Why your build-up dies in the second phase
Method piece
Everybody can play out of the first line now. Almost nobody has a plan for what happens twenty yards later.
29 August 2026
Tactical analyst · Lisbon
Two breakdowns a week, plus the clips
Two full breakdowns a week, plus the clips. Pressing, build-up and set pieces, taken apart properly.
LaLigaPrimeira LigaPremier LeagueMethod
134breakdowns published
3clubs advised
2,400members
2019publishing since
The one to read
The pressing trap that keeps working down the right
They invite the pass into the full-back and then take away every option he has. It is not a mistake he is making — it is the trap working.
- 14'
First trigger
The pass to the full-back. Watch the near winger start moving before it arrives.
- 31'
It works
Same trigger, same shape, turnover twelve yards from goal.
- 58'
They adjust
The centre-back steps out to give a third option. It stops working for twenty minutes.
- 74'
And back
Substitution restores the shape, and the trap catches them one more time.
In every breakdown
Not a clip with an arrow on it. Every piece carries the shape, the numbers behind it and what it means on Tuesday night.
Eight shots, two goals. Circle area is xG — both goals came from the turnovers, not from open play.
Average positions and pass volume. Almost everything went through the 4 — which is why taking him away worked.
The archive
See all →The near-post routine 200 goals have in common
Set-piece study
Two hundred corners that produced goals, and the thing most of them share is not the delivery.
22 August 2026 Members only
Rest defence: the three players who decide the counter
Benfica v Sporting
The counter-attack you concede is decided while you still have the ball, by three players nobody is watching.
15 August 2026 Members only
Scouting reports
See all →Percentiles against positional peers, a written verdict, and the shortlist behind it.
The clip library
Members download these and use them in their own sessions.
Pressing traps · wide right4:12 · Pressing
Build-up · beating a 4-4-26:40 · Build-up
Near-post set-piece routines3:55 · Set pieces
Transition · rest defence5:08 · Transition
Overloads to isolate4:44 · Attacking
Defending the half-space7:02 · Defending
The podcast
Every fortnight, about forty minutes, usually with somebody who does this for a living.
- Ep.48 Why nobody presses the goalkeeper any more 41 min · 2 September
- Ep.47 Set pieces are the last inefficiency 38 min · 26 August
- Ep.46 Rest defence, with a Primeira Liga analyst 52 min · 19 August
What members say
★★★★★
I stopped buying courses. Two breakdowns a week that actually explain the why is worth more than any of them.
★★★★★
I use his clips in my own team meetings. That is the highest compliment I can give.
★★★★★
The opposition reports are the only ones our manager reads all the way through. That is the whole review.
★★★★★
I pay for four of these. His is the only one where I finish the article instead of skimming it.
Illustrative — see the banner at the top of the page.