Ajayi Crowther

Football enthusiast ⚽️ #YNWA 🔴 | Casual basketball fan 🏀 #lakeshow | Banter

[Ajayi Crowther @doyins0la]

@I_Olayinka07 Rooney was the better footballer imo

[Ajayi Crowther @doyins0la]

@ovdgrid This is hilarious

[Ajayi Crowther @doyins0la]

This is actually quite balanced

[🫵🏽 @idoxvi]

If everything goes well this summer… this is a really nice squad

[Ajayi Crowther @doyins0la]

Don’t get too excited mate. Fuck me

[Tranmere Rovers FC @TranmereRovers]

🗣️ “I’m delighted to be here. I can’t wait; I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

#TRFC #SWA

[Ajayi Crowther @doyins0la]

@oyee_0 Pity your mama nau

[Ajayi Crowther @doyins0la]

@thesecondborn_ Ball knower

[Ajayi Crowther @doyins0la]

@TacticNotes Very well articulated

[. @TacticNotes]

I often see Iraola’s model analysed through the lens of fixed positions — LW, RW, CAM and so on. However, this perspective overlooks the main idea behind his football: it is built primarily on relationships rather than positional attachment.

There is no abstract attachment to territory or fixed occupation of zones. Players are not valuable because they simply occupy a specific area of the pitch. Space is a tool used to create advantages, not an objective in itself. The main reference point is the ball and the relationships around it — how players interact to create temporal, numerical and qualitative advantages.

Iraola’s players do not rely on rare individual traits that are difficult to find. His model is based on communication, interpretation, movement and autonomy in decision-making. The important question is not where a player comes from positionally, but what behaviours and qualities they can bring to the structure.

This is why recruitment should focus more on profiles than positions. Instead of asking whether a player is a winger, attacking midfielder or forward, we should analyse whether they can create advantages, understand spaces, react quickly after losing the ball, interpret situations and contribute to collective movements.

If Iraola wants, he can field six or seven attack-minded players because the balance of the team does not come primarily from maintaining a fixed ratio between offensive and defensive profiles. It comes from collective organisation: pressing, counter-pressing, distances between players, and coordinated reactions. His teams do not simply wait for opponents to make positional mistakes — they actively create those mistakes through intensity, movement and structure.

However, this does not mean that every elite attacking profile would automatically fit Iraola’s football. A player like Olise or Neymar would only be suitable if they were able to adapt their qualities to the demands of the system. Individual talent alone is not enough. The player must provide intensity, tactical responsibility, adaptability and the ability to contribute to collective actions without the ball.

Iraola’s idea is trainable because the roles and behaviours within the model are clearly defined. The system does not exist to accommodate players; rather, players must adapt to the requirements of the football. The focus should therefore not be on positions, but on profiles — the traits that allow players to be useful, functional and compatible with the structure

[Ajayi Crowther @doyins0la]

@LouisTyrer18 @zoneoccupation Popsi e ni dickhead

[Rommel @Romme1andre]

Me @manknowfootball and @GreezyDon were discussing this last week but when people speak about the best PL wide-pairings Duff and Robben are never mentioned, it’s crazy, them two were RIDICULOUS. It’s always Giggs & Beckham, Salah & Mane, Sane & Sterling, Pires & Ljungberg.

[Ajayi Crowther @doyins0la]

@TheSecretScout_ The disgust in his face 😂

[Ajayi Crowther @doyins0la]

@ReelBabaca This HAS to be rage bait

[Ajayi Crowther @doyins0la]

@Gbemiga__A Not for that price. Tf?

[Ajayi Crowther @doyins0la]

WHAT???

[WhoScored @WhoScored]

🤤 Mousa Dembélé completed 83 of his 90 attempted dribbles in the 2015/16 Premier League season.

One of the most press-resistant midfielders the Premier League has ever seen. 🪄

[Ajayi Crowther @doyins0la]

@LfShola I was so confused no one of note went for him when his contract ran out at PSG

[Ajayi Crowther @doyins0la]

Honestly, Minteh for £60M is calm

[💎 @ItsBis02]

Yankuba Minteh vs Leeds

[Ajayi Crowther @doyins0la]

Barcola for anything more than £70M is disgusting btw. Even in this market

[Football Performances @FCPerformances]

Angel Di Maria MOTM Performance vs Atletico Madrid - UCL Final 2013/14

[Hoops Tonight @hoopstonite]

LeBron is headed to Philly! What are your thoughts on this decision?