The MLS is Back Cup final happened yesterday. And no, I didn't care about it either (Portland won, I had to look it up). Tonight MLS league matches resume in home markets, when Dallas and Nashville face each other. And just as a reminder: Dallas and Nashville are the two teams who had to drop out of the MLS is Back tournament due to too many positive COVID cases in their respective squads. And the game is happening in Texas, one of the global hotspots of COVID. With fans in the stadium* (albeit a reduced crowd).
What could possibly go wrong????
* MLS has been very serious about laying out plans to test and protect players and staff (whether that will work is another discussion). But their approach to fans is very different. There will be reduced crowds in stadiums, but fans attending will be required to sign a waiver absolving the clubs of responsibility should they contract COVID at a match.
Fans are bing treated as expendable wallets/purses of cash to be milked for funds... and if they get sick or die? Well, that's
their problem.
You do need to factor in the time spent in the opposition’s penalty area in though with those sort of statistics. Some of the weaker teams barely get out of their half. Makes it much harder to get a pen.
Plus better skilled defenders give them away less often.
Very true. That is why this difference between Manchester United on the one hand and Liverpool or Chelsea on the other is significant, whereas the difference between Norwich and Man United is explainable more by the fact that Norwich just don't spend much time in their opponent's box. I don't think there is a conspiracy of any kind, just to be clear! But I do think that decades of previous success have baked a predisposition towards Man Utd into some officials' subconscious minds when it comes to making close decisions. If Rashford goes down under a challenge from some random journeyman playing for a struggling club, it's probably a penalty, right???? And no, they are not the only team that benefits in this way either. Liverpool rarely give penalties away at Anfield, for instance, even when some players *cough* Martin Skrtel *cough* have had a reputation for risky defending in the box.
Buffon is now in his late eighties and still playing...
Gone are the days when outfield players could continue playing into their forties and beyond. The game is too fast and physically demanding for that. The rule of thumb these days appear to be that an otherwise fit and healthy player is no longer able to hack it in the top leagues once they hit between 35-38 years of age.
