Ten Lords A-Leaping

Ten more matches down this weekend with ten more to go on New Year's Day to complete the "Twelve Days of Football."

For my money the two best matches were draws between teams at the bottom of the table.  Nothing like the fear of relegation, even in December, to ramp up the intensity, as teams in this situation know that every point is dear.  Imagine if in today's Giants-Redskins NFL game, the loser would be demoted to the Canadian Football League.  That's the situation teams at the bottom of the table are trying to avoid later in the season; get some points in these matches and maybe they won't be staring relegation in the face at the end of the season.

We start with the see-saw affair at Boleyn Ground, where West Ham and West Bromwich played to a 3-3 draw.  West Ham scored early but the Baggies scored twice before the break to take a 2-1 lead into the second half.  We were treated to three goals between the 65th and 69th minutes, as West Ham scored twice in succession only to give up the lead on a goal by Berahino.  A frenetic finish but no further scoring and both took away a point.

The script was a little different at Cardiff City.  The fans have been none too happy with owner Vincent Tan, and he added to their displeasure on Saturday by sacking fan favorite Malky Mackay, the manager who had brought the team back to the first division for the first time in over 50 years.  Still, it was looking like a promising weekend as Cardiff took a 2-0 lead into the late stages of their match with Sunderland.  Except then Fletcher scored in the 83rd minute and Colback ricocheted a ball past the keeper in the 95th minute, likely seconds before the referee was going to blow the final whistle.  Um, that's not going to help the fans forget all the off-field turmoil.  Colback's goal is the weekend's YouTubeable Moment, except that right now the only place I can find it is on the NBCSN highlights page, which doesn't do the moment justice (you miss the announcers and Sunderland fans going nuts and the Cardiff fans sinking in their seats and all the drama).  Maybe check again in a few days.

Not too pretty an outing for Newcastle.  They looked tentative and couldn't seem to put a pass anywhere close to where it needed to be.  Aside from a set piece at 45 minutes and some extended pressure in the last 10 minutes when Arsenal were bunkered in to protect the lead, the Magpies generated precious little offense.  Even the insertion of Ben Arfa failed to spark the attack.  Giroud's goal was definitely on the soft side (he barely touched it) but the Gunners deserved the 1-0 win and all the points.  The Newcastle game plan looked quite conservative, like they were playing for a tie.  I get that sometimes it's a wise  move but not sure this was the right strategy today.  Wenger didn't seem too anxious to open up either.  Frankly, a bit of a drab match given the quality of the sides. The good news is that Newcastle have a bad day and lose to Arsenal only because Giroud uses product to poof up his hair in the front.

Aston Villa fared somewhat better, drawing 1-1 at home versus Swansea City.  Weimann sprung Agbonlahor on a beautiful pass to put the Villans up 1-0 early.  Swansea should have been level after the 20th minute when Ben Davies had a free header and somehow managed to send it hard enough into the ground to bounce over the bar. But Roland Lamah (another Belgian international!) tied the match up in the 36th minute.  I recall Swansea having the run of the play for the rest of the match but neither team really did all that much.  An important point for Aston Villa though.

The Manchester squads both put away weaker opposition, though not necessarily in convincing fashion, posting 1-0 wins.  United took Norwich and they continued their march up the table (now 6th).  City bested Crystal Palace and now sit in second behind Arsenal.  To paraphrase a succinct movie review Dennis once did, the Chelsea -Liverpool match was great until it started to suck.  The first half was a wonderful, free flowing game probably because Liverpool opened the scoring quickly on a goal by Skertl.  Chelsea was forced to open up and open up they did.  Though it was a lucky carom to his feet, there was nothing lucky about Hazard's strike to tie the match up.  Eto'o's poke past Mignolet at 36 minutes proved to be the game winner.  The second half seemed choppy and chippy but in the end Mourinho got through his 70th consecutive game at Stamford Bridge without a loss.  Did not see either Everton's 2-1 win over Southampton or Tottenham's 3-0 win over Stoke City.  The wins moved Everton into 4th and Tottenham into 7th (tied with Man United).  And what the fu...lham is happening to the Cottagers?  They went down to Hull City 6-0 (a bad score in tennis or soccer) and now sit in 18th place, just two points ahead of last place Sunderland.  Fulham hasn't been in a relegation battle since 2007-08 but looks like they're in for one now.

Ten more games on New Year's Day. Top match looks to be Man Utd - Tot at 12:30.

Boxing Day

Not going to trust my memory for 20 matches over five days so I'll post about Boxing Day now while it's "fresh."

Several Christmas traditions were in evidence in the matches.  First, many cards were "exchanged" as referees showed 26 yellows and four reds, including two to Stoke players (more on that below).  Second, there was consideration for those less fortunate; all three bottom clubs were "treated" to wins on the road. And several keepers were seen giving "gifts" to attackers as I can recall at least three soft goals surrendered during the day.

For those who didn't see it, the Newcastle match looks like a 5-1 thrashing of Stoke City.  It is a win and I won't say the Magpies didn't deserve it but game details may leave you with a different impression.  Through 30 minutes Stoke City was dominating possession, had a 1-0 lead and looked "good for their money."  Then Whelan picked up a silly yellow card for some sort of extracurricular activities following a confrontation with Cabaye.  He followed that a few minutes later with an ill-advised challenge from behind, again on Cabaye, to earn a second yellow and then a red.  Shortly thereafter, Wilson pulled Remy down in the box for a straight red, leaving Stoke with just nine players.  Though Remy missed the PK, Stoke's fate was effectively sealed.  Remy scored before the half and the second half was completely one-sided.  Several of the Newcastle goals were actually quite good even given their two-man advantage.  Some may claim that Martin Atkinson imposed himself on the match.  I thought maybe the second yellow on Whelan was a little soft but if you already have a yellow, you shouldn't be kicking at the back of somebody's legs; I thought the other two critical calls were correct.  So it was a weird win and the match might have played out differently if not for the cards but that's not Newcastle's fault.  They deserved the win.

The less said of Aston Villa's 0-1 home loss to Crystal Palace, the better.  I did not see the match but was following the score while watching another contest.  As the score remained 0-0 throughout the match, I kept thinking a draw at home against CP is simply not good enough.  When Gayle's goal in the 92nd minute was posted, the realization that the Villans weren't even going to get one point sank in.  For the second straight match, Benteke wasn't named to the squad as he has a knee problem and traveled to Belgium to have it examined; he'll be out Saturday and Wednesday as well.  This feels so much like Newcastle's season last year.  Dennis may add some pithy quotes as he endured the whole match so we wouldn't have to.  At least he hasn't burned the AV scarf I gave him for Christmas.  Yet.


Some of the big boys fell behind early but rallied to take important wins.  Man Utd was down 2-0 to Hull before kicking it in gear for a 3-2 win.  Sure the winning tally was an own goal but frankly the Red Devils pressure forced the error; they continue to creep back up the table and now sit in 7th, even with Van Persie out due to injury.  And Rooney is grudgingly awarded the YouTubeableMoment for his goal that tied the score at 2-2.


Arsenal were down a goal to West Ham through 67 minutes but then Walcott tallied twice in 4 minutes and Podolski celebrated his return with another to seal it for the Gunners.  Surely it is an embarrassment of riches when a player like Ramsey goes out with a muscle strain only to be replaced by someone of the likes of Podolski.  The win put Arsenal back in first.  And at Etihad Stadium, goals by Kompany and Negredo wiped out the early 1-0 lead Liverpool had staked on Coutinho's tally in the 25th minute.  Thought (hoped?)this contest would be high scoring but even at 2-1, it was a high tempo, entertaining match.  The win put Man City into 2nd place, who so far are surviving the loss the Aguero (calf - out for 6-8 weeks).  Expect to read about fines for Brendan Rodgers, who openly expressed dissatisfaction with the refereeing, most notably about a phantom offsides call that probably took away a goal from Sterling (I saw the play, he looked clearly onsides to me - not even close to being level with the defender).







Chelsea beat Swansea 1-0 on sweet play by Eden Hazard and Everton lost to Sunderland 1-0 on a PK (the result of a straight red card foul by keeper Tim Howard).  Chelsea stays right on the heels of Arsenal and Man City while the Toffees loss, completely unexpected at home against one of the weaker clubs, will hurt but they remain in the hunt for a Champions League spot.   You'd have to say Tottenham gave away two points in the lackluster 1-1 draw against West Brom.  The Boxing Day action left them in 8th place, five points out of 4th and two points out of 6th.  They will have to do better if they want to see action in Europe next year.  

Hope you used your day off from EPL wisely.

The Twelve Days of Football

Geez, what's a guy have to do to see some football these days?  Uh, turn on the TV?  And here at 6911, we don't even have anything besides NBCSN and FoxSports.  If we had BeIN Sport or FoxSoccerPlus odds are nothing would get done around here.  As it is, with games on Boxing Day and New Year's Day, each EPL team has four matches in 12 days.  With proper viewing techniques and etiquette, you can see a lot of them without seeing the scores from other games, though you have to be willing to watch many on-line as opposed to TV.  Also important is not giving away scores in conversation.  The appropriate opening to a soccer fan is not "Can you believe x beat y?" but rather "Are you up-to-date with [insert appropriate league here] scores?" or more succinctly "Are you current?"  That way you don't give away anything by launching into a breathless retelling of a match to someone who was looking forward to watching it on DVR later. 

 

Many happy partisans after this weekend's matches, though Dennis is not among them.   Did not see Aston Villa's 2-1 loss at Stoke City myself but Dennis was not impressed with the effort.  Agbonlahor was serving a one-game suspension for accumulated yellow cards and Benteke (goalless since September) wasn't even named to the squad.  However, they did manage to score.  Unfortunately, the Villans gave up the game-winner just four minutes after Kozak had tied the score.  With the loss, Aston Villa dropped behind both Stoke City and Hull in the standings.  Fortunately the schedule looks a bit easier in the near term.

 

Newcastle performed just like you'd want a top table team to against Crystal Palace.  Even though they were away from St. James Park, the Magpies pretty much dominated in the 3-0 win.  Sure, there was an own goal, Cabaye's goal was a deflection, and the PK might have been a little soft; and Jerome missed a wide open shot that would have made the score 2-1 with plenty of time left.  But this looked like Newcastle's match pretty much from the get-go.  Ben Arfa continues to spark the team with his late appearances just when the offense seems to be flagging.  They ended the weekend in 6th, ahead of Tottenham on goal differential.

 

And what about those Spurs?  Shrugging off a disappointing midweek league cup loss to West Ham, Tottenham took all three points from Southampton in a see-saw affair at Saint Mary's Stadium.  Interim (now permanent, at least for 18 months) manager Tim Sherwood restored Adebayor to the starting 11 and saw the tall Togolese net a goal against West Ham and two against Southampton.  The first on Sunday was a difficult volley off a great cross from Soldado and the second, at 64 minutes, proved to be the game winner.  We'll see if this is a trend or just the new manager bounce but Spurs fans had to be encouraged by what they saw.

 

We awaited the Arsenal-Chelsea match with much anticipation, perhaps too much.  A tactical 0-0 draw has its place I suppose but the tempo seemed quite slow.  I put the blame on Chelsea (or as the Gunners fans chanted near the end "Boring Chelsea") but maybe Mourinho believed all he really had to do was not lose.  Each team had some clear chances but not that many.  Arsenal was a little undermanned with Koscielny (gashed knee) and Wilshere (suspension) both out but Vermaelen (Belgian international!) seemed fine on the back line.

 

In other key matches Suarez could only manage two goals and an assist in Liverpool's 3-1 win over Cardiff City.  His second goal is this week's YouTubeable moment, half because of Suarez' Suarez's the powerful curling shot by Suarez and half because of the deft back heel pass by Henderson that set up the shot.  Coupled with Arsenal's draw on Monday, Liverpool now find themselves at the top of the table, ahead of the Gunners on goal differential.  Man City (4-2 over staggering Fulham) and Man Utd (2-0 over West Ham) both took away three points from the weekend's matches.  Everton got a late goal from Barkley to steal a 2-1 win on the road from Swansea in a highly entertaining match. 

 

So now we have five teams within two points of the top, Man Utd surging, Tottenham possibly back in form, and Newcastle making noises about the using January transfer window to prepare for a run at the top four (where have I heard that before?).  And three matches for everybody between now and New Year's Day.

 

The best of Boxing Day matches looks to be Man City hosting Liverpool.  Let's hope the two highest scoring teams in the league don't go all tactical on us (I believe the expression is "park the bus") just because first place is on the line.  Aston Villa hosts Crystal Palace; the Villans must get a result here.  Newcastle sees Stoke City at St. James Park; both teams are in good form so looking for an interesting match here - I could live with a draw.  Most at the top have easier fixtures - Man Utd at Hull City (or Hull Tigers, or whatever they are going to be called), Arsenal at West Ham, Tottenham at home versus West Brom and Everton has Sunderland at home; Chelsea probably needs to be careful against Swansea City but the match is at Stamford Bridge, where Mourinho hasn't lost in 68 games, if I have that right.

 

The weekend games have some important match ups as well.  Chelsea hosts Liverpool on Sunday at 11, right after a suddenly meaningful contest between Newcastle and Arsenal at St. James Park at 8:30.  Winnable but by no means easy home matches are on the docket for Tottenham (Stoke City) and Everton (Southampton).  The Manchester sides both have more favorable fixtures with City home versus Crystal Palace and United on the road to Norwich.  Aston Villa faces a tougher test in Swansea.  Some points in these next two matches would make their live much easier.

 

And the Chester Blues posted another solid 2-1 result, this time over Sheffield United.  Four matches to go in our tough early February schedule.  We remain atop the Championship Division based on goal differential with a game in hand.

 

 (Originally posted 12/23/13)

Dubious Goals Panel

Luis Suarez is so hot he scored this week even when he wasn't playing.  That is thanks to a decision by the Dubious Goals Panel, an anonymous group of players, referees, managers who review the video to determine who actually scored a particular goal.  It seems most of the work is on own goals, as in, should the attacking player who struck the ball get credit even if it went off a defending player.  A Premier League spokesman outlined the basic guidelines for this situation: 

"As a rule, if the initial attempt is goalbound it is credited to the player making the goal attempt. However if the deflection means that a wayward effort results in a goal then it is attributed to the player who had the last definitive touch of the ball."  So the committee met recently and decided that Liverpool's fourth goal against West Ham on December 7th (a date which will live in infamy) was not an own goal but rightly belonged Suarez.  No, I did not make this up.

 

And it's not like Suarez needs help in this regard.  Michael B can tell you all about it after watching him (Suarez, not Michael) tally two in Liverpool's 5-0 romp over Tottenham.  The Spurs struggled against Liverpool's high powered attack and simply could not generate any sustained offensive pressure of their own.  Liverpool were already up 2-0 when Paulinho got a straight red in the 63rd minute for a boot to the chest of Suarez.  Things just got out of hand for the Spurs after that.  And this was without Gerrard and Sturridge - yikes.

 

Not a good weekend for the North London squads as Arsenal were also thumped, 6-3 by Man City.  At least it was a bit more competitive, as the Gunners came back to tie at 1-1 and also made the game interesting with a goal in the 63rd minute to close the gap to 3-2.  But three straight after that by Man City put the game out of reach.  Aside from the loss, the match may have repercussions for Arsenal's upcoming contest with Chelsea.  First, center back Laurent Koscielny left early with a gashed knee; he has not been ruled out for Monday but apparently the gash was pretty bad.  Midfielder Jack Wilshire has likely earned a one-game suspension for his one-fingered gesture to fans during Saturday's match.  Arsenal, which was six minutes from a seven point lead last week, now finds itself just two ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea and only three ahead of Man City.

 

Last week I expressed concern about Newcastle's match with Southampton.  I'm okay with the 1-1 draw, though I really shouldn't be.  First, the match was at Saint James Park.  Second, the Magpies missed some glorious opportunities to score, including a turnover by the Southampton keeper that Remy should have buried.  Satisfaction with just the one point may be part of the hangover from last year's relegation struggle, during which every point was golden.  This year, with the club challenging for a Europa Cup spot, anything less than a home win isn't really good enough.  This week's YouTubeable Moment comes from this match.  Check out the late action when Sissoko, meaning to push away the Southampton keeper's hand, accidently strikes referee Michael Jones in the nose, possibly breaking it.  He didn't not appear to be faking it, as he went down quickly and there was blood.  Several players did signal for Jones to get up and stop embellishing the foul.  Okay that last part I did make up.

 

 Aston Villa continues to test Dennis's fledging commitment with a second straight lackluster performance, this time versus Man Utd.  Benteke is mired in a serious slump and the Villans don't seem to have a good first touch (or second touch for that matter).  The 3-0 defeat didn’t cost them in the standings this week but there are four teams within two points so they could quickly find themselves in 15^th place and worrying about relegation.  Frankly, they seem too good a squad but that’s what everybody said about Newcastle last year and it came down to the next-to-last weekend before they were out of the woods.  The win jumped Man Utd up to 8^th in the table.

 

In other matches of note Chelsea managed a workmanlike 2-1 win over Crystal Palace while Everton flattened Fulham 4-1.  Chelsea is tied with Liverpool on points but sit in 3^rd place because of a poorer goal differential while Everton sits just outside of Champions League territory, one point behind Man City.

 

We did make it down to PPL Park to see Maryland take on Notre Dame for the NCAA soccer title.  Multiple layers and hot chocolate made the conditions tolerable.  Unbeknownst to me, I purchased tickets in the heart of the Fighting Irish cheering section.  Fortunately we were generally neutral, interested more in seeing a competitive match, though Laura and I had mild preference for the Terps for historical reasons.  We did see a close contest.  Maryland generated continuous pressure down the left wing that resulted in multiple corner kicks.  Finally, Maryland broke through on a play that may not have been the referee’s finest moment.  A Maryland shot appeared to us to be stopped by the raised elbow of a Notre Dame defender on the goal line; the rebound went to another Maryland attacker, who used his hand to settle the ball and fire in the opening score.  Equal justice, especially since Maryland scored anyway?  Not really; the Notre Dame defender should have been red carded for his offense, which meant the Fighting Irish would have played the rest of the match a man down.  But neither offense was called and the score was 1-0.  Notre Dame tied the match late in the first half with a goal from close range.  In the second half, Maryland seemed to move the ball around aimlessly with no organized attack while Notre Dame created the better chances.  They got the eventual game winner on an excellent header off a free kick.  We agreed that the 2-1 result reflected the run of play, though one wonders how things would have turned out if the handling offense had been called.

 

And the computerized Chester Blues were back in action, taking a very satisfying 2-1 win from Leicester on the road.  We now sit atop the Championship Division, tied with Blackburn but ahead on goal differential and we have played one less game.  The January transfer window is closed and all we could do was add two possible prospects.  We lost out on a quality Irish striker when Burnley offered twice the salary we could.  Damn big money teams.

 

Highlight of this week’s action is clearly Monday afternoon’s contest between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates.  A win for the Blues would move them into first.  Second place Liverpool has Cardiff City at home so it’s likely that even an Arsenal win will only leave them with a two point cushion.  Newcastle is on the road at Crystal Palace; though I would hope for three points against a relegation candidate, Crystal Palace does have three wins and draw in eight contests at home.  Tottenham hopes to regroup under their new manager but a road contest versus Southampton does not sound like the place to get healthy as the Saints have four wins and three draws in eight games at home.  Man Utd should continue to get better as they host West Ham.  Everton will need to be careful as they travel to Swansea City.  And Aston Villa has a tough match at Stoke City, who have only lost once at home; the good news is that the Villans have only lost twice on the road.  A draw might be a good result for Aston Villa.

Never Enough

Since last Sunday we've seen 32 teams grouped in the World Cup draw, 20 EPL games, four NCAA finalists determined and two teams battle for the MLS Cup Final.  And a partridge in a pear tree.

Start with the MLS Cup, where Sporting KC emerged with the hardware, beating Real Salt Lake 7-6 on PKs after playing to a 1-1 draw in regulation plus 30 minutes of overtime.  I am not a big fan of using PKs to determine a winner.  I realize it's quite dramatic and all but imagine if after two overtime periods, the NBA settled its championship by putting five players from each time on the foul line for one free throw each. Not tremendously satisfying in my book.  Which is fine because I missed the PKs anyway.  In what surely must be labeled a rookie mistake, I failed to take into account the possibility of overtime, did not dvr the show after the MLS Cup and therefore only saw some of the overtime action.  It was a sweet moment for the KC captain and keeper Jimmy Nielsen, who could be the John Kruk of MLS in that he's very talented but well, doesn't look like a soccer player.  And another year without a trophy for us long-suffering Union fans.

I already commented on the World Cup draw - nothing new to add at this point.  The NCAA final four is set with Maryland, New Mexico, Notre Dame and Virginia.  The semis and the finals will be played this Friday and Sunday at PPL Park.  Hoping to get there for Sunday's match.  Also hoping the weather is a little more soccer-friendly than yesterday.

All EPL teams had a mid-week match plus a weekend contest.  Certain themes struck me.  Tottenham did indeed get six points in two matches versus relegation candidates.  They did it in somewhat underwhelming fashion, falling behind early than rallying late.  On the other hand, they did seem to be creating more chances and they have seven points out of the last nine possible.  AVB decided to take on the press a little; that usually doesn't end well for the manager since he typically doesn't have a regular column or other media access.  Side note - one of his detractors - Neil Ashton - was captain of my first Chester Blues side when we were in the 5th division.  Liverpool also came away with six points against teams in the bottom half (Norwich and West Ham) but did it in somewhat more convincing fashion to stay five points back of Arsenal.

Aston Villa and Newcastle played a sort of Dr. Jekyl/Mr Hyde in their respective matches; each posted one quality outing and one performance worthy of a relegation candidate.  Aston Villa put up a gritty effort away at Southampton, taking an early lead, then twice tallying go-ahead goals after the Saints equalized.  Sunday however, they looked ready to accept the alternative tag put on them by Men in Blazers - the Midlands Mediocrity - as they appeared punchless against a Fulham side that hadn't won since before Obama became a two-term president.  Newcastle had their forgettable performance on Wednesday, losing 3-0 to Swansea City.  Tell me Jonjo Shelvey is not the evil spawn of Ernst Stavro Blofeld (see pictures below).  Saturday was much better as a goal in the 60th minute by Cabaye was the only scoring in a 1-0 win at Old Trafford.  Frankly, they looked the better side for most of the match.  Good to see Hatem Ben Arfa back on the pitch; the Magpies seemed much more dangerous with him out there.  Some post-game comments from Alan Pardew make it sound like his lack of playing time was related to the manager's displeasure with his work rate.  Chelsea's week sort of fits this theme too; they had a win over Sunderland but a loss on the road at Stoke which leaves them five points back of Arsenal.

                                                                          

Man Utd's theme is not a happy one - a pair of 0-1 losses to teams that had not won at Old Trafford since I was in high school this century.  First it was Everton, winning on Costa Rican international Bryan Oviedo's late goal; this was the Toffees first away win against Man United since 1992.  Lightning struck again on Saturday; Newcastle's aforementioned triumph was the Magpies first win at Old Trafford since 1972.  Working from memory, I recall the Everton match felt competitive but the Red Devils looked at sea against Newcastle; I'm sure Rooney's one-game suspension (accumulated yellow cards) didn't help.  David Moyes looked much younger when he started the season.

And Arsenal continues to fly above all this, taking four points from their two matches.  Wednesday was a relatively easy win 2-0 over a decent Hull City.  Sunday was a cracking 1-1 draw with Everton.  Truly a joy to watch, though maybe the Everton and "neutral" fans (i.e. not Arsenal fans) were happier with the result; only Gerard Deulofue's marvelous shot in the 84th minute kept the Gunners from taking a seven point lead at the top of the table.

This week's YouTube-able Moment goes to Southampton's Pablo Osvaldo for his goal in the 1-1 draw versus Man City; the settling of the long pass, the touch past Vincent Kompany, and the curling shot to the top far corner were of the highest quality.

And we're looking at another quiet seven days.  Champions League and Europe Cup action mid-week, a full slate of EPL matches on weekend, plus the NCAA finals.  The EPL weekend gets off to a roaring start with Man City hosting Arsenal.  Newcastle entertains Southampton; I like the Magpies recent form but Southampton, even with some key personnel injured, is a tough opponent.  Chelsea should be able to see Crystal Palace off, especially at Stamford Bridge.  Sunday early has Aston Villa home against Man Utd and later we have Tottenham versus Liverpool at White Hart Lane.

Bob K - I see that Sevilla FC beat Racing in the Esp Cup.  I'm assuming this is something akin to the FA Cup and Racing is a lower division team?  Please to explain.

Groups of Death, Pestilence and Plague

From Nate Silver, percentage chances of advancing:

http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1641670/all-groups?cc=5901

Not a great draw for the US but it's better than Group B and possibly D.  Wouldn't think there's much celebrating at The Hague right now.  Or Rome.

He has Brazil at 99.6% chance to move on.  Guess he left himself a little room there.

For those into it, here's his self-review on the SPI's performance in 2010:

http://espnfc.com/world-cup/columns/story/_/id/5392992/ce/us/soccer-power-index-update?cc=5901&ver=us

Six months to analyze the groups before play actually starts.  Probably not a good thing.  Better to watch your favorite club(s) in the interim than overanalyze the World Cup.  Let them break your heart before your national team does.

World Cup Draw

The draw for the 2014 World Cup Finals takes place this Friday at 11 am EST.  Think of it as NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection Sunday gone global.  And like NCAA bracketology, there will be plenty of analysis after the groups are set.  The format won't be officially announced until tomorrow but everyone expects the teams to be grouped as follows:

 

Seeded - Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Germany, Uruguay, Switzerland, Colombia, and Belgium (wait, one of these teams is not like the others)

One Pot - CONCACAF (US, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico) and Asia (Japan, Iran, South Korea, and Australia)

Another Pot - Europe (Holland, England, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Croatia, Russia, and Bosnia Herzegovina)

Final Pot - Africa (Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Algeria), Ecuador, Chile, and France

 

Each of the eight groups will consist of one team from each pot.  The US pot is generally considered to be the weakest, which is an automatic disadvantage in that their group will not include one of these weaker sides.  ESPN statistician Paul Carr calculates the US odds at advancing to the knock out rounds at 43%, ranging from 15% if placed in a group of Spain, Netherlands and Chile (Group of Death indeed) to 74% if their group consists of Switzerland, Algeria and Croatia.  Don't have the details but I'm sure you can follow the 45 minute draw on TV, radio or online if your schedule permits.

 

Mixed results this weekend for those who follow this wanna-be-maybe-soon-to-be-blog-but-now-just-a-long-email-chain.  Newcastle made me smile with their 4th straight W, which came courtesy of a laser strike by Sissoko shortly after West Brom had tied the scored at 1-1.  A classic "what the hell are you doing shooting from th...GREAT TAKE!"  The Magpies were up to 5th before the Sunday matches and finished the weekend 6th in the table.  And this with the likes of Ben Arfa, Cisse, and Gutierrez left on the bench for the time being.  Not sure what to think but certainly enjoying the run.

 

In Football Manager I get to give pregame, halftime and post-game pep talks, choosing from 5-6 options.  One of those choices after a disappointing performance is "Not good enough."  That has to be the reaction after Aston Villa's 0-0 home draw with lowly Sunderland.  Dennis reported that it wasn't even that close; according to him the Villans had nothing, underperforming in every phase of the game.  His faith is being tested early. 

 

Luke and Michael P saw Arsenal maintain their four point lead at the top of the table with a 3-0 road victory over Cardiff City.  Aaron Ramsey certainly enjoyed his Wales homecoming as he tallied two for the Gunners.  Watching the match, it felt more competitive than the final score would indicate but the quality of Arsenal's finishing was on a different plane than Cardiff's.  This match also included the "YouTubeable Moment" of the weekend when Olivier Giroud, clear of all defenders, stopped dead in his tracks waiting for an offsides call that never came.  At first viewing it was incomprehensible that he stopped; subsequent replays showed that an intervening touch from Ozil probably did mean Giroud was offsides but it was not called and isn't the first rule of thumb "play the whistle?"  As in, upon further review, it's still incomprehensible he pulled up.

 

Supposedly a draw is like kissing your sister but when your whole family got mugged the previous Sunday, maybe it's not so bad.   A 2-2 home draw for Tottenham against Man United was a dramatic improvement and had to make Michael B feel a little better.  Both managers were making noises about wanting the three points but I would have thought given their circumstances, both were relieved to at least get the draw. 

 

Other matches of note include Chelsea 3-1 beating of Southampton.  Again, this matched seemed much more competitive but Chelsea could finish while Southampton's only goal came on an ill-advised back pass from Essien.  That's two weekends in a row where Southampton came to London, looked good, but came away with nothing.  Maybe they're not ready for prime time.  Liverpool slipped seven points behind Arsenal after losing 3-1 to Hull City, the newly promoted side that is playing like they would like to stay in the EPL.  Everton is knocking at the door of the top four after a 4-0 thrashing of Stoke.

 

Quick turnaround as everybody plays mid week, then again on the weekend.  Newcastle has away matches with Swansea and Man United; yikes, that's a tough week right there.  Aston Villa is away to Southampton (smarting after consecutive losses to Arsenal and Chelsea) then away to an absolutely struggling Fulham side, whose manager will be in just his second EPL match.  Arsenal has a couple of tricky matches - Hull City and Everton - but will at least have the advantage of being home for both contests.  Tottenham, though on the road, has Fulham and Sunderland.  Just what the doctor ordered; play two of these and call me in the morning.

 

Bob K reports Sevilla won again and finds itself 6th in the La Ligue table.  Don't forget MLS Cup on Saturday afternoon at 4 pm on ESPN - Sporting KC versus Real Salt Lake.  Yeah, I know the quality isn't EPL but if we don't support what we have, it will never improve.  In England, fans support lower division teams and even with the 20 EPL teams to choose from.

 

Buckle up, busy week.  Make sure you clean out the stale matches from the DVR.  

Derby

Der·by[dur-bee; for 1, 2 also British dahr-bee] — n
1.	the Derby  an annual horse race run at Epsom Downs, Surrey, since 1780: one of the English flat-racing classics
2.	any of various other horse races
3.	local Derby  a football match between two teams from the same area

From dictionary.com.  Note the pronunciation for 3.  It's not like we don't have fierce rivalries here too but in England they have a special name for them.  The cliches are about the same though; "Yes Nigel, you have to throw out the won-loss records for these derby matches, anything can happen."  Of course, it's sort of true.  Sunderland has been bloody awful this year but still managed a 2-1 defeat of Newcastle in October and were quite happy with themselves.  And like some of the better American rivalries, they have names, albeit not as creative, relying on a river, town or region name - Merseyside (Everton-Liverpool), Wear-Tyneside (Newcastle-Sunderland), Midland (Aston Villa-West Bromwich Albion), North London (Tottenham-Arsenal), South Wales (Swansea-Cardiff), etc.  Many have a rich history; the Sunderland-Newcastle match in October was the 145th meeting between the two sides.   And they run deep.  A Newcastle daughter might find herself cut out of the will for marrying a Sunderland supporter.  It explains why Luke's only comment with respect to anything Tottenham is "f--- Spurs."

Speaking of derbies, the Everton-Liverpool match on Saturday had to be one of the season's best so far.  Liverpool went up early but Everton got the equalizer quickly.  Suarez (worst overbite in the EPL) put Liverpool back on top in the 19th minute with a well-taken, bending free kick; Laura and NBCS commentator both wondered if Tim Howard correctly positioned the wall for that kick.  It stayed 2-1 until Romelu Lukaku tied things up in the 72nd minute.  Ten minutes later Lukaku put the Goodison faithful into a frenzy as he drilled a header into the upper left corner for Everton's first lead.  That wouldn't hold up though as Danny Sturridge  headed a low hard cross from Steven Gerrard past Howard in the 89th minute.  Have to say a draw seemed like a fair result to this neutral observer.  Derby indeed.  And it was only the first match of the weekend.

Newcastle continued it's good run with what sounded like a relatively easy 2-1 win over Norwich.  Didn't mean I wasn't sweating the last 10 minutes plus 7 minutes of stoppage time.  Happy to see them beat a team they should beat.  What to make of Arsenal's 2-0 win over Southampton?  Looks good, puts them 4 points clear of Liverpool and a win is a win.  But...the first goal came on a complete screw up by the Southampton keeper and the second was a PK (accurately called IMHO) in the 86th minute.  I didn't see Arsenal dominate this match but I'm saying that not as a knock on the Gunners but more in speculation as to whether we've heard the last of Southampton.

Sunday morning brought the much anticipated Man City-Tottenham match.  Pardon my French but WTF?  Man City scored in the first 13 seconds and basically didn't stop scoring until the...well they really never stopped - the 6th and final goal came in stoppage time.  The pasting was enough to wipe out Tottenham's goal differential advantage with Newcastle and dropped them to 9th in the table.  Michael wept but Luke, ever sentimental, commented "f--- Spurs."  Sunday concluded with Man United conceding a goal right at the 90 minute mark and only coming away with a tie;  I believe I can speak for most on this distribution list to say what a shame, just a damn shame.  Sure.

Monday wasn't a bad day for Dennis, though it didn't start well.  His Villans took only 10 minutes or so to concede two goals to West Brom's Shane Long.  The first really was a thing of beauty and worth googling; the second was also a good finish but was set up by a particularly bonehead defensive play.  In true derby spirit, Aston Villa came back with goals at 67 minutes and 76 minutes to take away a well-earned draw.  An excellent result on the road, especially given the atrocious start.

And just to prove that sometimes a derby is just a mismatch by any other name, in La Ligue action, Bob's Sevilla bested Real Betis 4-0.

The MLS Cup Final (December 7th - a date which will live in infamy) is set after Sporting KC and Real Salt Lake took the semi-final matches. 

No rest for the weary this weekend, especially those involved in mid-week Champions League or Europa Cup matches.  Aston Villa hosts Sunderland and has every chance of taking all three points there.  Arsenal is away to Cardiff City - that may not be a cakewalk.  Newcastle takes on West Brom at St. James Park; like that it's a home match but the Baggies are no pushovers.  And things get no easier for the Spurs, who take on Man U at White Hart Lane.  Some other matches to watch include Chelsea-Southampton (let's see how they deal with the loss to Arsenal), Hull City-Liverpool (in second just 4 points back of Arsenal) and Man City hosting Swansea.

The Chester Blues had an interesting week.  Our match vs Peterborough was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.  At my request, the board as agreed to re-lay the pitch but not until after the season so this might be a regular occurrence given the English climate.  Unfortunately the match has been rescheduled in the middle of an already crowded schedule which will have us playing 6 matches between 1/28 and 2/15.  We played a friendly against a local unaffiliated club to stay fresh.  The good news was that after some continued negotiation, I was able to extend the loan period for two key players who had initially balked at staying longer.  Feeling much better about the squad now heading into the next 4 months.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

International Break

No club soccer but an active period of World Cup qualifiers and international friendlies, topped by the four European 2 leg playoffs on Friday and Tuesday.  Huge underdogs Iceland fought gamely but went down by 0-2 aggregate score to Croatia.  In the first leg, Iceland had a man sent off early in the second half but defended well and earned a 0-0 draw.  They fell behind 0-1 midway through the first half of the second leg but a golden opportunity presented itself when Croatia had a man sent off late in the first half.  A 1-1 tie would have been enough to sent Iceland on but instead they surrendered an early goal in the second half.  Frankly watching this match, it was hard to tell who was a man up.  They will speak well of this Iceland team but Croatia really was the better side.

 

France was left for dead after the first leg in Kiev.  They looked weak and then there was Koscielny's bad awful day - gave up a PK on a sloppy foul in the box, then later earned a straight red for a shove in the face of a Ukrainian player.  Down 0-2 they turned everything around in the second leg, tying the aggregate up fairly early in the first half.  Ukraine had a man sent off (second yellow) and the advantage went to France.  They capitalized with a goal in the 72nd minute and will go to Brazil.

 

Portugal v Sweden was advertised as a battle to see which superstar - Ronaldo or Ibrahimovich - would miss the World Cup.  Portugal won the aggregate 4-2.  Perhaps not surprisingly the aggregate was also Ronaldo 4 Ibrahimovic 2 as the superstars were responsible for all the goals.  Taylor Twellman commented that it was like watching somebody playing EA Sports FIFA 2013.

 

Didn't get to see much of Greece/Romania but it sure seemed like it wasn't much of a contest with Greece winning on aggregate 4-2.

 

The Mexico New Zealand WC playoff was interesting in a way.  The Mexico manager Herrera eschewed (gesundheit) several European stars in favor of local club athletes thinking he would have more time to work with them and travel would be less of a factor.  The strategy certainly worked for the first leg, a 5-1 thrashing of the "All-Whites," who were dressed in all black.  Regardless of what they were wearing the New Zealand squad looked like they had just finished a 20-hour, 7000 mile flight from Wellington. Though some skeptics said it wasn't over, it really was over.  Mexico went up 3-0 in the second leg and coasted to a 9-3 aggregate win.  We will be interested to see what Herrera does with the squad come WC; what blend of European and Mexican club players will he use?

 

The USMNT had two mediocre performances against non-WC teams, drawing Scotland 0-0 and losing to Austria 0-1.  I'm not one to put too much stock in friendlies like these where the focus is probably more about determining the WC squad.  Still, you would hope for better results.  One thing I think I understand about Klinsmann's system is that it requires a quick tempo; when they don't get that, they simply can't score.

 

Everybody's back in action this weekend.  Newcastle has a completely winnable match at home vs Norwich; already steeling myself for a bad result there.  Arsenal has a bit of test hosting Southampton, who find themselves just three points back of the Gunners.  Tottenham have to visit the enigmatic Man City.  And Aston Villa will have its hands full away at West Brom- thinking a draw might be a good result there. Other matches of note include Everton v Liverpool, West Ham v Chelsea and Cardiff v Man U (who are starting to scare people again).  Bob's Sevilla FC has what should be an easy match versus bottom of the table Betis.  MLS semifinals continue with second leg matches.  Real Salt Lake is up 4-2 on Portland while Sporting KC and Houston are 0-0.  Midweek includes a host of Champions League and Europa Cup matches.  Luke's Arsenal side takes on Marseilles while Michael's Spurs take on some club that I haven't identified yet - kind of like a stock market ticker name.  The NFL has 3 games on Thanksgiving.  Big deal, there are 18 Europa Cup matches on Thursday.

 

Didn't get to any Chester matches this week, just doing a lot of scouting for both the end of this season and some younger players for the long-term.  Not finding anything in my price range that looks like an improvement.  Not going to spend money just because the transfer window is open if it doesn't make us better. 

 

This week we should remember to give thanks that our sport has a full calendar for the next 8 months.

Playoffs? Playoffs?

A colleague at work thinks playoffs are where great athletes rise to the occasion and "chokers" are exposed.  I see playoff performance as a small sample where the differences are probably due to luck.  As such, I'm usually going to see the team that did the best in "regular season" as the best team in whatever league is under discussion.  The 2011 baseball season is my favorite example - if you want to tell me that the Cardinals, who made the playoffs only because the Phillies beat the Braves on the last day of the season, were the best team in baseball that year, go for it.  They won the World Series but the season-long accomplishments of two other teams - the Phillies and the Yankees - seemed more important to me than performance in a string of short series.  But my co-worker is convinced that Nelson Cruz dropping the fly ball that opened the door for the Cardinals to win the World Series was no accident but a character-revealing moment.

 

And why am I raising this issue here?  To point out the fate of the New York Red Bulls, the team which compiled the best regular season record in the 2013 MLS season but failed to make it out of the quarter finals of the playoffs.  In the English Premier League, the top of the table season would have been recognized for the significant accomplishment it is.  In MLS, all it gets you is a better seed for the playoffs.  Sure, Red Bulls got the Supporters Shield but I would guess most don't see it as a big deal.  So NY played a great first half in the first leg versus Houston.  Then, a key defender (Olave) gets red carded (some saw it as a harsh call) so they play the second half of that leg down a man and surrender two goals, including one in stoppage time.  With Olave suspended for the second leg, they play to a 1-1 draw over 90 minutes but give up a goal in extra time to lose by the aggregate score 4-3.  And pardon my French but WTF - why wasn't that game on TV?  MLS had two tense, competitive matches on Wednesday that most of the US soccer viewing world did not get to see.  Some brilliant marketing there guys.  Wait, where was I?  Oh yeah, around the same time, Arsenal lost to Chelsea in the Capital One League Cup, which is the EPL version of playoffs.  That they hold mid-week during the regular season.  And often leave key players out so they're at full strength for the league matches on the weekend.  The ones that really matter.   So Chris, revel in your team's Supporters Shield.  I for one will recognize them as the best team in the MLS this year.

 

Some will find it hard to believe I went two paragraphs without getting to NEWCASTLE'S AWESOME 1-0 VICTORY OVER TOTTENHAM (at White Hart Lane no less).  Again, the Magpies started slowly but Remy broke through on a great ball from Gouffran to score the only goal of the match in the 13th minute.  Tim Krul was simply lights out between the posts; I lost track of how many game saving plays he made.  Six points from matches versus Chelsea and Tottenham - did not see that coming.  I am fighting my cynical side that keeps asking "yeah but let's see how they do in the upcoming string of matches where they are expected to take some or all of the points."  I've also been able to enjoy my team on TV rather than watching on the computer since so many of the recent matches have been against the bigger boys.

 

Of course my joy on Sunday was matched by Michael's dismay, though he did seem heartened by the fact that Tottenham generated many more scoring opportunities than in recent matches.  It's a long campaign and he was also relieved to see Arsenal go down 1-0 at Old Trafford.  The loss kept Arsenal from opening a bigger lead at the top of the table and, alas, made Luke sad. That ex-Gunner van Persie was the goal scorer must have hurt just a little more.  But we will not extend that much sympathy to Luke since his side is still two points clear at the top.  Dennis got to see Aston Villa take 3 points from Cardiff on two late goals that ended a long scoring drought.  Liverpool and Southampton had easy wins that now have them in 2nd and 3rd respectively.  Chelsea holds the 4th spot after a 2-2 draw against West Brom, thanks to Andre Marriner's decision to award a PK for a foul on Ramires in the box just before the final whistle.  I know refs are supposed to stick together but I have to say that looked on the soft side to me.  Not a dive because there was contact but not enough for a foul either.

 

In La Liga, Bob's team (Sevilla FC, which might be the Newcastle of La Liga) got a big win over Espanyol to move up to 11th in the standings.  Olympique Lyonnais, the team we hope to see when we visit Mackenzie in France, also won and now sits in 7th in Lique 1.

 

Everybody's off this weekend for the international break but that does not mean there are no tasty fixtures to follow.  Many eyes will be on the European WC qualifiers, a series of home and away matches on Friday and Tuesday that will send another four teams to the WC Finals.  Sentimental favorites may be Iceland as they attempt to become the smallest country - population wise - to make the finals; the road will not be easy as they must face Croatia.  Iceland are a special favorite here because the squad has two Chester Blues players - Gylfi Sigurdsson and Kari Arnason.  My guess is many will be pulling for them, except maybe the grinchy Luke, who can't bring himself to root for team with a Tottenham player.  Another intriquing match up is France versus Ukraine.  I understand Chris is partial to the Ukrainian side and Michael still hasn't forgiven France for the Henry handball that eliminated Ireland in 2010.  Mackenzie will likely show her support for the French, being that she's there right now; I might have a mild rooting interest as the team often features a Magpie or three.

 

Speaking of the Chester Blues, they got a 2-2 draw on the road versus Watford.  Not the best result given Watford's standing but we were favored to lose and needed a late goal to get the draw so we'll take the point.  Coupled with Blackburn's loss, we are now tied with them for first place (ahead on goal differential) in the Championship Division.  If only the season ended now.  At least I don't have to worry about making the playoffs.*

*Actually that's not exactly true - first and second place are automatically promoted, third thru six go through a playoff for the third promotion spot to the EPL.  Still think my point about a basic difference between soccer and US league sports is valid.

On Any Given Saturday

...Newcastle can either amaze or torment its fans.  Fortunately this week it was the former.  What better way to erase the memory of the derby loss to Sunderland than to take Chelsea down 2-0.  The Blues had the run of play early but at about 25-30 minutes the game seemed to change.  A second half free kick from Cabaye into the box was perfect and Gouffran gave his body up for the header to put the Magpies up 1-0.  I'm starting to think maybe we come away with a draw at this point.  But Newcastle continued to play well and a late goal by Loic Remy sealed the deal.  Earlier in the week they held Man City scoreless in regular time before surrendering 2 goals in the extra time in the Capital One League Cup match.  I was a bit concerned that 120 minutes of soccer on Wednesday might have left them a little fatigued but that was not the case.  This is a hard team to figure out right now - some high quality performances but some puzzling let downs too.  Not to mention all the off-field silliness, like 3 local newspapers being banned from St. James Park press events because of coverage of a protest parade by fans.  Here's hoping that football like last Saturday's will refocus attention to the pitch.

Mixed bag, though nothing awful for the other non-neutrals on the distribution list.  Dennis is still looking for Aston Villa's first win, (first goal?), since announcing his allegiance.  But a 0-0 draw at West Ham isn't terrible, though I expect he'd like to see the offense get in gear.  Luke is of course thrilled with the 2-0 defeat of Liverpool by his beloved Gunners.  Can't say that Liverpool looked all that competitive as Arsenal pulled clear by 5 points at the top of the table.  Michael won't admit it but a 0-0 draw for the Spurs on the road versus Everton is acceptable, though he too must be wondering where the goals are at this point.  Seemed like a bit of a chippy match but a fair result.

Midweek, Arsenal went out to Chelsea in the Capital One Cup but Luke didn't seem too bothered by it.  Tottenham had to go to PKs to beat Hull City and one wonders if all that midweek football hurt them Sunday against Everton.

Turning to MLS, haven't heard from Chris yet about the Red Bulls 2-2 draw at Houston in the first leg of the Eastern semifinal, but my guess is he's not happy/fuming.  Sailing along 2-0 at half (not winning the possession battle but unleashing some lethal counter attacks), they proceed to go down a man, surrender a goal, then have Houston tie it in stoppage time.  From my mostly neutral vantage point, I thought the yellow to Henry against the keeper was totally unjustified and the red to Olave, while more defensible, should have been yellow.  They have their work cut out for them in the second leg on Wednesday (?) at home in Harrison (wow a NY team that plays in NJ, wonder if that's ever happened before).

Some mid-week Champions League and Europa Cup action for Arsenal (vs Dortmund) and Tottenham (Sheriff).

Be a shame if the Spurs are a bit tired for their Sunday match vs Newcastle; on the road at White Hart Lane is never good but maybe we can steal a point.  Arsenal gets a test on the road vs Man U.  Aston Villa has a tricky fixture hosting Cardiff City; they could really do with a result soon.


The Chester Blues - we've had better weeks.  Lost away to Bristol City 2-1 in the FA Cup.  More distressing is that two key players I have on loan are not interested in extending beyond February.  Replacements are not jumping out at me as I search the transfer data base.  I did find a decent midfielder on a free transfer but other clubs are expressing interest too so I may be outbid.  Going to be a tough 5 months down the stretch to secure the promotion.

What's in Your DVR

Hmmm…can’t be good when the best result of the weekend was the 4-1 victory by the computer Chester Blues over Derby, which moved us, if only temporarily, into first in the Championship Division.  It’s January 3^rd in that space and so I’m trying to use the transfer window to shore up the defense and maybe add a midfielder.  My transfer budget of $60,000 doesn’t exactly give me wide latitude to pursue talent.  I’m finding a lot of 34 year-old veterans who really aren’t that much better than what I have and who often have higher salaries than I’m willing to pay.  Such is the life of a manager.  Still, the Premiership is in sight with just 19 games to go.

Sigh, back to reality, starting with the Union.  The 1-2 home loss to Sporting Kansas City ended all the silly talk of playoffs.  Not that it is terrible to lose to a quality side like SKC but the Union looked awful.  Very disorganized, like players weren’t really sure what they were supposed to be doing.  That seems to me somewhat on Hackworth.  Clearly a better season than last year but it’s hard to see how they progress further with this squad.  Chris is undoubtedly happy with the Red Bulls taking the Supporters Shield.  Good luck to them in the playoffs, though the Supporters Shield is a legitimate trophy in its own right.

  

Things weren’t much better in the EPL, at least for me and Dennis.  Saw some highlights of Aston Villa’s 0-2 loss to Everton and it looks like they ran into a hot Tim Howard.  Though you might have hoped for a result, Everton is a good side so you can’t call it a disaster.  Not like, say, Newcastle’s 2-1 loss at the Stadium of Light to Sunderland (the team with only 1 point going into the match).  Stunned right out of the gate by a quick goal at 5 minutes, the Magpies struggled to find their game.  They seemed to do better after moving a second striker up top and got an equalizer at the 57^th minute.  I was becoming comfortable with the prospect of a draw when Borini put that to rest with a quality strike in the 85^th minute.  I believe somebody pointed out this was a trap game and it proved to be so.  Fortunately, most of the top teams beat mid and lower table teams (thank you Tottenham - 1-0 over Hull - and Arsenal - 2-0 over Crystal Palace despite playing down a man) so the damage wasn’t as great as it could have been.  Luke and Michael have to be happy with the campaign so far, though I can already hear Michael talking about how the Spurs will find a way to finish fifth. 

And as bad as you might feel, it can’t be worse than Joe Hart and Matija Nastasic, who combined for a nightmare ending in the Man City loss to Chelsea that reminds me of the line from the movie Cool Hand Luke (“what we have here is a failure to communicate”).  I have not read whether Hart called his defender off but Nastasic’s header back to his keeper went over his head and Torres did a nice job to get the ball into the empty net.  It’s almost November and there is no Man U or Man C in the top four; how long since that was case? 

Top matches for this weekend look to be Eve-Tot and Ars-Liv so Michael and Luke have their hands full this weekend.  Newcastle will be live on Saturday morning hosting Chelsea – will be happy if we can get one point from that fixture but even that feels like a long shot.  Aston Villa are on the road but have some prospect of a result against West Ham, who have not exactly been setting the league on fire.

To complicate matters for the managers, many of the EPL teams have mid-week matches in the Capital One Cup.  Arsenal host Chelsea today while Newcastle host Man City and Tottenham host Hull City tomorrow.  Luke, make sure the Gunners tire out those Chelsea boys for Saturday's match.

Eight Days A Week

Or close to it when there is Champions League and Europa Cup action.

Apparently "fraught with danger" understated the risks to the Union's playoff hopes.  Got off to a good start in Montreal but could not sustain it and went down 2-1.  I don't think they can catch Chicago now because of the tie breaker.  But there are scenarios which get them to the playoffs.  All require a Union win over Sporting KC.  Pretty sure New England also has to lose to Columbus because the Union would lose on the second tie breaker, goals scored, unless they outscore NE by seven.  Looks like the Union are in however with a Houston draw or loss against, alas, DC United.  Probably shouldn't hold our breath.  And to be fair, it's not like they played all that well down the stretch.  A step forward from last year but more work to be done.  Chris gets to look forward to what could be a deep playoff run from the Red Bulls.

Better news for most of us on the EPL front.  Newcastle was up 1-0 on Liverpool and IMHO was soundly outplaying them until Mbiwa decided to grab Suarez from behind in the box late in the first half.  PK converted and Newcastle down a man for the next 50 minutes.  Dummett's clean finish after a curling run round the box put Newcastle back up 2-1 at the 56th minute but Liverpool answered at the 72nd minute.  The last 18 plus were nailbiting, right down to Suarez' free kick from just outside the box that Krul stopped to preserve the tie.  Going into the match, a draw would have sounded great and after going down a man, it sounded even better. 

Luke (Arsenal) and Michael ("Tot'num") have no complaints as their sides took care of business, helping Newcastle in the process.  Not so much for Dennis, who recently signed on with Aston Villa.  They weren't awful and even had long spells where they had the run of play but the Spurs were just too much for them.  Hey check out the Saints of Southampton getting a late goal ("not a thing of beauty but no less than they deserve" or something close to that was the announcer's call) to draw Man U.

No comment on Champions League results as some may have taped them.

This weekend has Newcastle going Wear side to face their hated rivals Sunderland, who have been awful so far.  Look out, it's a trap.  Arsenal takes on a disappointing Crystal Palace while Tottenham faces the surprising Hull City.  All I ask is that the top table clubs take care of business against lower table teams so that Newcastle doesn't have to sweat relegation again.  Things don't get easier for Aston Villa as they take on Everton.  Plus, Chelsea-Man City looks like a tasty fixture.

And in computer news, the Chester Blues stole an extra 2 points on the road versus Reading.  After drawing level at about 70 minutes, I went conservative to preserve the draw, though did allow for counters when the opportunity presented itself.  At 93 minutes, John Guidetti (real player, Swedish youth international who has been on Man City and Stoke rosters) hit Ronan Gallagher (mythical Irish youth international created by the game) with a perfect cross that Ronan buried for the game winner.  The squad has been playing better and promotion to the Premiership is still a possibility.

On the international front, Iceland gets Croatia in the UEFA WCQ playoffs for the last 4 European spots.  Not easy but better than getting, say, Portugal.  Bob K tells me Iceland would be smallest country in terms of population to get a WC final spot.

Are we having fun yet?