There has been so much uncertainty and unrest in the world let alone the sports world. As things are seemingly crawling back to normalcy, what about the Premier League?

The league has yet to decide the future but it appears that FIFA, UEFA, and the English FA are making every effort to play out the remaining games. There are 9 game weeks left in the season, but when could it restart? As these ideas are coming along, there also is a lot of distress and opinions against the idea of the Premier League returning.

What we know: There would be no games in the month of May as players are returning from their respective countries and need to conduct the mandatory 14-day self-isolation that is required by all traveling outside of the country. On top of that, the players have been out of training for nearly two months. There are growing concerns about their fitness and physical health outside of, you know, contracting the Coronavirus during this worldwide pandemic. Growing reports are saying that they have to train in groups of no more than five and must wear PPE gear during said training.

How does this make sense as a result? It doesn’t. You can only train with 5 people and have limited time out on the training ground, but once games are being played, it goes back to 11 v 11 with 4 referees and about 16 coaches on the sideline with their 7 subs on the bench. That is a roughly estimated 56 people on and near the field. This is also excluding the game-day staff behind closed doors.

For football to resume there will be a lot of controversy and dangers involved. At what point do we say that this situation is bigger than football? These players have families too. They are not here solely for our entertainment.

VAR has been introduced to the Premier League for the first time this season. VAR stands for Video Assistant Referee. Although you probably have been used to video reviews, football and reviews are a bit different.

For starters, VAR is used to review any obvious mistakes from referees on the infringements of fouls leading to goals, offsides leading to goals, handballs, and red card offenses. On top of that, most sports have challenges. Football does not. This makes it up to the league referees which only fuels the conspiracies that the Premier League is a cynically corrupt league. Throughout the first few months of VAR in the league, there were definitely pain points with beautiful goals being controversially ruled out.

All in all, VAR was brought in to make the right calls, but in the end, it has only divided people’s opinions on the topic of VAR and football. In its sophomore season, there will need to be drastic changes to the process of VAR in order for it to be labeled a success in modern football.

Soccer is a quick-moving, strategic sport. Very much like managing the team at your office, you have to think about the long term outcome and the immediate dangers to your objective and take quick evasive action. Taking a look at these strategies can inform and improve our methods for dealing with progress (and lack of it) on your team.
Going Offsides
The offside rule can be confusing, but part of it is forcing a player offside. Sometimes when managing a project things get completely out of bounds. It might not be deliberate, but it can happen from time to time.  Whether it’s a client requesting something which wasn’t part of the original scope or changing their minds at the last minute, sometimes things can go offside and play is stopped. You then have to restart the game- sometimes with the opposition getting a free kick. The worst-case scenario is that you’re offside and a goal you thought you had achieved is disallowed. The important thing to remember is that the game is still on and getting your team together to regroup is crucial. When it comes to project management, regardless of how things went awry, it’s important to get back to working as soon as possible. Readjust your strategy and don’t waste your teams’ time getting restarted.
 Position Your Team Wisely
Sometimes a player gets put in a position with which he’s not entirely comfortable. Whether it’s a forward being played as a winger or a mid-fielder playing defense – when a player isn’t playing in his natural role, he won’t perform as well as he should. As a project manager, it’s important for you to see and utilize your players’ natural abilities and put them in a suitable position. It’s tricky and it will take time, but it will make all the difference in the effectiveness of your team.
You Aren’t Playing The Game – Your Team Is
Soccer team managers have a frustrating job. They watch the performance of their team from the sidelines without being able to direct in the moment. They’ve trained the team to do certain things and sometimes, things simply don’t go as anticipated. As a project manager, remember that your team is made up of professionals and while they need the guidance of their project manager, you are not the one playing the game. You play a vital part in helping them where you can, but never try to do their jobs for them – even if they have some peculiar ways of making it to the goal.
Goalkeepers are a vital part of the team
Goalkeepers play a very important role in soccer, sometimes they don’t get much of the action, but when they do – they have to be prepared and precise. Managing a project is much like being the hawk-eyed goalkeeper who is watching and evaluating every move on the field. The project manager role includes providing consistent guidance and taking decisive action on behalf of the team to block an impending threat to the projects’ goals.
We can learn a lot from sports – it’s a great example of people earnestly using their physical skills combined with mental focus to achieve a goal. Just like soccer, projects are a team game and being a successful project manager means having a successful team. As the manager, you are not a spectator. Dedicating yourself to sharpening your skills and focus will help you keep your eye on the ball so you can effectively guide and even intervene for your team.

Hi All- going forward, I will be adding information that may help you better understand the game of football. Hopefully, you will be able to take a few things away in order to make the game easier to watch.

For the first blog in this thread of rules/ information, the handball law will be covered. Handball when knowing nothing about it seems easy, but it is quite complex in the end. The rule states it as a foul and the play is blown dead by the whistle of the ref. How do you commit this offense? By using any part of your hand or forearm, up to your shoulder, to touch the ball or change the direction of the ball. With that being said, there are different severities of the handball foul. It can be perceived as accidental, resulting in a common foul, or it can be perceived as a yellow card offense depending on the deliberate nature of the handball. Lastly, it can be deemed a red card offense resulting in you getting ejected from the game and your team playing with 10 players instead of 11. This is the most extreme offense and is relatively rare. This typically happens when you are denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity resulting in the red card.

Lastly, the handball rule has changed drastically this year by the incorporation of VAR and an update to the law. The update states that no goal can be scored as a result of a handball whether accidental or deliberate. This has created issues within the game as it is very controversial when a defender touches it with his hand and is deemed accidental meanwhile, and accidental touch by an attacker rules out a goal no matter what.

This rule is ever-changing and will be reviewed once again in the summer by FIFA and will most likely change and clear up the confusion between players, referees, and fans.

As of today, the Premier League is postponed until April 30. This is the newest update that we have received since the league was postponed at the beginning of March.

The Premier League, like may leagues, are trying to figure out the best way to carry out the final third of the season. As a result, they are all hoping for the best and will resume play in May. There have been a few ideas of finishing the season where it is, first place gets first place and the bottom three get relegated. There are a lot of ethical decisions involved in this situation that needs to be made.

One of the key issues at hand is the payment of matchday employees. This is tragic as there are no games which means no pay for a large number of employees within clubs. One of the greatest things to come out of this situation is the fact that clubs, players, and owners have all donated to most of the club’s matchday employees.

This is a tough time for everyone, the sports world or not, and it is fantastic to see everyone come together in order to come out stronger.

It seems like nowadays there is one thing that you cannot escape from- Coronavirus. The sporting world is feeling the effects of it deeply. In Italy, they have suspended their respective league and have had multiple cases within teams. As it has progressed over time, the Premier League has decided to carry out the remainder of the season behind closed doors. This is an attempt to keep players and staff safe.

On top of that, the Champions League and Europa League appear to be suspending the campaign altogether. This instance has never happened before and appears to be one of the craziest things to happen to the sporting world without being related to sports in quite some time.

This blog will be affected by the Coronavirus as well because I will be changing it to update on the Premier League in relation to the virus and the next steps to take within the league.

I apologize for the change but we all must adapt and move forward together.

The unexpected 3-0 defeat for Liverpool F.C. at the hands of 19th place Watford was the Premier League’s story of the weekend.

The loss is the first for Jurgen Klopp’s men during the 2019-20 campaign, having picked up 26 wins and a draw so far this season. The match featured the rise of Ismaila Sarr, Watford’s Senegalese forward who put the Reds to the sword twice in the second half.

After scoring a tap in off of a poorly defended throw-in in the 54’, Sarr chipped Allisson and doubled Watford’s lead in the 60’. Troy Deeny killed the fixture in the 73’ after Trent Alexander-Arnold’s poor back pass was intercepted by Sarr, who found the Englishman for his sixth goal of the season. 

It was a quality performance for Watford, but in reality, it looked as though the Liverpool players’ legs had tired from carrying the 44-game unbeaten streak. They missed the serene presence of Joe Gomez at Centre Back, and Alexander-Arnold was caught pulling his socks up before giving up the first goal. 

The Reds also missed Jordan Henderson, who was replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who couldn’t shore up the midfield. Dejan Lovren deputized in place of Gomez and didn’t cover himself in glory during the first goal, letting the ball bounce in front of his man and over his head. 

Watford’s forward line had a strong showing but face questions going forward after the distressing injury of Gerard Deulofeu, who ruptured his ACL and Meniscus as a result of a hard tackle from Virgil Van Dijk. Deulofeu will have exploratory surgery in Spain in the coming weeks, and he is expected to be out for at least six months, according to the BBC. 

The loss means that Liverpool’s unbeaten streak comes to an end at 44 games, five off the pace set by Arsenal’s Invincibles in 2004-05. It also means they failed to secure a record 19th straight win, leaving them on top with Pep Guardiola and Manchester City’s 18 game streak in 2019. 

Liverpool also fell to Chelsea in the FA Cup on Tuesday. 

They’ll face Atletico Madrid’s one-goal lead in a Champions League second leg at Anfield in the near future. 

It will take a lot to move on in Europe, but the Reds look assured in the Premier League, with a 22-point lead on second-place City. They’ll face Bournemouth in the league at the weekend in what is now a crucial tie in order to right the ship and exert their dominance that they’ve shown all season.

Hi all- this past match week was a little unsettled. The games were not played at their normal times as they are finally getting into the busiest time of the season.

As a result, we were gifted a game on Friday between Wolverhampton Wanders, Wolves for short, and Leicester City. This game particularly was a snooze fest and ended 0-0. Leicester went down to ten men as a result of two yellow cards to their midfielder Hamza Choudhury. Luckily for the city, they were able to ward off the Wolves and share the spoils.

Saturday saw the league leaders, Liverpool, take on the bottom feeders, Norwich. Now Liverpool has been unbeaten all year with only dropping two points. Their tear of the Premier League continued by winning 1-0. But have they started to show cracks? As of late, they haven’t been as convincing in their wins. More and more 1-0 and 2-0 wins are a result. Yes, they are winning, but will they burn out and fall short of being crowned only the second-ever “invincibles?” The only other team to complete this feat was Arsenal back in 2003-2004 season winning 26 games and drawing 12 games. Currently, Liverpool is one game off of tying the “Invincibles” on wins in a single season. This is a miraculous feat in itself, but can they go until May without losing? I don’t think so, but that’s just me.

Sunday did not hold back and blessed us 9 goals in two games. Arsenal won by a fantastic score of 4-0 over struggling Newcastle United. Tottenham Hotspur, better known as Spurs, is looking for a spot in the Champions League Qualifications for next year, was given a temporary boost by beating out Aston Villa by a score of 3-2. After Alderwireld gave Aston Villa the early lead by conceding an own goal, he quickly corrected his mistake by putting it in Villas net the next time around. Son Heung-Min netted two goals, but at what cost? Son fractured his forearm and may be out until the end of the league in May. More injury woes for Spurs as Son is the latest star to go down with a long term injury alongside Harry Kane and Moussa Sissoko.

On Monday we saw Manchester United play Chelsea. A top table battle. United ended up winning the game 2-0, but not after controversy. Video Assistant Review, better known as VAR had its handprints all over this game. VAR is new to the sport and is far from perfect. As a result, dodgy calls were made as Harry Maguire escaped a red card early in the game when it was a clear and obvious red card offense. Manchester United benefitted heavily from VAR in this game. Chelsea had two goals ruled out, one for a foul in the buildup to the goal and an offsides call. To make matters worse for Chelsea, Harry Maguire, who escaped a red, went on to score the match-winning goal- his first after his mega-million transfer to United making him the most expensive defender in the world.

Lastly, Manchester City won neat and tidy at home to West Ham United by a score of 2-0. City has been in the spotlight a lot this week as they recently were banned 2 years from the Champions League for breaking rules within UEFA and the financial rules that are in place. Certainly, this puts a damper on all of the incredible feats that they produced over the last two years. City is set to appeal the ban and aim to be back in the Champions League next season.

Overall, another busy week and nothing short of pure entertainment in one of the most entertaining leagues in the world.

As it stands after 26 matchweeks, the table looks as such. Will there be changes? Can Liverpool go unbeaten? Who takes the Champions League spots? Keep watching and reading next week to find out more twists and turns!

https://www.premierleague.com/tables

Finally, the Premier League has resumed its normal times and dates. This week was a high scoring one as 6 games had 3 goals or more. Typically, 3 goals in a football match are considered a high scoring game.

The first game that caught my eye was the battle for the top four and the mighty Champions League spot. Chelsea, the current fourth place holders, hosted Tottenham. Both teams are arguably in a poor run of form. Chelsea was all over Tottenham on the scoresheet, literally. All three goals in this thrilling 2-1 Blues victory came from a Chelsea player. After Tammy Abraham’s poor run of form and tweak in his leg, the league vet, Oliver Giroud, stepped up to clean up a sloppy mess in the Spurs penalty area. Alonso added one more right after the half to make it 2- nil. Tottenham under their new manager, Jose Mourinho, has been insurmountably unimpressive and quite toothless in attack. Although injuries have struck them, they still have quality in their side that should be filling the void. To make things interesting, Antonio Rudiger scored an own goal to make it 2-1 late on. Chelsea was able to ward off anything that the Spurs threw at them and retained a grip on the coveted Champions League position.

The second game of note was the 5-goal thriller between the two midtable teams, Arsenal and Everton. This game was exciting as you never know what you’re going to get from these two sides. Defensive errors, forwards shooting blanks in front of goal and an overall lapse in concentration have plagued these two sides all season. To make matters more interesting, they both have relatively new managers with polar opposite playing styles than the manager before them. This game started off with a bang. In the 2′ minute, Everton took the lead through an acrobatic finish worthy of a watch. After that, Arsenal responded with two quickfire goals only six minutes apart. On the brink of halftime, a goalmouth scramble saw Everton’s Riharlison sneak the ball over the line to make it 2-2 going into halftime. Arsenal said whatever you can do Everton I can do better. The start of the second half saw Arsenal’s in-form Aubameyang score just one minute after play resumed. His second goal of the day saw off Everton moving the gunners 5 points off of European football.

This week was blessed with high scoring games, but the most anticipated game was between second-place Manchester City and third-place Leicester City. This was not a goal-fest, in fact, it was quite a cagey affair. The two sides were locked in and did not want to give up the first goal. In the 62′ minute City was awarded a penalty as a result of a Leicester handball- after being reviewed by VAR, of course. City’s penalty woes continued as Sergio Aguero stepped up and missed it going down the middle. City has missed 5 of their last 7 penalties which is nothing short of a calamity. Luckily, Jesus their second striker was subbed on late in the game and received a perfectly timed pass from the former Leicester city man, Mahrez, and beat Schmeichel at the near post. Jesus was only on for 3 minutes before finding the net. City completed the double over Leicester this season giving them a vital 6 points against the closest team in the standings.

That’s all for this week’s roundup! Let’s see what next weekend brings…

With great timing, the Premier League is on its winter break this weekend. This allows for a great segway into what exactly is the Premier League?

The Premier League is the top division of English Football. Below is a graphic of all the leagues in England, this blog will focus solely on the top division.

They do things quite a bit differently in England, and all of Europe, when it comes to structuring the league. For one, they do not have a playoff and finals match. Instead, it is an accumulation of points acquired from the entirety of the season. The team with the most points at the end of the season wins.

How do you get points you ask? You play each team twice, one home and one away, and have the opportunity to pick up 3 points from a win. You get one point if, after the 90 minutes, or a full game, you are tied with the opponent. In this circumstance, both teams get one point. Lastly, if you lose, you get zero points.

One of the most intriguing things about the Premier League and football, in general, is the fact that there is no bad season, no “restructuring” or “tanking.” The term “relegation” means that if you are the worst teams in the league, you get kicked out. So, the bottom three teams at the end of the year, with the least amount of points, would get sent down to the Championship division below the Premier League. As a result, there are three open league spots for the following season. The top teams in the Championship would be promoted to the Premier League. This ensures that it is the best of the best in the top leagues around the world.

That’s all for this week’s blog, check back next week for the first official Premier League Roundup post!