Brad Friedel believes the authorities are "doing as much as they possibly can" when it comes to treatment of concussions in football.
Questions were raised about the decision to keep Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez on the pitch after he took a blow to the head during the 4-0 defeat to Newcastle United last week.
Martinez was eventually replaced, but it led to the Professional Footballers' Association to call for temporary concussion substitutes to be introduced to the game.
Speaking to Stats Perform, former Villa shot stopper Friedel said the protocol is improving for dealing with such incidents.
"Concussions are tough to detect," he said. "We play without helmets and, of course... Petr Cech did in his career because he had a fractured skull - [but] you don't get into too many clashes [as a goalkeeper].
"If a striker wants to be a little bit naughty on the through balls, they can leave a foot in, but it doesn't happen that often.
"I'm not so sure what more they could do to protect the goalkeeper. I think the more science that comes out with regard to concussions and concussion protocol, the better. Each season they're trying to do as much as they possibly can."
The former United States international explained he had suffered a concussion during his time at Blackburn Rovers.
"I was playing for Blackburn at home against Birmingham. I got knocked out, I think out for about six minutes, and I answered all the questions," he said.
"I don't remember answering them and I carried on playing it. [It was] no fault of the doctors. I passed the protocol at the time and then I went in at half-time, and then they saw that I wasn't on planet Earth, so I didn't play in the second half.
"As a player, your adrenaline takes over you, you just want to stay on the field, and it's a tough one because it's really hard to tell if somebody's concussed in 30 seconds or a minute or a minute and a half.
"I would hate to be in those meetings with the NFL. A concussion technically is when your brain hits one side [of the skull] and then the other. I mean, for every play in the NFL, that must happen to somebody. It's a tough thing to really clamp down on... And I know they're trying to do as much as they possibly can to make it efficient."
Friedel also expressed his disappointment that Steven Gerrard was recently sacked by Villa following a run of poor results.
Gerrard was replaced by Unai Emery after the Midlands club won just two of their first 11 Premier League games of the season (D3 L6), and while Friedel understands the timing, he also believes his former Liverpool team-mate could have turned things around at Villa Park.
"Disappointed that it happened because Stevie's a friend," he said. "Based on the results, [it was] probably the right time, right before World Cup, and then you're going to have [the January] transfer window.
"I would also like to have thought if they kept him that he would have built the club up and gotten them into a mid-table position.
"That's not how football works and it can be ruthless. Being a head coach can be tough sometimes, but I would just say the run of results was the final blow and perhaps that performance and result against Fulham [3-0 loss at Craven Cottage] when the fans started singing against Stevie, that was probably it."
Italy win shows 'true face of the France team', says Rabiot
Adrien Rabiot believes Sunday's win over Italy showed "the true face of the France team" as they secured top spot in Nations League Group A2.
The midfielder headed home twice in their 3-1 victory, meeting excellent deliveries from Lucas Digne on both, with his second goal restoring the all-important two-goal cushion that ensured they finished above the Azzurri in the group.
This comes after France had failed to find a way past Israel in a frustrating 0-0 draw last time out.
However, Sunday's victory ensured France will be seeded in the quarter-finals draw as they seem to have put their disappointing Euro 2024 campaign, in which they won just twice as they struggled in front of goal, behind them.
Les Bleus also avenged the 3-1 defeat to Italy on home soil in the reverse fixture, something Rabiot said was playing on their minds while they prepared for their trip to San Siro.
"It's been a long time since we've played a match like this, that we haven't fought in this way all together, until the end," he told TF1.
"We also had the objective of winning with a two-goal difference, we did it. But frankly, the mutual aid that there was in this match, the combativeness, the team spirit, it's to be highlighted. Frankly, we enjoyed playing this match.
"It was a different context [Thursday]. Above all, there was a revenge to be taken compared to the previous match against Italy, who had come to win at home. It's a great evening. I hope we will continue to show this face. It's the true face of the France team."
Digne officially got two assists in the victory, but he also played a big role in France's other goal – his free-kick rattled the crossbar before bouncing in off the unfortunate Guglielmo Vicario.
In fact, France scored three goals from set-pieces in a match for the first time since 1991, when they netted three times from dead-ball situations against Albania.
"[The free-kick is] a technical gesture that is worked on in training. The more you do, the more automatic it becomes, and it pays off," Digne said.
"Offensively, it's not bad at all. As a defender, I would have preferred to finish with a clean sheet, but we can't have everything. We finished first, it's great.
"We had a revenge to take from the first leg, we wanted to show a completely different face. And in addition to our slightly worse match against Israel... We really wanted to show that this jersey is close to our hearts. The whole group was present. It was really a complete match."
France's Nations League quarter-finals will be played in March.
Israel 1-0 Belgium: Shua late show proves decisive
Relegated Israel stunned Belgium 1-0 in their final Nations League game as Yarden Shua's late goal earned them their first win in the competition this season.
The Red Devils, who were without a number of key players for the tie in Hungary, were masters of their own downfall as they gifted Israel the winner with four minutes left on the clock.
In a cagey first half, Eli Dasa breached Belgium's backline 24 minutes in and beat Koen Casteels with a crisp low effort, only to be denied by the foot of the far post.
Casteels was alert just before the break, getting down low to push Dor Peretz's low drive away from the bottom corner.
Domenico Tedesco's half-time team talk looked to have buoyed his side as they upped the pressure, with Lois Openda hitting the side netting before Johan Bakayoko forced a fingertip save out of Daniel Peretz just after the hour.
However, in their rush to find a winner, Belgium were caught playing out from the back. Dor Peretz latched onto Matte Smets' loose backpass, and though he was bundled over in the box, Shua coolly picked out the bottom corner.
Israel finish bottom of Group A2 and are automatically relegated to League B, while Belgium sit above them due to a superior goal difference in their head-to-head record –they now have a relegation play-off to overcome.
Data Debrief: Tough times for Tedesco
It has been a Nations League campaign to forget for Belgium, who managed just one win and finished with a whimper as they went winless in their final four matches (D1 L3).
They just edged the shot count in Budapest, having 12 attempts to Israel's 10, but without the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne to call on, they lacked a clinical edge.
While Belgium struggled in attack, their defensive struggles will also be a worry for Tedesco. They failed to win any of the four games in which they fell behind in the group, earning just one point from a losing position.
Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona: Guijarro brace sets visitors up for Clasico glory
Patri Guijarro's first-half brace set Barcelona on their way to a thumping 4-0 win over rivals Real Madrid in Liga F on Saturday.
Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas were also on target as Barcelona continued their perfect start to the season, extending their lead at the top of the table.
The visitors dominated from the off, as Guijarro broke the deadlock inside the fourth minute, tapping in from Putellas' flick-on from a corner.
Cata Coll was forced into a big save to deny Alba Redondo an equaliser shortly after, but Madrid's hope was soon dented as Guijarro picked out the bottom corner with a superb long-range strike for her second.
Pina strengthened their lead six minutes before the break, clinically slotting past Misa with her low strike.
Putellas added some more gloss to the scoreline with four minutes remaining of normal time, beating the Madrid keeper with a lovely dink to bring up her 199th goal for the club.
Barcelona have won all 10 of their games, and now sit eight points clear of Madrid, who suffered their first league defeat of the campaign.
Data Debrief: Total dominance
Madrid will have felt fairly confident coming into this game after a strong start to their season, but they once again failed to find a way past their Clasico rival.
Los Blancos have lost every single game they have played against Barcelona in all competitions, with this their 15th such meeting.
Barcelona smothered their attack early on, restricting their hosts to just one shot in the first half, while they had 10.
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