The Athletic FC Tactics Podcast
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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
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 Bailey
With: Jacob Whitehead and Mark Carey
Producer: Mike Stavrou
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-croat...
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...
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 a...
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 Bailey
With: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam Tharme
Producer: Mike Stavrou
On 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.gl...
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
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pri...
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
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.
Produc...
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...
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
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 Bailey
With: Mark Carey and Thom Harris
Producer: Mike Stavrou
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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
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
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this bonus edition of The Athletic FC Tactics podcast - Alex Barker and Liam Tharme tell you all you need to know about Luis Enrique’s PSG.
They’ve just wrapped up Ligue 1 and could become the first side to win the title unbeaten.
They’re also in the final of the Coupe de France and face Aston Villa in the quarter-finals of the Champions League this week.
So how has Enrique made them so dominant?
This week… we’re talking about Nuno Espirito Santo’s Champions League-chasing Nottingham Forest.
We’ll break down how a team who flirted with relegation last season have become one of the most difficult sides to play against in the division.
Host: Michael Bailey
With: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam Tharme
Producer: Mike Stavrou
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more info...
This week we’re focusing our attention on the metrics which win you football matches - other than goals and assists.
We’ll talk second balls, duels and explain what coaches are actually watching on those tiny screens on the touchline.
Host: Michael Bailey
With: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam Tharme
Producer: Mike Stavrou
We want to hear about your podcast habits. Go to theathletic.com/athletic/survey25 to fill out a short ...
In this episode, we’re focusing our attention on international football.
German head coach Thomas Tuchel takes charge of his first games as England manager this week.
So we’re going to reflect on some of the great, and not so great, examples of foreign international managers and ask whether the impact they had in the past still applies today?
Host: Michael Bailey
With: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Duncan Alexander.
P...
We’re focusing our attention on the Champions League.
This season’s competition is at the quarter-final stages — giving us the perfect moment to look back on what’s happened and what the rest of the Champions League has in store for us.
Host: Michael Bailey
With: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam Tharme
Producer: Mike Stavrou
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informatio...
This week we are breaking down the mechanics of set pieces.
Are they a reliable and consistent source of goals, how do you stop them, and which teams are the best or worst at them?
Host: Michael Bailey
With: Michael Cox, Mark Carey and Liam Tharme
Producer: Mike Stavrou
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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