Euro 2025 Network Diagrams

Now in a slightly different format. 

The Making Of: 

UEFA saying teams had to announce their teams by the 25th of June meant that I have had plenty of time to make these diagrams. That the women's teams are limited to only 23 players also sped this along. 

Interestingly, while coverage and interest in women's football had increased hugely, the Wikipedia pages are still updated much more slowly than the equivalent men's pages. I was making the diagrams and spotted that Italy had a much bigger and darker red circle than the other teams, and when I checked, it was because the Wikipedia page hadn't been updated following the cut from 27 players to 23. 

The Diagrams:  

The community view is very pretty this year. There are 14 communities covering the 16 teams.  

Some Observations Based on the Diagrams: 

Every country has at least one player playing for their home league, except Wales. 

Every country has at least one player playing abroad - for Italy it is literally only the one (Arianna Caruso for Bayern Munich). 

It is not clear if Germany or Switzerland is the country closest to the centre. 

It is clear that Bayern Munich are the club team closest to the centre. 

The club teams with the most players present are Barcelona with 17, Bayern Munich with 16, then Juventus and Chelsea with 14. 

For most national teams, the players are spread over several teams. The exceptions to this are Italy, Spain, Portugal and Germany, although with Germany it's less obvious when looking at the diagram because a number of non-German players also play for them. England are more weakly like that, with a lot of players from Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City. 

The number of links between Italy and Denmark is due to the large number of Danish players playing in Italy, which might be related to similar patterns seen in the men's game. Danish acquaintance of mine used to complain players on had to be signed by Italian clubs to walk into the national team. 

Having done this for women's tournaments before (see the 2022 version of this here - https://fulltimesportsfan.wordpress.com/2022/07/08/womens-euro-2022-network-diagrams-group-stage/), I'm slightly saddened that we seem to be losing those teams where the main team is the women's team; there's no players for Turbine Potsdam for instance, and only a few from London Lionesses, Paris FC and Madrid CFF. I don't want the increased interest in women's football to cause it to lose its history. (I still don't forgive the English Women's Super League for screwing over Doncaster Belles.) 

Some of the old divisions still remain; Liverpool not giving a flying curse about it's women's team is reflected by there only being two Liverpool players present, both for Wales, compared to eight for Everton. Everton have always supported their women's team - when I was young, the only chance women in my area had of playing football properly was in their women's team. 

One thing that might be affecting the clustering is the number of players who play for US teams. A country with a lot of club teams represented but not present itself doesn't usually happen, unless one of the big guns doesn't qualify (looking at you, so often, Italy). 

I will be keeping an eye on Poland, particularly Emilia Szymczak who is 19 and plays for Barcelona B. If you're good enough to be picked up by Barcelona at that age ... 

In terms of the community view, the national teams that group together are Sweden and England (because of Arsenal and Chelsea) and Switzerland and Germany (because of Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg). Switzerland and Germany being joined is really interesting given Germany's circle overlaps with Norway's, and yet those two aren't linked. 

Predictions: L likes me to try to predict the outcome of the games from this, and there is some correlation between closeness to centre and connectedness and doing better in tournaments. 

However, previous experience (https://fulltimesportsfan.wordpress.com/2023/08/03/womens-world-cup-2023-last-16-network-diagrams/) has shown that it doesn't work as well for women's football. 

Because half the teams will be gone after the group stage, it's a lot harder to predict, and it makes the games so much more tense. Limiting the Euros to 16 teams also means some of those groups are stacked - like group D - England, France, Netherlands and Wales. So that's the present World Cup holders, the winners of Euro 2022, the winners of Euro 2017 and the lowest ranked team in the competition. 

Bon chance, Wales. 

(Actually, the diagram doesn't have them as separated from the other teams as I would have expected.) 

Spain are the team that really confuses the diagram. I would expect them to be a lot more central, given I expect them to do well. It could be the number of players that also play for clubs with Portuguese players that is pulling them out there or potentially a sign that they may not do as well as expected. 

Running purely off the diagram, the teams most closely clustered are Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Netherlands, England, France, and then one of Denmark and Spain. You'll notice that's 9 teams and only 8 go through. 

If we take Switzerland and Norway from group A, that leaves 3 more groups where it is unclear. 

For group B, it is unclear because only Spain are in that central core, and they're barely in it. 

For group C, as Germany and Sweden are closer to the centre than Denmark, I will predict that these are the teams that will get through. 

For group D, D for death, that logic can't work because England and France are a similar distance from the centre of the cluster. My best prediction - that group is going to be tight.

Saints Ahoy - Game 27 and the 2024 Season to Date

Game 27 was a dismal loss to Warrington. 

Dismal because Warrington, and even more dismal because the only points that Saints scored was from a penalty. It seemed to be that sort of game (https://www.saintsrlfc.com/2024/09/07/saints-beaten-by-warrington-at-the-halliwell-jones-stadium/), with lots of their points also coming from penalties and 3 yellow cards - 2 for them, 1 for us. 

Yup, the team with fewer cards lost.

The "who is present together when Saints concede in game 27" matrix indicates quite clearly who the "missing" player was, enveloping Matty Lees in one group even though his line is paler than the players around him. 

Yes, I wonder who got the yellow card! Looking at the season to date: 

When do Saints score?  

Bennison is now equal to Welsby in the "who scores for Saints?" bar chart. Game 27 was when Welsby made his return from injury. Who is present when Saints score, up to game 27?  

To my mind, the interesting thing here is you've got the three present the most (Blake, Welsby and Dodd), followed by one slowly declining cluster (Mbye, Hurrell, Sironen, Percival, Bell, Lomax, Clark, Makinson, Lees, Whitley, Mata'utia and Delaney) then a drop to the bottom cluster who also slowly reduce in number present as you go down the list (Batchelor, Bennison, Knowles, Davies, Ritson, Stephens, Robertson, Walmsley, Wingfield, Paasi, Burns, Royle, Vaughan and Whitby). 

In the matrix of who plays together most often when Saints score, now updated to game 27, the top left border of Whitley, Bennison and Batchelor, first seen in game 26 is still there.  

The network graph looks like this: When do Saints concede?  

The "who is present when Saints concede" chart has a very different shape to the "who is present when Saints score" bar chart. While that has three distinct sections, this chart has Blake and Lomax in the lead (because they have played a lot of minutes), then a slowly degrading curve covering most of the other players, then a small section of the infrequently present players at the bottom.  

The concede matrix looks very similar to last time, except fuzzier once more. It's interesting that as there's more data, the boundaries between the groups get weaker, then they suddenly pop back into strong colours, then weaken again (and so on). Another interesting this is that, although the shape is similar, some of the players have moved section e.g. Ritson has moved from the middle group to the darkest group, in just one game. The network graph is the same shape but has shifted about 15 degrees clockwise. Last time I suggested that players were either being sucked into the centre or moving out. It was being sucked in because they're all much closer now. Despite the piles of data, there are still changes, and the players brought in as other players were injured are now clearly part of the main group due to number of matches played. It's been interesting to watch that exchange of players coming in and out of the matchday squad. 

There may be a slight delay as I work on the Women's Euro 2025 network graphs. I am already seeing some interesting patterns.

Saints Ahoy - Game 26 and the Season to Date

Game 26 was Saints away at Huddersfield, which Saints won (https://www.saintsrlfc.com/matches/2024/first-team/huddersfield-giants-v-saints-2024-09-01/?swcfpc=1) 

The biggest news to my mind was Morgan Knowles coming back. I was not alone in this opinion - https://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/sport/24556400.morgan-knowles-brought-saints-return/ 

As that article by the St. Helens Star, a biased source I grant, says, "He missed the best part of three months with a groin issue – a period that coincided with the beginning of Saints’ picking up other injuries and then subsequent run of defeats." It also points out he then missed 3 games due to a ban for a high tackle. 

Saints lost 7 of the 11 games Knowles missed. 

The really terrifying thing is that 2024 was Knowles's 10th year with Saints. Time flies, eh? 

While the game was a victory for Saints, it also highlighted a worrying trend for yellow cards (although I forgive Noah Stephens entirely). 

Bennison having to do the kicks reassured me in the "there is another" with regards to kicks if Percival is off the pitch. 

None of match-specific pictures are all that interesting so I'll move on to the season to date diagrams. 

Seeing Bennison shoot up the "who scores for Saints?" diagram after just one game shows how important the kicker is. Robertson is now on the list after scoring his first ever try for Saints. 

Overall 24 different players have scored either a try or conversion for Saints in 2024. 

When do Saints score?  

Who is present when Saints score?  

The matrix of who is present when Saints score is interesting: Normally it would go darkest (most often together) in the bottom right hand corner and paler (less often together) as it moves up and to the left. This time, that pattern happens but then there's a suddenly dark border along the top and left which consists of Whitley, Bennison and Batchelor, suggesting Saints score when they are on the pitch together. The grouping makes some sort of sense because Batchelor definitely missed some matches with an injury. 

The equivalent network graph is slightly different again.  

It's interesting that two ways of presenting the same data give subtly different results. 

There's no real changes to the pattern of the "who scores against Saints" diagram so I haven't included it. 

The last 10 minutes of the game is still when Saints are most vulnerable.  

Blake also leads the "who is present when Saints concede?" chart  

The matrix diagram of who is present together when Saints concede is not as pretty as it was after game 25 (https://fulltimesportsfan.wordpress.com/2025/06/11/saints-ahoy-game-25-and-the-2024-season-to-date/). It think it's because the "curls" of more often together in the mid-section are less well defined than they were last time. Unlike the "who is present when Saints score?" matrix and network graphs, the concession network graph mostly matches the matrix diagram.  

I am now wondering whether the darker swirls in the matrix chart are those players who are in the intermediate group in the network graph.

Formula 1 2025 - Canadian Grand Prix

 In keeping with my previous rant about the cars being too wide for the tracks (https://fulltimesportsfan.wordpress.com/2025/04/16/formula-1-2025-japanese-grand-prix/), I present the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix as evidence. A Canadian Grand Prix where the most interesting thing is the tyre strategy is no kind of Canadian Grand Prix at all.

But, because of the unexpectedly high tyre wear, it was interesting. Well done to Ocon and Sainz jnr for making a single stop work out.

I am still trying to understand Ferrari's strategy. On the other hand, I think that puts me in good company, which includes one of their drivers. I try not to rag on the strategy team, because this is a huge step up from the indecisive years, but ... exactly how was that strategy supposed to work. Was the intention long, long, short? Leclerc wasn't in a position to do anything useful with that strategy given where he qualified.

In other people whose race was compromised by qualifying - McLaren. I think that crash was McLaren's fault as much as it was Norris's. You have two drivers going for the world title and you let them race. Now, thankfully due to the other teams having cars that are not as good, there's no real damage done, except to Norris's title bid and probably his spirit. For what?

This is why I will never object to teams using team orders.

After the race, it was fascinating how differently Toto talked to his two drivers. Although, could Bono sound more like a proud Papa - so adorable. Antonelli on the radio afterwards - also adorable!!

Saints Ahoy - Game 25 and the 2024 season to date

Game 25 in 2024 was an unfortunate loss to Hull KR - https://www.saintsrlfc.com/matches/2024/first-team/saints-v-hull-kr-2024-08-24-2/?swcfpc=1 

I don't care that Hull KR were the coming force, I don't like losing to them. 

Blake getting a yellow card and then Makinson getting a red didn't help, although I'm pleased that Whitby got his first try and conversion (and on his debut too). 

The game-specific figures don't really add much so I'm not sharing them. 

Whitby's two point-scoring moments move him to the bottom of the middle of the "who scores for Saints?" diagram. That might be a bad sign that either Saints's scoring pool wasn't diverse in 2024, or that they needed to score more points. 

When do Saints score? That Saints didn't score while Blake or Makinson were off the pitch due to their cards means they maintain their positions on the "Who is present when Saints score?" chart.  

The matrix chart is back to being dark in one corner (bottom right) fading as it goes up and left.  

The network graph, interestingly, doesn't quite match. Whitby and Vaughan aren't present on the network graph, and Bennison is clearly outside the "frequently plays together" central blob, while he's in the second darkest area of the matrix chart. Davies has moved the other way.  

In an amusing coincidence, both matches vs Hull KR in 2024 featured Hull KR having the same number of point-scoring moments.  

When do Saints concede? 

 The evidence for "in the last 10 minutes" is really building up.  

Who is present when Saints concede? Understandably, because he is also present for the most scoring moments, Blake is top of this chart. There's a large drop off until you hit Lomax in second. 

The "who is present when Saints concede" matrix looks like the top left quadrant of a Roman mosaic of the sun. If nothing else, it's pretty.  

I think it looks like that because of how often Blake played with some of the "second most frequently playing" cluster of players (Robertson, Davies, Ritson, Vaughan, Stephens, Paasi, Batchelor, Knowles and Bennison). 

The network graph is less spread out than equivalent one for point-scoring moments, with most players being in the central blob. The players that stick out are Wingfield, Walmsley, Royle, Whitby and Burns. Although there are a ring of players that are either coming out of the main blob or being eaten by it (Knowles, Bennison, Batchelor, Vaughan, Paasi, Stephens and Davies)

Formula 1 2025 - Spanish Grand Prix

Normally the only interesting thing about the Barcelona circuit is any upgrades to the cars. But, was it me, or was that actually an interesting race, or do I just have low expectations for the Barcelona track?

Upgrades 

The upgrades themselves seem to have done nothing, McLaren are still miles ahead of the other cars, which suggest the wing flapping is not the only thing making them go faster. 

Qualifying 

Leclerc's race proved that you get no points for qualifying. I, alongside most other people, wondered why the (blank) he just sat back and didn't do another lap in Q3. I underestimated him and the Ferrari strategy team. I think I'm being nice about the Ferrari strategy team. It feels both good and unexpected. 

Mercedes 

That's two races in a row where a Mercedes engine has gone kaboom. Not good times. 

Haas

That was definitely a lurking Valtteri Bottas at Haas. I'm wondering if it's to coach Bearman or as a potential replacement for one of the drivers. 

Hülkenboom 

How good was Hülkenberg? 15th to 5th in a Sauber and denied 'Driver of the Day' only by the Max fan army, who are, if nothing else, fanatical about their guy. 

I am just so happy for Hülkenberg. 

I am hoping Audi will be good next season and then he might finally get his race podium. If he wins a race, I will be unspeakable for at least a week. 

Verstappen lunacy 

Running into Russell, even if Verstappen was angry because his own mistake lead to Leclerc overtaking him, was a truly idiotic move. Idiotic, and somehow more idiotic than Red Bull's tyre strategy. 

When someone missing the race because they punched something in their garage (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/articles/c14kmj8rd87o) is not the most idiotic rage-induced incident during a race weekend, you know you've screwed up. 

I understand Verstappen's frustration with Red Bull's tyre strategy. It was most inexplicable, and Red Bull are normally good at strategy. It's such a fall off in strategy terms that I'm wondering if someone has left from their strategy team?

 

from Imgflip Meme Generator

There's something rotten in the state of Red Bull anyway, judging by that second car. I can believe one driver is that much better than the other but not that Verstappen is that much better than Ricciardo, Perez and Tsunoda.

Formula 1 2025 - Monaco Grand Prix - or "Williams did nothing wrong"

The race itself was pretty much dull as ditch water, even if part of me felt sympathy for Leclerc's "why always me" radio message about the timing of the virtual safety car. Why does it always happen at the worst possible time for him?

But it's Monaco, so nothing other than redesigning the cars so that they are smaller is ever going to make it an interesting race.

And if they're going to add stupid rules, the teams, staffed as they are with over-grown hyper-intelligent schoolboys and girls, are going to bend and spindle those rules any way they can to get one over on the other teams and try to get points.

That's even more true of Williams who are one of the smaller teams (and why I have more sympathy for them than Mercedes or Racing Bulls).

Following an excellent performance in qualifying, they used a race strategy that guaranteed them points, in a sport where points = prize money.

Williams did nothing wrong!

Saints Ahoy - Game 24 and the 2024 season to date

Game 24 of Saint's 2024 season was their Magic Weekend game. 

I quite like Wikipedia's description of Magic Weekend - "an annual event organised by the Rugby Football League in which an entire round of Super League matches is played over a weekend at a single stadium to promote the sport of rugby league." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Weekend) 

I've been lucky enough to go twice, both in Newcastle. 

The only downside to Magic Weekend is, that in order to sell tickets, Super League tend to have teams play their local rivals. Which means you can end up playing the same team far too often. 

And playing Wigan, again, in a year your team are already not doing well, is far, far too often. 

When Saints then lose, 20-0, to Wigan, that's the pits - https://www.saintsrlfc.com/2024/08/17/saints-beaten-on-derby-day-at-magic-wknd/ 

On the other hand the referees let this sort of thing go:  

Understandably, there can be no diagrams for Saints's point-scoring moments in this game, nor are there any updates to their point scoring moments for the season. 

There is no pattern to when Saints conceded, except maybe a slight suggestion that they concede more in the last 10 minutes (but so does everyone else).  

The "who is present when Saints concede" diagram is so weird that it made me double check that I'd not made some sort of data entry error.  

It makes sense, just, if you consider that he's about the only player who didn't have an extended injury / suspension break. 

It does make the "Who is present when Saints concede" matrix look intriguingly different.  

The equivalent network graph is shaped like a fox's face.  

As Royle, Walmsley, Wingfield and Burns are the only players sticking out, it tells me that the other players who had previously been in the little "rarely but when they do they play together" sticking out blobs have now been subsumed into the central blob. 

This is true, as they are now at the edges of the central blob (Paasi, Vaughan and Stephens on the left hand side and Bennison, Knowles and Batchelor on the right). 

That change is most interesting, and suggests Saints have had to start leaning on the full squad of players.

Superman: the new one - some scattergun thoughts about comics, history and culture

 Because L assures me that sometimes my post should be up to date and my film reviews are now running 5-6 years late.

I start with some caveats:
1 - in my comic book days, I was very much a Marvel girl. Make mine Marvel etc. The nearest I got to DC was Batman.

2 - James Gunn is one of those creative types who appears to have a direct line to my soul. He is responsible for an excessive amount of me crying in cinemas; somewhat famously, the time Guardians of the Galaxy made me cry so hard I gave L a migraine.

I have very little skin in this game (Superman) and I know that I will enjoy it anyway.

That being said, it's so nice to see a friendly Superman on screen.

I blame a mixture of Quentin Tarantino and the comics' Dark Age for the dour Supermen we have been having on the big screen recently (this applies to big screen only, the cartoons have been suitable).

Quentin Tarantino because of the whole which of Clark Kent's identities is the "real" one spiel, and everyone wanting to be an auteur like him and ape him in every possible way. (Said with affection for his films)

The Dark Age for that period of comics were everything had to be bleaker than bleak. And fellas, I understand the appeal, because those were the comics of my teenage years too. But they were a short blip in a long lifetime of the Superman character.

Superman is the best of us and happens to be an übermensch, not just an übermensch.

Formula 1 2025 - Miami Grand Prix

The title race is really hotting up (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Miami_Grand_Prix)

Shame Ferrari are nowhere near the pointy end for either championship. Instead, the drivers are busy taking potshots at each other and the team -  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/articles/ce8g5xlmxjgo

Boys, you get to do this when you're winning, not when you're languishing in 4th in the Constructors.