Chris Tremlett: England need to adapt fast with India offering a trial by spin this summer July 4, 2018 England’s problems against spin bowling are nothing new. It’s been an issue in Test matches for decades, especially when going away from home. After the high of thrashing Australia 6-0 in limited overs matches, India’s Kuldeep Yadav brought England back to earth yesterday with a match-winning spell of 5-24 at Old Trafford in the first [...]
England out on penalties? World Cup shootout odds are against Three Lions but Gareth Southgate’s approach boosts their chances July 2, 2018 England may have avoided a World Cup clash with old foes Germany, Portugal and Brazil by finishing second in their World Cup group, but there may be no escaping a more familiar enemy now that they are in the knock-out rounds: the dreaded penalty shoot-out. No side has a worse record in World Cup shoot-outs [...]
Deep learning: Belgium’s secret weapon for England’s World Cup group decider June 27, 2018 England manager Gareth Southgate has long been be familiar with the threat posed by some of the supreme talents in the the Belgium squad such as Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne. Yet the Red Devils have a less well-known weapon at their disposal for tonight’s World Cup match in Kaliningrad, effectively a [...]
Portugal World Cup stars William Carvalho, Gelson Martins and Bruno Fernandes’ contract row could trigger a new Bosman ruling June 26, 2018 Anyone who has been watching Portugal at this year’s World Cup might be surprised to learn that three of their starring players — William Carvalho, Gelson Martins and Bruno Fernandes — are all unattached and available on a free transfer. After all, Portugal have progressed to the last 16 after finishing second in Group B, [...]
England’s 3-5-2: Is Gareth Southgate right to stick to one formation throughout the 2018 World Cup? June 17, 2018 There are plenty of unanswered questions about Gareth Southgate’s young England side ahead of their World Cup opener against Tunisia on Monday, yet one thing seems virtually set in stone: they will line up in a 3-5-2 formation. England will play with three centre-backs, two wing-backs, one defensive midfielder with two mobile midfielders either side [...]
World Cup 2018: Why have Asian, African and North American teams stagnated after showing such promise in the 1990s and 2000s? June 13, 2018 At the turn of the century it appeared that Pele’s oft-cited prediction that an African team would win the World Cup by the year 2000, while not exactly accurate, had at least forecast a coming shift in the footballing world’s balance of power. In 1996 a Nigerian golden generation featuring Europe-based stars Jay-Jay Okocha and [...]
Sport streaming: Will the trickle become a flood after the Premier League’s deal with Amazon? June 12, 2018 If the sports streaming revolution has to date just been a trickle, then deals struck between rights holders and online platforms in recent days suggest signs of a flood to come. Most notable was Amazon’s capture of a package of domestic Premier League rights last week, meaning that from the 2019-20 season English football’s top [...]
BT’s investors lost faith in Gavin Patterson June 11, 2018 When BT announced last month that it would cut 13,000 jobs, many wondered if it would in fact end up as 13,001. Investor patience had been wearing thin, and chief executive Gavin Patterson had been standing on thin ice for a while. From a peak of nearly 500p in November 2015, BT's share price has [...]
Premier League overseas TV rights: English top flight makes concessions to Big Six but still treads carefully June 7, 2018 You would be forgiven for missing it but, muffled somewhat by the noise surrounding Amazon’s purchase of a Premier League broadcast package and the news of chief executive Richard Scudamore’s imminent departure, today saw another significant announcement regarding English football’s top division. From the 2019-20 season, when the next set of broadcast contracts takes effect, [...]
Premier League TV rights: Amazon purchases first TV rights package to show 20 live Premier League matches from 2019/2020 season June 7, 2018 Amazon will show 20 Premier League matches a season for three years from 2019, and these will be available to the tech giant’s Prime members in the UK. From the 2019/2020 season, UK Prime members will have access to watch 20 matches a season, and will show one round of midweek games in December, and [...]