The Ref’s News

The Ref's News — Technical analysis & officiating reports

Section

General

Wider football news with refereeing relevance.

General/The Guardian — Football

Long-range hits and goals galore: inside the Premier League’s return to chaos | Andrew Beasley

Teams are running further and set-piece strikes are in decline as end-to-end football takes over the division Goals in the Premier League are up. Chaos is returning. End-to-end football is back. The division is more open, in more ways than one. The figures show a rise from 2.75 goals per game last season to 2.82 so far this year, which is a small average increase – but one that could easily widen. The goals-per-game rate was at least 0.21 higher across the final 330 games than it was for the first 50 in four of the past five seasons. If 2026-27 sees a similar upturn, it will become the second

21 Sept

General/The Guardian — Football

The last two seasons were grim for Spurs. This is as bad as it’s ever been | Jonathan Wilson

Pre-season thoughts of European qualification are already beginning to look bafflingly optimistic for Roberto De Zerbi’s team Sign up for our free newsletter here In March, Tottenham, fearing possible relegation, spent big to bring in Roberto De Zerbi, who will probably never go into a negotiation with a stronger hand. There was obvious improvement and they stayed up on the final day of the season. Since then, Spurs have spent a net £175m ($234m) on improving the squad. The message seemed clear: the fiscal caution of the Daniel Levy era was over and this was a club willing to spend. Yet Spurs

21 Sept

General/The Guardian — Football

Pierre Sage took Lens to new heights. His replacement left after six games

Lens finished second in Ligue 1 last season and won the Coupe de France. Building on that success is proving tricky By Get French Football News It was under cover of darkness that Yannick Cahuzac took his place in the Lens dugout at the Stade Louis II on Friday night. The lights dimmed as the players made their entrance and Cahuzac, who had been named interim manager just three days earlier, sat alone, leaning forward on a seat that Dino Toppmöller would have occupied if not for a dramatic turn of events last week. Cahuzac’s appointment, much like his entrance in Monaco, had a stealthy quality

21 Sept

General/The Guardian — Football

Football Daily | Brighton’s organised chaos viciously pecks Arsenal into submission

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! For an elite head coach who isn’t used to seeing his team lose, suffering a rare defeat on the weekend before an international break is particularly hard to take. With the vast majority of your players hightailing it out of Dodge to rack up more air miles than Santa Claus across a decade’s worth of Christmas Eves, the chance to quickly put things right simply isn’t an option. With the first lull of the season set to be longer than any before, the potential for introspection, self-flagellation and over-thinking has never been higher. Luckily,

21 Sept

General/The Guardian — Football

Paper trail of protests: José Mourinho plays the hits in Madrid derby defeat | Sid Lowe

Facing Diego Simeone 13 years on, José Mourinho brought a print-out and paranoia. Some things don’t change. Some people don’t, either There were many questions to emerge from the Madrid derby, which Atlético won 2-1 in front of 70,514 very, very noisy people at the Metropolitano on Sunday afternoon, even if not the one José Mourinho was asking. Like: what year is this? Or: what was Dean Huijsen thinking? Why always Arda? And whatever happened to Vinícius Júnior? How come Koke is still the best? And how long before Giuliano Simeone actually bursts, his atlético insides exploding across the pitc

21 Sept

General/The Guardian — Football

To minimise the risks to young football players we should ban agents recruiting under-18s | Letter

Phil Murray responds to articles about the precarious path talented young athletes face Jonathan Liew’s piece ( Raheem Sterling’s bleak tale a reminder of absurd path young footballers face, 17 September ) is informative and timely, particularly when set against Jacob Steinberg’s report ( ‘They are very similar’: Arsenal’s Dowman reminds Merino of Lamine Yamal, 16 September ) . The tiny proportion of young footballers originally “signed” by top flight clubs at a ludicrously young age, who then achieve their dreams of a Premier League career, rather than being summarily dismissed at the age of

21 Sept

General/The Guardian — Football

Ghosts of 2023 surface after Dortmund return to the Bundesliga summit | Andy Brassell

It is probably a stretch to call BVB title contenders but Niko Kovac’s side maintained their 100% start against Stuttgart Borussia Dortmund would probably rather not think about the last time that they topped the Bundesliga. It was in May 2023, just before all their dreams imploded , with black and yellow Deutschmeister t-shirts – ‘master of Germany’ – for sale on the approach to Signal Iduna Park and cold beers at the ready. Now, that is no longer the most recent time Dortmund have led the pack. It’s four games, four wins to start this season and the Niko Kovac workout plan is hitting the spo

21 Sept

General/The Guardian — Football

Champions Inter deny would-be title rivals Roma as Martínez haunts Gasperini | Nicky Bandini

Striker’s double rescued a 2-2 draw and extend his unbeaten record against sides coached by Gian Piero Gasperini Gian Piero Gasperini could not keep himself from smiling. His Roma team had just squandered a two-goal lead at home to Inter but as he crossed the Stadio Olimpico pitch to greet the man who had led the visitors’ comeback, his lips formed into a grin. “He always scores against me”, explained a laughing Gasperini when he was asked what he had said to Lautaro Martínez a short while after. “I told him to stop it! He does it to everyone, though. He’s a great champion, everyone thinks ver

21 Sept

General/The Guardian — Football

Granit Xhaka admits to receiving fake Covid vaccination certificate in 2022

Sunderland captain withdrawn from Switzerland squad He will be questioned by prosecutor’s office in Lucerne Granit Xhaka has been withdrawn from Switzerland’s squad after he admitted receiving a fake Covid vaccination certificate in 2022. The Sunderland and Switzerland captain – who was an Arsenal player at the time – has apologised for this “mistake” and will sit out his country’s forthcoming four Nations League matches. Xhaka is poised to be questioned by the prosecutor’s office in Lucerne next week as it decides whether any criminal proceedings will be initiated regarding the alleged issue

21 Sept

General/The Guardian — Football

Cole Palmer injury likely to scupper his England return in Nations League

Rashford and Mainoo doubts for Spain opener Livramento also expected to withdraw from squad Cole Palmer will withdraw from the England squad with a minor muscle injury while there is a doubt over whether Marcus Rashford will be able to be involved. The Manchester United winger held the area by the front of his hip and groin as he walked off slowly after his substitution at Fulham on Sunday. Palmer was given a high-profile recall by Thomas Tuchel on Friday for the forthcoming Nations League fixtures, when the manager and his players will take their first steps on the new two-year cycle that the

21 Sept

General/The Guardian — Football

WSL talking points: Arsenal’s attacking woes and Goodwin makes England case

Gunners are held to second home draw in two weeks, while Spurs smash Palace 7-0 to maintain strong start After being unable to find a way through Crystal Palace’s backline last time out, Arsenal were again frustrated at home in a draw with Manchester United on Saturday and Renée Slegers was asked post-match about how her team can turn their dominance of possession and territory into more goals. It could have been worse, of course, if Smilla Holmberg had not made it 1-1 in the 95th minute. “It’s not one thing, it’s a combination of things,” Slegers said. “It’s a cocktail of things, there are so

21 Sept

General/The Guardian — Football

Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

Liverpool look stronger at the back, youngsters shine for Brighton and Brentford, and James Trafford makes his England case with Leeds Premier League table | Top scorers In the week that 16-year-old Max Dowman has been thrust into the spotlight , it was another teenager who gave us a glimpse of the future in Brighton’s impressive win over Arsenal. Charalampos Kostoulas – nicknamed ‘Babis’ in his homeland, in homage to former Argentina striker Gabriel Batistuta – has already started twice as many Premier League games as he did in his first season in English football, when he was a backup for Da

21 Sept

General/The Guardian — Football

Carrick disputes Cunha’s claim that Manchester United lacked energy in Fulham draw

Michael Carrick insists team ‘kept pushing’ for leveller Matheus Cunha: ‘Fulham put in more energy than us’ Michael Carrick rejected the suggestion that his Manchester United players lacked physical fitness after they snatched a last-gasp 1-1 draw at Fulham on Sunday. The statistics showed the home side ran a collective 6.6km more than United, whose goalscorer in the 89th minute – Matheus Cunha – was critical of his team’s efforts. United were poor after the restart at 0-0, leading up to a disastrous Lisandro Martínez own goal in the 63rd minute, with Cunha saying they had to give more. “In th

20 Sept

General/The Guardian — Football

Manchester United’s engine room runs out of steam as fans voice frustration | Jacob Steinberg

Carrick’s side were short on inspiration, despite the summer spend in midfield, and the lack of quality in the final third was stark One of the more damning aspects of Manchester United’s tortured rebuild is their inability to multitask. So much money has been frittered away, pushing United into the ridiculous position of going one position at a time each summer. Last year was all about the attack and the recent window was about central midfield, even though the options at full-back do not look strong enough to cope with a season back in the Champions League. United remain a listless, drifting

20 Sept