This Injury Changes Everything...

Today’s issue is sponsored by the Boring James Milner twitter account. Real ones remember.

Hello all 🙂 

We’re back on this, the most unlucky of days, with our third and final installment of the critically acclaimed (don’t look that up) series that gives you a guide to the international break. We’ve called it…Your Guide to the International Break.

In the spirit of bad luck, we’re going to be taking a look at two huge stories that have captured our attention this week:

• First, we’ll talk about some of the players who were unfortunately bitten by the injury bug during the break so far.

• Then, we turn our attention to a group of Serie A players who are in hot water for allegedly “trying their luck” at illegal gambling.

But before we begin, a quick shoutout to Georgia. With last night’s 8-0 win over Thailand they’ve now recorded their biggest win and biggest defeat (they lost 7-1 to Spain on September 8th) within the space of a month. The highs and lows of this game are truly unmatched.

International Break Injury Report 🩹

Injuries: they’re a part of the game we all hate. And this year, just like any other, numerous teams have already had to retool their game plans due to injuries to their key players. Heading into this international break, there may not have been a more injury-riddled team than the Netherlands, who, as pointed out by Reddit user Tiwieg, could make an impressive starting eleven just off of the names on their disabled list.

However, now that a good chunk of matches have been played, which key players have picked up injuries so far?

Victor Osimhen

Definitely the last news Napoli manager Rudi Garcia would have wanted to hear. Earlier today during Nigeria’s match against Saudi Arabia, Osimhen made Napoli and Nigeria fans’ hearts skip a beat when he limped off the field. In Monday’s issue, we listed Rudi Garcia as one of Europe’s many managers considered to be “on the hot seat” right now, and it certainly will not help his chances to turn around Napoli’s subpar form if he has to go into crucial upcoming matches against Union Berlin in the Champions League and Milan in Serie A without his star tallysman.

Cole Palmer

England U21s’ 9-1 thrashing of Serbia was slightly soured when the new Chelsea signing came off in the second half with an undisclosed injury. As a precautionary measure, Palmer has been ruled out of England’s upcoming match against Ukraine in Slovakia. England U21 manager Lee Carsley expressed optimism regarding Palmer's recovery but decided not to take any risks, ensuring his prompt return to his club. Chelsea fans, after enduring one of the more injury-riddled seasons I’ve ever seen a team face, will surely want this guarantee in writing.

Gavi

This one will hit Spain and Barca fans especially hard, as the injury didn’t even occur in-game, but at training. We don’t yet have any further information about this knock picked up by everyone’s favorite Xavi/Iniesta regen (idk people haven’t collectively decided which one he is yet) but for the Blaugrana, it just adds another name to their growing list of injury concerns. If you’re curious, this is what it looks like:

Jules Koundé

Lamine Yamale

Neco Williams

Robert Lewandowski

Pedri

Frenkie de Jong

Raphina

Andy Robertson

By between this injury and the VAR incident, Jurgen Klopp will want this month to end as soon as possible. Andy Robertson was substituted during Scotland’s 2-0 loss to Spain in Euro Qualifiers yesterday with what appeared to be a shoulder injury. Just before, Robertson collided with Spanish stopper Unai Simon, and was in significant pain as he headed into the changing room. The clear worry here is that Robertson has dislocated his shoulder, and if surgery is required for such an injury, Robertson might be sidelined for over three months. However, if the injury proves to be less severe, he could be out for a more manageable period of two to four weeks.

Moving forward, it will be interesting to follow if any precautions are taken in order to lessen the vast amount of injuries players suffer while on international duty. Over the past few days, multiple players have voiced frustration about the amount of matches players have to deal with.

Yesterday, Virgil Van Dijk said:

“In England we believe the schedules are too busy. The players are getting paid well but it should never come at the cost of our health”.

Then, earlier this morning during a press conference, it was Aurelien Tchouameni:

“Obviously we play too many matches. This is no surprise to anyone. Champions League matches used to be every two weeks, they were the only times when we had two matches in a week. It almost doesn’t happen anymore.”

Do you believe that players calling for fewer games wil affect anything going forward? Reply to this email and let us know.

(Another) Serie A Gambling Scandal

And now: the gambling story that is shaking up world football right now. As you can imagine, the paparazzi/many media outlets have been very keen to take this story and run with it, so we’re only going to be focusing on what has been 100% confirmed thus far.

First: who’s under investigation and what for?

• There are said to be numerous players implicated, but the three confirmed to be under investigation are Nicola Fagioli (Juventus), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle), and Nicolò Zaniolo (Aston Villa). The aforementioned investigation concerns illegal betting, however authorities have not confirmed what exactly that entails. It’s worth noting that the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) prohibits players from betting on matches, but all other gambling is fair game (pun intended).

Now let’s look at a timeline of what’s happened so far:

• It all started on Wednesday when La Stampa reported that Fagioli was involved in “an illegal betting ring”. This came after Fabrizio Corona, notorious king of Italian paparazzi made a number of allegations against the Juve player regarding potential illegal gambling.

• Later on Wednesday, Turin prosecutors officially confirmed that Faigioi was under investigation for “alleged illegal betting activities”, however they did not confirm what type of betting

• The next day, reports surfaced that Tonali and Zanniolo were being questioned by Italian police in Turin.

• Later that day, the FIGC confirmed the earlier reports, releasing the following statement:

"The Federation announces that this afternoon the Turin Public Prosecutor's Office has conducted investigations into players, Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Zaniolo, who are currently training with the national team at the Coverciano Federal Training Centre. Regardless of the nature of the events, considering that the two players are not in the necessary condition to face the matches scheduled for the next few days, the Federation has decided, also for their protection, to allow them to return to their respective clubs."

What are the potential punishments?

• The FIGC’s code of conduct outlines that, if found guilty of betting on matches, players face a potential three-year minimum ban, along with a minimum fine of €25,000.

We will continue to follow up on this story as more details emerge, but for now, we want to get your opinion on something. How do you feel about gambling platforms sponsoring football teams? With how much gambling is looked down upon when it pertains to players, do you believe it sends mixed messages to allow betting platforms to play such a big role in the sport? This is a polarizing one, so reply to this email and let us know your thoughts.

Full Time. Thank you for your time today, and we hope today ends up being the luckiest day of your life. In fact, you’re already in luck because we’ve left you some more stuff below that we think you’ll like.

Take care ❤️

More Good Stuff 👍

Arsenal player Mohammed Elnenny is forming his own club 👀 You joining? https://www.instagram.com/p/CyOBfGfv1pG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Ahead of their Euro 2024 Qualifying match vs. Scotland, Dani Carvajal and Alvaro Morata walked onto the pitch alongside children with autism, wearing headphones to show their support for autism awareness. https://www.instagram.com/p/CyT5m-EJtVQ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Absolute scenes from the Swedish league. Hammarby’s fans provided an unbelievable atmosphere during their match against BK Häcken last Sunday. https://v.redd.it/q40n986tqrtb1

Issue thumbnail image credit: Jim Steele