ExiledAjax

The Review very clearly states that it recommends regulation of the top 4 divisions, plus soft-touch regulation of the National League in order to smooth out regulatory issues when teams are promoted to/relegated from the EFL It's also very clear that it would seek to regulate through the introduction of a licence, conditions of which would be inter alia governance, independence and diversity of board members, protection of heritage assets, the provision of financial information, and other similar matters. Clubs will therefore have a degree of flexibility in how they comply with the license requirements. No, there is not. Nothing in the Review suggests that the regulator will have any power to veto a commercial deal made by a club. The Review very clearly says "The proposed objectives for IREF would mean that it should not be responsible for matters related to commercial decisions of clubs or sporting matters such as the rules of the game. While it is a legitimate area of significant interest to fans, IREF should not set the level of ticket prices or merchandise prices. These are commercial decisions that clubs should be free to make. The system is only concerned with activity by clubs that presents a risk to sustainability of a club or the game or compromises IREF’s ability to meet its statutory objective." The exception to this would presumably be where such a deal would cause the club to breach it's regulatory licence. Which is the entire point of regulation. The Review recommends that the regulator be funded through licence fees, fines and penalties. The White Paper in January will clearly answer these questions and will include a roadmap for the implementation of the required legislation.

Remind me how many high pressure penalties in competitive international fixtures has Barton taken?

Plus a Euros win in 2000 and reaching the 2016 final of that tournament as well. Bar the Spanish team of the late 2000's and early 2010's they are pretty comfortably the dominant European football team of the last thirty years.

My reading of it is that it's quite a long-winded way of saying "success breeds success". He's saying, in flowery journalistic language, that France won because they won the moments, and they won the moments because they knew they would, and they knew they would because they've done it before and it is just what they do. England are getting there but we need that one win, that little bit of luck that just gets us that trophy, and gives us that innate, concrete knowledge that we are good. Not belief, knowledge.

If by "the regulator" Maguire meant the individual who will be chairman/CEO/Head of IREF, then I don't think it's that odd to announce them prior to the legislation being enacted. I think that person will be a regulatory person rather than a football person. Probably some head of dept at the FCA, or possibly an ex-FCA Chair. They will likely then have someone like Clarke Carlisle or Roy Hodgson as the "football" man in a senior position. The rest will be employed from the professional services. Remember, the white paper has been 90% written and on ice since before Johnson resigned in the summer. At the same time there have been a small group of people from the FCA working in the background on designing the structure of the regulator. I.e. how many employees does it need? Where would it's offices be? Paygrades, IT systems etc. All that's really been needed is for the government to commit. Now it looks like they will do that.

Thanks. I agree in so far as there needs to be a pathway for foreign-based players to get into the squad. One that doesn't require them to be either an existing Southgate favourite or a generational talent. So let's say I am Ivan Toney, or James Maddison, or Marc Guehi, and I fancy getting into the Euro 2024 squad. I get an offer in the summer to go and play for...let's say Sevilla, or Lyon, or Napoli. It's more money, it's a fun foreign league, it's a chance to develop. But, my agent points me at Tomori, or Abraham, or Smalling and says "if you want to be picked for Germany '24 then you will have to play twice as well abroad as you will at Brentford, Palace or Leicester". I probably stay playing in the Prem. Now that's not bad, as the Prem is a very good, possibly even the best, league in terms of average player standard. But, if what we want is to develop a team that can win a tournament through bringing in a diverse footballing experience, it doesn't encourage me to go abroad.

But the England coaching set up has to reward players that do go abroad. You mention Smalling, but Abraham has set records in Serie A and been rewarded with a bit part role in the England set up. Bellingham has been picked whilst abroad, but he's different gravy. The evidence, the pathway, the record, the action all suggest that unless you are either a) truly exceptional (Bellingham) or b) already established in the England set up (Trippier), you need to play in the Prem to get picked. If you play abroad then you need to be one of those two things. So it's a two sided coin. A chicken and egg scenario perhaps. Both the players and the coaches need to be willing to experiment.

The Daily Mail is today exclusively reporting that Sunak has said yes to the government supporting a regulator. White Paper will finally be published in January with a view to establishing a regulator by the end of 2023. I will believe it when I see it, but this builds on Donelan's recent words in the HoC so I suspect there is truth to this.

It's almost as though we're all one country.

Kept Mbappe quiet though didn't we.

Have we somehow managed to go out on penalties without the game going to penalties?

Welcome to the thunder dome

Wikipedia is great sometimes.

There we go.

We've played well. Undone by a wonder strike and a shite penalty denial. Should be 1-1. Saka needs to be braver. Run at them. Make them tackle you. We can still win this.

Exactly. I see no "anti" football in those stats. Just clever football.

I think they're similar, and there's definitely an echo of Greece in the results, but in performance and style it's more complex than just being a repeat. I see it more as though they're a modern Greece '04. Prioritising the clean sheet is their game but they've got more counter-attacking flair. I recall Greece scoring from set pieces (I was 15 so apologies if that's wrong). Whereas this Morocco team are more of an open play outfit. So yes they are similar teams, but Morocco have the modern play out from the back and counter attack aspect.

I didn't see much "anti-football" (whatever that really is) from Morocco tonight. 9 shots, 3 on target, xG of more than 1.0. Not really grinding it out. They're tough, defensively savvy, but also have some talent on the counter attack, and I also was impressed with the variety with which they were able to attack. I parroted a comparison to Greece in 2004, but having now watched them I think they're far more positive than that team was.

Clean sheets win tournaments. Morocco have 4 in their 5 games. Conceded just once - an own goal against Canada. They've shut out Croatia, Belgium, Spain and now Portugal. So that's Perisic, de Bruyne, Lukaku, Gavi, Ronaldo, Felix, Ramos, and all the rest. Nothing. They didn't even concede in the penalty shootout!

I'll be absolutely honest and say I was very ignorant of Morocco's footballers before the tournament. I think if I'm honest I thought Boufal was French, Ziyech and El-Nesyri Algerian, and Hakimi French as well. That's my ignorance and my fault. If you look through their team they have a healthy corps of players who ply their trade at top clubs in the top leagues. Far more than some of their continental brethren or other "lesser" sides like Wales, Saudi Arabia or Australia. I wrote them off without really learning about them.

The Portuguese attempts to win free-kicks and penalties is slightly odd given their set-piece trebuchet is on the bench.

That is weak defending. But a fun bit of midfield play, a speculative cross, and the lad gets up like the springiest of all salmon to nod home. There's a whiff of Greece '04, but Morocco do have more about them going forward.

After they dumped Spain out I heard someone on the radio/podcasts ask if there was a "whiff of Greece 2004" about Morocco. This is the first time I've watched them this tournament and yes, I think there is.

Good win.