.Every episode will also have a written piece on the website, which we will link below.Host: Michael BaileyWith: Jacob Whitehead and Mark CareyProducer: Mike Stavrouhttps://pod.fo/e/2fe33b https://pod.fo/e/2fe34e  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On episode three of Football Architects, we’re focusing on international football's great over-performers, Croatia.We’ll hear from Romeo Jozak, the former academy head and technical director of Dinamo Zagreb and technical director of Croatia from 2013-17.Every episode will also have a written piece on the website, which we will link below.https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6445372/2025/07/17/football-architects-croatia-football-overperformers Host: Michael BaileyWith: Jacob Whitehead and Juraj VrdoljakProducer: Mike Stavrou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On episode two of Football Architects, we’re focusing on the rise that took a stagnant Belgium to number one in FIFA’s world rankings.We’ll hear about how they established a footballing DNA, and created a team of legendary players such as Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, and many more. Every episode will also have a written piece on the website, which we will link below.https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6445749/2025/07/10/football-architects-inside-belgium-rise-world-number-one/ Host: Michael BaileyWith: Jacob Whitehead and Liam TharmeProducer: Mike Stavrou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Football Architects - a summer series for The Athletic FC Tactics Podcast. Over the next five weeks, we’ll tell the stories of esteemed footballing nations and clubs, speaking to the unsung heroes who changed history.Today’s episode is focused on Ajax’s rebirth and how the club was rebuilt in the image of legendary figure Johan Cruyff.Host Michael Bailey will be joined by The Athletic’s Jacob Whitehead and a number of our tactics writers. We’ll also be hearing excerpts of Jacob's interviews with key figures who were at the forefront of these projects.On this episode, we hear from Ruben Jongkind, former head of talent development at Ajax, and the club’s former head talent recruitment, Jasper van Leeuwen.Every episode will also have a written piece on the website, which we will link below.https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6445365/2025/07/03/football-architects-rebuilding-ajax-johan-cruyff/ Host: Michael BaileyWith: Jacob Whitehead and Liam TharmeProducer: Mike Stavrou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this final show of the season, we’re bringing you the eagerly anticipated listener mailbag.We’ll focus on strikerless systems, wing-backs vs full-backs and much, much more. Host: Michael BaileyWith: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam TharmeProducer: Mike StavrouOn behalf of the entire Tactics team, thank you for all of your entries and your support this season. Please complete our listener survey: https://forms.gle/atPcQnohDvRWQG2M7 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s show, we’re reviewing the 2024-25 season - looking at statistical trends across the Premier League. We’ll also focus on the teams who impressed us, and those who disappointed us. Host: Michael BaileyWith: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam TharmeProducer: Mike StavrouListener survey: https://forms.gle/atPcQnohDvRWQG2M7 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special edition of The Athletic FC Tactics podcast - Duncan Alexander, Mark Carey and Liam Tharme preview the Champions League final between Inter and PSG.Two teams with contrasting styles meet in the final in Munich - so we break down how we think this one might play out.Host: Duncan AlexanderWith: Mark Carey and Liam TharmeProducer: Mike Stavrou and Liam Warburton Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, it’s alternative team of the season time!To remind you of the rules, instead of focusing on the top teams - we all pick an eleven with one player from each of the bottom 10 teams in the Premier League table (as it stands on Thursday 22nd May) and then one “wildcard” player - basically one other player from the bottom half clubs.Host: Michael BaileyWith: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam Tharme.Producers: Mike Stavrou and Steve Hankey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we’re talking Italian managers.Specifically… Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte.Ancelotti will be joining the Brazilian men’s national team this summer, drawing his second spell at Real Madrid to a close.Meanwhile, Antonio Conte could be about to win the Scudetto with a third Italian club… potentially adding Napoli to his successes with Juventus and Internazionale.Broadly speaking, Ancelotti has been more successful in European competitions — with Conte having a better success rate bringing home the domestic bacon.But is there something in their tactical philosophies that has caused this? That’s what we talk about in this episode.Host: Michael BaileyWith: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam Tharme.Producer: Steve Hankey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s show, we’re focused on the second legs of the Champions League semi-finals.We’ll analyse a tie for the ages - Inter’s 7-6 aggregate win over Barcelona. And also PSG’s victory against Arsenal.Host: Michael BaileyWith: Mark Carey and Liam TharmeProducer: Mike Stavrou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s show, we analyse the first legs of the Champions League semi-finals.We’ll discover how PSG’s press nullified Arsenal, and discuss probably the game of the season so far — Barca’s thriller against Inter.Host: Michael BaileyWith: Mark Carey and Thom HarrisProducer: Mike Stavrou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.