The new Premier League ball has received a flat reception... with the garish design the ideal excuse for a goalkeeper to point to when the first howler of the season inevitably takes place
* The ball is a 'hallucinogenic blend of crimson circles and swirling black lines'
* The garish mixture of line and colour makes it the ideal target of goalkeeper's ire
* One scientist says the design helps players 'read the pace and spin of the ball'
* Sportsmail's Danny Murphy eagerly awaits a keeper speaking out in protest
Beyond the much-needed return of capacity crowds and the merciful decline in both VAR-enforced interruptions and lamentable handball decisions, there has been another striking difference to the new Premier League season.
A hallucinogenic blend of crimson circles — at least that's how Nike described the colour — and swirling black lines, the new top-flight football has arrived with such little positive response that you might have wondered how it got past the prototype stage.
As our columnist Danny Murphy writes in today's newspaper, the Nike Flight ball not only looks too garish, but the nauseous blend of line and colour makes it prime material for the next goalkeeper excuse for some grievous howler.
The new Premier League football has received little praise despite scientists' endorsement. The new top-flight ball's design was implemented to 'drive enhanced visual performance'
Quote:
NEW BALL COULD CAUSE ERRORS
By Danny Murphy
It won’t be long before a goalkeeper makes a howler and blames the new Nike Premier League ball for the mistake.
They will argue they were looking at three different colours as it came towards them at speed. That’s when it becomes a problem.
I have to admit I don’t like it. It’s too garish. I’ve sat in the Match of the Day studios looking at the ball and it doesn’t look right. I think the players will adapt to it if they have to but I’m not sure they will be overly impressed.
As a player, I didn’t like having to get used to different footballs. Even changing the match ball for the UEFA Cup was something I noticed. I would have preferred to have stuck to the same one for every game.
I understand the modern Premier League is about marketing and change can be beneficial. But this match ball with the explosion of colour is unnecessary for me. I’m waiting for that first keeper to publicly agree!
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That the liquid black swirls were inspired by the league being 'one of the most exciting and connected leagues in the world', as the ball's promotional material puts it, should surely offer its designers only limited mitigation.
But perhaps justification for the ball's appearance can be found in its supposed practicality.
An unidentified scientist apparently told the manufacturers that the 'crimson circles drive enhanced visual performance, allowing the players to read the pace and spin of the ball, react quicker and feel confident in their decisions'.
And Professor Andrew Stockman, an expert in human vision at University College London, suggests its substance could yet emerge on the pitch.
'In the absence of any performance data, it seems reasonable,' he says. 'Having a regular pattern of crimson circles around will help players better gauge the angle of spin in any direction and the speed of the ball — as opposed to a less regular or random pattern.'
Danny Murphy fears that goalkeepers will blame any howlers on the ball's unusual pattern
Code:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9915277/The-new-Premier-League-ball-garish-prime-target-goalkeepers-anger.html