Neel Shelat
@shelatneel.bsky.social
Devotee of the religion of football
Freelance Journalist/Analyst/Consultant covering the game around the globe. Featured on Al Jazeera, Forbes.com, FourFourTwo, Analytics FC, FotMob, World Soccer, The Blizzard, SCOUTED, The Transfer Flow, Gløry & more
Freelance Journalist/Analyst/Consultant covering the game around the globe. Featured on Al Jazeera, Forbes.com, FourFourTwo, Analytics FC, FotMob, World Soccer, The Blizzard, SCOUTED, The Transfer Flow, Gløry & more
Signe Gaupset opened the scoring as Brann clinched the Toppserien title yesterday. She certainly has been the standout star of the season, but it's a league full of talent, as I explored for @analyticsfc.bsky.social:
analyticsfc.co.uk/blog/2025/10...
analyticsfc.co.uk/blog/2025/10...
November 2, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Signe Gaupset opened the scoring as Brann clinched the Toppserien title yesterday. She certainly has been the standout star of the season, but it's a league full of talent, as I explored for @analyticsfc.bsky.social:
analyticsfc.co.uk/blog/2025/10...
analyticsfc.co.uk/blog/2025/10...
Just back from a memorable week in Finland at the @playthegame-org.bsky.social conference. Met lots of great people, had some great conversations and heard some mind-blowing stories. Big thanks to all involved in putting this together!
October 10, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Just back from a memorable week in Finland at the @playthegame-org.bsky.social conference. Met lots of great people, had some great conversations and heard some mind-blowing stories. Big thanks to all involved in putting this together!
Was honoured to be asked to vote for SCOUTED50 once again. Here are my picks:
October 3, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Was honoured to be asked to vote for SCOUTED50 once again. Here are my picks:
That got me wondering when the last time was that they were involved in consecutive 7+ goal games with both teams scoring. The answer was 1950, when they were coached by the innovative Englishman Jesse Carver and would go on to win the Scudetto.
September 19, 2025 at 11:20 AM
That got me wondering when the last time was that they were involved in consecutive 7+ goal games with both teams scoring. The answer was 1950, when they were coached by the innovative Englishman Jesse Carver and would go on to win the Scudetto.
Fun fact I looked up: This week was the first time in 40+ years that Juventus had consecutive games with seven or more goals. The last time it happened was 1983, when they thrashed both Ascoli and Lechia Gdańsk 7-0 in the same week. Their coach at the time? One Giovanni Trapattoni.
September 19, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Fun fact I looked up: This week was the first time in 40+ years that Juventus had consecutive games with seven or more goals. The last time it happened was 1983, when they thrashed both Ascoli and Lechia Gdańsk 7-0 in the same week. Their coach at the time? One Giovanni Trapattoni.
The English Premier League's financial dominance is quite well-established by now, but it's interesting to see just how big the gap has become in the 2020s:
September 15, 2025 at 8:29 AM
The English Premier League's financial dominance is quite well-established by now, but it's interesting to see just how big the gap has become in the 2020s:
September 14, 2025 at 4:50 PM
I put the house on Minteh stocks last year, still feeling good about the long-term returns
September 12, 2025 at 10:52 AM
I put the house on Minteh stocks last year, still feeling good about the long-term returns
🇸🇪 Big day in the Damallsvenskan title race.
Newly-promoted Malmö were the league leaders this morning, but they lost to Hammarby in the early kick-off. Häcken now had the opportunity to go top, but they could only manage a draw with Kristianstads. Two points separate the top three at the moment.
Newly-promoted Malmö were the league leaders this morning, but they lost to Hammarby in the early kick-off. Häcken now had the opportunity to go top, but they could only manage a draw with Kristianstads. Two points separate the top three at the moment.
September 6, 2025 at 4:09 PM
🇸🇪 Big day in the Damallsvenskan title race.
Newly-promoted Malmö were the league leaders this morning, but they lost to Hammarby in the early kick-off. Häcken now had the opportunity to go top, but they could only manage a draw with Kristianstads. Two points separate the top three at the moment.
Newly-promoted Malmö were the league leaders this morning, but they lost to Hammarby in the early kick-off. Häcken now had the opportunity to go top, but they could only manage a draw with Kristianstads. Two points separate the top three at the moment.
August 23, 2025 at 4:01 PM
FC Juárez's points tallies in Liga MX Femenil so far. What's the secret behind the sudden spike? I took a closer look for @analyticsfc.bsky.social (link in thread below):
August 5, 2025 at 10:14 AM
FC Juárez's points tallies in Liga MX Femenil so far. What's the secret behind the sudden spike? I took a closer look for @analyticsfc.bsky.social (link in thread below):
Approaching kick-off for the #WAFCON2024 final here at the Olympic Stadium in Rabat. #MARNGA
July 26, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Approaching kick-off for the #WAFCON2024 final here at the Olympic Stadium in Rabat. #MARNGA
July 25, 2025 at 2:14 PM
📍Rabat, Morocco
Some serious atmosphere building ahead of the Morocco-Mali WAFCON quarterfinal. Looks to be a sellout at the very least, and certainly a partisan crowd.
Some serious atmosphere building ahead of the Morocco-Mali WAFCON quarterfinal. Looks to be a sellout at the very least, and certainly a partisan crowd.
July 18, 2025 at 6:26 PM
📍Rabat, Morocco
Some serious atmosphere building ahead of the Morocco-Mali WAFCON quarterfinal. Looks to be a sellout at the very least, and certainly a partisan crowd.
Some serious atmosphere building ahead of the Morocco-Mali WAFCON quarterfinal. Looks to be a sellout at the very least, and certainly a partisan crowd.
At the start of the season, I wrote this about Santi Cazorla for Football Chronicle's FC99 series. Today, the midfield maestro started the playoff final second leg, in which Oviedo have a lead with only the second half of extra time left. The fairytale ending might well be real.
June 21, 2025 at 9:26 PM
At the start of the season, I wrote this about Santi Cazorla for Football Chronicle's FC99 series. Today, the midfield maestro started the playoff final second leg, in which Oviedo have a lead with only the second half of extra time left. The fairytale ending might well be real.
Elías Montiel is starting for Pachuca in their CWC opener against RB Salzburg tonight. I'm very excited to watch him, as I wrote for The Transfer Flow in a recent newsletter profiling some youngsters at the competition:
www.thetransferflow.com/p/5-young-ta...
www.thetransferflow.com/p/5-young-ta...
June 18, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Elías Montiel is starting for Pachuca in their CWC opener against RB Salzburg tonight. I'm very excited to watch him, as I wrote for The Transfer Flow in a recent newsletter profiling some youngsters at the competition:
www.thetransferflow.com/p/5-young-ta...
www.thetransferflow.com/p/5-young-ta...
I looked at transfer trends out of the Brazilian Série A for a recent piece. The lines certainly make for interesting viewing:
June 17, 2025 at 3:54 PM
I looked at transfer trends out of the Brazilian Série A for a recent piece. The lines certainly make for interesting viewing:
Of course, higher salaries do not necessarily correlate with higher performance levels (Belgian champions Union Saint-Gilloise are a great example). Using Analytics FC's Club Strength+ model, I compared how clubs across the two leagues stack up:
June 16, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Of course, higher salaries do not necessarily correlate with higher performance levels (Belgian champions Union Saint-Gilloise are a great example). Using Analytics FC's Club Strength+ model, I compared how clubs across the two leagues stack up:
I looked into the relationship between the English Championship and Belgian Pro League for a recent Pathways feature for @analyticsfc.bsky.social. In the process, I found some interesting payroll data from Capology that really highlights the financial disparity between the two leagues:
June 15, 2025 at 11:56 AM
I looked into the relationship between the English Championship and Belgian Pro League for a recent Pathways feature for @analyticsfc.bsky.social. In the process, I found some interesting payroll data from Capology that really highlights the financial disparity between the two leagues:
I've barely watched any Sundowns since Mokwena left, so I was pretty impressed with their showing today. Obviously helps to have retained the vast majority of the core group of players. #MSFCEST
April 1, 2025 at 3:25 PM
I've barely watched any Sundowns since Mokwena left, so I was pretty impressed with their showing today. Obviously helps to have retained the vast majority of the core group of players. #MSFCEST
Nigeria's fourth different head coach in the last year or so appears to be continuing the midfield madness tradition. We've got an Ndidi-Iwobi double pivot on paper, but really it's just the CBs and Ndidi who stay back while all the rest attack. #RWANGA
March 21, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Nigeria's fourth different head coach in the last year or so appears to be continuing the midfield madness tradition. We've got an Ndidi-Iwobi double pivot on paper, but really it's just the CBs and Ndidi who stay back while all the rest attack. #RWANGA
"Exciting and eye-catching" looks like a pretty big understatement now.
March 4, 2025 at 3:47 PM
"Exciting and eye-catching" looks like a pretty big understatement now.