brian mcdonnell
@sixtwofourtwo.bsky.social
A business analyst working with Stats Perform - fascinated by performance analysis, the smart(er) sports story & coaching (then, now, next)
They say you should never go back, but Pascal Groß is absolutely thriving in his second spell at Brighton (analysis via @davidsegar.bsky.social for @optaanalyst.optajoe.com ) theanalyst.com/articles/pas...
Breaking Lines and Building Bonds: Pascal Groß is Leading Brighton's Impressive Start | Opta Analyst
Brighton & Hove Albion have made an excellent start to the 2026-27 season, and their 35-year-old creative spark has been at the centre of it.
theanalyst.com
The Tipperary inter-county championship hurling database is now live - 1,164 team records featuring 2,700 individual player profiles (1887-2026) - tipphurling.com #hurling
“The Inner Game of Tennis” - a sports psychology foundational text - is now an app which uses artificial intelligence to transmit evolving versions of Tim Gallwey’s philosophies to users and coach them through performance-related difficulties (via @theathletic.com) www.nytimes.com/athletic/753...
One of the most influential sports books of all time enters a new, digital era
nytimes.com
“We knew it was going to be bad. But this bad? No. It is on a different scale to anything the Premier League has seen before” (analysis via @dtathletic.bsky.social for @theathleticfc.bsky.social) www.nytimes.com/athletic/764...
Manchester City have become ‘Sham FC’. They deserve the heaviest punishment
Nine years of wrongdoing - as laid out in the independent commission's damning judgment - disfigured English football
nytimes.com
In an age when fans want limitless spending on shiny new signings, @alitweedale.bsky.social asks whether less change can sometimes be more beneficial (for @optaanalyst.optajoe.com) theanalyst.com/articles/pre...
Mass Overhaul or Squad Continuity: What is the Recipe for Premier League Success? | Opta Analyst
In an age when fans wants limitless spending on shiny new signings, we ask whether less change can sometimes be more beneficial.
theanalyst.com
Inter and Roma are joint-top of Serie A - want to know more about the Gian Piero Gasperini-coached side who are challenging the defending champions? @davidsegar.bsky.social has got you covered (for @optaanalyst.optajoe.com) theanalyst.com/articles/rom...
Roma Renaissance? Gian Piero Gasperini Has Giallorossi Believing They Can End 26-Year Scudetto Wait | Opta Analyst
With four wins from four in Serie A, Roma are leading the way in the early stages of the season. Can they really challenge for the Scudetto?
theanalyst.com
Breaking: Brighton are good at pressing (via @rbenson92.bsky.social for @optaanalyst.optajoe.com) theanalyst.com/articles/bri...
Brighton’s Pressing Is a Hot Topic – Arsenal Will Be the Next to Feel the Heat | Opta Analyst
Brighton's pressing has impressed in the Premier League this season. Will they continue to earn plaudits this weekend, or will Arsenal knock them down a peg or two?
theanalyst.com
Naomi Klein (@naomiaklein.bsky.social) is wonderful and has a new book out called “End Times Fascism” - here is an interview with Naomi which is well worth a read www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s...
Naomi Klein: ‘Extreme wealth has a deranging effect. It turns you into a supremacist’
She’s tackled neoliberalism and the digital world, now the writer and activist is taking on tech billionaires. She explains how the super-rich are capitalising on climate and financial chaos in pursui...
theguardian.com
Elversberg were playing regional football in the German fourth tier in 2022 but have now won their first two Bundesliga matches (story via @ghostgoal.bsky.social) www.skysports.com/football/new...
Elversberg's Bundesliga miracle: How tiny village team is taking German football by storm after unlikely rise up the leagues
Elversberg were playing regional football in the fourth tier in 2022 but have now won their first two Bundesliga matches; Adam Bate goes to see them and speaks to technical director Josef Welzmuller t...
skysports.com
It sounds ridiculous to say, but would your club be better off without European football for a season? 🤔 (analysis via @alitweedale.bsky.social for @optaanalyst.optajoe.com) theanalyst.com/articles/pla...
How Does Getting Into Europe Affect Premier League Form? | Opta Analyst
Getting into Europe is the aim for most teams at the beginning of the season, but recent evidence suggests some may thrive having failed to qualify last time around.
theanalyst.com
Manchester United's move for Andrey Santos may seem surprising, but there's evidence to suggest the club have pulled off a coup (analysis via @rbenson92.bsky.social for @optaanalyst.optajoe.com) https://theanalyst.com/articles/andrey-santos-man-utd-midfield-rebuild-stats
Late to this, but loving it from @simonkuper.bsky.social - at every World Cup, there are several prestigious titles at stake besides that of the champion www.ft.com/content/0c54...
Wanted: a World Cup fairy tale, complete with heroes — and villains
The role of bad guy used to be Germany’s. It’s up for grabs now
ft.com
Despite Spain having more than 74% possession, Cape Verde committed only one foul all game. It's the fewest by any team in a World Cup match in Opta's record books (since 1966).
Mikel Oyarzabal has either scored or assisted a goal in each of his last TWELVE starts for Spain - outstanding analysis from @jamiemkemp.bsky.social for @optaanalyst.optajoe.com theanalyst.com/articles/mik...
Mikel Oyarzabal Lacks the Global Recognition He Deserves, but Spain’s Smart Number Nine May Grab It This Summer | Opta Analyst
Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, we analyse how Mikel Oyarzabal has fixed Spain’s attack alongside rising stars Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams.
theanalyst.com
Opta has logged every World Cup game since 1966 . . . now we can savour the most famous moments in football history the way they were meant to be experienced . . . as a bunch of rows in a spreadsheet (via @markcarey93.bsky.social for @theathleticfc.bsky.social) www.nytimes.com/athletic/727...
From long balls to short kings: The evolution of World Cup football from 1966 to now
nytimes.com
Michael Lang, professor of data analytics at the University of Galway, has completed interesting research into the maladaptive parasocial interactions that Mayo fans have had with their Gaelic football team (report via Denis Walsh for the @irishtimes.com) www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic...
‘They turn on you’: Mayo’s love/hate relationship with the febrile world of Twitter
In his research, Michael Lang examined nearly half a million tweets about the greatest Mayo team never to win an All-Ireland
irishtimes.com
As PSG prepare to play in back-to-back Champions League finals, Luis Enrique is arguably the most complete coach in world football (analysis via @jameshorncastle.bsky.social for @theathleticfc.bsky.social) www.nytimes.com/athletic/730...
How Luis Enrique took control of Paris Saint-Germain and became football's most complete coach
nytimes.com
An excellent read here from @rbenson92.bsky.social on how Vitinha is emblematic of the PSG transformation (for @optaanalyst.optajoe.com) theanalyst.com/articles/vit...
Vitinha Has Become the Poster Boy of PSG’s Post ‘Bling-Bling’ Success | Opta Analyst
After a difficult start to life at Paris Saint-Germain, Vitinha has become one of Luis Enrique's most reliable lieutenants. He has well and truly silenced his early doubters.
theanalyst.com
There is no question that the Premier League, and English football in general, has Pep Guardiola to thank for making football into the game we now know (analysis via @alitweedale.bsky.social for @optaanalyst.optajoe.com) theanalyst.com/articles/pep...
Pep Guardiola: The Single Most Influential Figure in Premier League History | Opta Analyst
Pep Guardiola is set to leave Manchester City this summer after 10 hugely successful - and even more significant - years in English football.
theanalyst.com
Interceptions, pressing and on track to break a passing record matched only by Cesc Fàbregas - Bournemouth defender Marcos Senesi is a rock at the back and even better going forward (analysis via @jamesgheerbrant.bsky.social for @thetimes.com) www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...
Marcos Senesi is most underrated player in Premier League — this is why
Interceptions, pressing and on track to break passing record matched only by Cesc Fàbregas — Bournemouth defender is a rock at the back and even better going forward
thetimes.com
Como are flying high with the help of the former Arsenal player, ambitious owners and a scouting guru inspired by Football Manager (story via Sam Dalling for @theguardian.com) www.theguardian.com/football/202...
‘We bring in hungry, humble players’: How Cesc Fàbregas is leading the incredible rise of Como
The tiny Italian club are flying high with the help of the former Arsenal player, ambitious owners and a scouting guru inspired by Football Manager
theguardian.com
Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes sat down with @optaanalyst.optajoe.com to discuss his season, and why adding context to the data behind his output is crucial to fully understanding his qualities (via @mattfurniss.bsky.social for @statsperform.optajoe.com) theanalyst.com/articles/bru...
Bruno Fernandes Exclusive Interview: Manchester United’s Creator-in-Chief on the Cusp of Record-Breaking Season | Opta Analyst
Opta Analyst sat down exclusively with Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes to analyse the statistics around his sensational season.
theanalyst.com
It's out! Again. Here's the "30th anniversary edition" of Football Against the Enemy, with a new foreword and "where are they now?" section by me. Behind the old and battered author is the brilliant poster for the Spanish translation. Get your copy here: www.orionbooks.co.uk/titles/simon...
Being recognized at the SJA British Sports Journalism Awards was the latest validation that it has been five years well spent for the @optaanalyst.optajoe.com team - story via @kevinchroust.bsky.social (@statsperform.optajoe.com) theanalyst.com/articles/opt...
'Helping Shape How the Game Is Understood': Opta Analyst Wins 2025 SJA Specialist Publisher | Opta Analyst
Opta Analyst was named Specialist Publisher of the Year at Monday night's 2025 SJA British Sports Journalism Awards.
theanalyst.com
“The Irish surplus is the largest in the EU per capita, yet our infrastructure index is below Poland’s... The State takes in €126 billion a year and cannot create a civil protection agency, a gas storage facility or a train to Donegal.” Sinéad O’Sullivan making some solid points.
Sinéad O'Sullivan: Ireland’s population is told it has never been richer, yet it has never felt poorer
The State takes in €126bn a year and cannot create a civil protection agency, a gas storage facility or a train to Donegal
irishtimes.com
Paul DePodesta is back in baseball with the Colorado Rockies (via @theathletic.com) www.nytimes.com/athletic/721...
Paul DePodesta’s Rockies move: ‘Moneyball’ at a midlife crisis or Colorado’s best bet?
After nearly a decade away from baseball, DePodesta took a Colorado job where there is literally nowhere to go but up.
nytimes.com
The World Cup, in theory, is an event which should belong to all of us - it doesn’t (analysis via @jonathanliew.bsky.social for @theguardian.com) www.theguardian.com/football/202...
Ticket to ride? Fifa premium makes this the World Cup that actively hates you | Jonathan Liew
The $95 bus trip to Foxborough highlights a tournament unique in modern times – one that ultimately makes no secret of its disdain for the paying public
theguardian.com
Lincoln City have quietly built something that most clubs only talk about: their own in-house software development team (story via the Training Ground Guru) trainingground.guru/why-lincoln-...
Why Lincoln City just built their own software team
Lincoln City have quietly built something that most clubs only talk about: their own in-house software development team.
trainingground.guru
After 28 years, sadly my time at Opta has come to an end. Through seven different owners, some good, some bad, I've helped the companies grow the brand from start up to global behemoth and I've been very lucky to have a job that was also my hobby.
Marie-Louise Eta has become the first female head coach in Europe’s top five men’s leagues by taking interim charge of Union Berlin (story via @thetimes.com) www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...
Marie-Louise Eta becomes first female coach in Europe’s top five leagues
Union Berlin appoint the former Germany youth player, 34, for last five games of the season after sacking Steffen Baumgart as they fight to stay in the Bundesliga
thetimes.com