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The Athletic

Hosted by Michael Bailey, revered football tactics writer Michael Cox is joined by Mark Carey, Liam Tharme and more of The Athletic's brightest tactics and data department to break down the tactical and technical details behind the biggest footballing stories each week - assessing the latest trends, systems, players, managers and all manner of statistics in order to give you a deeper understanding of the game.
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The Athletic Football Tactics Podcast

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 Bailey

With: Jacob Whitehead and Liam Tharme

Producer: Mike Stavrou

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How Cruyff inspired Ajax's rebirth

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 Bailey

With: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam Tharme

Producer: Mike Stavrou

Listener survey: https://forms.gle/atPcQnohDvRWQG2M7

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Was the 2024/25 Premier League season boring?

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 Alexander

With: Mark Carey and Liam Tharme

Producer: Mike Stavrou and Liam Warburton

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Champions League final preview

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 Bailey

With: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam Tharme.

Producers: Mike Stavrou and Steve Hankey.

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Alternative team of the Premier League season 24/25

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 Bailey

With: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam Tharme.

Producer: Steve Hankey.

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Ancelotti, Conte and the tactics of Italian managers

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 Bailey

With: Mark Carey and Liam Tharme

Producer: Mike Stavrou

 

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Arsenal’s long throws & the best knockout tie ever?

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 Bailey

With: Mark Carey and Thom Harris

Producer: Mike Stavrou

 

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Yamal's new heights & PSG's press

This week we’re looking at an incredibly tight race in the Premier League to seal European football for next season.

And we’ll discuss which of those teams are best set-up for success.

Host: Michael Bailey

With: Mark Carey and Liam Tharme

Producer: Mike Stavrou

 

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Which teams deserve Champions League football next season?

In this episode, we look back at the Champions League quarter finals. 

We also look ahead to the semi-finals and discuss the merits of Arsenal, Paris St Germain, Internazionale and Barcelona.

If you want more on Inter, listen here - https://pod.fo/e/2296a4 

For our bonus PSG episode, listen here - https://pod.fo/e/2c3d48

Or watch here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB5AzIuR_cU 

For a bit on Barcelona, listen here - https://pod.fo/e/27b242 

Host: Michael Bailey

With: Liam Tharme, Mark Carey, Thom Harris and Michael Cox.

Producer: Steve Hankey.

 

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Champions League final four

This week we’re focusing on French footballing identity.

And we’ll attempt to discover why there is a lack of French managers across Europe’s top leagues.

Host: Michael Bailey

With: Michael Cox, Mark Carey, Tom Williams

Producer: Mike Stavrou

 

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Where have all the French managers gone?

The Athletic's Michael Cox & Ali Maxwell are joined by Dutch football expert Priya Ramesh to look at how Ajax have adjusted to life after losing two of their star players last summer in Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt, looking at their replacements, Ajax's fortunes in Europe, and the future of their much-admired coach Erik Ten Hag

 

Sign up to The Athletic today for all of Michael's tactical insights... Get a 40% discount by visiting the athletic.com/zonalmarking
 
 

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How Ajax have adjusted to life after De Ligt & De Jong

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