Alex Keble

London

Freelance Journalist at Tribal Football

Features and Tactics Writer at Premier League Productions

Football journalist. Tactics & features for @PremierLeague, @SportingLife, @OptusSport, etc. I’m now exclusively on Threads! Email: [email protected]

Articles

How beneficial will Champions League football actually be for Manchester United?

1 week ago | sportinglife.com | Alex Keble

What a relief for Manchester United supporters to feel emboldened on the way to Old Trafford for once. Not even this team can mess up a 3-0 first-leg lead, although this unfamiliar sensation – confidence, we call that - will quickly disappear if they let their focus drift any further into the future. Amorim already has, and he didn’t like what he saw. “We are not ready to play in the Premier League, be competitive, and to be in the Champions League," Amorim told Sky Sports.
Ten KEY questions for this weekend's matches

1 week ago | premierleague.com | Alex Keble

Football writer Alex Keble analyses where this weekend's fixtures could be won and lost, including:- Can Villa win tactical battle and make UEFA Champions League a possibility? - Will headline six-pointer decide which team misses out on top five? - Will the pressure take its toll on a Forest side forced to control possession? - Can in-form Brentford strengthen their claim for eighth? - Will Fulham rise to the occasion in make-or-break match? - Have Brighton still got time to grab a top-eight finish?
Man Utd to meet Spurs in Europa League final, Chelsea through

1 week ago | premierleague.com | Alex Keble

All three Premier League clubs have progressed through to their respective semi-finals, setting up an all-English UEFA Europa League final between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur and leaving Chelsea the favourites to win the UEFA Europa Conference League. For Spurs and Chelsea the task proved relatively straightforward in the end, but for Man Utd it was yet another epic cup game at Old Trafford defined – as it so often seems to be - by tension, nerves, and a spectacular finish.
Arsenal tactics v PSG: Odegaard, Vitinha and four ways Arteta can mastermind Paris win

1 week ago | bbc.com | Alex Keble

Image caption, PSG have racked up 82 shots (29 on target) when hosting Manchester City, Liverpool and Aston Villa at the intimidating Parc des Princes this season. Mikel Arteta says Arsenal will use "rage, anger, frustration" and "a bad feeling in the tummy" to try and overturn the 1-0 Champions League semi-final first-leg deficit against Paris St-Germain. For supporters travelling to Paris on Wednesday, the scene of Arsenal's 2006 Champions League final defeat, the stomach churns.
The matches that could define the rest of the season

1 week ago | premierleague.com | Alex Keble

With the final few weeks of the Premier League season upon us, Alex Keble picks out the matches you won't want to miss - and they don't all involve the race for Europe It’s an all-too common refrain that the 2024/25 Premier League season has run out of steam; that Liverpool sewing up the title and the bottom three already relegated has made the run-in a damp squib. That just isn’t true.
Premier League review: What we learned in Matchweek 35

1 week ago | premierleague.com | Alex Keble

Football writer Alex Keble highlights the hot topics and tactical lessons from Matchweek 35, including: - AFC Bournemouth comeback casts doubt over PSG turnaround for Arsenal - Palmer’s resurgence should get Chelsea into UEFA Champions League - Guardiola’s new formation pays off, but it doesn’t look like a long-term solution - Brentford are in the strongest position for eighth spot and Europe - Tielemans’ domination defines Emery’s obsession with control - Howe’s last throw of the dice not...
Enzo Maresca must change his style to get the best out of Chelsea and avoid the sack

1 week ago | sportinglife.com | Alex Keble

When Romeo Lavia passes the ball to Cole Palmer, who has dropped so deep he’s now in line with the young midfielder, Enzo Maresca is just about OK with the shape of things. But when Palmer decides against recycling the play and instead jinks in between Dominic Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister, risking possession, Maresca sighs internally.
Analysis: How Alexander-Arnold redefined the right-back role

1 week ago | premierleague.com | Alex Keble

Football writer Alex Keble analyses how Trent Alexander-Arnold has redefined the right-back role during his time at Liverpool. Trent Alexander-Arnold has attracted more debate and has received more critiques of his role and his abilities than any other player in living memory. But in the fullness of time, those conversations will melt away, leaving Alexander-Arnold to be remembered plain and simply as one of the best right-backs we’ve ever seen.
Ten KEY questions for this weekend's matches

1 week ago | premierleague.com | Alex Keble

Football writer Alex Keble analyses where this weekend's fixtures could be won and lost, including:- Will Guardiola’s box midfield end Wolves’ winning run? - Can Villa regroup and make one final Champions League push? - Can Newcastle rise to the occasion in their most winnable remaining game? - Will rejuvenated Brentford cause Amorim to break a 10-year record? - Will Salah break yet another record? - Is this a good time for Europe-chasing Bournemouth to face Arsenal?
Analysis: Guardiola's stop-gap formation producing results

1 week ago | premierleague.com | Alex Keble

Football writer Alex Keble analyses Manchester City's 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers. What will most please Pep Guardiola about his team’s hard-fought 1-0 victory on Friday night - about a game defined by the gradual subduing of an early attack of Wolves pressure - was that it looked so much like a classic Man City performance. Had this 90 minutes played out in any of the previous four Premier League seasons it would have passed without anyone taking notice.