Form over reputation?

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Head Start

VAR vote unanimous

Premier League clubs have voted 19-1 in favour of keeping VAR next season.

Wolves - who triggered the vote - were the only club to vote in favour of the proposal. That’s like throwing yourself a surprise party and only you turn up… 

… not ideal.

But, to be fair to Wolves, the vote wasn’t a complete waste of time. It led to an agreement on six areas for VAR to improve next season… 

• Maintain a high threshold for VAR intervention.

• Reduce delays with semi-automated offside technology (SAOT).

• Improve fan experience with VAR… such as introducing in-stadium announcements from referees.

• Increase transparency and communication.

… and expect to see a PR campaign from the League to “further clarify VAR’s role” to fans and stakeholders.

In other words, nothing revolutionary.

Wolves weren’t the only club to be outnumbered at yesterday’s meeting. 

Aston Villa’s proposal to increase permitted club losses from £105 million to £135 million over three years only received two votes. 

But clubs did agree on trialling two new spending rules: The Squad Cost Rules (SCR) and Top to Bottom Anchoring Rules (TBA)... 

… Yup. More acronyms we need to get used to. 

It all sounds complicated, so here’s a brief Dummies Guide to the new spending rules being trialled:

• SCR: Clubs will be allowed to spend no more than 85% of their total revenue.

• TBA: Clubs’ spending on costs will be anchored to a multiple of the bottom club’s earnings.

SCR helps clubs spend responsibly and is aimed at smaller clubs.

TBA maintains competitiveness in the league and is aimed at capping teams with the most revenue.

Remember the days when football was about two legs, a ball and goalposts? 

Plus…

A man has been found guilty of headbutting former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane (More)

Six Premier League clubs face having to sell players before the end of June to comply with profit and sustainability rules (More)

Stats Zone

Germany

→ At the 2022 World Cup, Germany averaged the most shots per game and the highest xG per game by some distance, with their 3.48 xG per game. That’s 1 higher than the next most (Brazil’s 2.42 xG per game).

→ But, at the UEFA Nations League campaign in 2022/23, Germany won just one of their six games in League A Group 3 (D4 L1).

Spain

→ Not including penalty shootouts, Spain have only lost two of their last 22 matches at the Euros (W13 D7). 

→ The two defeats came against Croatia and Italy in the 2016 Euro Championship, both of which share Group B with the Spaniards. 

→Spain have progressed to the last 16 in six of their last seven Euros appearances; the only exception coming in 2004.

Euro 2024

Form over reputation? Southgate’s squad announced

Seven players have been left out of England’s final Euro 2024 squad… 

• Jack Grealish. 

• Harry Maguire.  

• James Maddison.

• Jarrad Branthwaite.

• Curtis Jones.

• James Trafford.

• Jarell Quansah.

Some of the names might come as a surprise. 

But the competition is heating up in the English camp. In fact, four of the top nine most valuable Premier League forwards are English… 

… leaving no room for Grealish (£100m Grealish, that is) and Maddison to roam in the forward positions.

Ollie Watkins, who wasn’t selected for the 2020 Euros, 2022/23 Nations League or the 2022 World Cup has been too good to ignore. 

And the same goes for Cole Palmer who secured 41% of Chelsea’s points last season. 

So… in attack, Southgate is gambling on form over reputation. Makes sense.

Then there’s defence. Despite good performances at international tournaments, Maguire claims he was left out due to an injury to his calf.

But it’s hard to make sense of Jarrad Branthwaite’s exclusion. Not only is the Everton man among the strongest duellers in Europe (based on volume and success of tackles)... 

… he finished in the Premier League’s top 10 for clearances, dribblers tackled and interceptions. 

In games without Branthwaite, Everton averaged 0.4 more goals against per game. 

The question is: if form is what Southgate is after, what’s the deal with Branthwaite?

Off The Pitch

🚀 SpaceX starship rocket successfully returns to Earth for the first time (Watch)

🍎 Apple has been overtaken as the world’s second most valuable company (More)

🕊️ D-day commemorations have begun for the 80th anniversary (More) 

🧬 A major cause of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been discovered that is present in 95% of sufferers (More)

😷 WHO confirms the first death in Mexico from bird flu never seen before in humans (More)

🦄 Three boys in the U.S. discovered the remains of a young T. rex in North Dakota (More)

🩺 TV doctor Michael Mosley goes missing on Greek island (More)

🎾 Novak Djokovic has had knee surgery and is set to miss Wimbledon (More)

Photo of the Day

18-year-old Diego Maradona greeting Zico in 1979. A rare image of Maradona wearing the number ‘6’ shirt for Argentina in the 1979 Copa América. In this game, Zico would go on to score and assist in Brazil’s 2-1 win over Argentina. Paraguay ended the tournament as champions on aggregate (3-1) over Chile, winning their second Copa América title.

Around The Football World

🌎 Amnesty International is demanding human rights guarantees at World Cups (More)

🇹🇷 Fenerbahçe has confirmed that José Mourinho will earn a salary of €21M over two seasons (More)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 German police warn England fans over chant at European Championship: “Don’t be a dick” (More)

🇩🇪 Borussia Dortmund want to sign Ian Maatsen permanently but are reluctant to meet Chelsea’s £35 million valuation (More)

🇮🇳 Indian legend Sunil Chhetri played the last match of his career. He’s the 4th highest international goalscorer in history (More)

Extra Time

Neal Maupay mocks James Maddison’s exclusion from Euro 2024.

Things get heated with Sergio Aguero at the TST7v7.

Is this Neil Warnock’s best story yet?

Everything you need to know about Soccer Aid this Sunday.

Arda Turan’s managerial style is interesting. 

Wayne Rooney really was a generational talent.

Crystal Palace’s new signing Daichi Kamda has a thing for eagles (and one crow). 

Cody Gakpo names the toughest defender he’s faced in the Premier League.

Game Face On

Question: How many former winning nations of the European Championship have booked their place at this year’s tournament?

Hint: There are nine.

Scroll below for the answer.

On Today

FOOTBALL

Friendlies: Romania vs Liechtenstein (19:00 BST)

Friendlies: Scotland vs Finland (19:45 BST, BBC Sport Online)

Friendlies: Germany vs Greece (19:45 BST)

Friendlies: Poland vs Ukraine (19:45 BST)

Friendlies: England vs Iceland (19:45 BST, Channel 4)

TENNIS

French Open: Mens Singles Semi-Final 1 (13:30 BST, Eurosports 1 & Discovery+)

French Open: Mens Singles Semi-Final 2 (16:30 BST, Eurosports 1 & Discovery+)

CRICKET

T20 Blast: Northampton vs Worcester (19:00 BST, Sky Sports Cricket)

ICC T20 World Cup: New Zealand vs Afghanistan (00:00 BST, Sky Sports Cricket)

ICC T20 World Cup: Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh (00:00 BST, Sky Sports Cricket)

*EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.

Answer: 

• Czechia.

• Denmark.

• France.

• Germany.

• Italy.

• Netherlands.

• Portugal.

• Slovakia.

• Spain. 

Hottest Take of the Day

Today’s Hottest Take of the Day is: Celtic and Rangers would be mid-tier Premier League teams if they made the switch. Thanks to Trent from Louisiana for the submission. Submit another Hot Take of the Day here.