⚽️ More Added Time In EPL Matches Brings Goals, Drama

It’s early days in this most recent international break. At Crossing the Pond HQ, we can only comfort ourselves in the knowledge that these international breaks coming so early in the Premier League season are what allows the period from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day to be so packed with action. For now, though, with no matches to analyze, we trend technical.

In the email today:

On Saturday, counting first half stoppage time, over 73,000 people at Old Trafford had watched Manchester United spend more than 90 minutes tied with, then losing to, Brentford. Seven minutes later, Scott McTominay had scored twice. United wrenched victory from the jaws of defeat. And the only reason they were able to do it is the Premier League’s offseason decision to make extra time more accurately reflect how much time is lost during the run of play in each 45-minute half.

• Added time per match has gone up by a little over five minutes this season compared to last.

• Premier League teams have scored 32 goals in added time through eight match weeks.

• Naturally, many of these goals have swung match outcomes and thereby had direct impacts on the league table.

• Aside from the goals created, added time is giving Premier League fans more time to watch the ball in play.

Our take: Can you really ever have too much of a good thing? We love the added drama. We also love that these match results, with the time added to fully account for lengthy stoppages, more accurately reflect which team was better on the day. That said…one of the best parts of soccer is (was?) that it began and ended in two hours barring a serious injury. The last thing we want to see is soccer turning into a three-hour event. We suspect that this season’s trend toward outsized added time numbers will self-correct in 2024-2025.

2) 📺️ PGMOL Chief Says They’re Going to Fix VAR

VAR’s failure to award Luis Diaz a goal in the Tottenham Hotspur/Liverpool match on September 30 has become the metaphorical rock thrown into the center of the pond. The rock hits the bottom quickly; the ripples on the water take a lot longer to be still.

• Howard Webb, head of the PGMOL, expressed disappointment at the errors in the VAR system that denied Liverpool a legitimate goal against Tottenham.

• Webb recently suggested that the International Football Association Board should consider adapting the rules of the game to create a window of time for reversing egregious mistakes.

• Webb averred that Darren England, the VAR on duty that day, went through the checking process too quickly, leading to an incorrect offside decision against Luis Diaz.

• The referees' body has collectively addressed officials about the importance of following communication protocols and adding context when confirming or questioning on-field decisions.

• Alterations have been made to the VAR processes, including clearer articulation of on-field decisions, communication between VAR and assistant VAR, and adding context to relay final decisions to the referee.

Our take: VAR at this point is like a teenager who has taken the car out without permission a few too many times to be trusted. The scrutiny on VAR for the remainder of this season in the Premier League is going to be constant and uncomfortable. It used to be that the match referee had the hardest job in the game. Not now. Instead of “who would ever be a ref,” the question now is “who would ever be a VAR?”

3) ❌ of the Day: It Takes a Village

We consider ourselves fairly knowledgeable here at Crossing the Pond HQ. Our best guess here would have definitely been south of 40. You learn something new every day.

4) 🗳️ Poll: Has Your Favorite EPL Team Lost Points This Season Due to a Goal Scored in Added Time?

Have additional thoughts? Reply directly to this email to comment, and see if we include your response tomorrow.

5) 🔗 Links Roundup:

• 🟥 In “you don’t say” news, yeah, Manchester City’s Mateo Kovacic definitely should have been sent off against Arsenal.

• ⬇️ The largest stadium in South London is host to a League One team.

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Erstwhile Spurs god Harry Kane is pulling for his old club to win the league.

• 🎤 BeIN Sports had to remind its commentators to keep their mouths off geopolitical issues.

• 🇪🇸 Eden Hazard is still retired, and with the passage of a little bit of time, the story of how his star fell so fast is being told.

The newsletter today was written by Phil Keidel. Follow Phil on X @philkeidel.

Thanks for reading!