British Airways pilots are currently playing a role in the Premier League as they help referees hone the art of communicating under pressure during matches. 

The officials in England’s top flight have come under intense scrutiny this season as there have been several high-profile mistakes that have infuriated clubs and their fans.

The incident that infuriated most people was Luiz Diaz’s disallowed goal for Liverpool against Tottenham in September, where the winger scored a perfectly good goal but it was chalked off as the officials couldn’t communicate effectively.

According to The Times, the Premier League have brought in British Airways pilots to help their officials hone the art of communicating under pressure.

? Premier League referees are being helped by British Airways pilots to hone the art of communicating under pressure. ????

(Source: @TimesSport) pic.twitter.com/1snlKz3SJw

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) November 23, 2023

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The standard of officiating has been dreadful this season in the Premier League and it seems that the decisions they make occupy most of the conversation after matches, which is not what makes the sport enjoyable to many.

Anything that will help them improve should be welcomed and this is a positive step towards referees making more consistent decisions under the high pressure they are under.

The post British Airways pilots will play a role in fixing major Premier League issue this season appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Harry Kane does not have any intention of cutting his stay in Munich short, Christian Falk reports.

Tottenham are understood to maintain a right of first refusal (‘a matching right’) should the England international depart the club in future.

“Harry Kane is feeling very happy in Munich, he’s found his house and will be doing much better when his family is with him,” the BILD reporter wrote in his exclusive column with CaughtOffside.

“His needs are being fulfilled, everyone admires him, his teammates love him because of his behaviour. He’s doing so well in the team.

“There is, as I’ve previously mentioned, a ‘matching right’, which allows Tottenham the right of first refusal should Kane move away from Munich at some point in the future. However, I don’t think there’s a chance at the moment of an early exit from Munich, as he’s only at the beginning of his career at Bayern.

“He wants to win titles at Munich. For him, it’s a big move to leave Tottenham and England but now he’s done it he’s aware of the many advantages that are available to him. He certainly has a bit more freedom when he’s out of the house; the people of Munich are very respectful and he can a little bit more easily.

“He’s not as central in the focus as he was in England. I don’t think there are any thoughts on his end of leaving Bayern Munich in the next few years.”

The former Spurs hitman is enjoying a superb debut season in German football, registering 28 goal contributions in 16 games (across all competitions).

‘Soft spot’ or no for the London-based outfit (as the 30-year-old admitted in comments relayed by the Mirror), it’s difficult to imagine Kane calling time on his Allianz Arena career any time soon.

The goal, as ever, will be to secure major titles and there’s certainly every chance of the former Premier League golden boot winner doing so in his opening season.

The Bavarians have already topped their Champions League group with two games to spare and have to be considered serious contenders for European glory following the arrival of a world-class striker.

It remains to be seen whether Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen outfit can maintain their current form, though you can be sure Bayern will keep the pressure on throughout the 2023/24 campaign.

The post Christian Falk: Harry Kane’s potential return to Tottenham clarified amid ‘matching right’ appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has been linked with an exit from the club in recent months.

The 28-year-old is no longer a key starter for the North London outfit and he needs to move on and search of regular football. Clubs like Juventus and Atletico Madrid have been linked with him in recent weeks and it seems that Ajax have now joined the race.

A report from Voetbal International claims that the Dutch outfit are looking to bring in midfield reinforcements and they have identified the 28-year-old Tottenham midfielder as an option.

It will be interesting to see if they can agree on a fee with Spurs during the January transfer window.

Hojbjerg is an expendable asset for the Premier League club and it would not be a surprise if they decided to cash in on him midway through the season. The funds from his sale will allow them to bring in their own signings during the January window.

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Tottenham must prioritise the signing of a quality central defender and a striker during the winter transfer window. They have started the season well and they will need quality additions in order to sustain their form and secure Champions League qualification.

Meanwhile, Hojbjerg has proven himself in the Premier League over the years and he would be a quality acquisition for Ajax. He could establish himself as one of the best midfielders in the Eredivisie and he will help Ajax win major trophies in the coming seasons.

The post Euro giants ready to hand 28-year-old Tottenham exit route in January appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Tottenham Hotspur need to be on their guard for an approach from Barcelona for one of their players in January.

The north Londoners could provide the key to unlocking the Catalan’s current issues, exacerbated by the recent injury to talented midfielder, Gavi.

The effervescent youngster won’t play again this season, and is likely to miss Euro 2024 as a result of the knee injury that he suffered in a meaningless qualifier – given that La Roja had already qualified from their group as champions.

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If there is to be a saving grace, then it is that the next transfer window is just around the corner and, according to Mundo Deportivo, La Liga are giving the Catalan club some leeway in terms of new signings precisely because of what’s happened to Gavi.

The outlet note that it’s Spurs’ Gio Lo Celso that is at the top of Barcelona’s wish list once the window opens for business on January 1.

He was favoured by Xavi in the summer, but the club’s financial situation conspired against them and the player never arrived.

It appears that they’ll push hard again in the new year, in the hope that the player’s will and Ange Postecoglou’s acquiescence sees the deal go through without too much trouble.

The post Tottenham ace at the top of Barcelona’s January wish list after Gavi injury appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Tottenham (4th in the Premier League) take on Aston Villa (5th in the Premier League) on Sunday 26th of November, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, at 14:00 PM (GMT).

The last time these two sides faced, Aston Villa won 2-1 at Villa Park. Goals coming from Jacob Ramsey and Douglas Luiz for Villa, and a goal from Harry Kane for Spurs.

Tottenham lost their last Premier League game, losing 2-1 to Wolves. Brennan Johnson scoring for Spurs three minutes in, before late goals from Pablo Sarabia (91st minute) and Mario Lemina (97th minute) secured the comeback and the victory for Wolves.

Aston Villa won their last Premier League game, beating Fulham 3-1 at Villa Park. Goals coming from John McGinn, Ollie Watkins and a Antonee Robinson own goal for Villa, and a goal from Raul Jimenez for Fulham.

How to watch Tottenham vs Aston Villa

• Date: Sunday, November 26th, 2023
• Kickoff: 14:00 PM (GMT)
• TV Network: Sky Sports
• Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Team News:

Tottenham will be without Ivan Perisic, Micky van de Ven, James Maddison, Ryan Sessegnon, Manor Solomon, Richarlison and Alfie Whiteman through injury. Destiny Udogie will undergo further fitness tests to determine his availability, and both Cristian Romero and Yves Bissouma will be unavailable due to suspension.

Predicted XI:

Tottenham: Vicario, Emerson, Davies, Dier, Porro, Sarr, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Johnson, Son, Kulusevski.

Aston Villa: Martinez, Digne, Torres, Konsa, Cash, Luiz, Kamara, Zaniolo, McGinn, Watkins, Diaby.

The post Tottenham team news vs Aston Villa appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Inside Spain is a weekly instalment brought to you by Football España, providing an insight into all of the major stories coming out of the rich and intense climes of La Liga and beyond.

The injury crisis across football took several victims during this international break, but the anterior cruciate ligament tear suffered by Gavi felt particularly cruel. The 19-year-old was having a monstruous season, starting for Barcelona and Spain, but will now miss the rest of the club season, the Euros and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The question for Barcelona is whether they try to replace him. Sporting Director Deco has explained that that is ‘impossible’ on the market, but Barcelona can bring in a loan signing for up to 80% of Gavi’s wages until the end of the season without salary limit restrictions.

So far the debate is whether they should try and persuade Tottenham Hotspur to part with the almost unused Giovani Lo Celso on loan, or bring forward the transfer of Vitor Roque. The 18-year-old Brazilian striker will join for €30m plus €31m in variables next summer, but they don’t have a back up for the creaking legs of Robert Lewandowski.

Meanwhile Real Madrid have lost Vinicius Junior until February and Eduardo Camavinga until mid-January, to add to a long-term injury list already containing Eder Militao, Thibaut Courtois, Arda Guler and Aurelien Tchouameni.

Marcelino will do that, according to Trigueros. pic.twitter.com/r5zfLJewXs

— Football España (@footballespana_) November 22, 2023

Yet the talk about replacements in Madrid is quiet – at least for the players. Conflicting information continues to leak out about Carlo Ancelotti and the potential for him to take over the Brazil job next summer, but Los Blancos have contacted Brighton manager Roberto de Zerbi about a potential vacancy. He is added to an impressive list of candidates already containing Xabi Alonso.

Elsewhere, Real Betis are negotiating with Leeds United for midifelder Marc Roca, who has been excellent since arriving. West Ham are interested in Celta Vigo defender Oscar Mingueza, and Sevilla are after Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi.

In less frivolous news, the public prosecutor has requested a sentence of nine years behind bars and a fine of €150k for Dani Alves if they get a guilty conviction against the Brazilian for rape. Meanwhile former Sevilla and Ajax midfielder Tarik Oulida will escape jail time entirely after sexually assaulting his own six-year-old daughter.

The post Inside Spain: Real Madrid managerial race, Barcelona respond to injury crisis and Dani Alves case appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Everton’s 10-point deduction has been the biggest story to emerge from the Premier League over the international break and Man United legend Gary Neville is not happy about the whole situation. 

The Toffees were punished for breaking the league’s financial rules and were handed the biggest punishment ever dished out as a result, which many in the football community deem very unfair.

This comes amid Man City and Chelsea also being under investigation for financial rules breaches and Man United legend Gary Neville is not happy with the current state of the league, which includes the power the Big Six clubs have.

The Sky Sports pundit believes the trust in the league has evaporated and that the greed of the big clubs have turned them into bullies as they want to control the upper spots of the table and are happy to throw others under the bus to achieve it.

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Speaking on the latest episode of Stick To Football, Neville has stated that he’d be furious if he was an Everton fan and that the Premier League are scared of Man City.

“The trust and faith has gone completely (in the Premier League),” the Man United legend said on the show.

“The greed and selfishness is out of control it’s lawless. The Premier League is a defunct organisation.

“I’d be furious if I was an Everton fan. I’d feel like it is an absolute disgrace what you’ve done to my club. Big Six, they’re bullies.

With 115 charges hanging over their head, Neville believes that the Premier League are “frightened to death of Manchester City” and is evidently not happy about their situation either.

The latest episode of Stick To Football is now live! ??

This week David Ornstein joins us to talk about Everton’s points deduction and the vote to ban loan deals between associated clubs.

Have a watch/listen if you like ?https://t.co/9uedyttU8R pic.twitter.com/lgUSapSmF9

— Gary Neville (@GNev2) November 23, 2023

Football has been broken for a long time, evident in the amount of money being spent and the same teams have been seen winning all the time for a good number of years across Europe.

The sport is limited in the amount of fairytale stories being produced these days and the greed of organisations and big clubs continues to get worse and worse as the years pass by.

The post Man United legend Gary Neville attacks Premier League’s Big Six clubs and labels them “bullies” appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Tottenham are in the market for a new centre-back and the North London club have come out of their meeting this week having identified two Premier League stars. 

Spurs lost Mickey Van de Ven to a hamstring injury during their defeat to Chelsea earlier this month and the Dutch defender has been ruled out of action until 2024.

Ange Postecoglou was already short in this area of the pitch as the Australian coach is not a fan of Eric Dier – who is expected to leave in January.

According to the Daily Mail, Spurs have identified Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi and Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite as potential targets for January; whilst alternatives come in the form of AC Milan’s Malick Thiaw, Morato of Benfica and Sporting Lisbon’s Goncalo Inacio.

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Both Guehi and Branthwaite have been two standout defenders in the Premier League this season and either one would be a great addition to Postecoglou’s squad.

Both are young and will develop into even better players than they are now but the problem for Tottenham is the fact that clubs will not want to sell mid-season.

Everton’s financial situation makes the 21-year-old an easier signing but if Spurs want either of the two, they will have to fork out a large chunk of money.

The post Tottenham identify two exciting Premier League defenders for January during meeting this week appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Tottenham may reportedly be in a spot of bother due to supposedly using an unlicensed agent for a transfer that took place 15 years ago.

According to the Times, when Spurs sold Jermain Defoe to Portsmouth in 2008, Mitchell Thomas was one of the key figures in the deal, despite not having the correct license.

Although this was a long time ago, it’s now come to light due to the Times’ report, and it will be interesting to see what action might be taken against Tottenham, as other clubs have been hit very hard on this kind of thing before.

Luton Town were hit with a deduction of ten points back in 2007 for issues relating to payments to agents, while Leeds United also landed themselves in trouble in 2017 when their owner was banned from football for twelve months and given a fine of £100,000 for breaching agent rules.

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Everton are in the spotlight at the moment after they were hit with a points deduction over Financial Fair Play issues, while this week’s edition of the Debrief Podcast looked at what could happen to Chelsea and Manchester City amid serious allegations being made against them.

The post Tottenham reported to have broken important transfer rules 15 years ago appeared first on CaughtOffside.

In his fortnightly exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Jon Smith, one of football’s first-ever agents and a man who was an integral figure in the forming of the Premier League, discusses Everton’s 10-point deduction, why VAR has to stay, why Mikel Arteta was wrong – and more! 

—

£1.2m for a 15-year-old is vulgar but if all teams can choose from the same selection pool, what’s the problem?

Finley Gorman’s purchase by Man City has seen some real pushback given that he’s only 15 and £1.2m in transfer fees is a little excessive, but do I think there should be a cap on transfer fees? 

I am one of the people that helped to start the Premier League. It’s all about the competition, and it has been enormously successful because it’s the best footballing competition in the world.

I mean, people around the world didn’t know what Reading was, they thought it was a book you read. They never knew where Wigan was until it was in the Premier League. There were even people arriving on trips from Asia to see Wigan.

So, rather than stymie transfer fees as such and tell clubs what they can and cannot spend their money on, I am in favour of there being an overall cap on money spent.

Not necessarily on money spent aligning to your turnover, although, obviously that has to have some bearing on it because Manchester United’s overheads are bigger than Luton’s, but but you can’t have Manchester City, United, Liverpool or whoever being able to outbid the Burnley’s of this world just because they can.

Otherwise you end up like La Liga when there’s probably three, maybe four teams at the very top and 16 others that can only really compete at a certain level at any given time. 

I think there has to be a mechanism whereby the great and the good are pretty equal in terms of their ability to sign players. 

However, after signing young players, then their wellbeing has to be supported.

Some of the biggest, saddest moments in my 40 years in football have come when that lovely young kid who’s an Arsenal fan actually gets signed by Arsenal and he’s a hero at school because he’s an Arsenal lad… but he gets to 15 and he’s just not what they want or he’s not good enough…

There’s no real mental support for kids who suddenly find that their life has been devastated. It’s scary. You’re grappling with coming to terms with exams, your own sexuality, and suddenly you’re a failure at 15.

You’re not of course, because you did really brilliantly by being where you are and there’s absolutely life outside of Arsenal Football Club, but that’s where I’m coming from. 

There should be a much more considered process and guardianship of young footballers coming through the system where they’re helped into it, helped through it and helped out a bit if they move elsewhere on their journey.

Football could learn a lot from the way rugby conducts itself

I am dismayed by referees being pilloried, physically in some cases and certainly mentally. I just think it sets a really, really, really bad example. 

I even see it when watching kids play football on a Saturday. It’s not just the kids arguing with the referee, it’s the parents too, and in one case I saw a referee being pushed a few weeks ago. I thought that was beyond belief – and he wasn’t sent off. The parents are encouraging it, shouting abusive language at the referee.

I’m a big fan of Mikel Arteta, but against Newcastle, he was wrong. Very wrong. If you have a referee, he’s in charge and he may make mistakes. We all do. And that’s just the way that it is.

Just like in rugby, I think the referees should have a microphone attached and I think the crowd should be able to listen to it in real time. One abusive word or phrase – which doesn’t need repeating here – and they’re off, and the crowd will know exactly why.

You cannot let the violent society we live in translate onto a football pitch. I’ve never known my country to be so violent in all my 70 years. It’s a ridiculous world we live in now and it’s not going to get any better any time soon. 

Our football leagues need to lead from the front. It’s the most watched, entertaining and enjoyed physical activity on the planet other than sex, so time to lead by emotional example here. 

I do think an orange card or sin-binning would be a great idea too because the game has to keep evolving and it would hopefully calm things down a bit more. I believe that there should be some penalty, so maybe 15 minutes, 20 minutes, whatever it might be – especially if it’s the last 20 minutes.

I think that’s something that I would absolutely encourage the Premier League to look at.

I like VAR, it’s here to stay, but vast improvements must be made

I like VAR but I know that a lot of people don’t. 

In the past I’ve been working with nation states at World Cup tournaments when the ball has definitely crossed the line. I’ve seen it cross the line but the referee was 30 yards behind play and didn’t see it, nor did the assistant referee.

They’ve gone out of the competition at that stage and probably lost millions of potential income for their Federation because of a poor decision. 

So I love what they did in the 2022 World Cup with the semi-automated offside technology which is basically AI and it tracks the limbs. By the way, I don’t think a stud on the striker’s right boot should determine if he’s offside or not and I think there has to be a redefining of handball. It’s handball, not ball to hand. 

The semi-automated offside technology and the technology that runs alongside that I think is fantastic and is the way forward. The Premier League doesn’t employ that by the way. 

There should be a replay of the incident on the big stadium screen two or three times and somebody commentating on it so there’s some sort of crowd engagement. 

That wonderful Tottenham game… there were times it took four or five minutes for a decision. you could’ve gone to get a hot dog, come back and find the situation still wasn’t resolved.

I don’t think I’m qualified as a referee to say how they should or shouldn’t use the technology, but all I know is that the technology is there, and the advanced technology that FIFA used is there, and it works – now. 

There were a few space disasters before man landed on the moon. I think we’ve got to be cognisant that it may take a year or two, but I think they’ll get it right. 

It’s important they do and I absolutely believe the crowd should be involved in the engagement of the process.

Multi-club ownership isn’t wrong but has to be policed properly

In principle, I agree that there should be some sort of management of multi-club ownership player swaps, because it gives rise to an advantage to those clubs against competing clubs who don’t have that accessibility to players and deals that perhaps are not as financially helpful.

If you’re lending within your own group, you’re not really going to charge each other that much and the money gets reinvested into the group again.

Of course, there’s ways around it. Let’s just say there are major funds, most of whom I know, who are seeking to own multiple football clubs, and some of the investors in those groups are sovereign wealth funds. 

So in other words, potentially, you have a country as an owner of a football club, dealing with a fund – of which that country’s sovereign wealth fund, which is different from the state ownership vehicle – actually means that is overly helpful to the initial club.

I think clear, clearly defined capital ownership shows that there are no hidden ownerships in that mix, and if even if there are, by the way, that’s okay. Don’t forget Watford have been doing this for years with Udinese. Nobody’s complained, and it’s worked quite well for them.

Providing it’s understood that it’s not a whole team, just one or two players every season or something like that, it’s absolutely financially advantageous for the clubs in that equation, beyond just the ability to move a player about.

Everton should absolutely be punished… as should every other club if they’ve broken the rules

Let’s talk Everton for a moment. The rules are there for a reason and they should be obeyed.

There’s been some unfortunate circumstances around Everton but it’s not the most heinous crime of the lot by comparison to what’s alleged at Man City.

I think the 10 point deduction is a salutary moment because it will make make clubs sit up and take notice and think about what they might have done in the past.

For example, we’ve had Paris Saint-Germain allegedly skirting merrily around certain regulations and financial fair play, and apparently having no sanctions at all.

With Manchester City I’d like to put on record that I love the advancement that City have put into the football club ownership in their group .

However, if they have breached the regulations 114 or 115 times, then they should be punished, and I’m a little concerned that we’ve heard nothing about that. But if they’re innocent, they’re innocent. They shouldn’t be pilloried because they’re wealthy either. 

If the regulators have got any teeth in the future, they have to be seen to bite now, because now is the moment where everyone’s eyes are looking at it.

I am concerned that the governing bodies are becoming relatively benevolent for obvious reasons of requiring the financial support from some of the sizeable sovereign funds that are around, less so to the big hedge fund owners – but even they get a doff of the cap occasionally.

So, I am concerned that if Qatar, Saudi Arabia or whomever want to change the rules, they’ve got more access to people at the top of the game than others.

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It needs to be literally a level playing field for everyone to have access to the lawmakers or else the supporters will start to drift away – and at that point, you lose the heartbeat of the game.

Lastly, the 10-point deduction affects Everton’s supporters as much as it affects the ownership.

So I think if if the financial value of a club has been enhanced by you breaching the regulations, in other words, you financially benefited, then a sizeable percentage of the punishment should be financial. Points is part of it yes, because it hurts, but the penalties should also be financial.

The post Agent’s column: Arteta was wrong, Man City must be punished IF they’re guilty, VAR must be improved and more appeared first on CaughtOffside.