By Andrew Warshaw
October 2 – Exactly four months since the euphoria of reaching the Champions League final, the fortunes of Tottenham Hotspur have taken a second straight turn for the worse with words like “crisis” and “humiliation” splashed across the English media amid growing speculation over whether manager Mauricio Pochettino has taken the London side as far as he can.
October 1 – ‘Possession is nine-tenths of the law’ is perhaps a phrase that can be applied to football. If you have the majority of the ball the stats indicate that you are likely to win.
October 1 – When Manchester United appointed Ole Gunnar Solskjær as their full-time manager on a three-year contract at the end of March, it was supposed to herald a new dawn for the club.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 25 – From Champions League finalist to elimination in their domestic League Cup by the lowest-ranked side left in the competition – in little over three months. What is going on at Tottenham Hotspur?
September 25 – With the new season gathering pace, the CIES Football Observatory has analysed how the big money transfers are settling in with their new teams, with initial indications suggesting not very well at some of Europe’s leading clubs.
September 25 – Arsenal have signed a one-season deal with sports nutrition specialists Science in Sport (SiS) who become the club’s Official Sports Nutrition Supplier.
September 24 – Hector Cuper has been dismissed as coach of Uzbekistan. The Argentinean will be succeeded by Vadim Abramov.
September 23 – Another footballing weekend – another string of video assistant referee (VAR) controversies, this time in the English Premier League where Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea were both penalised for the most marginal of offside decisions.
September 23 – In a radical development, 10-minute “concussion subs” are set to be introduced by football’s lawmaking body to mirror the success of similar changes in rugby in an attempt to improve player safety.
September 20 – Guus Hiddink and the Chinese Football Association (CFA) have parted ways, with Hao Wei now appointed to succeed the Dutchman at the helm of the U-23 team.
September 19 – The future of Nigeria’s under-23 side coach Salisu Yusuf (pictured), remains in limbo after the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) decided to retain Imama Amapakabo as coach for the youth team despite Yusuf’s return from a ban.
September 18 – Cristiano Ronaldo says he deserves to finish up with more world player of the year awards than Lionel Messi and that although he respects his Argentine arch-rival, they cannot be considered friends.
September 17 – With stats increasingly showing that possession and the number of passes made differentiate the winning teams from the losing, the CIES Football Observatory has made an analysis of the current Champions League teams using InStat data.
September 16 – French football debate was dominated at the weekend by arguably one of the most bizarre cases of VAR decision-making seen to date.
September 13 – English football’s refereeing chief has admitted that four VAR mistakes have already been made in the opening four rounds of the Premier League season.