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- 🤔 AI is changing football... for better or worse?
🤔 AI is changing football... for better or worse?
Plus: a short history on point deductions and why it's not all doom and gloom
Route One
November 20, 2023
Gm football fans. This is Route One, your football news jukebox, playing all the top story hits.
Today’s briefing is a ~3 min read:
Everton’s 10-point deduction… a bitter-sweat season for the Toffees 😬
A short history of point deductions… and why it’s not all doom and gloom 🤔
AI is taking over the scouting game. 💻
Psst… if you’re enjoying R1, share us with friends, family and colleagues.
Morning Brief 🗞️
Kieran Trippier withdraws from England squad due to ‘personal matter’ and will not travel to North Macedonia. The details are still unclear.
Everton has been deducted 10 Premier League points. They face a further nine-point deduction if Burnley, Leicester and Leeds are successful with their £300m compensation claim. More on this story below.
West Ham have joined Newcastle in the race to sign Kalvin Phillips. His current club Manchester City are willing to let him leave on loan or on a permanent deal in January.
Fulham are interested in signing RB Leipzig’s striker and former Chelsea player Timo Werner in January.
Manchester United have hired a Los Angeles-based agency to help them recruit for a new ‘emerging talent scout’ role.
10-POINT DEDUCTION… TOFFEES BITTER-SWEET SEASON 😬
Everton has received a 10-point Premier League deduction for financial rules breach.
Let’s start with why…
The rules allow clubs to lose a maximum of £105m over three-years - Everton exceeded that by around £19m.
The Toffees were buying players and found it difficult to sell other players.
Everton later admitted to breaching profit and sustainability rules (PSR) for the period ending 2021-22.
So… they were awarded the biggest sporting sanction in the Premier League’s history.
And, to top it off, Everton now sit 19th in the table.
Ouch.
There’s only one way to make this worse… another 9-point deduction.
That’s right. The three sides that were relegated during Everton’s rule-break - Burnley, Leicester and Leeds - are issuing a £300m compensation against the Toffees.
Why? Well, for missing out on lost Premier League shhmoney…
Way to kick someone when they’re down.
It’s like your partner breaking up with you, then all your exes come together to slash your tyres.
Anyway, there are a few outcomes of this situation…
1/ Sean Dyche looks like a boss.
If he keeps Everton up (which he probably will), Dyche’s rep will be at an all-time high.
When you look at the history of English league point deductions, the teams actually perform quite well. Stats below.
2/ Man City & Chelsea’s fate worsens.
Put it into perspective, Everton had one claim against them… City has over 100.
Do the math… 10 points × 100… that’s a 1000-point deduction.
To be fair… Haaland vs Gateshead in the National League would be an interesting watch.
3/ The regulated clubs look even worse
I mean, come on Burnley. The league’s given you a helping hand and you’re still bottom of the league.
Don’t get us wrong… a 10-point deduction is all very excessive. But don’t count the Toffees out just yet…
A SHORT HISTORY OF POINT DEDUCTIONS 🤔
Believe it or not… but when a team is deducted points, it’s not the end of the world.
Here are some examples:
Leeds 15-point deduction (07-08): Leeds flexed their muscles in the third tier, mustering 27 wins and securing a spot in the playoffs.
Bournemouth 17-point deduction (08-09): Manager at the time Eddie Howe kept the side up in EFL with 17 wins.
Rotherham 17-point deduction (08-09): They accrued 58 points in total, which was enough to finish 14th in the table.
Derby 21-point deduction (21-22): They got 34 points thanks to 14 victories and finished seven points from safety.
Got the point?
Toffee fans - it’s not all doom and gloom…
EXTRA-TIME ⏱️
What a story… Luiz Diaz scores for Colombia with his dad watching in the stands. This is a week after Diaz’s dad was released by kidnappers.
France won 14-0 against Gibraltar. They broke the record for the biggest victory in European Championship qualifying. Kylian Mbappé had six goal contributions including a hat-trick.
Two fans get cheeky with Bruno Fernandes. The pair pulled up next to Fernandes and explained why they preferred Salah in FPL to the Manchester United star.
Remember Ramsey’s rocket at Galatasaray? It might be a contender for the best weak-foot finish of all time…
Algerian commentator Hafid Daradjim has enough personality for two people. The footballer-turned-media personality commentates alone and is hilarious.
Who let the dogs out? Brazilian dog celebrates Fluminense's goal. Apparently, it’s not just Brazilian people who have football in their blood, it’s the dogs too.
USING AI TO SCOUT PLAYERS? 💻
What if we told you that a computer could scout you?
Well, a new app called aiScout is making that possible.
The app uses AI (artificial intelligence) to scout players. All a player has to do is upload a video of a few physical drills… like drilling around cones or shuttle sprints.
And, voila… if a player meets a club’s requirements, then they will be invited for a trial.
100 youngsters have already been invited for a trial. That’s mindblowing.
Why’s this good? Well, a player will no longer need to join the right football team and play in the right league to be spotted by a scout.
It opens the floodgates to spotting talent outside of traditional restrictions.
We’re finally witnessing how AI can revolutionise football.
MEME 😆
