Marseille’s Morgan Sanson is the latest rumoured Villa signing, with a number of respected outlets reporting the signing today, but what can the midfielder bring to Villa Park, and where would he fit into the side?
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Over 70 former professional rugby players are preparing for legal action against the sport’s governing bodies according to this report.
The group litigation seems to be in its early stages, but World Rugby & Unions will be starting to get twitchy.
THREAD on the key issues 👇🏼
1) Duty of care
Do the governing bodies (World Rugby, RFU, WRU etc) owe players a duty of care in respect of their health and safety? The answer is almost certainly yes (see for example Watson v BBBoC).
2) Breach of duty
Have the governing bodies breached this duty? This is the first of the major hurdles for any litigation.
The question is essentially whether they acted reasonably in the circumstances.
Did they know about the dangers of concussion and fail to act?
Or should they have done more to discover the dangers of concussion but failed to do so?
The NFL case was based on the fact that the NFL knew of the dangers and covered them up. I’d suggest that’s unlikely here. However, it may be that WR/Unions should have done more sooner.
Much will depend upon the state of medical/scientific understanding of concussion at the relevant times.
For example, in the early 80s it may be that there was no indication that concussion might cause long-term complications but, by the early 2000s, there was.
The group litigation seems to be in its early stages, but World Rugby & Unions will be starting to get twitchy.
THREAD on the key issues 👇🏼
Exclusive: Rugby faces group litigation action on concussion | @danscho1 reportshttps://t.co/i246r0c9IS
— Telegraph Rugby (@TelegraphRugby) December 7, 2020
1) Duty of care
Do the governing bodies (World Rugby, RFU, WRU etc) owe players a duty of care in respect of their health and safety? The answer is almost certainly yes (see for example Watson v BBBoC).
2) Breach of duty
Have the governing bodies breached this duty? This is the first of the major hurdles for any litigation.
The question is essentially whether they acted reasonably in the circumstances.
Did they know about the dangers of concussion and fail to act?
Or should they have done more to discover the dangers of concussion but failed to do so?
The NFL case was based on the fact that the NFL knew of the dangers and covered them up. I’d suggest that’s unlikely here. However, it may be that WR/Unions should have done more sooner.
Much will depend upon the state of medical/scientific understanding of concussion at the relevant times.
For example, in the early 80s it may be that there was no indication that concussion might cause long-term complications but, by the early 2000s, there was.
When thinking about who to play in DM for Leeds the word "role" is important. Let's have a think about the role:
A lot of people think Struijk isn't good enough in the build-up phase. Well, what does the DM do in build-up?
Here's a passing network from last season:
As you can see, Phillips' role in the Championship last season was largely facilitating build up in the wide area (on the left interestingly).
Per Wyscout, Phillips is putting up a figure of 7.03 long passes per 90 minutes and completes around 59%. Last season he was making 6.94 long passes per 90 mins at around 52%.
Per dribbles he's putting up similar numbers across both seasons (between 1 and 1.5 p90) and per duels he's putting up the same number (20 p90).
All of this suggests his role hasn't changed much over the last couple of seasons.
This exactly. I think the 8 and fullback roles in this system share quite a lot of common attributes, even forgetting how Bielsa looks to hybrid them in 3-3-1-3. No wonder that we've seen Dallas, Shackleton, Gotts etc play both. And these roles play to Dallas' strengths.
— Jacob Standbridge (@PocketTrumpeter) February 13, 2021
A lot of people think Struijk isn't good enough in the build-up phase. Well, what does the DM do in build-up?
Here's a passing network from last season:
As you can see, Phillips' role in the Championship last season was largely facilitating build up in the wide area (on the left interestingly).
Per Wyscout, Phillips is putting up a figure of 7.03 long passes per 90 minutes and completes around 59%. Last season he was making 6.94 long passes per 90 mins at around 52%.
Per dribbles he's putting up similar numbers across both seasons (between 1 and 1.5 p90) and per duels he's putting up the same number (20 p90).
All of this suggests his role hasn't changed much over the last couple of seasons.