Vesper

Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk tests positive for banned substance https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5998614/2024/12/17/mykhailo-mudryk-doping-meldonium-Chelsea/ Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk has tested positive for a banned substance. The Premier League club confirmed the “adverse finding in a routine urine test” on Tuesday morning and said Mudryk “has confirmed categorically that he has never knowingly used any banned substances”. Mudryk said on social media that he has “never knowingly used any banned substances or broken any rules, and am working closely with my team to investigate how this could have happened”. The Athletic has been told by multiple sources, who wish to remain anonymous as they are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, that Mudryk tested positive for meldonium following international duty with Ukraine in November. Meldonium is an anti-ischemia medication, which, according to USADA (the United States Anti-Doping Agency), is typically used clinically to treat “those suffering from heart conditions, such as low blood flow to the heart and angina”. For athletes, it can assist with endurance and the capacity to recover from exercise. It is not approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States and is only prescribed in parts of eastern Europe. It was added to the World Anti-Doping Authority’s (WADA) banned list in January 2016 and is prohibited at all times, both in and out of competition. GO DEEPER Mudryk, the Chelsea winger who arrived as a £62m victory - but is now facing failed test Chelsea said in a statement that “the Football Association recently contacted our player Mykhailo Mudryk concerning an adverse finding in a routine urine test. “Both the club and Mykhailo fully support The FA’s testing programme and all our players, including Mykhailo, are regularly tested. Mykhailo has confirmed categorically that he has never knowingly used any banned substances. Both Mykhailo and the club will now work with the relevant authorities to establish what has caused the adverse finding.” Mudryk’s statement read: “I can confirm that I have been notified that a sample I provided to The FA contained a banned substance. “This has come as a complete shock as I have never knowingly used any banned substances or broken any rules, and am working closely with my team to investigate how this could have happened. “I know that I have not done anything wrong and remain hopeful that I will be back on the pitch soon. I cannot say any more now due to the confidentiality of the process, but I will as soon as I can.” Mudryk joined Chelsea in January 2023 (Joupin Ghamsari/Chelsea FC via Getty Images) Mudryk, 23, signed for Chelsea from Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2023, in a deal worth €70million (now equivalent to £58m, or $73.6m) plus a further €30m (£24.9m, $31.5m) in potential bonuses. Former world No 1 tennis player Maria Sharapova tested positive for meldonium in March 2016. She was banned for 24 months before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ultimately reduced the suspension to 15 months on appeal. Boxer Alexander Povetkin recorded a positive test for it in May of that year causing his scheduled heavyweight title fight with Deontay Wilder to be postponed indefinitely. The English Football Association’s (FA) anti-doping regulations state that any breaches will be dealt with as strict liability violations. This means that a player will be found guilty of a violation if a prohibited substance is found in that player’s body. It is not necessary to demonstrate intent, the regulations say. A player’s alleged lack of intent or knowledge is also not considered a valid defence to a charge. A violation of the FA’s anti-doping regulations carries with it a maximum penalty of a four-year suspension although mitigating factors can reduce that from anywhere from two years to a month. GO DEEPER Explaining Mudryk's drugs ban: What is meldonium - and possible punishments Mudryk has not appeared for Chelsea since playing and scoring in the UEFA Conference League victory over Heidenheim on November 28 with head coach Enzo Maresca saying the player had since been suffering from illness. Multiple sources told The Athletic on Monday that Mudryk intends to defend his position, with the player’s stance explained by people familiar with the case to be that he did not intentionally take the substance and that there is a suspicion of sabotage, although The Athletic has not been able to independently verify that claim. Chelsea beat London rivals Arsenal to Mudryk’s signature on a seven-and-a-half-year contract with the option of a further year in January 2023 but he has struggled to become a first-team regular in his time at Stamford Bridge. He has started just 40 games in all competitions for Chelsea, of which 26 have come in the Premier League. There have been another 33 appearances as a substitute. Mudryk has found some more consistent form under Maresca this season creating five assists and scoring three goals, but has been given just 146 minutes in the Premier League. GO DEEPER Chelsea signed potential in Mykhailo Mudryk - they hope their patience will pay off Additional reporting: David Ornstein ‘A very significant setback’ Analysis from Chelsea correspondent Simon Johnson First and foremost, there is no other way to see this other than being a very significant setback for Mudryk’s career. The consequences of a positive test — if it leads to a ruling against him — no matter what the circumstances behind it, usually mean a lengthy ban and a damaged reputation. In the meantime, FA policy dictates a player is to be provisionally suspended pending any decision. Mudryk’s struggles in English football have been well documented, but there have been some signs of late that working under Maresca was starting to spark an improvement. The Ukrainian may be second choice behind Jadon Sancho for the left-wing berth, but he has been proving to be a useful back-up and has still featured regularly, even if all but one of his seven Premier League appearances have been as a substitute this season. With Chelsea progressing through to the knock-out stages of the UEFA Conference League, there was a very high probability Mudryk would continue to get a chance to shine on the European stage with the club strong favourites to win the trophy in May. Should he be without Mudryk for the foreseeable future it would be a blow to Maresca as the Italian looks to rotate his squad, although it perhaps gives more opportunities for academy graduate Tyrique George. There is also a question mark over Mudryk’s availability to help Ukraine qualify for the World Cup in 2026. They have been drawn in a group with Iceland, Azerbaijan and the winners of France’s Nations League quarter-final against Croatia. Ukraine’s first qualifying match is in September.

Who is the most progressive passer of them all? Monday Night SCOUTED is the mirror on the wall. https://www.scoutednotebook.com/p/most-progressive-passes-u23-wonderkids-adrian-bernabe-mns Following Arsenal’s 3-0 win against Monaco on Wednesday night, debate and discussion raged within the fanbase about what Martin Ødegaard does and does not do. After the 0-0 draw with Everton, it returned. I will not bore you with the specifics, but I have been excited to explore a wider concept further. As a result, this week’s Monday Night SCOUTED - the final one of 2024 - includes another case study style discussion rather than focussing on a collection of performances from the weekend. As always, let me know how you’re feeling about these. Also, as this is the last MNS of the year, the SCOUTED Stats section is an As Things Stand™ review of every metric, including a few notes about players that made the cut this weekend. Nobody knows what it means, but it’s provocative progressive… Feel free to disagree, but I think ✨ Progressive ✨ is one of the most popular words in football discourse. People pine for progression and labelling someone as a progressive passer appears to be one of the highest compliments you can pay - while a supposed inability to progress the ball is often the main source of criticism for a player. The word paints a vivid, specific picture. I believe that football fans, including myself, associate the word with moving the ball forward often and across large distances. I.e. a progressive passer is usually a player that breaks lines from deep with longer-range passes. In a similar fashion, I associate progression via ball-carrying with ground-gobbling runs up the pitch. But how close is that picture to reality? Well, it does not line up exactly with FBref definitions: There are some key things to consider. The most important of all is that any completed pass / carry into the penalty area is classed as Progressive, no matter how far the ball has travelled. This is not to say I don’t agree or that is an issue, but I would be interested to know how many people knew that was the case or at the very least expected it to be. As a result, I feel like the prolific use of this date has warped the perception of particular players and can lead to the misidentification of certain profiles. To use Martin Ødegaard as an example. He is one of the best in the world at getting the ball into the penalty area, specifically via his passing. In 2023/24, he played 130 successful passes into the opposition box, at least 41 more than any other player in Europe’s Big Five Leagues. Since FBref started collecting this data in 2017/18, only Lionel Messi has managed more in a single campaign. That is incredible. However, I do not think people would describe many players on this list as elite ‘Progressive Passers’ based on the universal understanding of that phrase - once again, I am more than happy to be told otherwise. There is absolutely no doubt that getting the ball into the penalty area is one of the most valuable actions a player can take. But I feel like Penetrative would be a better adjective. By including these passes within Progressive metrics, we may miss out on the discovery of players that area really good in and around the penalty area or players that are really good at finding them. To further illustrate my point, here is an extreme example of how two passes would both be logged as a Progressive Pass despite serving an entirely different purpose. Both passes are extremely valuable. Both are difficult skills to execute. Both passes would be logged as a Progressive Pass. But I would argue that only Pass 1 would be described as progressive when analysing the game. Let me be clear, I am not saying the metric is wrong. If anything is flawed, it is our understanding and application of it. I am also completely aware that clubs, data analysts and scouts will already have a way of distinguishing the difference. After all, Passes / Carries into the Penalty Area are recorded individually, you can start interrogating further by looking at them. So consider this an introduction into how that might happen and how you can do the same if you only have access to FBref data - like us! How can we start to separate Progression - getting the ball towards players that get the ball into the penalty area - from Penetration - getting the ball into the penalty area - in order to refine your scouting even further? …it gets the people going Well, building on points discussed in the Tyler Dibling Dribbling newsletter and the Inverted Wing-back Watchlist, looking at the Progressive Yards per Pass / Carry can help us discover a new list of players. Also, calculating the percentage of Progressive Passes that are Passes into the Penalty Area can help further separate the lock-picking playmakers and the line-breakers progressors. 364 players born in 2001 or later have played at least 450 minutes in Europe’s Big Five Leagues this season. I have exported the following stats for each of them in order to calculate my custom metrics: Passes Completed (Cmp) Passes into the Final Third (Into3rd) Passes into the Penalty Area (PPA) Progressive Passes (PrgP) Progressive Passing Distance (PrgDist) My manually calculated metrics are: Percentage of Passes Completed as Progressive Passes (PrgP/Cmp) Progressive Passes excluding Passes into the Penalty Area (PrgP-PPA) Percentage of Passes Completed as Progressive Passes excluding Passes into the Penalty Area (PrgP-PPA/Cmp) Percentage of Passes Completed as Passes into Final Third (Into3rd/Cmp) Percentage of Passes Completed as Passes into the Penalty Area (PPA/Cmp) Progressive Yards per Pass Completed (PrgDist/Cmp) SCOUTED Stats spolier alert: Rayan Cherki is the 01+ leader for Progressive Passes per 90 across Europe’s Big Five Leagues this season. However, when we investigate the top 10 for this metric with our new calculations, a variety of playing styles become clear. The first thing you might notice is that 44.6% of Cherki’s Progressive Passes are Passes into the Penalty Area. Aleksandar Pavlović, Adam Wharton and Angelo Stiller - three players I would argue are synonymous with the Progressive Passer paradigm - all average below 20% for this metric. If we sort our top 10 by this new metric, Cherki, Michael Olise, Yaser Asprilla, Florian Wirtz and Lee Kang-in all appear as large outliers. It’s giving playmakers. More spoliers: Olise is the 01+ leader for Passes into the Penalty Area based on total and per 90 metrics. This incredible output sees him rank in the 98th percentile for Progressive Passes within our group of 364 players. However, for PrgP-PPA, he drops to the 65th percentile. It’s still good, but it changes the discourse around his style: more penetrative, less progressive. Another good case study is Pavlović. At face value, he looks like the most Progressive Passer. Within our top 10, he ranks first for Passes Completed, Passes into Final Third, Progressive Passing Distance and PrgP-PPA. Based on this output combined with my perception of him as a player, I was expecting to see him rank much higher for Progressive Distance per Pass. Instead, he is closer to Olise than Wharton. This requires extra thought. Pavlović is completing more passes per 90 than any other player in our database and at least 19 more than any player in this top 10 - that will obviously have an effect. At the same time, although team style, player instructions and more would have to be considered, it is interesting to see that while his 12.2 Passes into the Final Third per 90 is at least 3 more than any other player in the database, Pedri averages the same % of Passes into the Final Third, while Adam Wharton has an even greater share. This presents another question: is it more useful to identify Progressive Passers based on this percentage share? Personally, I think Wharton’s output is the best match for the shared consciousness of a Progressive Passer. Remember, to even appear in this mini table, you need to rank in the top 13 for Progressive Passes per 90 - Wharton ranks third. The fact that he ranks first in this group for Progressive Distance per Pass and for Percentage of Passes as PrgP-PPA are two huge ticks. In our database of 364 outfield players born in 2001 or later with 450+ minutes across Europe’s Big Five Leagues this season, only two rank in the 85th percentile and above for Progressive Passes, Percentage of Passes as Progressive Passes and Progressive Yards per Pass: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Adam Wharton (2004, Crystal Palace) 🇪🇸 Álex Baena (2001, Villarreal) If we exclude Passes into the Penalty Area, Adam Wharton stands alone. Welcome to the Wharton age Phil Costa and Tom Curren · Jan 18 Read full story We already know about Adam Wharton… show us some other players! Well, if we consider that Percentage of Passes as Progressive Passes could be influenced by style of play, removing that presents some interesting names. In our database, only five rank in the 85th percentile and above for PrgP-PPA and Progressive Yards per Pass: 🇧🇷 Lucas Beraldo (2003, Paris Saint-Germain) 🇪🇸 Pau Cubarsí (2007, Barcelona) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Lewis Hall (2004, Chelsea) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Adam Wharton (2004, Crystal Palace) 🇪🇸 Adrián Bernabé (2001, Parma) Of course, Wharton is back. And although you may have expected to see Pau Cubarsí at some point, Lucas Beraldo continues to fly under the radar. If we increase the threshold to 90th percentile and above, only Lewis Hall and Adrián Bernabé remain. Hall’s quest to become England’s first-choice left-back is gathering more momentum each week and I have discussed his claim in a previous newsletter. Pape Matar Super Sarr, England's future full-backs and God-like distribution from a Greek Jake Entwistle · Nov 5 Read full story Bernabé, however, is a name that I have yet to mention. The fact he spent four years at La Masia and another three in Manchester City’s academy suggests I should not be surprised. But then you realise 2024/25 is the first top-flight season of his career having spent the last three in Serie B with Parma. A gold-medal winner with Spain in the summer, he is officially One To Watch. Of course, Llew Davies told you that two years ago. All of this is to say that my advice when using and sharing data, no matter how simple or complex, is to read all of the definitions and to show an awareness of them. The January transfer window is coming and there will be a lot of green-bar scouting as people scramble to learn more about a player their club has been linked with, or in search of copium to rationalise a record-breaking move. All of that is absolutely fine, it’s part of the fun. Just make sure you know what the green bars really mean.

Why Enzo Maresca can no longer ignore Chelsea’s discipline issue https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5996424/2024/12/16/Chelsea-discipline-maresca/ Enzo Maresca continues to get most things right as Chelsea head coach but he needs to start taking Chelsea’s disciplinary issues a bit more seriously. For the second time this campaign, Marc Cucurella will serve a one-game ban. His needless altercation with Kevin Schade after the final whistle of Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over Brentford, which earned the Spain international a second yellow card, means he will miss the trip to Everton on Sunday. Should Chelsea win, they will go top of the table before Liverpool take on Tottenham Hotspur later in the afternoon. That would be some feat and a rich reward for the club’s fine form. But it will not be easy. Chelsea have won on just one of their last seven league visits there and returned south without even a point five times. As he showed against Brentford, Cucurella is one of Maresca’s finest performers and you would much rather him be on the pitch at Goodison Park than watching from the sidelines or at home. The Spain international was absent on the last occasion Chelsea went to Merseyside this season to take on league leaders Liverpool in October, courtesy of a one-match ban for picking up five yellow cards. So too was centre-back Wesley Fofana for the same reason. The result? Chelsea lost 2-1. It would be unfair to pin the loss that day solely on the duo being unavailable. Many factors contributed, but not having two of the first-choice back four did not improve Chelsea’s chances. Against Brentford, Pedro Neto became the third Chelsea player to sit out a match courtesy of the five-yellow-card rule. Chelsea won a tight game without him, but he was missed as an option off the bench even though Noni Madueke set up the opening goal from Neto’s favoured position on the right wing. Chelsea’s great run of results — they have become the first side to win five Premier League games in succession this season — is worthy of praise. But to become better, they have to judge themselves in every department to the highest standard. GO DEEPER Why are Premier League teams so inconsistent this season? The cut-off point for avoiding the one-game ban for five yellow cards is 19 Premier League fixtures. Chelsea have played 16 but at least seven players are still vulnerable to the sanction. This includes main striker Nicolas Jackson (four yellows), Maresca’s No 1 keeper Robert Sanchez (four yellows), plus Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, Levi Colwill and Madueke (all on three). Then there is the added complication of getting a two-match ban for 10 yellow cards up to, and including, the 32nd Premier League game and sitting out three games if you reach the tally of 15 yellow cards. You cannot say a further suspension is out of reach for Cucurella, Fofana and Neto at the rate they are going. Sometimes a booking can come down to bad luck, a slightly mistimed challenge or a referee being a tad overzealous. There will be people who will have sympathy for Cucurella given he was disciplined for simply ‘adopting an aggressive attitude’, not the most heinous crime. There are bookings that are seen in a positive light because the side is showing they are not a soft touch or that an individual will put the team before themselves by producing a ‘tactical foul’ to stop an attack. But there is a balance and picking up too many has to be considered counter-productive. Chelsea are doing so well, yet this is an area that needs to be improved. Missing players through suspension can contribute to the fine margins which decide games and can upset the rhythm. For Chelsea to bring up the half-century of yellow cards already, which as the table below shows is the most any Premier League team has received in 2024-25, is not to be simply ignored. When you consider Chelsea set a new Premier League record of 105 yellows in a single campaign under Mauricio Pochettino last season with most of the same players, then it feels like they have carried on from where they left off rather than learning lessons. No one can accuse Maresca of not being consistent on the topic. When The Athletic raised the subject with him in October, the Italian gave it short shrift. He said: “I don’t think it is a discipline problem at all. Have I spoken to the players about it? No, no, absolutely (not).” Chelsea had collected 21 yellows in just six league fixtures at that stage. Eight of those came a few weeks earlier at Bournemouth, which was part of another Premier League record for most yellows shown in a single game (14 players, plus both coaches). Chelsea were fined £25,000 ($31,500) by the Football Association for it, an automatic punishment for having at least six yellow cards in a match. They have been fined a further £50,000 and £75,000 for repeating the feat against Nottingham Forest and Newcastle respectively. They are the first Premier League team to have had a minimum of six yellows shown in three separate fixtures. It is not a good look and now Cucurella is the first Chelsea player to be sent off in the league in 2024-25. Pressed by this reporter on whether he thinks they have an issue with discipline now, Maresca played it down again. He said: “No, no. I’ve said many times we can do many things better; the way we attack and the way we defend but also the way we need to manage some moments. This is probably one of the moments we can improve but overall, with the spirit of the team, we know that sometimes you can receive some yellow cards. “Probably the second one (for Cucurella) is not the correct thing to do, but there are things that we need to improve. Yes, ‘Cucu’ will be suspended and there will be another one in his place. Pedro (Neto) was suspended and Noni’s (Madueke’s) performance was top. So in the moment they are suspended, another one will play and if the other one does good, we will see after they come back.” Maresca is right to highlight the strength of the squad, but Chelsea are going to be at their strongest when they have all of their best players to choose from. Absentees from injury are unfortunate, suspensions less so.

Enzo Maresca: Chelsea must manage situations differently after late Marc Cucurella red card https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5996270/2024/12/15/marc-cucurella-red-card-Chelsea/ Enzo Maresca says Chelsea must learn to manage situations better after Marc Cucurella was sent off at full time following Sunday’s victory over Brentford. Cucurella, who had opened the scoring in the first half of the 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge, was shown a second yellow by referee Peter Bankes following an altercation with Brentford forward Kevin Schade after the final whistle. Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) explained the full-back had been booked for “adopting an aggressive attitude”, with Schade also given a yellow card for his role in the incident. Maresca said the sending off and the Bryan Mbeumo goal his side conceded on the stroke of full time were both experiences his players would learn from, but he was full of praise for Cucurella’s overall contributions. “For sure the goal we concede, it is something we need to manage better,” Maresca said. “Then also probably at the end of the game, the game in finished, we can manage that moment in a different way. I think it’s experience for the players to learn and to improve things.” He continued: “Cucurella was top on and off the ball… together with the other 10 (players), they were fantastic. We are happy, delighted with Marc’s performance.” GO DEEPER The Briefing: Chelsea 2 Brentford 1 - Cucurella's crazy week and five wins in a row for Maresca Cucurella’s sending off means he will be suspended for Sunday’s Premier League trip to Everton. The 26-year-old has been an important part of Maresca’s side this season, featuring in 15 of their 16 top-flight matches. Chelsea’s victory narrowed the gap to league leaders Liverpool to two points, having played one game more. Despite this, Maresca played down his side’s title chances. “No matter how many games we are going to win, I think we are not ready to compete for the title,” he added. “One of the reasons why is I think teams that know how to compete to win the title, they are not going to concede the goal we conceded. “We conceded a goal in the 90th minute when it was a throw-in for us. Teams that know how to win the title, they are not going to concede that goal. This is one of the reasons why I still continue to say we are not ready to win titles, even if you don’t believe me or you think I say it for… I said many times I would love the pressure to compete for a title but we are not ready for many reasons. “We cannot concede the goal we did, to open the game and give them the chance to take a point here.” Chelsea return to action against Shamrock Rovers in the Conference League on Thursday.

1 1 FT

1 1 great free kick by Unal

Inter crushed Lazio in Roma nil 6

nil 1 West Ham

pen against Bournemouth

not a thriller so far still nil nil

https://www.vipleague.pm/epl/afc-bournemouth-vs-west-ham-united-1-live-streaming https://www.vipleague.pm/epl/afc-bournemouth-vs-west-ham-united-2-live-streaming Bournemouth – West Ham United England. Premier League / 16 December at 21:00 https://statistics.soccerstreams100.io/event/eng-1/west-ham-vs-bournemouth-live-soccer-stats/704430

https://thedailybriefing.io/i/153191584/Chelsea Nicolas Jackson has more non-penalty goals than anyone else in the Premier League since the start of the 2023/24 season. He’s now on 23 goals, while Mohamed Salah is just behind on 22. Enzo Maresca on Chelsea injuries: “Benoit Badiashile had a problem yesterday during the session. For now, we do not know how long he will be out for. Romeo Lavia can be available for the next game.” Maresca on the title race: “For me, we are NOT ready. You can talk about the title and the fans can dream about the title… absolutely. If you ask me, I will tell you what I think. We’re not ready but we are happy the fans can dream.” Moises Caicedo: “N’Golo Kante is my idol. I try to help the team like he did… he’s a very big player, I try my best. We are enjoying it, we're doing fantastic. The sky’s the limit.”

they are both left footed that would leave us with 4 left footed CBs, 3 IF Badi is sold

Convince him to come here! Lololol Probably zero chance of that. 😞 I be over the moon if he did come here. Thiago 2.0 Even more of a barker 🐕

Samu, yes, Duran, at the end of the day, no

drinking great wine at Celta de Vigo

fucking LIE absolute bollocks completely made up out of thin air

bullshit my critiques are very narrow in scope GKer and CB you just come on during games and whinge like a likkle bish

no, that would be you you always come on and take a hot steaming shit on us

self delete for civilty

woot woot 2 behind the vermin scousers come on you Blues!!!

he is OUR dickhead (and I do not really think him a dickhead btw)