Speaking of draws, there were nine of them. And it's a bit hard to see how getting to replay the match is much of a good thing. If Team David valiantly plays Team Goliath to a draw in league play at least they get a point. In this competition, they just get to start over from square one. So yes Blackburn, that was a gutsy performance to tie Manchester City. Your reward? An away match at Etihad Stadium, probably midweek, squeezed in between two league games.
I have seen a number of comments about the FA Cup's place in English football. Oversimplifying of course, there's one view pointing to the storied history of the oldest knockout tournament with the chance to beat squads from higher divisions. Another view is that the promotion/relegation struggle is of the utmost financial importance and the cup is a distraction or worse, a drain on resources. Not taking sides but check out not only the starting lineups but the players who dressed for your favorite team this weekend. Seems like the managers may be telling us something with their team selections. Newcastle didn't even dress Cabaye or Krul, and Remy was only used as a sub in the 85th minute. Man City didn't start Kompany, Zabaleta, or Toure'. Etc.
Chester Blues
I do like that the FA Cup gives me a chance to see some of my Chester Blues in action. Rhys Bennett, right back for Rochdale (he's a central defender for me) was specifically cited by the announcer for his high level of play in their win over Leeds. Zoltan Gera started for West Brom but I didn't see the match so I don't know how he performed. Chris Birchall was on the bench for Port Vale but did not see action.
The "real" Chester Blues hit a bump on the road to the Premier League with a draw at Notts County. They (Notts County) are in 17th place and the odds suggested we were favorites, although the smarty pants sports reporter predicted a draw before the contest. When we gave up 1-0 and 2-1 leads to come away with the draw, the reporter was very proud of himself. Blackburn won its match so our margin at the top is just 1 point. But there are silver linings. The 3rd place team, West Brom, lost so we actually increased our cushion for the automatic promotion. Some of the players were getting worn down by the congested schedule so I rested a few and got decent performances out of the replacements. Still two more games to go in the 6 matches in 19 days marathon so getting the day off for some of those guys was important.
Back to the EPL
Good news/bad news for me and Dennis. Our teams are on display on NBCSN this weekend. The bad news is that we rate the treatment because of the opponents. Newcastle will hope to do better than the 5-0 pasting they suffered in the season opener at Etihad Stadium as they host Man City in the early Sunday game. Aston Villa gets to face top-of-the-table Arsenal in the Monday match. Draws would look mighty good in both of those contests. Tottenham hosts Crystal Palace; anything but three points for the Spurs would have to be a disappointment. And Swansea travels to Old Trafford to face Man Utd. Wait, didn't they just play each other on Sunday? Yes, but that
Handy guide to league structure and abbreviations sometimes used on this blog:
PL = Premier League = First Division
CH = Championship = Second Division
L1 = League One = Third Division
L2 = League Two = Fourth Division
CN = Conference National = Fifth Division
There are actually many more divisions but we'll save that for another day.
Blackburn's draw and forcing a visit to the Etihad is a moral victory for them and the reason City fielded a weaker sqaud was for schedule management AND the expectation that they'd spank Blackburn with their diluted squad. And City's punishment for the draw is another game (which they could have avoided with a win).
ReplyDeleteAnyone have an opinion on Moyes/Man United? It is all the talk on my soccer talk radio shows (Sirius - 94).
Finally, huge Atletico v Barcelona match Saturday afternoon (live for Comcast subscribers). Forza Atleti!