October 23, 2022
The brief from today:
Tough week for France
France coach, Didier Deschamps, will look back on this week as one of the more stressful in his preparation for the World Cup. He was already contending with the injury to influential midfielder, Paul Pogba, who has been out since the beginning of the season due to a knee injury. Following the positive news earlier this week that Pogba was back in training at his club, Juventus, Deschamps will have been feeling fortunate. This development, coupled with the similar path being followed by PSG defender, Presnel Kimpembe, who also recently returned to training after six weeks out for a hamstring issue, was another idyllic update for the France coach. All the positivity was short-lived, however, as this week also brought news that his other vital midfielder, alongside Pogba from their 2018 World Cup victory—N’golo Kante—has been ruled out for four months with a hamstring injury. This blow was quickly followed by another when news from Italy disclosed that AC Milan goalkeeper, Mike Maignan, had re-injured his calf muscle, which he just recovered from after almost one month out. Maignan is Deshcamps’s number two pick in goal behind national team captain, Hugo Lloris, but many believe it’s just a matter of time before he becomes the starter. This level of a competition at the position is the ideal standard a coach would want going into the World Cup incase of a mid-tournament injury, but now he will have to look at other options. As if that wasn’t enough for a week, France vice captain, Raphael Varane, went down in pain yesterday during his match for Manchester United against Chelsea. Scans were done today, and it was confirmed that a thigh injury will keep him out for at least three weeks. Even if Deschamps were to include him in the World Cup squad, he would have to prove his fitness late on, and likely be unavailable for the first group game as well. Whether the manager will opt for such a gamble versus taking a fully fit defender remains to be seen, but the influential role players like Varane and Kante had at the victorious 2018 World Cup is not something Deschamps will enjoy being without.
Deschamps will want to lift the World Cup trophy again, but injuries are costing him some key players
Paolo Valeri under scrutiny again
There was a thrilling Serie A encounter this weekend between Fiorentina and Inter. Home side, Fiorentina, come back from two goals down, then once again clawed back at the death to make it 3-3 after Inter had taken the lead once more, only for the visitors to snatch a late victory deep into added time. The man officiating the match was referee, Paolo Valeri, and his performance in the game is under scrutiny due to a big call he missed despite using the VAR. Valeri had already made headlines before the match when he admitted to making an obvious error in a match earlier this season. The tie in question was Milan versus Atalanta, which took place two months ago and Valeri was actually the VAR for. There was a clear cut foul during the match from Atalanta defender, Hans Hateboer, against Milan attacker, Rafael Leao, which took place in the penalty box, but Valeri didn’t summon the match referee to review the footage. Regarding the incident, Valeri spoke out a few days ago saying, “That was a red card. Fire red.” Milan were not only deprived of a penalty in a match that ended 0-0, but also continued to play against 11 men after a foul that deserved a sending off. With that as the backdrop, there was a similar incident in the Fiorentina and Inter match. This time, Valeri was told by the VAR to review a foul by Inter defender, Federico Dimarco, on Fiorentina midfielder, Giacomo Bonaventura, which took place in the Inter box. Upon review, Valeri, who already had a clear view of the incident in real time, was now forced to overturn his no call. He awarded the penalty, which seemed to be the obvious decision, but the controversy that remains is his failure to award a red card for yet another reckless challenge. After the Hateboer admission, the referee placed a spotlight on himself, but despite that he still somehow excused Dimarco’s thigh high studs challenge on Bonaventura without even a yellow card. Reports in Italy now believe that referee chief, Gianluca Rocchi, will likely suspend Valeri for at least one week following the clear oversight.
Paolo Valeri’s performance during Fiorentina vs. Inter has left him under scrutiny once again