Custodite Duo Porta Fenus aut Perite

Apologies to any Latin scholars out there but I believe this post's title, loosely translated, is Protect a Two Goal Lead or Fail to Make the Playoffs.  Unfortunately, the Union couldn't so they won't.  After a scoreless first half, the Union fashioned a 2-0 lead on goals by Danny Cruz and Andrew Wenger; neither were particularly pretty but were deserved based on the Union's work rate.  After Wenger's goal, announcer Peter Pappas noted that the next five minutes would be important.  He was right.  Three minutes later, Columbus was on the board.  Two minutes after that, Columbus was tied.  Three minutes after that, Columbus was winning 3-2.  It was one of those moments where you almost wished they allowed timeouts to get things organized.   But there it was - three goals in five minutes and Columbus without its leading scorer.  I was able to get video of the postgame talk as this week's YouTubeableMoment.

It would be silly to cite this late collapse as the reason the Union won't be in the playoffs.  It is not silly to suggest that a season full of goals allowed after 80 minutes is the reason their season is over.  By my calculation, if games had ended at 80 minutes, the Union would have had 11 more points; after 80 minutes, seven wins became draws, one draw became a loss, two losses became draws and one draw was turned into a win.  This is not a bad team but it really wasn't consistent enough to contend or even make the playoffs.  And while there is young talent, many key positions are manned by players in their late twenties or early thirties.  In short, it seems like there is still a lot of work to be done.


Football Manager Update


Light refereeing duty and no EPL games allowed me to return to my duties as manager of the Chester Blues.  Heading into the international break we were facing two road matches against top ten sides.  Against Aston Villa we were outplayed but hung in and nicked a goal in the 88th minute to steal a draw (I thought you were supposed to be talking about simulations in this section.  Sounds real to me.)  Playing QPR a few days later, we took what we learned playing on the narrow pitch at Villa Park (use a 4-1-3-2 but keep the midfielders in tight) and were pretty much in control in a 1-0 win.  Four points when I was hoping for maybe two - sweet.  And players are coming back from injury.  We sit third in the table with 16 points from seven matches.  Our next three matches are against Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool so we might be stuck on the number for a bit.  But relegation doesn't seem such a threat right now. 



International Break


Two US friendlies ended 1-1 with the Yanks surrendering goals late in both contests.  But as we maintain here, it's not the score that matters but what we learn about the team.  This time around we learned that the relationship between Landon Donovan and Jurgen Klinsmann is likely going to be forever awkward, at best.  The match on Friday was sort of a farewell tribute to Donovan; it was nice to see him get the recognition but the whole thing felt weird.  In Tuesday's match we learned that as much as Klinsmann wants Bradley to be the top of the mid-field diamond and Diskerud the back half, it may not work.  Jermaine Jones wasn't terrible in central defense but at 32 does he really have a future there for the USMNT?  And we were reminded that for all the time we've been watching Altidore, he is just 24 years old.

The international break is not all fun and games for the European sides, who are now in the qualifying stages for the 2016 European Championships; in other words, those matches count.  Pundits are slamming the new format that will allow 24 teams into the tournament, arguing that it cheapens the qualifying process.  Maybe; Belgium looked very ordinary and unconcerned in a 1-1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina (still have to look the spelling up every time), probably feeling confident of qualifying in this format.  On the other hand, some good sides took it on the chin; Germany lost to Poland and tied Ireland, Spain lost to Slovakia, and Netherlands lost to Iceland (with Chester Blue Gylfi Sigurdsson netting two!).  Plenty of exciting matches so far and it will be fun to watch sides like Wales, Scotland and Ireland battle for a spot.


 The Weekend

While I did enjoy getting some things done around the house, Saturday morning just wasn't the same without the EPL.   The weekend gets off to a cracking start with Man City hosting Tottenham at 7:45 on Saturday morning; Michael B says he'd be happy to take home a point.  The 10 am slot is jammed packed; Crystal Palace v Chelsea is the featured match but I will be watching Newcastle host Leicester on NBC Extra Time.  Anything but a win there will increase the pressure for owner Mike Ashley to sack Pardew.  Also "relegated" to Extra Time are Everton v Aston Villa and Arsenal v Hull.  The Toffees have struggled so far and Aston Villa have been nobody's patsy this year so that could be close.  Four fun facts for that match:
    1)Agbonlahor has 7 goals vs Everton, his most against any club
    2) In the last 11 matches vs Everton, Aston Villa have just one win but seven draws
    3) Paul Lambert has never won an EPL match vs Roberto Martinez (3 losses, 3 draws)
    4) Villans have just 10 shots on target this season, or less than Costa or Aguero
Gunners fans must be thinking about three points from Hull City, especially at the Emirates.  Liverpool will travel to London to face QPR on Sunday morning at 8:30 (should be three even on the road) and resurgent Man United travel to the Midlands to face West Brom  (if the Red Devils are back for real, this should be a W for them).