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Após a decisão da TV Globo em acabar com a Central do Apito, o jornalista Arnaldo Ribeiro opinou sobre a situação. Durante o programa “Fim de Papo”, nesta quarta-feira, no UOL, o comentarista disse quenão comemora a demissão de ninguém, contudo, afirmou que o quadro fazia mal ao futebol brasileiro.

– A Central do Apito é um desserviço ao futebol e ela viciou a forma do brasileiro assistir futebol, para o lado ruim. Transformou o árbitro no protagonista de um jogo de futebol, e ele nunca foi, não pode ser, não tem que ser, não existe isso – disse o comentarista.

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+Globo acaba com Central do Apito e demite dupla: veja as movimentações da imprensa esportiva em 2023

O jornalistaacrescentou que o quadro também interferia na atuação do VAR durante as partidas.

-Pior que isso, ela tinha interferência nas decisões dos árbitros e dos auxiliares dentro de campo, inclusive do VAR. Muitas das decisões eram fixadas depois do comentário do árbitro que analisava o lance após 50 replays na Central do Apito. Então ela contaminou a forma do brasileiro ver futebol, é um desmame que vai levar algum tempo – completa.

+Globo encerra o quadro ‘Central do Apito’ e demite casal de especialistas em arbitragem

NOVO CICLO

A Globo optou por encerrar o quadro esportivo “Central do Apito” na programação esportiva da emissora. A atração estreou em 2018 e apresentava o intuito de oferecer para os telespectadores uma análise de especialistas em arbitragem sobre lances polêmicos da rodada. Além disso, o canal também decidiu retirar a presença de ex-árbitros das transmissões de partidas de futebol.

Em resposta ao L!, a Globo informou que com a implantação e consolidação do árbitro assistente de vídeo (VAR), as questões de arbitragem foram recebendo outro tipo de tratamento e o VAR foi oferecendo respostas às questões apresentadas durante os jogos. Com isso, a emissora optou por encerrar a Central do Apito durante as transmissões de futebol. Contudo, as análises sobre arbitragem serão feitas, quando necessário, no conteúdo dos programas esportivos.

In Sandro Tonali, Newcastle United are enjoying the rise of a truly special player. Walk around the city and ask fans for their opinion of the Italian maestro, and many would say he is the very best they have witnessed at St. James’ Park.

It’s just one masterclass after another. Tottenham Hotspur couldn’t cope on Wednesday evening, dumped out of the Carabao Cup following Tonali’s brilliant midfield performance.

Eddie Howe engineered a covert contractual renewal when the star was serving a suspension for betting breaches, and so the Magpies need not worry about their central talisman playing elsewhere any time soon.

But Tonali alone cannot uphold the midfield, and it looks like change is afoot in the engine room, with United gearing up to sign a new central midfielder.

Newcastle angling for new midfielder

Joelinton has been a stalwart at Newcastle for many years, but the 29-year-old has come under fire at times already this season, with his questionable performances leaving some, such as blogger Thomas Hammond, to question whether this is “the start of the end” for the powerful Brazilian, who seems the weak link in this evolving midfield.

The emergence of Lewis Miley certainly suggests Joelinton’s place in the starting line-up is not as secure as it once was, and the continued question marks over Joe Willock’s long-term future in the Newcastle midfield add fuel to the fire.

Well, given that Howe is determined to re-sign Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest, it does seem the cabinet could be set for a reshuffle.

As per Spanish sources, Newcastle are rivalling the mighty Real Madrid for the Three Lions star, who has been valued as high as £120m by Evangelos Marinakis. Technical director Ross Wilson will know he needs to act swiftly.

Moreover, Football Insider have followed reports with the claim that Liverpool and Manchester United have both placed the 22-year-old at the top of their lists.

Why Howe wants Elliot Anderson back at SJP

In the summer of 2024, Newcastle were being pressured by the Premier League’s PSR parameters, and sold two top talents – Anderson and Yankuba Minteh – to divisional rivals, easing away from financial bother.

Anderson signed for Nottingham Forest in a deal worth around £35m, and he’s only gone from strength to strength at the City Ground, with analyst Ben Mattinson hailing him as a “powerhouse” of a “midfield warrior”.

Indeed, you need only look at the metrics to see how he has evolved in his short time in red, with the current campaign seeing him take so many touches of the ball, creating and defending and leading by example.

Elliot Anderson – PL record for Forest

Stats (*per game)

24/25

25/26

Matches (starts)

37 (33)

9 (9)

Goals

2

0

Assists

6

1

Touches*

54.2

98.2

Accurate passes*

28.7 (82%)

66.4 (88%)

Chances created*

1.0

1.3

Dribbles*

1.0

1.3

Ball recoveries*

5.6

7.9

Tackles + interceptions*

2.5

3.7

Duels (won)*

6.5 (52%)

7.8 (56%)

Data via Sofascore

He is the complete number eight, and in this, just like Tonali, who is now considered “the best midfielder in the Premier League” by English legend Paul Scholes.

Anderson isn’t there – yet. However, he is earlier in his development and surely on track to rival the likes of Tonali if he continues to add strings to his bow.

Now part of Thomas Tuchel’s England set-up, Anderson is finding a home alongside the more adventurous Declan Rice. Perhaps Bruno Guimaraes could serve as this type of partner, with Tonali elegantly keeping things moving from the side.

This is all to say that Anderson could be a stunning addition to Howe’s team, and maybe even come to surpass Tonali down the line.

Pulling him back over to Tyneside won’t be easy, but Howe has already shown his hand, speaking of his desire to bring the talent back home in a press conference last month, and must now hope that Anderson is swayed toward the nostalgia of returning to his boyhood club.

In any case, that aside, Newcastle might actually be able to canvass the most compelling proposal to the English talent.

Related New Tonali: Newcastle's 8/10 ace has been an "incredible piece of business"

Newcastle have proved their skill in the transfer market once again this summer.

Posts ByAngus Sinclair Oct 30, 2025

Jake Weatherald has been slower to find his feet in T20 but it has been a combination of persistence by the Adelaide Strikers and evolution on the young left-hander’s part that led him to Sunday’s innings

Daniel Brettig in Adelaide04-Feb-2018Two years ago, in his fourth first-class match, Jake Weatherald opened the batting for South Australia in a Sheffield Shield final and looked right at home. So much so, in fact, that he made it to 66 and 96 before throwing his hands away with a pair of shots that might best be described as presumptuous. In the second innings his skied slog at Fawad Ahmed, after a brief scoreless period, ushered the collapse that won a more composed Victoria the title in an away decider at Glenelg Oval.These memories were at the forefront of the mind of Adelaide Strikers captain Travis Head as he batted in the slipstream of Weatherald on another day when he looked in control – the Big Bash League final in front of more than 40,000 spectators at Adelaide Oval. At 24, Head has already captained his state for three seasons and the Strikers for this tournament, and he made sure he was in the ear of Weatherald who, at 23, is one of the richer batting talents in the Australian system.Unlike the four-day game, Weatherald has been slower to find his range in T20 matches, but it has been a combination of persistence by the Strikers and evolution on the young left-hander’s part that led him to Sunday’s innings. With Head in his ear to keep him focused, he surged to the first-ever century in a BBL final, underpinning a total of 202 that was ultimately far too much for even the redoubtable Hobart Hurricanes to chase, and enough for the Strikers to defend without the speed of Billy Stanlake and the wrist-spinning wiles of Rashid Khan.”It just comes down to experience, he got those scores in the Shield games and he had the foot on the throat and didn’t capitalise. Today I just kept reminding him, just kept telling him to capitalise,” Head said of Weatherald. “He didn’t slog, he played great cricket shots, he was very calm, selective on who he targeted and that just comes from experience.”He’s a mature man now, he’s played a lot of cricket, he’s played in big games, a lot of our big games for South Australia and today he’s gone out and shown he’s learned from experience and a few opportunities he’s had in the past and really put his foot down and made sure it was a match-winning performance. Last year and the start of the year, he probably didn’t give himself much of an opportunity, and we knew how good he was in the sheds, so we backed him in.”We gave him every game, we said we weren’t going to change that, him and Kez [Alex Carey] were going to open the whole time and gave him full confidence to go out there and back his skill and ability. We knew how good he was but he probably wasn’t giving himself the opportunity he would’ve liked, and at the back end he showed he’s given himself a chance and had some crucial innings for us.”The innings Weatherald conjured on Sunday arrived at the end of a period in which he had been trending ominously upwards. Scores of 65, 3, 56 and then 57 in the semi-final thriller against Melbourne Renegades on Friday night indicated that Weatherald was ready to step up from handy to substantial, and he was helped by some less than precise Hurricanes bowling in doing so. Their captain George Bailey said that Weatherald’s strengths square of the wicket were well known, particularly on a ground like Adelaide, but that his attack had offered too many deliveries in his strong zones.”I reckon he hit a lot of balls where we talked about not letting him hit balls,” Bailey said, his typical smile more of a grimace. “Like most of these young blokes they’re beautiful strikers of the ball, so you want to make them hit the ball where they don’t like to or they’re not as strong as they are [elsewhere]. He’s very strong square of the wicket and I reckon he hit too many pull shots and cuts shots today.”Having blazed eight sixes and nine fours Weatherald, too, agreed he had been offered the chance to play the square-of-the-wicket shots with which he is most comfortable, following a long tradition of South Australian left-handers from Clem Hill and David Hookes to Darren Lehmann. “I wanted to stick to my strengths and thankfully they bowled to them today,” he said. “Throughout the tournament I haven’t been overly successful, but thankfully they bowled where I wanted and I was able to hit to the boundary”I felt like I was hitting the ball really well throughout the tournament, I said that to anyone who asked me, I felt I was close to getting a big score and everyone around me was so supportive and saying the same thing, which was probably why they stuck with me. It’s really good to perform when I and the team really needed it.”The support staff have been so great throughout the tournament, letting me know my spot’s secure and backing me in to perform at some point. It was great they were so supportive throughout, all the players were supportive too, we’ve got such a great group, and that’s why we’ve been so successful.”Much like the Strikers themselves, Weatherald has taken time to find his best ways of succeeding in the shortest format, often seeming in too much of a hurry for one so capable of striking the ball cleanly once he has had a few sighters. But the ball-striking talent he possesses has been gradually honed through the faith of the captain Head, the coach Jason Gillespie, and the parallel state set-up led by Jamie Siddons. Tim Nielsen, the former Australia coach, serves as the high performance link between the two.”To be honest I found T20 cricket the hardest of all formats,” Weatherald said. “You obviously don’t have as much time, and I hadn’t really played too much T20 cricket before I played Big Bash, so it was a massive learning curve, the first 14 games I really found it quite hard to play, but just having good support staff around, Greg Blewett, “Dizzy” Gillespie and Jamie Siddons my Shield coach has been amazing. They’ve got around me and said ‘just bat the way you normally bat and you’ll make runs in T20 cricket’. My game’s evolved to hopefully perform in all formats, which is slowly coming together.”It is in finding the aforementioned adaptability that a link can be drawn from the Weatherald of the 2016 Shield final and the Weatherald of the 2018 BBL finale. For Head, there is satisfaction in knowing that several players have now come through the experience of losing three finals for their state – also the 2016 limited-overs decider and the 2017 Shield final, this time in Alice Springs – to be part of a dominant team on the most high-profile stage in Australian domestic cricket.”It was nice to take a back seat to Weathers today, he was exceptional, a match winner,” Head said. “That’s what we asked for Friday night and asked for that today, you want to step up in big games, be a match winner, he’s probably gone a bit unnoticed earlier in the tournament, probably teased us a little bit, been in really good form, but it’s fantastic that he’s gone out and played an unbelievable innings and won us the game.”It was nice to get it off the back I guess and nice for a lot of the guys who’ve played in them to celebrate winning a final and hopefully we can build something really special with this group of guys. Looking at it from the SACA perspective there’s a lot of guys in there that are playing Shield cricket for us and it’s great for South Australia but it’s also great for the Strikers. I’m sure this team will roll out the same next year and we expect nothing less than to win. We’ve set the example now.”That does not just bode well for the Strikers and South Australia, but for the national team at the top of the Australian pyramid.

Delhi Capitals fall short by 11 runs despite a late partnership from Arundhati Reddy and Shikha Pandey

Vishal Dikshit16-Mar-2023

Ashleigh Gardner doesn’t get bogged down easily. She calls herself a “massive confidence player”. Like most Australians in the WPL, she has been a world champion several times, and tends to rescue her team from situations in which normal teams usually lose. She was the Player of the Series less than a month ago at the T20 World Cup, and just prior to that, for the bilateral T20Is in India in December 2022.On Thursday night at the Brabourne Stadium, she walked in at No. 4 when Gujarat Giants were in a precarious situation, in the game as well as in the league. Already languishing at the bottom of the table after losing their last two games, they were crawling along at 53 for 2 around the halfway mark with their league top-scorer, Harleen Deol, just dismissed. Opener Laura Wolvaardt was struggling for fluency on 18 off 20.Gardner, an ace finisher for Australia, walked in and operated at a different level altogether. She struck five fours in her first 16 balls and gave a similar message to Wolvaardt: “If the ball’s in your area, go for it.” It was as if Gardner had flicked a switch on in her partner’s game.In T20 leagues, where there are always some weak links in the bowling, most batters see off the gun bowlers and target the others. Gardner’s confidence was such that she and Wolvaardt went after Capitals’ most fiery and wily bowlers, Marizanne Kapp and Jess Jonassen. When Kapp bowled the 15th over, Gardner chipped the second ball over the bowler’s head for four and three balls later Wolvaardt charged down to smash a pull for four more. Wolvaardt then took on Jonassen single-handedly; a six over long-off, two more pulls for fours in the space of three balls to make it a 15-run over.With 26 runs off two overs, the Giants’ scoring rate shot up from under six to nearly seven an over.”We just kept speaking about building a partnership together because that’s what we’ve lacked doing over these last few games, we’ve lost wickets in clumps and we haven’t had those partnerships,” Gardner said at the press conference. “I said to her, ‘If the ball’s in your area, go for it’. We know what her strengths are, she hits over the off side so well. She got a couple of balls that she could throw her hands at. I think it was the Jess Jonassen over that ended up going for 15 and I think that was the momentum switch that we needed.”Wolvaardt got to her fifty off 41 balls in the next over and soon Gardner raced from 31 off 25 to a 33-ball half-century with back-to-back fours by carting Arundhati Reddy around, before going after Jonassen for two more fours to nearly touch 150. “Pressure affects people differently,” she said. “Lucky enough for me, I’ve played in a lot of high-pressure situations so I feel like I personally can stay quite calm and hopefully I can put that on to other people as well. So it’s being really calm in those situations and really calm with my language as well to other players to make sure that they stay really positive because the game wasn’t over until it was over.”Giants knew they were below-par on a pitch that was slightly slow yet batting-friendly. Back in the dugout at the halfway mark, Gardner got her team-mates together and gave them a clear message: be brave.”I just said, ‘147 is an okay score but we’re going to have to bowl well’. And we were probably going to have to bowl them out to win that game. I was just trying to reiterate the message to the girls around being brave and playing with freedom because ultimately, we needed to win these games and it was almost like we could play with freedom and just back each other up in the field. But more importantly just enjoy it. In moments like this, they go so fast and when you’re not winning, you forget about the enjoyment side of it, and that’s why we all play cricket because we love it and because we have fun playing with our friends and that’s the main thing.”And a brave combined effort it turned out to be. Uncapped left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar played cat and mouse with Shafali Verma to knock over her leg stump three balls after being hit for a six. When the spinners were being dispatched for boundaries, captain Sneh Rana bravely bowled the last powerplay over and sent down a flat delivery at 89kmh to trap Meg Lanning for 18.When Capitals needed 70 off 60, Deol bravely pitched one up to see Jonassen hole out to long-off, and when Gardner came on for her third, she smartly slowed the ball down, at 82.8kmh, to beat Taniya Bhatia swinging across the line and strike her stumps.”It’s being able to hit my natural lengths and be brave enough to slow my pace down a little bit,” Gardner said of her bowling on Thursday, “because as spinners you get hit and there’s no point me bowling 95kmh, because it’s going to go even further. So it’s just about being really brave and I think we were really brave tonight with the bowling attack.”Apart from some nervous moments in the tense chase when the Gujarat fielders started to fumble and leak overthrows, they also ran two big hitters out. Sophia Dunkley fired in a throw from cover to the wicketkeeper while there was a mix-up between Alice Capsey and Jemimah Rodrigues, and the former fell short. The biggest blow came in the 14th over when Kapp took off for a risky single and WPL debutant Ashwani Kumari took the stumps down with a direct hit to send back Kapp for 36 off 29 and help Giants take a big step towards their win.Eventually Capitals fell short, but they may have learnt a lesson from their opponents when under pressure: be brave.

Peter Siddle will return to Somerset for another county stint in 2023.Siddle, the 38-year-old Australian fast bowler, will be available from the start of the LV= Insurance County Championship season in early April through to the end of July. During that time he will also be available for Somerset’s Vitality Blast campaign.Last year, Siddle claimed 27 first-class wickets for Somerset at an average 23.92 with a best of 6 for 51 against Surrey. He also impressed with the white ball, taking 17 wickets in the Blast at an average of 17.88, including a best of 3 for 10.A vastly experienced former Australian international who claimed 221 wickets in 67 Tests, Siddle also played a mentoring role to Somerset’s young bowlers last season.”I loved my time at Somerset last summer and when the opportunity to go back came about there was never any doubt that I would take it,” Siddle said. “It’s a great club with great people and the members and supporters are outstanding.Related

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“I was made to feel like a part of the family as soon as I arrived and I’m looking forward to joining up with the boys again in a few months’ time. Hopefully, I can contribute to Somerset having a big summer in 2023.”Andy Hurry, Somerset’s director of cricket, described Siddle as “phenomenal for us on and off the field last year”.”His contributions on the pitch and in the dressing room were of the very highest order,” Hurry added. “He is a proven winner who will contribute significantly on the field, and with his vast experience will also play a huge role in the development of our aspiring bowlers.”During his time with us previously, he established an excellent rapport with his team-mates, the coaches, our staff and our members. He will be a valuable addition to our squad this summer and we look forward to welcoming him back to do what he does best in a Somerset shirt in 2023.”Somerset became Siddle’s fourth county team when he joined them as an all-format overseas player last year following previous spells with Nottinghamshire, Lancashire and Essex.

Mahmudullah, who has been rested for the first two Ireland ODIs, “is still in our plans”, says Bangladesh head coach

Mohammad Isam17-Mar-2023Chandika Hathurusingha wants to expand Bangladesh’s pool of players ahead of the ODI World Cup, to be played later in the year, but doesn’t want to do it at the cost of the ODI series against Ireland. He also stressed that it’s certainly not the end of the road for Mahmudullah, who has been rested for the first two ODIs against Ireland.Hathurusingha, who started his latest – second – stint with Bangladesh with a 3-0 T20I series win over England last week, said that he wanted to give the fringe players – batters Yasir Ali, Towhid Hridoy and Rony Talukdar, and bowlers Nasum Ahmed and Shoriful Islam – a chance to express themselves.”They can play with the freedom with which they play local cricket,” Hathurusingha said ahead of the first ODI of the series, which is not part of the ODI Super League. “We have seen what they can do in local tournaments, which is how we picked them. Their performance and ability to bat a certain way, their records against pace and spin… we are giving them the mental confidence so that they can do it in the international level. We are looking at who has that character to do the role in the international level.Related

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“Regardless of winning or losing, I look at different things like character, how they handle situations in the middle, who stands up under pressure. Performance can go up and down. [Jos] Buttler is the best batter in the world in white-ball cricket, [but] we really put him under pressure [in the T20Is]. We were very happy with our attitude, body language and fielding. Even if we lost both series, if I see those things, I know that going forward, we are in the right direction.”Bangladesh’s next ODI series, also against Ireland, is part of the Super League, and they are also scheduled to play ODI series against Afghanistan and New Zealand, apart from the Asia Cup, before the World Cup in India in October-November.Is Mahmudullah in the mix for the ODI World Cup?Does Mahmudullah have a chance of featuring in those games?He has been rested, Hathurusingha pointed out, and didn’t want to be drawn into a discussion about Mahmudullah’s future.”I don’t think he is past his prime,” Hathurusingha said. “We are trying to expand our pool of players before the World Cup. In case something happens close to the World Cup, we want to have enough players that we have seen and can trust to do a role. We are rushed to do that as we have only 15 matches before the World Cup. We are trying to give opportunities to players we think can do the role. [Mahmudullah] Riyad is still in the mix.”Riyad has done enough. He has a lot of experience. We know what he can bring. We want some other players to get up to the mark at the international level. Not just skill-wise. It is about seeing whether they have the character to do the (role) at this level. It doesn’t mean that if that guy perform well, Mahmudullah is finished. He is still in our plans.”Hathurusingha expected the fast bowlers, who were so influential against England recently, to get some assistance in Sylhet, where the three Ireland ODIs would be played.”It looks like a good wicket to bat on,” Hathurusingha said. “There’s enough for the fast bowlers and spinners here too. I always rate our spinners. They are very tactically savvy and skillful. But this time my fast bowlers have come in leaps and bounds. I am very happy with that as well.”Beating England, though they were missing key players, in the T20I series was a big result for Bangladesh•AFP/Getty ImagesTaskin and Mustafizur will have their workloads managedHasan Mahmud was particularly impressive in the T20Is, standing out with the way he handled pressure at the death. In the first game, he conceded just five runs in two overs towards the end to stifle England. He didn’t take any wickets in the third game, but Hathurusingha said that his dismissal of Buttler in the second T20I was another crucial contribution.”The way [Mahmud] handled the pressure overs in the three ODIs was very impressive,” Hathurusingha said. “He opened the game for us in the second T20I by getting Buttler out. If I look at the game within the game, it allowed us to bring [Mehidy Hasan] Miraz into the game. The wicket brought all their left-handers. If Buttler was still there, it would have been a different kind of a game in the end.”The games within the game are very important. I am looking for people to stand up and do things. They get confidence out of doing these things regularly. Team get confident about their role and trust them to do things. Fizz’s [Mustafizur Rahman’s] two big overs changed the momentum in the third T20I.”Hathurusingha said that like the batting group, the fast bowlers – especially Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur – would also be rotated.”We want to manage him [Taskin], one of our strike bowlers. He is a world-class bowler. He bowled as quick as anyone in that series,” Hathurusingha said. “We want to manage him and Fizz. There’s a lot of cricket coming up. It will also allow us to give more game time to the other fast bowlers as well.”We are trying to expand our bowling unit. Taijul [Islam] is our No. 1 Test bowler. He bowled really well in the ODIs against England. We know he is ready. We wanted to give Nasum a go, to see how he goes. If he also does well, we have two guys ready leading up to the World Cup.”

Carlo Ancelotti's side have been dethroned in the Spanish top flight after Los Blancos' many chickens came home to roost in 2024-25

It's official: Real Madrid are no longer the champions of Spain, their La Liga crown on its way to Barcelona after the Catalans sealed the title with Thursday's win over Espanyol. But not only have Madrid been dethroned domestically, they are now officially going to end the season without any major trophies to their name. Victories in the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Intercontinental Cup may have been nice at the time, while the Club World Cup could still be theirs this summer, but the competitions that Madrid really wanted to win have passed them by in 2024-25.

Twelve months ago, that would have been unthinkable. After Carlo Ancelotti had guided an already uber-talented squad to a La Liga-Champions League double, Los Blancos added Kylian Mbappe to the mix in a move that was meant to usher in an era of dominance in Madrid. Throw in the arrival of Brazilian wonderkid Endrick, and it was difficult to see any team who, on paper, could challenge what Florentino Perez had assembled at Santiago Bernabeu.

Football is not won on paper, however, and Madrid struggled from the off this season. They have shown glimpses of their best in both La Liga and the Champions League, but in the end they were thoroughly outclassed when it came to the crunch. And so while the talent of Madrid's individuals cannot be questioned, it soon became clear that this was a deeply flawed team, and that has led to a forgettable campaign in the capital for which Ancelotti is paying with his job.

So who is to blame, and how does Xabi Alonso fix the problems that plagued Madrid over the past nine months? GOAL looks at where it all went wrong for Los Blancos…

• Getty Images
  

  Mbappe's impact

  When Madrid confirmed the signing of Mbappe after years of trying to get him out of Paris Saint-Germain, there were two predictions made by most fans and pundits: that Mbappe would score a lot of goals for the Spanish giants, but that his signing might have a negative impact on others. Both have played out as many expected.

  Mbappe has scored goals – more than any other Madrid player ever has in their debut season for the club, in fact. His strike in Wednesday's win over Mallorca was his 39th in all competitions, and few would bet against him breaking the 40 mark in the final two games of the campaign. But those goals have come at an undeniable price.

  Spin it however you like, but Vinicius Jr and Mbappe are most comfortable playing in the same position on the left wing. Some pointed towards Mbappe's performances in a two-striker formation for France, or referenced the fact that Vinicius played on the right when Madrid beat Manchester City in last season's Champions League as reasons why the pair could be compatible, but it's clear that they were clutching at straws.

  The plan was for Mbappe to play as a No.9, with Vinicius and Rodrygo either side of him while Jude Bellingham moved back into a more traditional midfield role after thriving as a false nine during his own debut campaign at the Bernabeu. And while Mbappe has found a way to make it work for himself, the overall attacking structure hasn't been functioning. He has continued to drift out to the left-hand side at times, while he doesn't make the instinctive runs or offer the hold-up play of a more traditional central striker.

  Bellingham's own La Liga goal total has dropped from 19 last season to just eight this – and seven of those came between November and the first week in January. Rodrygo, meanwhile, has looked a pale imitation of himself given how much of Madrid's play has come down their left, and he has thus been benched for a number of key games coming down the stretch.

  Defensively, meanwhile, Mbappe's reluctance to work hard off the ball has begun to rub off on some of his high-profile team-mates. As such, they lack coherence when they have the ball, and find themselves outnumbered without it. Mbappe may have held up the goal-scoring side of the bargain, but so many of Madrid's other issues are rooted in his introduction to the team.

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• Getty
  

  Vinicius' rotten revenge tour

  No one, however, has been impacted on as negatively by Mbappe's arrival as Vinicius. His overall goal involvement statistics haven't noticeably dropped – he has 36 combined goals and assists in all competitions this season compared to 37 in 2023-24 – but there is no doubt that Vini is nowhere near as decisive as he has proven to be in recent years.

  Mbappe limiting the space Vinicius has to operate in has certainly caused some of the Brazilian's issues, and one of Alonso's biggest jobs once he arrives from Bayer Leverkusen will be to figure out how to get the best out of his two superstar attackers. But the ex-Madrid midfielder-turned-coach also needs to find a way to get Vincius out of his post-Ballon d'Or funk.

  The winger's public strop at not winning the 2024 Golden Ball amused many, but most expected Vinicius to be true to his word when he clapped back at his snub by claiming that fans "weren't ready" for his on-pitch response. That feeling certainly grew after he marked his first league game following the ceremony in Paris with a hat-trick to beat Osasuna, but as it turned out, that was the high point of Vinicius' campaign.

  He has scored just three La Liga goals since netting that treble on November 9, while the majority of his strikes in the Champions League from December onwards have been inconsequential to the final result. If anything, Vinicius has looked to be trying too hard to prove himself to the watching world, as everything about his play has been forced, desperate and even reckless at times.

  Ancelotti, meanwhile, has grown increasingly frustrated with the ex-Flamengo starlet, and has been seen imploring Vinicius to defend and berating him when he doesn't track back. Rumours of a potential move to Saudi Arabia look to be going away for now, but there is no doubt that Madrid need Vinicius back towards his best if they are to get themselves back on top.

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  Injury woes

  One element of Madrid's demise that Mbappe cannot be blamed for is that of the injury problems that have piled up over the course of the campaign. Every team in world football has to deal with fitness issues over the course of an increasingly busy season, but Los Blancos have been hit more than most by injury-enforced absences in 2024-25.

  By mid-November, Ancelotti had lost the whole right side of his preferred defence after Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao both suffered season-ending ACL injuries, while David Alaba has struggled to put a run of games together ever since returning from his own long-term knee problem in January.

  Eduardo Camavinga, meanwhile, will end the season having missed half of Madrid's league games due to various injuries, and Ferland Mendy hasn't played since mid-March after suffering back-to-back muscle injuries. A host of other players have also missed short stints after picking up more minor knocks, while Antonio Rudiger's six-match ban for his Copa del Rey final meltdown brought forward planned meniscus surgery after he had played with severe pain for the past seven months.

  Bellingham is set to join Rudiger in going under the knife this summer as the England midfielder aims to rid himself of the shoulder problem that has been bothering him throughout the season, and though he has been able to soldier on to not further expose Madrid, it is clear that a lack of quality depth has come back to bite them. Los Blancos needed to invest in other areas than just attack last summer but didn't, and the speed with which they are trying to get deals for Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen over the line speaks to them trying to belatedly solve the problem. The shame for them is that, for this season at least, it's too little, too late.

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  Midfield control disappears

  Perhaps the gap Madrid still most need to fill, though, is in the centre of midfield. While Toni Kroos' decision to retire at the age of 34 came as a shock to many, the fact he announced it before last season was over at least gave his club chance to take stock and weigh up their options. In the end, they decided to ride with what they had – and it hasn't worked.

  Kroos' final campaign was perhaps one of his best. His control and cool-headedness in the middle of the park ensured Madrid were always able to stay in control of games regardless of the scoreline. The German could play short and long passes with equal accuracy while both slowing down and speeding the tempo up when necessary. Vinicius and Bellingham scored the goals and grabbed the headlines, but Kroos was the player who made 2023-24 Madrid truly tick.

  Replacing a one-of-a-kind player isn't straightforward, of course, but that Madrid seemingly made no effort to do so has ultimately proved costly. Any sense of control from their games has disappeared, and until they can find a suitable replacement, they may struggle to compete at the very highest level in the future.

Jordan Pickford might lose his England place as Thomas Tuchel is reportedly a 'huge admirer' of a rival Premier League goalkeeper.

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Pickford has been the No.1 since the 2018 World CupTuchel wants more competition for the Everton keeperHas set sights on Dean Henderson & James TraffordFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

According to Pickford’s longstanding position as England’s number one may soon be in jeopardy as Tuchel is considering alternative options. The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss likes Dean Henderson and James Trafford and could be set to give them a chance to prove themselves between the sticks for the Three Lions.

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Crystal Palace’s Henderson is one of the main candidates to replace Pickford, having enjoyed a standout season that culminated in an FA Cup triumph last weekend. In terms of clean sheets, only Brentford’s David Raya and Nottingham Forest’s Matz Sels managed more than Henderson’s 11, a figure matched only by Pickford.

Trafford, on the other hand, is viewed as a long-term prospect but could receive opportunities sooner than expected. The 21-year-old played a vital role in Burnley’s immediate return to the top flight and was a star performer for England’s Under-21 side during their European Championship success.

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Since making his debut for England in 2017, Pickford has featured regularly between the sticks for the Three Lions. He has amassed 75 international caps, and that total puts him level with Joe Hart and David Seaman for second-most England appearances by a goalkeeper, trailing only Peter Shilton’s record of 125.

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England will return to action next month with two fixtures that may offer Tuchel a platform to trial new options. The team is set to face Andorra in Barcelona for a qualifier, followed by a friendly match at home against Senegal.

The same two teams will face off again in the WTC final at The Oval in London in early June

Sidharth Monga13-Mar-20232:44

What could India’s XI look like for the WTC final?

The comatose pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad had the final say as Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne batted Australia to a comfortable draw in front of the humongous but empty stands. Thus, a fourth-successive Border-Gavaskar Trophy series ended in an identical result: 2-1 to India.India needed to win three Tests in the series to secure their participation in the World Test Championship final against other results elsewhere, but they received good news just as the second session was beginning: New Zealand had won a thriller in Christchurch to deny Sri Lanka, the only side that could challenge India’s progress to final. The India huddle was seen shaking hands just as it was confirmed that Kane Williamson had completed the bye that won them the Test off the final ball.Related

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Trailing India by 88 at the start of the day, Australia needed to bat a little over two sessions to practically ensure the draw. Although the ball did a little more than it had earlier, they lost just the two wickets in the day. One of those would not even have been out had it been a proper batter and not the nightwatcher Matthew Kuhnemann, who didn’t review the lbw call off R Ashwin with the ball missing leg.It was a day of some triumph for Head and Labuschagne. Labuschagne began the series as a key batter if Australia were to succeed, didn’t score a fifty in the first three even though he kept making desperate changes to his game to succeed. Head came with a question mark on his game against spin – even within his team, which didn’t play him in the first Test.Head found the opening spot thanks to the injury to David Warner and eased their potentially tricky chase in Indore. Both Head and Labuschagne missed out in the first innings on a pitch made for batters. In the second innings, they put their heads down and both went past 50 for the first time in the series.The conditions did get progressively difficult as the Test progressed, but the pitch was so slow it didn’t result in actual wickets. The control percentage went from 90.3 in the first innings to 90.7 in the second to 86.8 in the third innings. Normally, Tests start with those third-innings numbers and get progressively difficult.2:22

Chappell: Australia didn’t learn a lot about their play in this series

No matter the flatness, funny things can happen when you are trying to save a Test. Also, Usman Khawaja, Australia’s leading run-scorer for the series, had injured himself and was going to bat only if desperately needed. Head and Labuschagne made sure there was nothing of the sort even after Kuhnemann fell early on the day.Head also made sure the runs came quickly, which took Australia to parity and then past India’s lead. Labuschagne was in no rush: he just wanted to enjoy his time in the sun. The closest India came to getting him out was when Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin found his inside edge, but Jadeja didn’t have a short leg at all, and Ashwin didn’t have a backward short-leg.Head was nearing what would have been an immensely satisfying hundred, but Axar Patel did him with a flighted ball that landed in the rough. It got him to 50 wickets in just 12 Tests even though he has got just three in this series.By the time the final session began, the only matter of interest was if Labuschagne would get to a hundred. That interest was killed pretty quickly as he kept patting back half-volleys, and added just seven to his 56 at tea. Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara got a bowl too, and the teams shook hand at the earliest possible moment they could have done so: with 17.5 overs remaining.Australia declared at that point to give India 15 overs to bat, which is when the sides can agree to end a Test in a draw. That was as emphatic a statement as any against the pitch rolled out for the Test.

Jasprit Bumrah has undergone back surgery as he races against time to be fit for the ODI World Cup, to be played at home in India in October-November this year. The surgery was conducted in New Zealand on Monday.ESPNcricinfo has learnt that Bumrah is expected to stay in New Zealand till the end of March. The roadmap for his return, as prepared by the BCCI’s medical staff, is for him to resume training and bowling by August, and his workload will increase gradually after that, with the plan to get him completely fit for the World Cup.Bumrah has not featured in any cricket since late September last year, when he pulled out of the home white-ball series against South Africa – the reason, reportedly, was a stress reaction in his lower back. He attempted a comeback in January this year for the home series against Sri Lanka, but that didn’t happen after he experienced niggles in the back.Related

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• Rohit wary about rushing Bumrah back

The latest update ruled him out of the 2023 edition of the IPL and the World Test Championship final at The Oval from June 7 (if India qualify).It is understood that the BCCI medical staff at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru had been treating Bumrah’s case on an urgent basis, and suggested the surgery as an option. The decision to get the surgery done was taken by the BCCI in coordination with the NCA and Bumrah.It has been a frustrating wait for Bumrah, who has attempted to make a comeback more than once since suffering the back injury last August, which ruled him out of the Asia Cup. Initially, the injury had not seemed too serious as Bumrah was named in India’s T20 World Cup squad on September 12. To mark his fitness, Bumrah even played in the last two T20Is of the Australia series on September 23 and 25.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

However, three days later, Bumrah did not show up for the first T20I against South Africa in Thiruvananthapuram. It was later learnt that he had been taken for scans, which revealed a stress-related injury. The next day, Bumrah was taken to the NCA where further scans confirmed that the injury was serious, and he was subsequently ruled out of the T20 World Cup.Bumrah resumed his rehab in November and started to bowl by mid-December. His progress seemed positive when the selectors belatedly added him for the white-ball series against Sri Lanka more than a week after the Indian squad was originally named.While Bumrah had performed the match-simulation exercises at NCA, he felt discomfort while performing higher workloads during a fitness drill in Mumbai in early January. Scans revealed a fresh problem, which eventually ruled him out of the Australia Tests.The Indian team management as well as the NCA want Bumrah to return only when he is absolutely fit to perform at his peak, with captain Rohit Sharma also warning India against rushing him back into action.