Danny Higginbotham and Kartik Krishnaiyer discuss the tactical trends they gleaned from Euro 2020 including the popularity of 3-5-2 formations, the rise of ball-playing center halves, the resurgence of the deep-lying playmaker, number 9’s dropping deeper, why there were so few goals scored from set pieces as well as the key partnerships between strikers and wide players and why that’s hard for teams to defend against.

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On the topic of the resurgence of the deep-lying playmaker, the discussion mentions the key roles that footballers such as Billy Gilmour, Jorginho, Pierre-Emile Hojberg and Declan Rice played for their respective countries.

Danny Higginbotham, who has been familiar to American Premier League viewers for his work on Sky Sports, Premier League Productions and BT Sport, has also appeared on NBC’s Premier League coverage in the past as well as this season. A familiar face as a player, he was part of Manchester United’s famous class of ’92, but is probably best known for his playing days at Stoke City during a period of time when the Premier League was growing quickly in popularity stateside.

Launched in 2006, the World Soccer Talk Podcast is the longest running podcast on the planet. Every week, we share the latest news about watching soccer on television and streaming, in addition to discussing what we like and dislike, and featuring your questions and feedback in our Listener Mailbag segment.

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