Have Spurs finally found the answer to the riddle?

The Independent’s football newsletter [View in browser]( [The Independent]( July 01, 2022 [The Independent]( Reading the Game Written by Karl Matchett   Have Spurs finally found the answer to the riddle?   Richarlison lands in north London The latest attempt has cost them in excess of £50m, but have Tottenham Hotspur finally found a way to do what they have previously found impossible? That is, to sign a forward of a sufficient calibre to not just play alongside Harry Kane regularly, but to replace him as the centre-forward when the England man is unavailable. It's a long and largely dismal list which make up the failures and flops in north London in trying to do exactly that, with different managers (and sporting directors) opting alternately for everything from inside forwards to out-and-out backup No9s. Since Kane's first full campaign in the side in 2014/15, Spurs have added the likes of Clinton N'Jie, Georges-Kevin N'Koudou, Vincent Janssen, Fernando Llorente, Steven Bergwijn, Lucas Moura, Carlos Vinicius - plus more recent loans for Gareth Bale and Dejan Kulusevski. Leaving aside the latter, who could yet join permanently and has started his time in the Premier League in impressive fashion, those who came before have wavered between good, but not great...and outright terrible. Janssen, Llorente, N'Koudou and N'Jie between them cost at least £50m, which is around the same fee as Spurs have [now decided to outlay on signing]( Richarlison from Everton on a five-year deal. Adding him to Kane, Kulusevski and Son Heung-min - the sole massive success in attack signed since Kane's breakthrough - gives Antonio Conte not just depth in attack, but real quality, aggression and an alternative central option. The Brazilian will doubtless feature right the way across Spurs' attacking line this season after becoming their fourth addition of the summer. England wrap up Euros preparations in style It's onto Euro 2022 for Sarina Wiegman and her England team, after they dispatched of Switzerland in impressive fashion during their final warm-up game. A four-goal margin of victory came despite several changes to the side - illness and rotation ahead of the tournament both playing a part - with all the strikes coming after half-time. The boss has won 12 of her 14 games in charge of the Lionesses now, following similarly solid warm-up wins over Belgium and Netherlands. England start their Euros adventure on home soil against Austria on 6 July, at Old Trafford, before games against Norway and Northern Ireland follow. Wiegman has stopped short of calling England the absolute favourites to win, but optimism is high [despite the boss suggesting there are areas to improve](. “These are all friendlies, it is very nice to play and learn from it, but it really starts next Wednesday,” she said after the Thursday night win in Zurich. “And I think we are in a very good place, but we still have to improve a couple of things.” A final pre-tournament boost comes from England unveiling local billboards of support and inspiration for all 23 squad players in their hometowns: digital posters are being displayed of Lucy Bronze in Newcastle, Alex Greenwood in Liverpool, Lauren Hemp in Norwich and Rachel Daly in Leeds, among others. Spain and France are seen as the main contenders to triumph this summer, alongside England. Faster offside calls but no robot referees Pierluigi Collina has rejected any notion of the increasing automation in football meaning that referees become obsolete in the game - but insists the improvements in technology can aid both fans' enjoyment and officials' decision-making. The next step in that progression will be seen at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when we'll be seeing not just VAR and goalline technology in action, but also semi-automated offside calls. Synchronised cameras and a sensor inside the ball will send simultaneous data hundreds of times a second to the video assistant ref, alerting them the instant that a pass is made to an offside player. The decision then still comes through the officials, who have to make the call, but trials suggested the time taken to decide have come down to 25 seconds, from 70, on average. "Goalline technology offers very high accuracy," Collina said. "If the ball crosses or doesn't cross the line by a few millimetres everyone is happy. It is the same with semi-automated technology. If the player is on or offside, the technology should be praised then as well." That, as ever Pierluigi, will probably depend on whether the offside call has gone in the viewer's favour or not. Champions League changes in £1.5bn deal BT Sport have secured the rights to continue showing the Uefa Champions League in the UK, but this time they will split matches with Amazon, who will broadcast games for the first time. The total package is worth £500m a year between 2024 and '27, an increase of 20% from the current agreement. Under the terms of the deal, Amazon are [set to take their pick of Tuesday night games](, with BT showing the remainder - plus the Europa and Europa Conference Leagues. Highlights will be on BBC Sport for the first time, too. There's currently no confirmation on whether Amazon will offer the games as part of their Prime Video package or whether, yet again, fans will be forced to part with more cash for another subscription to cover the increase in fees paid.   Top stories [French minister admits to ‘bad management’ of Champions League final but doesn’t apologise for blaming Liverpool fans]( [New Everton owners wouldn’t ‘throw money around like confetti’](   Karl's Dispatches The end of the European football season is a pretty good time to take a break and get away from the relentlessness of every single campaign, though it's near-impossible to break away from the sport completely, of course. Nobody to blame but myself this time though, as I opted to take in an MLS match for the first time, heading to the iconic Yankee Stadium to watch New York City FC face Colorado Rapids. The 1-1 draw was a largely enjoyable encounter, but it wasn't so much the on-pitch action as the off-pitch atmosphere and overall approach I was most curious about this time. It was, all things considered, far more similar to attending a baseball game (which I did a few years ago) than a soccer - sorry, football - match on these shores: milling about on the concourse just minutes before kick-off, people randomly walking off to buy food and drink midway through the first half and yes, even a couple of vendors walking around the stands between rows of seats selling Bud Light from a coolbox strapped to their shoulders. For all that, it was also noticeable that the main section of fans behind the goal carried a continual, South American-style drums-and-chants backdrop to the game, making it an entertaining overall day out in which Talles Magno and former Liverpool and Rangers defender Danny Wilson were the standouts. Now, where can I go watch Gareth Bale play first...   Quote of the day "I'm back baby! I didn't even leave my home when I went to England, which shows how happy I am to be back here." Romelu Lukaku reveals he perhaps didn't quite throw his heart and soul into his Chelsea switch as he returns to Inter Milan on loan   Reading the game quiz Richarlison signs for Spurs having scored 48 Premier League goals so far - including two against his new club. He's the third-highest all-time Brazilian goalscorer in the competition and only eight have so far managed 20 or more. Name the other seven and, for a bonus point, how many goals does the current top scorer from Brazil have? ([You can find out the answers here](. The answer page will be updated weekly and contains answers from previous newsletters, too)   INDYBEST /BEST SPORTS BUY](   9 best knee supports for running that help relieve pain and aid recovery For many people, the time between injury and getting back to [fitness]( is the worst bit. However, it’s also one of the most important. [Click here for our knee support reviews to help get you back on the road](     Essential reading [Alex Scott: Misogynistic remarks will not stop me presenting football](   Gareth Bale awarded goal that sent Wales to World Cup following review](   If you can spare a minute we’d love your [feedback]( on our newsletters. [The Independent]( Join the conversation or follow us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( Please do not reply directly to this email You are currently registered to receive The Independent's football newsletter. Add us to your safe list of senders. 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