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Blair Newman

Blair Newman is a freelance sportswriter based in Edinburgh. As well as writing for Tactical Calcio as part of the Guardian Sport Network, he edits Football For Thought and writes for numerous football and boxing publications. He can be reached on Twitter on @TheBlairNewman

February 2018

  • Napoli’s players Lorenzo Insigne, Kalidou Koulibaly and Dries Mertens celebrate the victory with the shirt of injured team-mate Faouzi Ghoulam.

    Sportblog
    Napoli show finesse and fortitude to strengthen Scudetto credentials

    The warning signs were there for another Napoli implosion, but Maurizo Sarri’s side responded emphatically to beat Lazio

January 2017

  • Diao Keita Balde of Lazio, Gianluigi Donnarumma of AC Milan, Marko Pjaca of FC Juventus, Lucas Boye of FC Torino, Davide Calabria of AC Milan and Lorenzo Pellegrini of US Sassuolo. Photographs by Getty Images Composite Jim Powell

    Guardian Sport Network
    The 50 best young footballers in Italy

    Serie A’s reputation as a slow league for older players is outdated. Italian football is developing some of the world’s most exciting players. Here are 50 of them

March 2016

  • Leonardo Bonucci

    Tactical Calcio
    Leonardo Bonucci: the man who handles attacks at Juventus and in Ferrari garages

    The Juventus centre-back is one of Pep Guardiola’s ‘favourite ever players’ and could be on his way to Manchester City in the summer but for now ‘the soldier’ has a Champions League tie against Bayern Munich to worry about

January 2016

  • Gonzalo Higuaín

    Guardian Sport Network
    Why Gonzalo Higuaín now stands as an equal with any No9 in world football

    His style of play may be unfashionable but Gonzalo Higuaín is scoring a goal a game in Serie A and is driving Napoli towards their first Scudetto since 1990

September 2015

  • Italy

    Tactical Calcio
    The young players who could rejuvenate Antonio Conte's Italy at Euro 2016

    Two drab victories over Malta and Bulgaria have all but guaranteed Italy’s place in the finals next summer but the team needs the youth of Domenico Berardi, Alessio Romagnoli, Riccardo Saponara and Davide Zappacosta to excel

August 2015

  • roma v lazio

    Guardian Sport Network
    Serie A 2015-16 pre-season previews: Lazio and Roma

    Will Lazio continue to impress under Stefano Pioli and will Edin Dzeko and Mohamed Salah help Roma win the Serie A title for the first time in 14 years?
  • Juve Napoli

    Guardian Sport Network
    Serie A 2015-16 pre-season previews: Juventus and Napoli

    How will Juventus cope without Andrea Pirlo, Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal? And is Maurizio Sarri the right man to replace Rafael Benítez at Napoli?
  • US Sassuolo, FC Internazionale, AC Milan - TIM Preseason Tournament<br>REGGIO NELL'EMILIA, ITALY - AUGUST 12: Marcelo Brozovic of FC Internazionale (L) and Keisuke Honda of AC Milan compete for the ball during the TIM pre-season tournament match between FC Internazionale and AC Milan at Mapei Stadium - Città del Tricolore on August 12, 2015 in Reggio nell'Emilia, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa - Inter/Getty Images)

    Guardian Sport Network
    Serie A 2015-16 pre-season previews: Milan and Internazionale

    After a season in which the Milan clubs finished outside of the European places, Sinisa Mihajlovic and Roberto Mancini will be hoping to restore pride in the city

June 2015

  • Juventus

    Guardian Sport Network
    Why did Serie A clubs outperform their richer English rivals this season? Superior tactics

    Juventus, Fiorentina and Napoli achieved more success in Europe this season than any of the Premier League clubs thanks to their tactical flexibility

May 2015

  • Totti

    Guardian Sport Network
    How should Roma prepare for the day that Francesco Totti leaves the club?

  • Messi

    Guardian Sport Network
    If Lionel Messi makes Pep Guardiola feel helpless, what chance do the rest have?

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