Prolonging matches to tackle time-wasting is “changing the game we fell in love with”, the Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Maheta Molango has said. Referees in competitions around the world have been instructed this season to more accurately measure time lost to stoppages such as substitutions, goal celebrations, VAR checks and injuries, after the approach was first adopted at last year’s World Cup in Qatar. It has already led to 13 minutes of time being added to the second half of Sunday’s Community Shield between Manchester City and Arsenal, and has sparked criticism from City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and Manchester United defender Raphael Varane who say the move, combined with an already congested calendar, is pushing players to breaking point. PFA boss Molango says the focus should be on sanctioning individual players and teams who waste time, and told BBC Radio 5 Live: “This is not basketball, this is football. There’s probably a reason why the game was 90 minutes and not 60, and what we’re trying to do here is change the football that we all fell in love with. That’s not, in my opinion, what the fans want to see. “We all agree we need to deal with time-wasting. Whether the solution is to add more minutes to the game, I’m not sure. I think there are other ways to deal with that. The referee has the power to sanction the people who waste time. “If you look at the game on Sunday, these are two teams that do not waste time. There was no time-wasting whatsoever yet in the second half you end up with eight minutes added with two teams who do not waste time. “So you’re thinking when you see teams who use a different type of tactics, how long will the game be?” Molango says many players have echoed Varane’s concerns over the new approach and player workload generally when he has met with them over the summer. He says football must wake up and address the problems with the calendar, which appear set to get worse with UEFA’s club competitions expanding in the 2024-25 season. That campaign will also end with FIFA’s new 32-team Club World Cup in the United States. “This year’s Champions League final is a good example of how saturated the calendar is,” Molango added. “Watching the game as a fan it’s sad to see Kevin De Bruyne not able to finish the first half or to hear after the game Rodri say that they had cramps after 60 minutes. That’s just not what you want to see. What you want to see is players being able to show their best version. Even for those who just see this as a commercial venture, ultimately they are killing the product. Ultimately it will affect the game and viewership. Maheta Molango on football's crowded calendar “Those type of situations need to be a wake-up call to say you’re just not heading in the right direction and we need to do something about that if we don’t want to kill the product. “I’m using the word ‘product’ on purpose because even for those who just see this as a commercial venture, ultimately they are killing the product. Ultimately it will affect the game and viewership.” It has been reported that broadcasters are in talks with the football authorities over the new approach to added time amid concerns it will affect scheduling.

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As Olga Carmona ran back to the Spanish celebrations, having just declared that the federation’s support was “marvellous” with a World Cup medal around her neck, she and manager Jorge Vilda high-fived then shared a huge hug. It was an image that went against the more prolific pictures of other players refusing to even look at their coach in the moment of glory. This is not to try and say it was all much rosier in the Spanish camp than had been reported. It is quite the opposite. It points to how multi-layered the many issues in the squad were, going way beyond a mutiny against the manager. The tragic news of Carmona's father passing away before the final illustrates this. But, separate from this tragedy, the issues were real. The Spanish federation’s social media account did put out a post with a picture of the coach and the Women’s World Cup trophy declaring “Vilda in”. The manager, having eventually appeared for his press conference after almost three hours of celebrating, was asked about this – and those who doubted him. In other words, the players at the core of the mutiny, who did not come back. Vilda’s answer was perhaps the most direct reference he’s made to the controversy throughout this World Cup, but was still oblique. “I’m happy for everyone we made happy and that wanted our squad to win. That’s it.” It was just another layer to a situation that has seen a core of players mutiny against the coach and the federation, some come back, with individuals then standing alongside replacements for rebels. It is understood there is a growing Real Madrid-Barcelona issue, to go alongside a more complicated split between those who are in the squad and have little time for Vilda and those who are completely indebted to him. Madrid’s Carmona, whose influence in the squad grew after the mutiny, is very much one of the latter. There is a lot that can be said about all this, but all pale next to the most relevant statement of all. Spain are world champions. Jenni Hermoso had an unintentionally pointed comment on that: “It is easier to say you are world champions than to achieve it.” That has rarely been so true. The most fascinating part of it all is that nobody has ever won any major tournament in a manner even close to this. It is a victory completely without precedent in the history of the sport. There’s an obvious reason for that. Squads faced with such strife usually fall apart. The centre doesn’t hold. It is in many ways how not to win a World Cup. You only have to look at France 2002 and 2010, the Netherlands at Euro 96 and even various men’s Spanish teams. And yet, in the moment of glory, there was another image that symbolised so much. By the penalty area where goalkeeper Cata Coll withstood England’s late pressure, all of the Spanish players had come together in one big group. Almost at the other end of the pitch, by the sideline, the coaching staff celebrated in their own separate huddle. That alone symbolised so much. And yet there was more. In the middle was the entire England squad, Sarina Wiegman and her staff gathering the players together for a consoling message of pride. It was the team with much more unity that had, in many ways, been taken apart. The question isn’t quite how, though. There are obvious explanations. Just as a very specific set of circumstances fostered this crisis, a very specific set of circumstances have also made Spain the best team in the world. All of these players have come through a superb coaching infrastructure, immersed in a highly specific identity, that just isn’t yet visible anywhere else in a developing women’s game. It has given them a supreme advantage that allows them to overcome an unprecedented number of problems. You only have to look at the instinctive way their players get out of the tightest of spaces, to initiate an intricate passing triangle. Any conscious issues are inevitably overcome when it comes that naturally. Carmona’s goal was the perfect example of this. It was executed at such speed and with such flow it was as if they didn’t even need to think about it. They just knew what to do. It was ingrained. It used to be like this for the Spanish men, goalkeeper Coll even making a point of mentioning of how she was inspired by Andres Iniesta and Iker Casillas in 2010. It was just that other countries caught up and began to develop plans that worked very well to counter it. Wiegman gave as good an attempt as anyone, other than Japan. This is another historic anomaly with this Spanish team. No one outside West Germany 1954 has ever won either a men or women’s World Cup having lost a game by more than two goals. Wiegman and her staff had, of course, pored over footage of Spain’s 4-0 defeat to Japan. They thought they had something figured out, but found Vilda’s side had stepped up a level. The Japan match had evidently allowed insight into potential solutions for Spain’s tactical problems. Wiegman almost seemed blown away by how good Spain were, in a very gracious press conference. She naturally admitted they deserved it and then elaborated on the almost impossible balance she tried to strike between pressing Spain but not leaving space in behind. It’s immensely difficult when a player like Aitana Bonmati can just escape in the way she does. That is, again, the other side of this issue. If Spain’s preparation shows how not to win a World Cup, their idea of the game is just how to play football. There are so many moments you watch one of those moves and think every single footballer should have this as a fundamental of their game. There may be fair questions over whether Vilda is any good as a coach at all but he did get one big call right on Sunday: it was clearly correct to go with Salma Paralluelo over Alexia Putellas and became more pronounced given Wiegman’s reluctance to play Lauren James from the start. One stuck. One twisted. It is one of many turns in the story of this campaign, that has never been as neat or as binary as portrayed. It still isn’t how you’d want to prepare for a World Cup, though. That is by far the most remarkable aspect of this fully deserved win. Read More Jorge Vilda: Spain’s World Cup coach at the heart of a civil war Spain star Jenni Hermoso reacts after FA president kisses her on lips Olga Carmona: Spain’s World Cup-winning goalscorer is informed of father’s death minutes after final ends Spanish FA boss who kissed player filmed making obscene gesture The anguish, emotion and the story of the Women’s World Cup in photos Women’s World Cup 2023 LIVE: England head home after final heartbreak

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Gareth Southgate feels privileged to be anywhere near a century of matches at the England helm as he prepares for a repeat of the fixture where it all began for him seven years ago. Having rebuffed the Football Association’s initial approach after Euro 2016, the then Under-21s boss was parachuted into the hotseat after Sam Allardyce’s swift, ignominious exit. Southgate’s first game in temporary charge was a World Cup qualifier against Malta, with Daniel Sturridge and Dele Alli securing a 2-0 win in October 2016. Friday sees the Mediterranean minnows return to Wembley for the first time since then – a night when the England boss will take charge of his 90th senior international. “I know the numbers and I am aware that Bobby Robson was 95 games,” Southgate said. “If you had said to me the first time we played Malta that would be the case, I don’t know how I would have thought about that. “It has been a privilege to take as many games as we have and we have had some wonderful experiences and incredible nights along that journey. “I am very happy to be in with the sort of names that have managed that many games.” I am very happy to be in with the sort of names that have managed that many games Gareth Southgate Southgate is on track to become the first England manager to oversee a century of matches since Sir Alf Ramsey – a feat that could be achieved in the Euro 2024 knockout phase. But silverware in Germany rather than individual milestones is the only focus ahead of potentially his final tournament in charge. England sealed progress to next year’s Euros with two games to spare, yet a packed Wembley crowd will still be in attendance on Friday for the home game of an unbeaten year. Southgate wants to bring the curtain down in style against Malta after a disruptive build-up in which five of his players withdrew through injury, two were absent for personal reasons and three uncapped players were called up. “We want to play well,” Southgate said. “We’ve got close to 90,000 people coming – this is the last time we play at home in this calendar year. “Our performances across the calendar year have been very good and we want to finish the year well. “There are some individual things we would like to see and like to learn a little bit more about. “But clearly that is tempered by the sort of test that is going to be. “There are specifics for this game where you are going to have to break down a packed defence and we have to make sure we have the players in the starting team that can unlock those doors as well. “So, you are always trying to achieve a number of different objectives. “It has been a complicated week in that the five days leading into the camp, we lost a lot of players. “Each day, somebody else seemed to go so there has been a lot of change within the squad and it has not been easy to get all of the players on the pitch every day. “Tuesday, we hardly did anything training-wise so it has been a much shorter week and we are pleased with where the team is for the game and we are looking forward to seeing them play.” England complete this year’s schedule away to North Macedonia on Monday, before attention turns to the Euro 2024 draw in Hamburg on December 2. Preparations are well under way and Southgate says winning is “implicit in everything” he does as he looks to turn seven years of learnings into silverware. “I guess the biggest thing I have experienced is that you take charge of one of the most high-pressured jobs in world football and had to manage some of the biggest matches in world football,” he said. “There is only a World Cup final that we haven’t done. “You understand what that means in the longer term, in terms of what you have learned, what you have taken from those experiences. “And the fact we have dealt with those challenges and that pressure, which can sometimes really inhibit people and, frankly, a lot of people could not cope with that pressure, so I feel pleased we have shown that we can do that. “I am sure there will have been a lot of doubts some years ago whether I was capable of doing that and, of course, there will be other doubts people will have and that will always be the same. “You will always have questions asked of you but as a person, and as a coach, you will always learn through every experience you have and every day will throw a different challenge and you are learning all the time.” Read More Gareth Southgate highlights Sir Bobby Charlton legacy ahead of Wembley tribute How Gareth Southgate can make England vs Malta exciting If England were playing Malta in my front garden, I’d close the curtains Jude Bellingham and Levi Colwill injuries add to England absences Sir Alex Ferguson and Prince William among mourners at Sir Bobby Charlton’s funeral Alexander-Arnold studying Gerrard and Pirlo to master midfield role

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