Ryan O'Hanlon

The two Liverpool-Wolves games — same teams, same locations, three days apart — were a nice little experiment to show just how volatile soccer is from a game to game basis, even when nothing fundamental changes at all.

ICYMI: The USL emailed every Championship player an FAQ doc that included guidance on “crossing a picket line” and “Union membership resignation.”

An active player said teammates couldn’t find it until they checked spam. “I just think it’s a bunch of bullshit.”

Full report at @us.theguardian.com.

If both teams have more fouls than shots, the game should be canceled at halftime. No one gets any points.

The Premier League is boring now: A tactical way to save it The Premier League just isn't as fun as it used to be. But ESPN's Ryan O'Hanlon has figured out a way to fix it, if one coach is brave enough.

The Premier League has been terrible to watch this season, and the league is stuck in a tactical stalemate that can seemingly only be broken by corner kicks and throw-ins. I wrote about how one brave coach might be able to break free: www.espn.com/soccer/story...

Liverpool scored a bunch of goals from set pieces recently, so you know what that means: Arsenal fans are back, posting “kill yourself” on Instagram pictures of my fiancée.

Every time you see a team from the Turkish Lig play, there's:

-a guy with the widest mohawk you've ever seen
-Ryan Babel
-someone the announcer keeps calling Marvin but whose shirt says "Ataturk Bocuckglu"
-Fatih Terim
-at least one backup striker who had a sex scandal in Serie A

The new Moneyball is diving facefirst into the bottom of another guy's foot.

I have one (1) rule in life: respect, honor, and embrace the spirit of the Ronaldo haircut. I will give money to anyone who does the same.

Igor Tudor has been screaming and gesticulating on the sideline for 75 straight minutes, as Tottenham continue to be exactly as bad as they were under the previous manager.

Liverpool in the first 85 minutes without their best playmaker: 0.5 xG

Liverpool in the final 10 minutes after they brought on the guy who can throw the ball far: 1.2 xG

Why Champions League seems so easy for Premier League teams: 5 reasons The Champions League has been a walk in the park for Premier League teams. Why is that? Let's explain it with five reasons.

I wrote about why the Premier League is harder than the Champions League: www.espn.com/soccer/story...

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Fifteen years ago, I got my dream job writing for MLSsoccer. Last week, that came to an end.

I'm off on my own, and it's time to build something new – with a little help from all of you.
tacticsfreezone.ghost.io/an-end-to-my...

A fun little fact that tells you everything you need to know: Per the passing grades from @gradientsports.bsky.social for the Premier League, there are zero Tottenham players in the top 50, and there is one Tottenham player in the top 100.

“This game is terrible”, I think to myself, for the 25th straight week, while watching the richest soccer teams in the world play soccer against each other.

From the "records no one other than me and maybe, like, 14 other people care about" department: Liverpool's win over Qarabag was the most lopsided Champions League match (by xG differential) since 2010.

Not just this, but Benfica didn’t know they needed another goal! They were wasting time! Mourinho subbed on an extra center back in injury time! And they still scored!

Is there a “mute the people who are eating during the Golazo Show” button?

How Premier League clubs turned into corporations and replaced 'managers' with 'head coaches' Premier League clubs are corporations that have outgrown the "manager" role that legendary Arsenal and Man United clubs once had. Why?

I wrote about how nobody wants a manager anymore -- even if they don't really have a plan for what to do instead: www.espn.com/soccer/story...

My halftime team talk: KICK THE BALL AS HARD AS YOU CAN AND MAKE IT GO INTO THE CORNER OF THE GOAL.

Premier League Power Rankings: Rating all 20 teams on performances, not results In the debut of ESPN's Premier League Power Rankings, a look at all 20 teams, including why Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham are better than the table suggests.

I came up with a new, simple power-rating system for the Premier League. It had West Ham ahead of Sunderland and therefore is perfect: www.espn.com/soccer/story...

Square one Some thoughts on where to start if you're interested in football stats with a bit of an analytics mindset. And links, of course.

Wrote about the state of play for football, getting data, and getting insight, in the aftermath of the FBref news

www.getgoalsideanalytics.com/square-one/

Teams ahead of Tottenham in the Champions League: Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool

Teams ahead of Tottenham in the Premier League: Arsenal, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Brentford, Newcastle, Sunderland, Everton, Fulham, Brighton, Crystal Palace

I wrote about what Sean was doing with FBref in NET GAINS because publicly available data ultimately makes things better for everyone whose stakes should matter: fans, media, players, and clubs. Yes, even the inane xG convos between supporters are a good thing! Hopefully someone else steps up.

Chelsea are using Strasbourg as a "farm team" -- is this the new blueprint for top clubs? Strasbourg now exists as a training ground for Chelsea prospects, akin to baseball's farm system. Is this the future of European soccer?

I wrote this two weeks ago. Seems like it might be relevant today: www.espn.com/soccer/story...

OHanlon-ESPN-2025 Ryan O’Hanlon, ESPN Archive: 2025 There’s no great way to see everything I’ve written (or said (publicly)) over the past few weeks, let alone the whole year. So, I’ve decided to copy my buddy Bill Co...

If you'd like to read every story I've written in 2025 before the end of 2025, the last one just went up: docs.google.com/document/d/1...