VAR: Premier League says it will be improved, not scrapped
February 5 – The English Premier League has vowed to improve the standards of VAR after a plethora of baffling and inconsistent decisions throughout the season.
Performance
Parma’s Kuvelski tops young player list, Norwich’s Aarons leads English, followed by Sancho
February 4 – Parma’s Dejan Kulusevski (pictured on loan from Juventus) tops the table of most playing time for big-5 league players born in the 2000s. The young forward has played in 95% of Parma’s games and is followed in the table by another Italian club player, midfielder Sandro Tonali (Brescia).
Canada’s Sinclair creates history, smashing world scoring record
January 30 – Forget the US women superstars, it is Canada’s Christine Sinclair’s name will now be etched into the record books. On Wednesday, the Canadian striker scored twice in a 11-0 win over Saint Kitts and Nevis in Olympic qualifying to become the all-time top scorer in international football, surpassing previous record holder Abby Wambach of the United States.
Liverpool and Juve head big league efficiency rankings, Astra Giurgiu lead overall
January 29 – ‘Clinical’ is a word often used by commentators about teams that make the most of their goal chances to win games. The CIES Football Observatory have translated that basic observation into a data model that measures team efficiency.
Liverpool are the cleanest team in Europe, but Premier League refs love a bit of physical
January 21 – A ranking of teams by the number of fouls committed per game see Liverpool leading the way as the team with the least fouls per match so far this season (8.1).
Spurs and England face 6 months without talisman Kane
January 17 – England and Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a potentially massive blow after a leading orthopaedic surgeon predicted Harry Kane will miss not just the rest of the season but also Euro 2020 in the summer.
Liverpool players dominate UEFA.com fan vote, Ronaldo and Messi make Best XI again
January 15 – Liverpool players dominate a fan vote on UEFA.com for the website’s team of the year 2019. While the club are the new face of European football dominance, two old faces, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, both made the final XI.
Top of LaLiga Barca lose faith in Valverde and turn to Setien to deliver silverware
January 14 – Heightened speculation that former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino could take over at Barcelona have been well and truly quashed with the appointment of Quique Setien to replace the sacked Ernesto Valverde.
Xavi prefers heat of Qatar to hotseat of Barca
January 13 – FC Barcelona’s search for a new manager to succeed Ernesto Valverde continues after Xavi turned down his former club.
Spurs hunt for striker as Kane goes under the knife
January 10 – England captain Harry Kane’s perennial injury jinx has struck again, this time for far longer, leaving his club Tottenham Hotspur reportedly scouring the transfer market for cover.
No ‘Clasico’ for Spain’s Saudi Super Cup as Madrid teams take centre stage
January 10 – Amid all the criticism over human rights abuses and accusations of sports washing at the address of Saudi Arabia and its hosting of the Spanish Super Cup, Atletico Madrid tore up the script on Thursday in Jeddah by defeating FC Barcelona 2-3 to set up a Spanish Super Cup final against city rivals Real Madrid.
Oman goalkeeping legend Ali Al Habsi calls time on international career
January 6 – Ali Al Habsi, the Omani goalkeeping legend who made a name for himself as the first Arab player from the GCC countries to play in the Premier League, has announced his retirement from international football, aged 38.
English clubs limp out of holiday fixtures with renewed calls to end fixture congestion
January 3 – English football may at last have adopted a partial winter break but that hasn’t stopped the traditional festive fixture pile-up from resulting in an unprecedented spate of injuries.
Premier League is stumbling over ‘clear and obvious’ VAR rulings, says IFAB chief
By Andrew Warshaw
December 31 – Football’s law-makers have hit back at criticism of VAR by English football experts, saying the problem lies directly at the feet of the Premier League for not applying the rule correctly.
‘It’s not football any more’: Guardiola joins condemnation of VAR calling it a ‘big mess’
By Andrew Warshaw
December 30 – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola declared the VAR system a “big mess” on Sunday after a weekend that witnessed a plethora of ever more baffling rulings being judged on a series of screens often hundreds of miles away from the action.