sergio rossi’s Post

"Value of a Winning Edge"- Dani Olmo's Goal Saving Header in EURO 2024 Final... Heading the football is not medically recommended because of brain damage risk, but putting that aside for now, what was the value of Dani Olmo's goal saving header off the Spanish goal line at the end of the EURO 2024 Final, see: https://lnkd.in/eQVe_7ur ? This header in the final minutes of the Final kept the game score at a 2-1 win for Spain, rather than a 2-2 full time draw. If we assume that Spain would have only had a 50% win probability if the game had gone into overtime and possibly a penalty shootout, where England are currently strong, and given the UEFA Championship Win Bonus of Eur 8 million, then we can conservatively value Dani Olmo's goal line header at (100%-50%) * Eur 8 million = Eur 4 million, making him clearly ex post, the most valuable player in the tournament, and also responsible ex post, for giving Spain their final winning edge. (Interestingly Dani Olmo also shared an equal 3 goal top score, "Golden Boot" prize along with England's Harry Kane, Netherlands' Cody Gakpo, Germany's Jamal Musiala, Georgia's Georges Mikautadze and Slovakia's Ivan Schranz. But if his Finals goal save were added in as a synthetic extra goal, then Olmo would have clearly won this striker's competition outright too.) #RMDcompecon, #RMDsport https://lnkd.in/eKrp9FB2

What is a losing position? When you feel that you are completely winning and… It was the fourth round of the tournament, and we were playing on the second board in a university-level chess competition. I was part of the chess team of a famous college. The competition was tough as almost 200+ colleges participated. We were ranked 2nd and expected to win the tournament. I was playing on the fourth board and was in a completely winning position. Passed pawn was on the 7th rank, and all the pieces of opponents were tied down. It was just a matter of a few moves, and the game was over. However, after much deliberation and with a nervous mindset, I touched a piece that I was not supposed to play. As a rule, I had to play that move and lost a piece. That was a blunder. And I lost the winning position. It was complete heartbreak for me and my team. I could not sleep that night. That game and tournament remained in my mind, haunting me for a long time. At such a small level, if things linger in your mind forever, I am imagining how Olympic-level players cope with such heartbreaks. Lakshya Sen (Ranking world no. 14): Completely winning (20-17) in the first game of the semi-final badminton match, lost 5 points consecutively not because of superior play by his opponent Viktor Axelsen ( world ranking 2), but by making nervous mistakes like serving in the net. In the second game also, he was leading 7-0. However, he lost his semi-final match today. Nishant Dev: He dominated the first two rounds of 71kg category boxing and missed the third round by a very small margin in the quarterfinal, missing the semi-final match. He lost his quarter-final match today and at least a bronze medal. And there are many more examples like this in the Paris Olympics. Manu Bhaker: In 25-meter shooting, she could have won her third bronze medal by one point, having already won two bronze medals. Sreeja Akula: In the round of 16, she played against world no. 1 Sun Yingsha. In the first two games, she was up 10-6, one point away from winning both. However, she was not able to convert those advantages and lost the match. https://lnkd.in/dTyuJRBk I am feeling a little sad today because the players were not able to reach the finishing line, but I am also proud of them because they are getting better and better with every Olympics. When interviewed, Manu Bhaker was asked ‘what do you think about Tokyo Olympic and Paris Olympics?’ Manu encountered a pistol malfunction during the women's 10m air pistol qualification round at the Tokyo Olympics, and the technical snag cost her dearly. She quoted from Bhagwad Gita, keep the focus on the present as the past is past and the future is yet to come. What is your strategy to overcome such losses handed over to you in a winning position? Please share in the comment section. #parisolympic #geniusgrowth #careertransformation

And we’re off! ⚽💥 The 2024/25 domestic football calendar is up and running. Having worked full time as a football coach at Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, a long time ago, I still have an interest in the Club. I spent some time analysing their EFL (English Football League) Championship game with Plymouth Argyle Football Club over the weekend. -- I thought the performance from the Owls was very good, and here are some position-specific observations that I made during the game relating to the 4-2-3-1 formation. ➡️Playing Out From The Back When playing out from the back the focus from Sheffield Wednesday was 5 players in position in their defending third. The narrow 3 were the 2 centre backs, Bernard and Iorfa, and central midfield player Bannon who dropped deep. The two full backs Max Lowe & Valery then pressed higher up right on the touch lines. The goalkeeper Beadle also passed well to the centre backs and Bannon. The other 5 players then stayed higher up and this meant that Plymouth did not have a tendency to provide any high presses. -- ➡️Forward Attacking Work The forward attacking work was good as Gassama and Musaba, demonstrated excellent quick forward running. The full backs also provided good forward support when the ball was on their side. If the ball was on the left side, the left full back would support high up and the right full back would drop into a narrow position. Ingelsson also demonstrated good wide forward work especially with the cross for the first goal after receiving a good pass from Bannon. His first touch was excellent and then made a quality cross for Jamal Lowe to score. The areas to focus on will be the striking quality of the 3 forward players Jamal Lowe, Gassama and Musaba. -- ➡️High Press Sheffield Wednesday were very effective with their high press and practically every time they used the same 5 players to undertake this press. The players were Jamal Lowe, Gassama, Windass, Musaba and Ingelsson. The next game for the Owls is the English League Cup fixture on Wednesday against Hull City. -- The The Premier League starts this coming weekend...watch this space for more match analysis. ⚽📈 #englishfootballlegue #championship #gameanalysis #formations

Exploring High-pressing in Czech Football 🚀⚽ The Czech league ranks sixth globally for "high-intensity running" metrics, the main running atribute (heavily predictable, used in betting). But why hasn't the Czech coaching system produced new luminaries like Klopp, Iraola, or Hassenhuttl? Simply put, high pressing just doesn’t work in the Czech Republic. PPDA (Passes Per Defensive Action): The Metric to analyze 📊 If your strategy is to prevent the opponent from playing, PPDA is the best metric to use. It rates pressing intensity. Slavia Prague excels with a PPDA of 5,7, outperforming clubs like Liverpool and Spurs! However, unlike some teams in the Premier League (West Ham, Everton, Sheffield), no team in the Czech League opts to play low block consistently. Key reasons why high pressing is not the right Strategy for Czechia 🤔 1) Opponents' Disinterest in Build-Up: When pressed high, Czech coaches tend to bypass midfield with long balls. After a long ball, the ball is recovered in only about 40% of these instances, but these often result in high-value chances as they are breakaway opportunities. And that's the highest quality chance you can create in football. 2) Minimal Gains from Breakaways: In the second division, where budgets are more level, you can see clearer trends. For example, Jihlava's extreme PPDA of 5.07 stands out in Europe. Despite this, they rank only 10th in defence. I would expect they get a gain from breaks, but they are 11th in creating chances post-recovery. The takeaway? The rewards don’t always match the effort. #TacticalInsights 3) Demands on Central Defenders: A high-pressing strategy requires fast and agile central defenders capable of covering extensive areas — often, there are 60 meters behind them, unlike the usual 40 meters when playing midblock. Moreover, the Czech league is cross-heavy, so the centre-backs need to be good in the air. And finally, Czech coaches play mid-block, so you need quality on the ball to go through the lines. Centre-backs with all three qualities are costly, often starting at 10 million EUR. Conclusion 🌍 Despite possessing essential skills (understanding of physical preparation) and the right mindset (big emphasis on personal responsibilities), Czech coaches find limited opportunities to prove their high-pressing strategy at home. Perhaps long-term, they will find greater success abroad, where other coaches care more about control during the first and second phases of build up. Thank you for liking and sharing!

Football (known as soccer in some countries) is a sport that brings people together from all over the world. The UEFA European Championship 2024 is held every 4 years, and this year it’s being held from June 14th to July 14th.⚽️ Imagine you’re watching your team on TV. It’s finally time for your favourite team to come onto the pitch (the field). The players are wearing their team kit (football uniform), boots (special football shoes with grips on the bottom) and their shin pads (worn under socks to protect players’ legs from injury) under their knee-high socks.🚀 Let’s look at some key football vocabulary you’ll need to know to follow and talk about the matches like a pro.🏆 The goalkeeper: Their main job is to stop the ball from entering the goal. Defenders: These players help the goalkeeper stop the opposing team from scoring. Centre-backs: Positioned in the centre of the defence. Fullbacks: Positioned on the left and right sides of the defence. Midfielders: These players are the link between the defence and the attack. Wingers: These are midfielders who play near the sidelines. Strikers: The main goal scorers. The first half and second half: A football match is divided into two halves, each lasting 45 minutes. Half time: This is the break between the first and second halves, usually lasting 15 minutes. Extra time: If the match ends in a draw, two 15-minute periods are added to the match to decide the winner. A corner: The attacking team gets a chance to kick the ball from the corner of the field. A goal kick: This is when the goalkeeper kicks the ball to start play. A penalty shootout: If a knockout game is still tied (e.g. 0-0, 1-1) after extra time, a series of penalty kicks determines the winner. A yellow card is a warning, while a red card means the player must leave the pitch immediately. Out of play: This happens when the ball crosses the touchline (the side boundary) or goal line. Football is more than just a game; it’s a global language that connects people around the world. Learn English through football and enjoy UEFA 2024! #nyla #uefa2024 #football ⚽️⚽️⚽️ 💌info@newyorklinguisticsacademy.com #newyorklinguisticsacademy

Watching the UEFA European Championship the other day, I saw a spectacular play that drew almost no notice from commentators or the assembled masses, but almost certainly preserved a win for England over Slovakia in the Round of 16. And there's an important takeaway to be applied to any walk of life. To set the stage: England had dominated the pitch the entire match, yet was still down 1-0 as time was running down. A spectacular bicycle kick in injury time drew the match, and England scored early in extra time to take the lead. Slovakia pressured. And pressured. With about eight minutes left to play, a Slovakian player ripped a shot across the penalty area, arcing it toward the far corner, well out of reach of the goalkeeper. An English defender, in (or at least near) the right place at the right time, stepped up to block the shot at the edge of the crease ... then brought up short. The ball whistled by him, molesting the goal post but missing the goal by the narrowest of margins. The keeper reacted as if his defender had caught a baby thrown from the window of a burning building. Why was this such a spectacular non-play? This, I'm guessing, is what went through the mind of the defender, all in a split second. There are several possible outcomes for acting. In order of benefit to his squad, they would be: * He successfully brings it under control with his chest; * The ball strikes the goal post and returns into play, with about a 50 per cent chance of the rebound being corralled by a Slovakian and fired back at the net; * He deflects the ball wide for a dangerous corner kick (as a note, despite more than 100 minutes of play at this point, England had not surrendered a single corner, though they would just before extra time ran out); * The ball strikes his arm or hand, leading to a penalty kick, with about a three-in-four chance of a goal; * He deflects the ball into the net for an own goal, tying the game. The potential consequences of not acting, in the opposite order: * The ball goes into the net, tying the game and raising the spectre of a game decided by penalty kicks, in which all bets are off; * The ball hits the post and caroms back into play, again with a 50 per cent chance of a return strike; * The ball scrapes wide of the post, leading to a mass relaxation of English sphincters. Calculation: Chances of a positive result from acting: one in two. Chances of a positive result from not acting: Even. Just something to think about when there is an urgent need to act--or not act.

My recent post regarding Pickleball having its own NGB status has certainly caused some debate and anger within the Futsal community. The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) was desperately trying to bring Pickleball under their NGB. No doubt this was due to the sudden growth of Pickleball and the money it was creating for the sport. Sport England took an eternity to decide the outcome, but quite rightly came down on the side of those who have grown the sport and embraced it. Pickleball has been successful despite the LTA. So we can also look at other similar sports and their NGB's. Rugby league - RFL Rugby union - RFU Both games play on exactly the same grass pitch with exactly the same goals. One has 13 players and one 15. Both are called Rugby but have completely separate NGBs. Given Pickleball has been around 5 minutes, futsal has been around 95 YEARS yet we have this awful situation where Sport England insist futsal is a form of footbal becausethe FA says so !!!! Futsal is played indoors on a specific type of flooring, not outside. Futsal has 5 players indoors, outdoor has 11 players. Futsal has completely different coaching approaches to football. I could go on but you get where I'm coming from. It is absolutely ludicrous that this situation be allowed to continue when the FA continues to deliberately suppress futsal. I have seen evidence over the weekend that says the FA has totally deprioritised futsal. This goes back to a Guardian article (see below) in September 2020 in which the FA obliterated futsal. Sport England continues to collude with the FA. In a recent email I challenged them as to why they'd changed their website and put futsal under 'football'. Their response was pathetic at best but simply put, they now recognise it as a discipline of football. However, under an FOI request, they provided me with a document that states the following: 'a complainant has recently made mileage out of how sports and their disciplines are listed'. This proves that the pressure being applied forced the FA to instruct Sport England to change the status so the FA can control it even more ie continue to suppress it. The English futsal community is being shafted from top to bottom. Extortionate fees, no reward. Finally, the clubs, players and coaches all pay for FA courses. All clubs pay affiliation fees. Players pay fines for red/yellow cards. Clubs are fined for a variety of reasons. If this money was all totalled up, it adds to a significant amount of money. The FA aren't reinvesting any of this into futsal. So where is it going? #truth #facts #reality #futsal #accountability #timeforchange #sportengland #DCMS #TheTelegraph #SkyNews

History time. Not all invasion games have a “first half” and a “second half” (speedball, ultimate frisbee, handball), but most do (football, basketball, American football, rugby, hockey (ice and field), water polo). Therefore, without a "first half" and a "second half, there would be no half-time (and Minute9 would not exist...). So "why" does HT exist? The concept of half-time in sport has interesting* historical roots. Originally, before the rules of football were codified by the Football Association (FA) in England, clubs often played according to different rules. To compete against each other, they would agree to play one club’s set of rules for half of the match and the other club’s rules for the other half. This was most notable between the use of Eton rules and Rugby rules, where public schoolboys played one half of each. Although half-times were not included in the first set of rules codified by the FA in 1863, they were added in 1870. “In the event…of no goal having fallen to either party at the lapse of half the allotted time, ends shall then be changed”. [Laws of the Game, 1870**] The introduction of two halves also served a strategic purpose: it minimised any potential advantages for either side by allowing them to switch ends (wind, sun, sloped pitch). When HT was first introduced in the official rules by the FA in 1870, there was no specific duration mentioned, and the length of the break could vary significantly between matches. It wasn’t until 1897 that the FA set the first standardised HT duration at 5 min. So, it's been 154 years since the introduction of HT in sport and the standard of HTs is still not very good***. Let's hope HTs are better by the year 2178. Eamon [full time] Thank you Matthew Stone for researching this piece. Chris Martin Aaron Douglas ----------------------- *the most overused word on LinkedIn? Nope - that word is "delighted". ** The first FA Cup was held in 1871-1872. Wanderers FC defeating the Royal Engineers). ***But I would say that! https://lnkd.in/e3M4J5PQ https://lnkd.in/eipZ-J_v https://lnkd.in/eqNBrfkn)

Ahead of today's group final at UEFA EURO 2024 between Germany and Switzerland, there is a debate about whether national coach Julian Nagelsmann should deviate from his regular team and give other players match practice. As a coach, that's not always an easy decision. I'll try to explain from the coach's point of view why I think the decision is exactly the right one. The last game is still about to reach the first place in the group. So it's only right to go for the strongest and most experienced team. If you were to change 5 or 6 players now, the flow of the team would probably be gone. The arguments about the risk of yellow cards don't count. If a player with a yellow card now misses the round of 16 - fine. If I don't let him play and he gets a second yellow card in the round of 16, he misses the quarter-finals. Then I've gained nothing, regardless of who the opponents will be. Speculating doesn't help here. What about match practice? The candidates in question also got their playing time in the previous games. They are all keen to play and are highly motivated. What's more, they're all professionals who are also in the middle of training. You quickly find your feet when you have to step in and become part of a well-coordinated team. What's more, the lads have been together day and night for a few weeks. Some of them have known each other for years and from the clubs. The first 11 doesn't always play against the "substitutes" in training. There are always new constellations. Everyone knows exactly who they are the backup for and can adjust to this during training and analyses. All players have to know and practise the standards. The coaching team makes sure that all players are aware of this during training. As a player, it was never an issue for me whether I played from the start or came off the bench. The difference was that I had to be fully present from the bench, but I could already look at and analyse my position from outside. From the start, there was often a bit of time to "get into the groove". If I were in Nagelsmann's position, I would do the same. What do my fellow coaching colleagues say? #euro2024 #football

FUTSAL IN ENGLAND UNDER FA CEO MARK BULLINGHAM PART ONE: I have been reminding myself of some key dates and strategic changes to futsal since Mark Bullingham came into power in his role as the CEO of The FA in 2019. We now know that the U19 men travel to Hungary in March 2025, which means they need to be funded as do the senior men. So that will be 3 teams in less than a year including the women in Moldova that need(ed) to be funded by England Futsal and the players themselves whilst the FA stand by their ZERO FUNDING, and zero acknowledgement policies towards these campaigns. Futsal under Mark Bullingham - September 2018 - FA launches comprehensive Fast Forward with Futsal Strategy 2018-2024 (written by Stephen Mitchell) May 2019 - FA launches new National Futsal Series as wholly owned and controlled by The FA with a guarantee of £500k of total funding spread over 3 years. August 2019 - Mark Bullingham joins the FA as CEO September 2020 - In the midst of Covid, FA permanently eliminates all spending on futsal with the exception of their youth cup contractual obligations to Pokemon. May 2021 - A few months prior to this date The FA transfers the entire ownership of the NFS to a newly incorporated National Futsal Series (NFS) Limited with no more funding or support from The FA (only 1 year of 3 was ever paid) October 2021 - FA adopts new Articles of Association which for the first time specifically identify their responsibilities to promote the game of futsal as well as association football. December 2022 - The FA announce the outsourcing of all grassroots futsal development to England Futsal Limited, a private company with zero capital or reserves and The FA specifically exclude any funding for national futsal teams. February 2024 - FAQs issued by England Futsal Ltd on their website confirm unequivocally that the FA have authorised new national futsal teams for both men and women but will not provide any cash, value in mind or other support for these teams. October 2024 - England Futsal once again confirm that they are reliant on players funding a significant part of their own costs to train with England squads and participate in UEFA and FIFA tournaments as the official FA representative teams. These are only highlights, but it clearly shows that since Bullingham came into power, he has done everything he can to wash his hands of futsal. Part 2 tomorrow will contain questions directed straight at Mark Bullingham. #futsal #truth #suppression #TheFa #englandfutsal #accountability #transparency #democracy #misleading #UEFA #FIFA