The English Football Thread

[Laylabelle 9,534]

2 hours ago, Vesper said:

Eight 'neutral' grounds given green light by Premier League clubs if football returns

The clubs were presented with 'Project Restart' plans Friday and it is understood there is no possibility that it can now finish on a home-and-away basis for safety reasons

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/eight-neutral-grounds-given-green-21966822

Premier League clubs have given the green light to play the remaining 2019-20 matches at eight neutral venues up and down the country, according to reports.

The clubs were presented with the league's 'Project Restart' plans at a meeting on Friday, and while a statement was issued reconfirming the clubs' commitment to finishing the season, it is understood there is no possibility that it can now finish on a home-and-away basis for safety reasons.

The restart plans were understood to have been well received, but there remains opposition on competition and integrity grounds about the idea of finishing the season at neutral venues.

It is understood the Premier League will look at using between eight and 10 stadiums, with venues likely to be chosen for ease of ensuring social distancing - which would appear to favour more out-of-town sites.

snip

Awwwww be like the FA Cup semi finals again!

Still seems a crazy idea though

[Vesper 30,172]

Why Manchester United no longer want a director of football calling the shots

https://theathletic.com/1790691/2020/05/04/manchester-united-directoroffootball-woodward/

As sure as night follows day, there is one issue guaranteed to appear when The Athletic opens the floor to questions from Manchester United fans.

Director. Of. Football.

It is only natural. This summer will mark two years since the search was started and supporters are entitled to wonder whether finding the right appointment should really take that long when in the same period, nine new skyscrapers have popped up over the city’s horizon.

Unless, of course, introducing a senior member into the Old Trafford hierarchy is no longer an active pursuit. Or not at least in the way it was originally perceived.

Recruitment was the driving aspect to the proposed job when first mooted during Jose Mourinho’s tempestuous final transfer window in the summer of 2018. But it is safe to say that such a precise role is not on the agenda anymore.

United do not seek a guru to lead policy for signings, nor will anybody come in to take ownership of who sits in the dugout.

At other clubs, a director of football — or sporting director — has great influence over those twin areas of performance. They are ultimately responsible for picking players to add to a squad and choosing managers.

At United, the structure is different. Principally, the status of the manager is paramount and the club want to stay close to the level of authority Sir Alex Ferguson maintained. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s line to Ed Woodward will always be direct, rather than bisected by another individual. Their relationship is described as “vital”.

Then when it comes to hiring and firing, the decision rests with executive vice-chairman Woodward, who remains trusted by the Glazer family even after David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Mourinho have come and gone.

The expensive lurch from one mode of signing to another as each man entered and left Old Trafford can be scrutinised, of course, and that is why many within the football industry feel United would benefit from the consistency of player selection that a director of football ought to bring.

That was the argument made by Luis Campos, Lille’s director of football, during an interview with Sky Sports in October. Campos has bought and sold the likes of Fabinho, Bernardo Silva, Thomas Lemar, Anthony Martial and Nicolas Pepe, and worked with Mourinho at Real Madrid.

He was also, coincidentally, linked with United as recently as this year — the latest name in a new niche section of the transfer market. Forget United’s next signing: the real buzz revolved around which suited executive was going to begin unearthing the next player.

There were reportedly advanced talks with Antero Henrique, the man who took Kylian Mbappe to Paris Saint-Germain (although the small matter of £160 million might have had something to do with it) but, just as an agent might leak interest in his client to generate interest, the reality here was a little different.

There were also varying levels of dialogue with experienced administrators such as ex-Everton director of football Steve Walsh, Tottenham’s former recruitment chief Paul Mitchell, Red Bull’s head of sport and development Ralf Rangnick, Stuart Webber at Norwich City, and former United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, now chief executive at Ajax.

Talks have also been held with Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic and Darren Fletcher — but it became apparent the ex-players were providing valued opinion rather than anything more formal.

The simple truth is that anybody who now joins will not be given the influence typically associated with such a role because United are eminently satisfied at their collaborative approach, which has been constructed in the years since Ferguson left and took his unique blend of connections, knowledge and leverage with him.

United have had to divest the responsibility that lay across those large shoulders, adding layers of data analysis and broadening out the scope for opinions. It is at a stage where two strands stand clear.

There is the football management side, led by Solskjaer and Mike Phelan, and there is the recruitment side, which has, at its top, Marcel Bout (head of global scouting), Mick Court (technical chief scout), and Jim Lawlor (chief scout).

Simon Wells, described as Solskjaer’s personal scout, has an influence and Stephen Brown has also grown in importance as head of scouting operations. Brown is now at the intersection between the scouts and the science, heading up the team using United’s bespoke data measurements.

It is a drastically evolved system to the one in place when Lawlor knocked on Ferguson’s door to suggest Henrik Larsson might assist United’s title bid in 2007. “There was a lot of instinct and personal judgement, not necessarily backed up by massive data, even though Larsson was an experienced pro,” says a source.

Now, the targets are vetted through both sight and statistics — even Odion Ighalo – and both the manager and recruitment department hold the power of veto. This collegiate structure has the ambition of establishing consistent player profiles beyond each manager.

If the numbers do not stack up, it falls on Woodward to convey the message, and that meant telling Mourinho his choice of central defender was not suitable. That episode contained all the fireworks you might expect from the Portuguese but, contrary to a narrative that has emerged since his departure, The Athletic understands Mourinho was very much against the idea of a director of football while at the club.

Woodward’s function, to that end, would remain the same, regardless of the identity of the manager or any new appointments, and his involvement in the football side of things can continue to be seen. He was present at Carrington in March for the visit of Birmingham’s Jude Bellingham and his family, he flew with Solskjaer to Salzburg to talk directly with Erling Haaland in December, and he was the one who gave Bournemouth chief executive Neill Blake 15 minutes to decide on United’s final offer for Joshua King during the January window.

So any director of football would supplement those tasks, rather than supplant. A “reporting mechanism” rather than a “unicorn figure”, sources suggest.

Given a number of departments feed directly into Woodward — recruitment, academy, facilities to name a few — some believe there is scope for the appointment of an individual to ease that particular load, to stitch together those areas. Chief executives usually delegate at that level.

There are others who believe United would still benefit from having an experienced football administrator at the club, to specifically capitalise on networks and contract information. Matt Judge, United’s chief negotiator, talks with agents daily and has built up a solid reputation in the six years since joining the club from his career in corporate finance.

Judge overlays his work on to the lists drawn up by United’s recruitment team, presenting the financial realities of each target before engaging in talks with clubs and player representatives. Often, he progresses more than one signing to the final stages to leave United with options.

But some feel United could be quicker in the market, citing the drawn-out process for getting Bruno Fernandes, and that having an experienced individual in a tailored role dedicated to gathering information on player availability and contract clauses would be beneficial.

Sources say those at Old Trafford were unaware of Takumi Minamino’s £7.25 million release clause from RB Salzburg, for example, and while United were not rivalling Liverpool for his signature, there is obvious potential for increased resale value whatever his abilities.

Clearly those kinds of details can come from any avenue — a fortunate conversation with a former colleague perhaps, or a favour returned. And United’s recent record for signings is positive. All five arrivals under Solskjaer have made a good impression and that only strengthens the idea that, actually, United already have a de facto director of football in the shape of the Norwegian.

Like Ferguson, Solskjaer delegates his coaching and thinks of the bigger picture, and you can be sure that as long as he is in charge, the signings will fit a unified template. The debate would come if he goes. Would the next manager take such a holistic approach?

United are adamant that the current system means stability for the squad and that the days of a new manager meaning a completely new team have gone. This is why there is no great desire for a director of football — at least as the role has been understood before.

[Vesper 30,172]

Sheffield United’s miracle – explained by data

https://theathletic.com/1788946/2020/05/04/sheffield-united-wilder-chris-defence-henderson-back-five-centre-backs-overlapping/

George Baldock, the Sheffield United wing-back, pauses for a second.

He has just been asked by The Athletic about the secret behind a defensive record that is the envy of all in the Premier League bar runaway leaders Liverpool.

United have conceded 25 goals in 28 games since returning to the top flight. To put that into context, reigning champions Manchester City’s back line has been breached six more times this season and Chelsea’s a whopping 14.

Others who can only admire the Yorkshire club’s defensive solidity include Manchester United (30 goals conceded), Tottenham Hotspur (40) and Arsenal (36). Aston Villa and Norwich City, the two other sides promoted from the Championship alongside Chris Wilder’s men, have shipped 56 and 52 goals respectively.

This remarkably stingy record is behind our enquiry to Baldock about a team that has also kept 10 clean sheets, the joint third-highest in the division behind Liverpool and Burnley.

“The bottom line is we love defending,” says the 27-year-old, an ever-present this season. “Especially the back five. The players further forward do it as part of their jobs but we are desperate to keep the opposition out.”

Joining Baldock in this “back five” are Enda Stevens on the opposite flank plus Jack O’Connell, John Egan and Chris Basham in the middle. Between the quintet, they have missed just one league start all season. Illness picked up on international duty meant Egan had to sit out the 3-3 draw at home to Manchester United, a fixture that also saw goalkeeper Dean Henderson on the sidelines under the terms of his loan switch from Old Trafford.

Speaking via Skype, Baldock adds: “If there is a secret, it is that we have 11 men on the pitch at one time who are putting everything out there for the shirt. Our defensive record is great and the big thing is we do defend from the front.

“The midfield three do so much in helping that. Obviously, you have me and Enda (Stevens), who are up and down the flanks. Then we have the three brick walls to get past, even if you get past us. Even if you get through all the other barriers, there is one of the best keepers in the country in Hendo to get past.

“What that means is we have got a bit of insurance in our team. If you beat one, you have to then beat another and another. The defensive record is great and looking back at that — plus reading the stats — is a great feeling and a proud moment for all of us.”

United sit seventh in the table as the Premier League looks for ways to safely restart a season put into hibernation in March. If that proves impossible and league positions are decided by points-per-game, Wilder’s men will leapfrog Wolverhampton Wanderers into sixth.

That Manchester United would be just the thickness of a cigarette paper ahead — Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men have a points-per-game ratio that is 0.01 higher — speaks volumes for how well the Blades have performed among the elite.

Here we take an in-depth look at the reasons behind that defensive solidity, ask if it can be maintained going forward and assess the biggest issues that will face Wilder and assistant Alan Knill in the 2020-21 campaign.

---

If there’s one word that sums up Sheffield United as a club in 2019-20 it should be “consistency”.

No other team has stuck to their formation as much as United have, with a 3-5-2 being played in all games this season. Not even Sean Dyche, whose 4-4-2 rarely gets tweaked, managed to stick to his guns this year, employing 4-4-1-1 in a couple of games this season.

There’s also the consistency of the playing personnel. This season, United have used just 22 players and have the most number of “regulars” (defined as those who play at least 80 per cent of minutes) compared to any team in the Premier League.

Consistent tactics and line-ups have culminated in a team that conceded just 25 goals this season and when adjusting per game, make for the second-best defence in the Premier League this season, conceding just 0.89 goals per game. United, Leicester and Liverpool are the only teams to concede below a goal a game in the Premier League this season. The 10 clean sheets kept by Henderson also makes for good reading — only Nick Pope has more with 11.

So the results on paper look good. This is a team that’s stunned everyone: a bunch of Premier League cast-offs and players who were plying their trade in the lower levels of English football not so long ago. A true fairytale. The English football equivalent of the Oakland A’s making the play-offs on a shoestring budget (finally, a Moneyball reference).

But what about the underlying quality of the chances that the team has conceded? Is this a defence built on solid foundations or getting a bit lucky? Do United look as good as we think they might be?

---

The quick answer is that this is certainly a solid Premier League defence but maybe not one that is going to repeat the same achievements next season.

The reason for that is that there’s a relatively simple formula that teams need to adhere to to build a strong defence in the Premier League. Tick all of the boxes and you’ve got yourself a well-built defence. Fail to tick any and you might quickly find your fortunes reversed.

Any defence in the league wants to keep the number of shots that they’re facing down to a minimum. If you can’t do that, at least try to keep the quality of them down and force teams to shoot from far away, under pressure, or from tight angles. If you can’t do that then you want to try to make them as easy as possible for the keeper to save, or stop them from reaching him. If you can’t do that either, then you’re probably going to need to score plenty of goals to not get relegated.

The 11.4 shots per game that the Blades concede is joint with Wolves and straight away illustrative that maybe this team isn’t as stingy at the back as the number of goals they concede alludes to.

In terms of xG conceded per game, this is where the separation between process and results begins to show itself. United’s expected goals against per game, when removing penalties, sits at 1.33 per game — 10th-best in the league. The gap between themselves, Arsenal and Brighton isn’t that large.

United are conceding fairly high-quality chances — just relatively few of them per game. When looking at their xG/shot against, which quantifies the average quality of a shot that is conceded, United have the third-highest figure in the league of 0.12. When teams finally do break Wilder’s 3-5-2 down, they’re creating a good chance. The rigidity of the team structure is such that, thankfully, this doesn’t happen many times per game.

The disconnect between the quality of chances conceded and the actual number of goals conceded has something to do with what happens after the shot is taken.

Over a small period of games, you might get away with having a keeper who’s playing a blinder week in, week out, or a defence who get in front of all that’s throw at them.

If nothing changes, then in the long run, you’ll get caught out. The wider media will look to untangle “what’s gone wrong” and “where the cracks started to appear” but the signs may well have been there for a while for all to see.

With United, they’re getting fortunate due to a few reasons.

The chart below shows how good the chances a team concedes are before the shot is taken (xG) compared to how good they are after the shot is taken (xGOT). For an explainer on the difference between the two, take a look here.

Teams who sit below the line are helping their goalkeeper out: actively reducing the work he has to do through either forcing more shots off target or making saves easier. The teams above the line are those who are making the goalkeeper’s life hell, giving him more work to do than you’d expect, leaving him exposed and at the mercy of opposition.

Here, United’s back line can take some of the credit for why they’ve overperformed versus expectation. They’re helping to actively reduce the quality of on-target shots that Henderson has to deal with. The biggest reason is that of the shots they do concede: only 30.8 per cent of them end up on target, the lowest rate in the league.

The rest of the credit, a fair chunk of it at that, sits with Henderson between the sticks. Per Opta, Henderson is expected to concede 29.2 goals on average this season based on the quality of on-target shots he’s facing, yet he’s conceded just 22.

That difference of 7.2 is only bested by Martin Dubravka and Vicente Guaita, both of whom are called into action far more. This table doesn’t take penalties into account either, of which Henderson’s saved the only on-target one he’s faced this season, when he faced Gabriel Jesus at Bramall Lane.

While he’s not perfect — the dropping of Gini Wijnaldum’s tame effort at home to Liverpool is a small blemish — Henderson has shown he’s capable of performing well at the highest level and at 23, has a big year ahead of him, at Bramall Lane or elsewhere.

---

Tying all the above together, Sheffield United are a team that concede a middling number of shots, of a very high quality on average, but force plenty of them off-target. The defence is integral to limiting the amount of work Henderson needs to do but, when he is called into action, he’s been exceptional.

This must be causing quite the headache for Wilder and Knill. With European football on the horizon (at some point), they are going to be competing in four competitions next season with a threadbare squad.

Maintaining balance will be key and to do so, resolving the goalkeeper position is probably the first thing on the to-do list. While plenty of Blades fans, players and staff hope to retain the services of Henderson for a further season, the likelihood of that happening is up in the air.

With David De Gea having a mixed season, it’s never been a better time to lay down a marker to be first-choice back in Manchester. Equally, if Solskjaer does intend to stick with the Spaniard, Wilder and Sheffield United would be more than happy to welcome back someone who has really bought into every aspect of the club.

If that does not happen, United’s need to replace Henderson might be the toughest transfer decision any club in the Premier League faces when the window reopens.

The one bit of relief for Wilder and Knill is that goalkeeping performances tend to be quite noisy. One year, you look like a world-beater, the next, purely league average. This isn’t to say Henderson isn’t a fantastic goalkeeper but it’s better to try and fix what you have some sort of control over instead of worrying about part of the game that is inherently prone to randomness.

Should Henderson not re-sign, it would make more sense to spend more time looking at how to reduce the number and/or quality of shots faced per game. Rather than tear up the system and start again, the answer probably lies in how to find a place for Sander Berge to let him shine, or consider which of the “regulars” could be marginally improved upon (a nice way of saying replaced) in the summer.

The toughest part of bringing up a team through the leagues is needing to break it up but if that’s what it takes for Wilder to improve and keep building upon the successes he’s already had, then that’s what he’ll have to do.

---

Sheffield, a city once famous for forging steel but now a leading producer of England defenders.

Or so it felt during the 2018 World Cup, as Kyle Walker and Harry Maguire shone in a back three that took Gareth Southgate’s side all the way to the semi-finals. John Stones, born and raised a few miles away in Barnsley, completed a triumvirate who had been tipped for the top since an early age.

United’s current back line have taken a more circuitous route to the upper echelons of the Premier League. Basham worked at McDonald’s after being released by Newcastle United, while Egan and O’Connell both failed to make the grade at their first clubs.

Baldock, meanwhile, had to gradually work his way up from League Two via a loan spell in Iceland and Stevens needed two years under Paul Cook at Portsmouth in the basement division to get his own career back on track.

All have been on a long journey, something that Baldock admits can mask just how well they have all done since reaching the top flight.

“We don’t give ourselves enough credit,” says the United right wing-back. “Things have been so good. It has actually taken this period of isolation to step out of that bubble and realise how well we’ve have done this year.

“We are such an honest group of lads; we sometimes don’t give ourselves credit for what we do. We always want to strive more. So to step back and look at what we have done is great.

“Mind, I, for one, can’t wait to get back and do what we did last season — which was to come on strong at the end.”

[Vesper 30,172]

Persuasive Parish brings a calming voice to football’s coronavirus dilemma

https://theathletic.com/1785462/2020/05/03/steve-parish-crystal-palace-coronavirus-neutral-venues-premier-league/

Steve Parish’s argument, laid out in 1,400 words and published in the Sunday Times as well as on Crystal Palace’s website, was articulate and persuasive. It was timely, too, given the crescendo of calls for more openness from club hierarchies. It began with an acknowledgement of the wider issue, a nod to the grim context which, for many, has damned Project Restart from the outset. But there was no beating about the bush.

“Yes, it is partly about the money,” he admitted, having already outlined the reasons for seeking to finish the current campaign on the grounds of sporting integrity. “Nobody wins if the Premier League receives less money. Nobody.”

Palace’s chairman spoke of football’s status as “one of the most efficient tax-generating industries in Britain”, and pointed out that, for all the criticism of players being paid too much, 50 per cent of those salaries go straight back into the public purse. Premier League clubs pay around £3.3 billion in tax every year; parachute and solidarity payments totalling £400 million drift annually down the pyramid into the English Football League; the National League and leagues further down receive £25 million. Then, of course, there is the impact clubs have on local businesses in their respective communities. They are integral.

This, he continued, “is about football’s whole ecosystem and the exchequer, and the many secondary industries football enriches.” So yes, it is about money. And it is only right and proper that discussions over what happens next, whenever next proves to be, take place.

Cue the chorus of disgust from those crying “greed”. But, for all the romantic attachment they hold for their fans, football clubs are businesses. They are as eager to crank back into life as those shops currently paying hefty rents while boarded up on a deserted high street. These have been unprecedented times, a situation no one had ever envisaged.

As Parish reflected, no business is immune to the realities of sliding profits and cash-flow problems. Of course, there are cogent arguments that those in the elite division pay too much when it comes to salaries, and are disproportionately over-reliant upon broadcast revenues to make ends meet. But no one anticipated a global pandemic which would threaten that influx of television money and render the entire sport at risk overnight.

Parish and Palace are approaching this from the position of a team ensconced in mid-table. Three successive victories ahead of the suspension had thrust them closer to the European qualification places than the relegation cut-off. Some might consider them relatively neutral as a result, though the truth is every Premier League club has a vested interest. The prize money on offer per place of around £2.5 million ensures as much. They are also a team anxious to maintain their development.

Palace’s own model relies heavily on those broadcast revenues which could be cut off if the season is abandoned now. Their annual wage bill in their last published accounts in 2017-18 was £117 million. The club were comfortable with how their business operated while television monies amounted to £121 million — more than 80 per cent of their entire revenue of £150 million. Like clubs up and down the division, they will not want to contemplate the sudden loss of their primary revenue stream.

“I also have a duty to my club, staff and the wider sport,” wrote Parish. Palace continue to pay their staff in full. They surveyed the scene as the crisis first gripped and considered their options, but ultimately decided against furloughing or tapping into the government’s job retention scheme.

Like every other club, Palace are doing what they can at a local level to help in the fight against coronavirus, from providing 900 meals a week for frontline NHS workers in cooperation with food charity, City Harvest London, to helping arrange the safe delivery of 3,000 personal protection masks to Croydon Health Services NHS Trust.

The ability to provide such services, however, can only carry on while their business is still viable. The bottom line remains that they need football to return and their contracts with broadcasters to be fulfilled.

Some of those chairmen who sat in on Friday’s Premier League meeting undoubtedly left the talks frustrated at proceedings. All would accept these are desperately difficult negotiations and there is no perfect solution while no vaccine exists for COVID-19. But there was grumblings that, come what may, some teams seemed intent upon effectively blocking the completion of the campaign. They have cited the reality that playing almost a quarter of the campaign in neutral venues damages the sporting integrity of the league. There has been talk of a rift between those most threatened by relegation, and the rest.

Parish stressed that if the current season cannot be concluded, why should we assume the next can start in August or September? “Are we convinced things will look so much different from how they do today? Many of the same issues regarding player welfare, venues and closed-doors matches will exist then. The more we can work it out now, the better chance we have of coming out of this with the game we all love in a position to recover over time.”

Not that this was a club owner blindly dismissing all the doubts, concerns and even distaste, felt by plenty, at the thought of live sport returning. The fight against the virus is ongoing across a world in mourning. Parish acknowledged that talks over Project Restart were instigated with a caveat: “If the nation decides that the gravity of events dictates that it’s simply not appropriate to play, then we must and will respect that.”

But the return of the game in some guise — even if it is behind closed doors and devoid of the crackle and excitement provided by partisan supporters in stadiums — could raise spirits. Some will find the thought abhorrent, but plenty of others will consider football a positive distraction, one that could even prove vital to the nation’s collective mental health.

“Football is meaningless — but it is magnificently meaningless,” wrote Parish.

Again, there was a sense of perspective in his approach when it came to potential public order issues (from fans congregating at stadiums) or the prospect of paramedics and ambulances being drawn from the front-line to the stadiums. Similarly, there remains the thorny matter of testing — “We cannot take testing capacity from one person in greater need” — and an acknowledgement that players must not feel browbeaten into returning prematurely. The mood among Palace’s own squad is understood to be one of eagerness to train with a view to playing matches once more, and there is an underlying faith in the advice that the club’s medical staff will provide for them.

One player indicated to The Athletic a conviction that the club would only allow them back to their base in Beckenham once they were sure the appropriate level of medical testing was in place, and they would be “as well protected as is possible” to resume matches.

“They wouldn’t be pushing for this if they didn’t feel they could offer us that when the time comes,” he says. “They know what would happen if one of us fell ill, and the knock-on effects that would have through the club, and even the sport.

“There are always going to be a million different arguments against playing. You could probably use the same arguments to avoid the supermarkets or never leave your house. It all comes down to risk and players are probably lower risk than most who will be going back to work in the weeks and months ahead.”

That view apparently reflects the general mood within the group. Others may well have reservations, understandably, but there is an acceptance that a dialogue will be required to convince all parties that this is the right way to move forward.

Palace’s reaction to the current crisis, like that of plenty of other clubs in the Premier League, has been impressive. But, as a business, they need the hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Parish’s appraisal was honest and thoughtful, acknowledging there are grey areas and that reaching an agreement that pleases everyone will be tricky.

There was no turning a blind eye to the bigger problems facing society as a whole. “But caring about the terrible situation around us, and caring about our clubs and industry are not mutually exclusive.”

[NikkiCFC 8,319]

'You are walking and you don't know if they are going to kill you': Angel Di Maria's wife recalls 's***' time at Manchester United, brands English people 'weird', the food 'disgusting' and says girls wear too much make-up

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8290885/Angel-Di-Marias-wife-recalls-s-time-Manchester-United.html

😂😂

[Fulham Broadway 17,312]

Looking likely the Prem League will resume now Merkel has announced its all ok for the Bundesliga to start up again mid May.

[NikkiCFC 8,319]

Most disgusting club as usual...

[Vesper 30,172]

10 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

'You are walking and you don't know if they are going to kill you': Angel Di Maria's wife recalls 's***' time at Manchester United, brands English people 'weird', the food 'disgusting' and says girls wear too much make-up

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8290885/Angel-Di-Marias-wife-recalls-s-time-Manchester-United.html

😂😂

it was Manchester, what did he expect?

poxy shithole

[Vesper 30,172]

Premier League clubs to debate whether to dump VAR for rest of season

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/may/08/premier-league-clubs-to-debate-whether-to-dump-var-for-rest-of-season-five-substitutions-ifab

Ifab gives green light but clubs expected to stick with it

Vote needed on whether to allow five substitutions

Premier League clubs will debate whether to dump VAR for the remainder of the season – if it can be completed – after the International Football Association Board (Ifab) said that individual competitions can do so if they want to.

The clubs, who will hold a conference call on Monday, must also vote on another Ifab temporary amendment – whether to agree to the use of five substitutes in matches.

It is not thought that the clubs will veto the use of VAR partly because, until the Ifab announcement, it had not been on the agenda. The clubs agreed to introduce the technology for this season and it could be argued that a move away from it for the final matches would compromise the integrity of the competition. Furthermore, it would seem strange to remove a feature of the game that would return at the start of the following season.

There has been the suggestion that dropping VAR would make it slightly easier to plan for the resumption of play but it has no material impact on the staging of games from a logistical standpoint.

If clubs agree to extra substitutions, each side will have three opportunities, excluding half-time, to make changes. Fifa said the measure could be applied in competitions that finish before the end of 2020.

“The temporary amendment comes into force with immediate effect,” it said, “and has been made as matches may be played in a condensed period in different weather conditions, both of which could have impacts on player welfare.”

snip

[NikkiCFC 8,319]

 

[Jase 43,479]

6 hours ago, Vesper said:

Premier League clubs to debate whether to dump VAR for rest of season

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/may/08/premier-league-clubs-to-debate-whether-to-dump-var-for-rest-of-season-five-substitutions-ifab

Ifab gives green light but clubs expected to stick with it

Vote needed on whether to allow five substitutions

Premier League clubs will debate whether to dump VAR for the remainder of the season – if it can be completed – after the International Football Association Board (Ifab) said that individual competitions can do so if they want to.

The clubs, who will hold a conference call on Monday, must also vote on another Ifab temporary amendment – whether to agree to the use of five substitutes in matches.

It is not thought that the clubs will veto the use of VAR partly because, until the Ifab announcement, it had not been on the agenda. The clubs agreed to introduce the technology for this season and it could be argued that a move away from it for the final matches would compromise the integrity of the competition. Furthermore, it would seem strange to remove a feature of the game that would return at the start of the following season.

There has been the suggestion that dropping VAR would make it slightly easier to plan for the resumption of play but it has no material impact on the staging of games from a logistical standpoint.

If clubs agree to extra substitutions, each side will have three opportunities, excluding half-time, to make changes. Fifa said the measure could be applied in competitions that finish before the end of 2020.

“The temporary amendment comes into force with immediate effect,” it said, “and has been made as matches may be played in a condensed period in different weather conditions, both of which could have impacts on player welfare.”

snip

The Premier League:

We want to maintain the integrity of the competition.

Also the Premier League:

Let's reduce each half of football.

Let's play at neutral grounds.

Let's dump VAR for the rest of the season.

[Tomo 21,751]

38 minutes ago, Jason said:

The Premier League:

We want to maintain the integrity of the competition.

Also the Premier League:

Let's reduce each half of football.

Let's play at neutral grounds.

Let's dump VAR for the rest of the season.

I wish all these clubs/players/executives/fans would all stop the bullshit and just admit they want what best suits their club.

Everytime we hear about people wanting voids they bang on about integrity/morality being the reason behind why it's their preference yet the one thing all these people seem to have in common is they support or are employed by a club who would benefit.

The only exception to that rule are United fans but we all know exactly why that is.

[Jase 43,479]

5 minutes ago, Tomo said:

I wish all these clubs/players/executives/fans would all stop the bullshit and just admit they want what best suits their club.

Everytime we hear about people wanting voids they bang on about integrity/morality being the reason behind why it's their preference yet the one thing all these people seem to have in common is they support or are employed by a club who would benefit.

The only exception to that rule are United fans but we all know exactly why that is.

I would love to be in one of their meetings to be honest because I swear they have had like 100 of them by now and they look no closer to agreeing on anything or forming a cohesive plan on how to restart the season. Almost every day you see news of stupid suggestions being mentioned or that some stakeholders are not being consulted over a return etc. It's not exactly safe to return yet in England and yet, they are finding stupid ways to try and force the resumption. 

[Vesper 30,172]

Friday May 8 2020 Football Nerd

Why we must use our eyes as well as stats to judge goalkeepers By Daniel Zeqiri Where does David de Gea stand in the pantheon of great goalkeepers? CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES Through football's coronavirus hiatus, we are committed to providing a weekly newsletter of facts, analysis and retrospectives. If there is a topic you want us to cover please email [email protected].uk. Above all, stay safe.     The subject for this week's newsletter comes from one of our readers, so thanks to Neil H who asks: "There is lots of speculation and argument over who has been or is the best goalkeeper to grace the Premier League. What do you guys think and what do the stats say?" Evaluating goalkeepers and defenders using statistics is a really interesting subject, and a troublesome one for scouting teams within the game. It is no coincidence that Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson, two of the greatest managers from the Premier League era, made several boo-boos in this department. Attacking players produce quantifiable output - shots, key passes, assists, expected goals and so on - that can be used to analyse their quality in a relatively straightforward way. This is not true of defenders and goalkeepers. Goals, assists, and key passes have universal value and a clear outcome in a way tackles, clearances or saves do not. Often these rudimentary measures are simply a reflection of how much work a defender or goalkeeper gets through. For instance, you might recall a young Ben Foster thriving on loan at relegated Watford in 2006-7 when he was peppered with shots, but struggling at Manchester United when his concentration was tested due to long spells of inactivity. Goalkeepers in poor teams will make plenty of saves. Petr Cech holds the record for Premier League clean sheets with 202, while Pepe Reina holds the record for clean sheet ratio with 134 in 291 appearances: 46.05 per cent. Both were fantastic goalkeepers at their peak, but also played for well-drilled Jose Mourinho and Rafael Benitez defences in an era of conservative tactics. How much should that influence our judgement? If we go on save percentage, the top 10 goalkeepers in Premier League history are as follows (based on those with 100 appearances or more):     Cech stands out again, as does Edwin van der Sar. But do we really believe Marcus Hahnemann and Manuel Almunia are in the best 10 goalkeepers in Premier League history? Of course not, which demonstrates the difficulty of evaluating goalkeepers using stats alone. Readers will surely be shouting the name Peter Schmeichel at their phone or laptop - the goalkeeper you would expect to win a public poll on this subject - but his time at Manchester United came before Opta started collecting stats like save percentages. Schmeichel was an integral part of several title wins and his style influenced a generation of goalkeepers, so I would not object to those who argue he was the best. Today, there are more sophisticated metrics for measuring goalkeeper performance such as Opta's Expected Goals on Target metric. XGoT, unlike plain old Expected Goals, is a post-shot model. That means it takes into account not just the location and quality of the shot, but the goalmouth location where the shot finishes. XGoT throws out all the attempts that end up off target regardless of their xG value. That makes it a useful metric for assessing goalkeepers, because counting all the shots that do not test them could prove misleading. Moreover, it paints a more accurate picture of goalkeepers' performances on long-range efforts. A shot from 30 yards might have an xG value of 0.03, meaning any goal from that range reflects badly on a goalkeeper statistically. As we all know however, there are occasional shots from distance that leave goalkeepers with little chance, and XGoT takes that into account. For example, Daniel Sturridge's goal at Stamford Bridge last season had an xG value of 0.03, but registered 0.58 on XGoT because it was so perfectly placed into the top corner. According to this measure, the top five goalkeepers in the Premier League currently are: Vicente Guaita, Martin Dubravka, Dean Henderson, Hugo Lloris and Ben Foster. Crystal Palace goalkeeper Guaita has kept out 9.6 more goals than you would expect. But surely they are not better goalkeepers than Alisson or Ederson, I hear you ask? In short, assessing goalkeepers is difficult and remains quite subjective. Maybe we just need to use our eyes.

[Laylabelle 9,534]

16 hours ago, Jason said:

I would love to be in one of their meetings to be honest because I swear they have had like 100 of them by now and they look no closer to agreeing on anything or forming a cohesive plan on how to restart the season. Almost every day you see news of stupid suggestions being mentioned or that some stakeholders are not being consulted over a return etc. It's not exactly safe to return yet in England and yet, they are finding stupid ways to try and force the resumption. 

A 3rd Brighton player has been tested postive. Been training individually but still..had they not been then what then? Theyd have no team. 

And same for any other team in the retstat. Player tests postive surely the rest have to isolate. Happened in Germany already 

It's silly. And talks if testing players and whatever. Use those for the people who are close contact first! Like Lampard himself said it's silly to use tests on players when others need them more.

Even in empty grounds they'll still be people around. No getting past that especially if they want these games aired.

 

[Jase 43,479]

1 hour ago, Laylabelle said:

A 3rd Brighton player has been tested postive. Been training individually but still..had they not been then what then? Theyd have no team. 

And same for any other team in the retstat. Player tests postive surely the rest have to isolate. Happened in Germany already 

It's silly. And talks if testing players and whatever. Use those for the people who are close contact first! Like Lampard himself said it's silly to use tests on players when others need them more.

Even in empty grounds they'll still be people around. No getting past that especially if they want these games aired.

Just like the government, they don't have a fucking clue. 

[MoroccanBlue 5,381]

I can’t see anything other than a PPG verdict ( if the season has to end) being the fairest determinant. 
 

We are 80% through the season and clubs are where they are for a reason. 

[Laylabelle 9,534]

If the season ends where it is and teams positions are taking into accounting the Villa would have a case on their hand if they want to still relegate.

They have a game in hand which with a win would take them out the bottom

Same with Sheffield. Win their game and they'd be in 5th place

Probably be so much easier to get void if anything. There has to be a cut off point to starting and its bound to be a disaster if all it takes is one player testing postive.. 

[Atomiswave 6,117]

Null and void the damn season, enough already. What kind of state will the players be in, and you want neutral grounds too? Void that shit, no one wins atitle, no one gets relegated or demoted etc. Delete the season.

[Fulham Broadway 17,312]

Driven by money. They want to play it out or they owe billions to TV companies.