Do Central Midfielders make the best modern managers?

Host Ali Maxwell is joined by The Athletic's Mark Carey and Liam Tharme to dig into why so many modern-day head coaches were once central midfielders? As Guardiola, Arteta, Xavi, Pirlo, Motta, Alonso, Amorim and others thrive - what is it about the position that lends itself to coaching and is it the most difficult position to play in a team? Has it contributed to the current hegemony of football tactics and does it also explain why the price of a good deep-lying midfielder has skyrocketed over the last year. Produced by Adonis Pratsides & Guy Clarke *** Grab your EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal by going to https://nordvpn.com/tactics to get a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 months for free! It’s completely risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Om Podcasten

Hosted by Ali Maxwell, revered football tactics writer Michael Cox is joined by more of The Athletic's brightest tactics and data analytics writers 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.