A Tale of One City

With just FoxSports 1 to work with, the only FA Cup ties I got to see were the two Manchester matches. As Dickens might have said, it was the mediocre-est of times, it was the worst of times for the fans of the two Manchester sides.

Friday's David and Goliath match featured Cambridge (12th  place in League 2) hosting Moribund Manchester United.  The home side played well in the first half and probably had the best chance of the period.  The second half was strictly a case of hanging on for dear life.  Man United had 75% possession and six shots on target to none for Cambridge.  But hang on they did, walking away with a 0-0 draw.  And their reward? A mid-week replay at Old Trafford in a few weeks! Kind of reminds me of the end of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  They fought gamely but, well, you know how that ended...

Clearly not the result Manchester United was looking for but they fared much better than their cross town rivals.  Manchester City squared off against Championship (2nd division) Middlesbrough  - in second at the time of the match, i.e. not a patsy and a possible EPL team next year.  Exciting, open match with both sides having chances.  Boro broke through in the 53rd minute as Patrick Bamford cleaned up a mess in front of the net.  The game got even more stretched and interesting as Man City sought to level the score but it was Middlesbrough getting an insurance goal in stoppage time, ending the Citizens FA Cup hopes.

Middlesbrough’s Patrick Bamford celebrates his side’s fortuitous opening goal in a famous victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup fourth round. Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters

 

 

Does Anybody Want to Win the FA Cup?

Turns out the Manchester experience was being played out all over England.  Not a good weekend if you were in the top 10 in the EPL.

1st - Chelsea go down to Bradford (a League One [3rd division] side), at Stamford Bridge no less
2nd - Man City's loss chronicled above
3rd - Southampton  down 2-3 to Crystal Palace, another come-from-behind win for Pardew
4th - Man United discussed above
5th - Arsenal best Brighton 3-2
6th - Tottenham down 1-2 to Leicester
7th - West Ham 1-0 over Bristol
8th - Liverpool drawn 0-0 by Bolton
9th - Swansea down 1-2 to Blackburn
10th - Stoke best Rochdale 3-1

In other scores, Aston Villa scored two goals (18 percent of their EPL output) in one game and bested Bournemouth 2-1.  Perhaps Lambert needs to convince his side that every match is an FA Cup contest.

Not sure if it's feasible but maybe the prize for winning the FA Cup needs to be a spot in the Champions League (as opposed to Europa Cup) .  Might not have much of an impact on a Chelsea or Man City but it would likely perk up the interest of the other top EPL sides in winning the FA Cup.


Chester Blues

Almost caught up to real time.  Four straight league draws, some good (Newcastle and Arsenal away), some bad (QPR at home).  Two FA Cup victories have us to the 5th Round.  The draws have pretty much put an end to both league title hopes (15 points behind the leaders Manchester City) and relegation fears (now sitting with 40 points).  What remains in the balance is possible qualification for Champions League or Europa Cup.


Back to the Real Competition

Marquee match of the weekend is easily Chelsea vs Man City from Stamford Bridge at 12:30 on Saturday.  Chelsea may be without leading scorer Diego Costa, pending his appeal against a three-match ban for stomping Liverpool's Emre Can during the Blues win (and advancement) in League Cup play on Tuesday.  Other top of the table matches include Southampton hosting Swansea (Swans have looked awful since losing Bony) and Man United hosting Leicester (a chance to right the ship maybe).

We have BFS derby with Aston Villa taking on Arsenal at the Emirates; tough time to be playing the Gunners and the Villans may have used up their goals for the month with the FA Cup performance.  Inconsistent but still in contention for Europe, Tottenham travel to West Brom for a hoped for three points.  Everton are in London to face the surging Crystal Palace; off of recent performances, I would warn the Toffees that no lead looks safe against the Eagles right now.

Farther down the table, Burnley travel to the Stadium of Light to take on Sunderland; both have 20 points and sit one point out of the relegation zone.

And then there is Newcastle traveling to Hull City.  As expected, John Carver has been name permanent interim manager until the summer.  Hull City are sitting in the relegation zone with just 19 points.  But if I read the odds right, Hull City are favored.  Figures.  On the other hand, in the last seven matches between these two teams the home side has failed to come away with a win - drawing three and losing four.  Also we note that there have been 19 goals in the last five matches between these two.  But, a high scoring affair seems unlikely given the inability of either to find the net recently.  For me, this will be an important barometer of how much of a struggle the run-in to the finish is going to be.  A win or draw will likely indicate that we won't be looking over our shoulders at relegation; a loss means anything's possible.  Oh, and if they lose, it will likely be too late to do anything in the January transfer window to shore the team up.

Finishing School

Newcastle are just like a 16 year-old debutante - they need Finishing School.

The Magpies generated plenty of decent chances in the 1-2 loss at home to Southampton but the only ball that went in was Gouffran's ricochet off a botched clearance by the Saints keeper.   Of their 12 shots, just three were on target.  This was a drawable, or even winnable match.  Newcastle outpossessed, outshot, outcornered, out everythinged Southampton except on the scoreboard.  The Southampton goals were of the soft variety, especially the second, which might have gone right to Krul except it clipped off Janmaat, kissed the inside of the post and went in.  Plus there was the non-handling call - more on that below.

And, as we all know, the dog would have caught the rabbit if he hadn't stopped to pee.  Woulda, coulda and shoulda are synonyms for excuses.  The Southampton goals were soft but the opportunities were created by Newcastle defensive miscues and relying on ricochets and uncalled PKs for your goals isn't going to win many matches.  What is frustrating is that this is not an awful team - they should be able finish between 7th and 10th.  Maybe they are mentally beaten down by the circus that passes for management.  It now appears they won't name a permanent manager until the summer which also probably means a quiet January transfer window.

The effort on Saturday was good and I would think that a similar performance would be enough to dispatch Hull City in their next match but it's hard to know with this team.


Handling - Episode XXVI

Regular readers know that when I address this matter, I'm usually explaining why the incident was not handling.  I realize that in taking the opposite position for the non-call on Southampton's Fonte, I run the risk of being accused of bias towards the Magpies.  First, have a look at the incident, this week's YouTubeable Moment.   To me, it looks like Fonte raised his arm, as the shot was being taken, to a position where it was likely to contact the ball and moved it away only after contact.  Hard to argue that it was in a natural position.  Also very hard to argue it was an instinctive reaction to protect himself, since he stuck it out away from his body.  All one is left with is whether close proximity of the shot left Fonte with little time to do anything, except that argument falls flat when you realize he raised his arm in anticipation of the shot as opposed to not having enough time to pull the arm away.  Harrison Reid, the Southampton player coming across in the play may have screened Mr. Madley.  Whatever.  Stuff happens.  I would have called it and the PK, if converted, would have gotten Newcastle a not totally undeserved draw.  But there were plenty of other missed chances so blaming the result on one play is silly.

As unusual as this is, I have to disagree with you on this one.  I performed extensive personal field research - standing in front of my computer pretending to protect myself from an oncoming shot and seeing where my arms wanted to go -  and found my arms wanted to move in a very similar manner.  I also performed a more scientifically valid blind trial - asking Emily to react to the same scenario without knowing why I was asking.  She even started with hands at her sides and brought them up in a similar manner to Fonte as well.  All that, plus 5 minutes of watching the replay, led to 2 conclusions.  First, I think one of us is wrong on how good these players are at acting/reacting to get calls.  Fonte's reaction looked natural to me but you think he intentionally moved his hand away from his body to block the shot - maybe they really are being coached how to play to the refs.  Second, watching slow motion replays of close penalty calls/non-calls is silly.  There will almost always be an angle that looks like an obvious penalty and an angle that doesn't.

Hmmm...I agree on the second point - the slow motion replay is pretty much irrelevant.  In real time, it could have easily looked like an instinctive, protective reaction.  In fact, though I say I would have called it, that's based on the replay; real time, who knows?  That is why it's silly to feel like we got rooked.  Not agreeing on the first point though.  Every time I face this shot, my instinctive, protective reaction is to bring both arms against my chest.  Why would the left arm go to the chest and the right arm stick out like a wing?  If he had brought his right hand up to protect his face and his arm was sticking out, I'd probably say not handling. I agree that it wasn't a clear hand-to-ball situation.  Maybe he wasn't even intentionally trying to block the ball.  But, I don't think the arm was in a natural position and he made himself bigger in the process.  If the ball strikes the arm in those circumstances, it should be a penalty.  But I get it; if you think that was an instinctive, protective reaction, then you have a case for letting play carry on.  Check out this link and see if your view changes: http://www.soccerrefereeusa.com/index.php/entry/64-understanding-and-judging-handling-offenses-in-soccer. 
          

Youth Soccer Incident of the Week

The Villans once again looked lifeless at home, but at least managed to not get a red card.  New signing Gil was energetic and creative in the midfield, and hopes are high that he will be a real asset for the......wait, this isn't the section for talking about Aston Villa? Oops, my bad.  

Could become a regular feature.  Last week you'll recall that Dusan Tadic forgot his shinguards and jersey.  This week's is even better.  In the midst of Manchester United's uninspired 2-0 win over QPR, Antonio Valencia got called for a foul throw-in - because his back leg came up about two feet!  And this was after what seemed like a minute of utter indecision as to where to throw the ball.  Not even U-14, this was U-9 level comedy.  Wish I could find the video.


Gunners on the March

A surprisingly easy win for Arsenal over Manchester City.  You might say they "Man" handled them.  A PK from Cazorla and a brilliant header from Giroud were the only goals.  Tottenham needed a late goal to get by Sunderland but got the three points.  Chelsea flattened Swansea 5-0.  Everton, aside from managing just a 0-0 draw at home against West Brom, now has internal controversy after Kevin Mirallas insisted on taking - and missing - a PK late in the first half rather than yielding to the team's best spot kicker, Leighton Baines, even after it appears that most of his team pleaded with him to give the ball to Baines.  That mess is chronicled here.


 FA Cup (Break)


Your squad may be playing an FA Cup match this weekend but my Magpies, because of their untimely exit, are off to Dubai for some training in warmer climes.  Suckers...

Let see, wait a minute, it's like everybody else's team is playing.  Aston Villa hosts AFC Bournemouth (first place in Championship Division - don't take them lightly), Tottenham hosts Leicester, Man United travels to face Cambridge (12th in League Two [4th division] - really?).    Arsenal travels to face Brighton and Hove Albion (they're not facing two sides, that's one team).  Other notables - Man City vs Middlesborough and Chelsea vs Bradford.  I guess Everton's out too so we're not alone.

Oh, Capital One Cup - second legs of semis are Tuesday and Wednesday.  Spurs have a 1-0 edge on Sheffield United after leg one at White Hart Lane while Chelsea and Liverpool are 1-1 after their first leg at Anfield.  The Capital One Cup uses an interesting tiebreaking approach if the aggregate score is level after the second leg.  First, they play 30 minutes of extra time.  Then, if still tied, the score is recalculated, counting goals away from home twice.  So let's say Chelsea and Liverpool play 0-0 in the second leg and wind up 1-1 on aggregate.  If nobody scores in the extra half hour, Chelsea's goal at Liverpool counts twice and they win 2-1.  If still level after recalculating the score, they move to everybody's favorite, kicks from the spot.  

For better or worse, not much viewing of either competition unless you have BeIN Sports or FoxSports 2.

Coach, I Forgot My Cleats

An all too frequent logistical headache for a youth soccer coach is to hear one of your charges tell you he's forgotten his uniform/cleats/shinguards/etc.  That is followed by calls to home, rummaging through other players' bags for extra items, or figuring out which players are the same size and can share equipment.  Mostly what you do is shake your head and say they'll eventually grow up.

Which apparently for some EPL players is never.  Cut to about the 60th minute of Sunday's match between Manchester United and Southampton, with the score level at 0-0 (we won't get into how much of disappointment this match really was).  Southampton manager Ronald Koeman is ready to make a change, bringing on Serbian midfielder Dusan Tadic.  Except he's not ready.  He doesn't have his jersey or his shinguards.   Seriously?  A great U-14 moment for the 26 year-old.  An assistant coach fetches the requisite items and Tadic eventually makes it onto the pitch.

But Tadic's story this day does not end there.  In the 69th minute of the still scoreless match, he slips a brilliant pass to Pelle, who clangs the shot off the right post.  It rebounds directly to Tadic, who calmly left foots the ball into the net, so instead of the game winning assist, he gets the game winning goal.  But his day is still not finished.  Immediately upon scoring he removes his jersey to reveal a stunning set of six-pack abs.

Steve:  Well, he'll get a yellow for that
Mackenzie:  I don't care

A few days later I read that some feel he should get more than just a yellow for the "semi-nude sex act." (he really did pull his shorts down a little more than necessary...)

One last note on that match - it was the first win for the Saints at Old Trafford since Dennis was less than a year-old.  I don't think he remembers that one.


Defeats Good and Bad

Not the best of weekends for the blog favorites.  In fact, Newcastle's 0-2 loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge was about the least painful, mostly because it was expected but partly because the Magpies played reasonably well against a superior side.  Not so for Tottenham; don't see much redeeming value in the 1-2 loss to Crystal Palace.  Maybe a bit of a tough call on the PK but they still could have rallied or at least held on for the draw; Pardew scores his second come-from-behind win of the season over Spurs.  What to say about Aston Villa?  I'm sure Dennis has few good words to say about the 0-1 loss to Leicester, which included another red card for a Villian Villan.

There will actually be zero "good" words here, to match the level of "good" play against Leicester.  "Good" is not how I would describe anything related to Aston Villa right now.  Maybe "atrocious"?  How about "relegation-worthy"?  Or something along the lines of "so bad that I might be in London for the start of next season's premier league and am starting to hope Villa won't be playing a London team so I am not obligated to watch their frustrating impotence in person"?  Another match, another loss, no more goals (leaving them with 11(!) through 22 games), and one more red card to boot.    

I caught the Liverpool match against Sunderland from the Stadium of Yellow Cards (5 total).  Even with a man advantage against a weak side, Liverpool could only manage a 1-0 win; not a pretty match.  Arsenal was impressive Sunday morning, steamrolling over Stoke City, with Koscielny opening the scoring in the 6th minute.  Everton will be pleased with the 1-1 draw versus Man City - so will Chelsea.


Parenting Skills
From BuzzFeed:

4. Teach them that it is only acceptable to be impolite in in the presence of a rival football team.

Quick Look at Chester

Almost caught up to real time over the holidays.  Big win over Liverpool at home, surprise draw versus Newcastle at St. James' Park.  An annoying loss to Wolves.  As of 1/2/15 (in game time), we sit in third with 37 points, 14 behind Man City, 6 behind Chelsea but 3 ahead of Spurs.  May have pulled off some nifty work in the January transfer window; sold two little used players and picked up a 21 year-old Spanish speedster of a central defender by the name of Zebenzui Galera - we'll call him Zeb.



Transfer Rumors

Oh never mind, there's too many and there's no good news for Newcastle or Aston Villa.   Not true!  Delph is rumored to be staying on at Villa until at least the summer (read: the summer).  However, Lambert made some odd comments on the matter, saying essentially that transfer prices in January are ridiculously high.  If that is true, we should sell high, not let our best player walk for nothing.  Because nobody in Birmingham is fooling themselves, Delph is walking. Plus, they did sign this guy Gil from Valencia who might not totally suck.

The news for Newcastle is actually worse - the rumor is that they are purposefully delaying the naming of a new manager until after the window closes so they won't have to take any action.  That means they are willing to gamble that they'll get enough points to stay up, even if it means a steady slide down the table.

Not a rumor - Bony from Swansea to Man City.  Ouch.  He had more than a third of their goals.  At least the Swans got $38m to work with.

Not EPL but the Union re-signed Maurice Edu.  That seems like a critical step for this team.  Losing him would have been a sign that we really were going backwards.



We Know There Was FA Cup and Copa Del Rey Action
And it was probably exciting but we'll have to rely on our stringers.  I'm pretty sure Michael B is happy.


Things Are Not Looking Up

With Newcastle hosting Southampton (featured match on Saturday on NBC) and Aston Villa hosting Liverpool, there's no reason to think the weekend will bring good news.  Best match of the weekend looks to be Manchester City v Arsenal at 11 am Sunday morning from the Etihad.  Hot and cold Tottenham plays host to Sunderland - should be three but I said that last week.   Man United travels to London to face QPR and Everton takes on West Brom at Goodison Park; reasonable chances for points for MUN and EVE.  And league leader Chelsea travels to Wales to meet Swansea.

Even if the Magpies season is about to turn into a five-month long car crash, I can't turn my eyes away...

Outside the Premiership

Following up on a couple of items not directly related to the EPL.


Ipswich Yes, Sheffield Wednesday No

One Monday night last year, a basketballer in our group asked sarcastically how did Ipswich do over the weekend, thinking he had picked a city without a team.  But, of course, they do have a team - the Tractor Boys - in the Championship Division.  So he (Chris) has been assigned as a fan of the team and at BFS we don't need much more of a reason to follow them.  Turns out they are doing really well.  Ipswich Town are currently in second, which would mean automatic promotion to the Premier League and would create a whole new set of Monday Night Basketball derbies.  Even a 3rd through 6th finish would get them into a playoff for a promotion spot as well.

Earlier in the year we noted that Bob K is involved in a wager in which Sheffield Wednesday have to finish higher than Derby County.  Not going so well, as Derby sit in third with 45 points and Sheffield Wednesday languish in 10th with 35 points.


Who Read That Scale?

Spent some quality time at home recovering from the plague that left me couchside with barely enough energy to watch some of the FA Cup matches.  Liverpool at AFC Wimbledon (4th division) was an absolute blast, partly because of the home side's reluctance to go quietly into the night and partly because of - THE BEAST - Adebayo Akinfenwa!  He would be the one on the left in the picture below.  It was his goal that tied the score late in the first half.  Alas, the fairy tale would end with Steven Gerrard's second goal but the 2-1 defeat to Liverpool was nothing to be ashamed of.    Oh, the AFC Wimbeldon website lists Akinfenwa at 5'11" and 189 pounds.  I want that scale...





A Metaphysical Question

Can superstitious rituals work if you're not watching the event real time?  How can you affect the outcome by wearing your team's scarf while watching the match a day later on dvr? Not that I would tempt fate but I do wonder sometimes.


Return to Normalcy

Slightly more than halfway through so we can't say the second half of the season starts Saturday but close enough. Since Chelsea will be in charge of the ball boys this time, there's no chance for a repeat upset by Newcastle when they travel to Stamford Bridge.  Most interesting match of the weekend for me is Sunday's 11 am match between third place Manchester United and fourth place Southampton at Old Trafford.  Tottenham will hope to keep momentum in another London derby at Crystal Palace - this really should be three for Spurs.  Even at Goodison Park, Man City look to be the favorites over Everton (unless that stoppage time goal in the FA Cup match against West Ham has miraculously turned things around for the Toffees).  And Arsenal should be careful against Stoke; this is always a tough fixture for them.  Relegation flop sweat could be in the air in several matches - Burnley hosting QPR, West Brom hosting Hull City and Aston Villa at Leicester.


And as of 10:30 (ET) on Wednesday, Moussa Sissoko is still with Newcastle...

The Twelve(Thirteen) Days of EPL

Each team played four matches between December 20th and New Year's Day.  How'd that work out for everybody?  BFS grades the holiday period for each club on the Santa scale - the number of points the team collected in the four games is shown in parentheses.  Recognize that the rating is based on more than just wins, draws and losses - you have to factor in expectations.  If you thought all you were getting for Christmas was underwear and you got fur-lined briefs, maybe it was nice surprise.  The rankings:

Tottenham (10), Southampton (10)

Liverpool (8), Stoke City (7), QPR (5), Sunderland (4), Leicester (4), Burnley (2)

Manchester City (10), Arsenal (7), Swansea City (7), Chelsea (7), Hull City (6)

Manchester United (6), West Ham (4), Crystal Palace (2)

Newcastle (4), Aston Villa (3), West Brom (1)

No Santas - just a lump of coal

Everton (0)

A lot of Geordies probably got exactly what they wanted when Alan Pardew announced he was taking the Crystal Palace job.  Maybe.  Replacement John Carver has already turned the team around.  We used to suck in the first half but played well in the second, Thursday we dominated the first 45 minutes but really, really sucked in the second half.  Not entirely fair to Carver, although his substitutions were, at best, puzzling.  Thought about giving them two Santas but a loss to Sunderland and draw with Burnley (which actually should have been a loss - the Clarets hit the woodwork four times), both at home, doesn't cut it.

Villa's Christmas = 4 matches, 3 draws, 1 goal.  And even that one goal was scored against the team with the weakest defense of the 4 opponents (oooooh, sorry Man Utd, didn't mean to send you to the burn unit!).  Seriously though, I was expecting to win one of the two home matches against Palace or Sunderland.  All we managed to do was be even more confusing than ever.  Probably the best football we played in those four games were the 25 minutes against Man Utd and the 42 minutes against Sunderland while down a man (those two red cards bring Villa up to 4 on the season, with maybe one of them being deserved).  Even worse, Delph may have played his last minutes as a Villan - his red card means he is banned for 3 matches and there are at least two teams, Liverpool and Tottenham, pursuing him for a January transfer.  Liverpool is rumored to be hunting both Delph and Vlaar for a measly total of $15 million.  And all we are planning to do is replace Delph with a 20 year old from recently relegated Fulham.  The rich teams must love having us poorer teams in the same league.....we are the gift that keeps on giving.    

Holiday winners were clearly Tottenham and Southampton.  Spurs only "blemish" was a 0-0 draw with Manchester United and Thursday's 5-3 spanking of Chelsea was a thing to behold - Michael B is still on high from that.  As for the Saints, they had started to slip after a great start and were looking at matches with Chelsea and Arsenal.  A 1-1 draw with the Blues and a convincing 2-0 win over the Gunners and they are back in fourth.  

Only three Santas for Manchester City?  Yes - the schedule makers again gifted them with a soft holiday schedule of Crystal Palace, West Brom, Burnley, and Sunderland.  Sorry, with this degree of difficulty, four was the max they could get and the draw with Burnley means they only get a three.   Only two for Manchester United?  Yes - draws with Aston Villa and Stoke don't bode well for a Champions League run.  Wouldn't expect much quibble with the three for Arsenal - surrendering the equalizer in the 97th minute against Liverpool and Thursday's loss to Southampton weren't on their Christmas list.

On the other side - four for Burnley?  Yes - with matches against Tottenham, Liverpool, Man City and Newcastle, they were looking at a lump of coal in their collective stocking.  They couldn't have asked for better than the two draws - against MCI and NEW - that they got.  QPR and Leicester, same thing - given their squads and the holiday schedule, they simply couldn't have expected more.


Mourinho's Nightmare

Or this...alleged handling in the box.  After watching the video, do you think Vertonghen moved his hand/arm to the ball or did the ball strike him?  If the latter, do you think he tried to direct the ball after there was contact?  Alrighty then.


 FA Cup

Like Newcastle - who sent a squad to Leicester that did not include Coloccini, Janmaat, Colback, Sissoko or Perez - we will not even feign interest at this point. But that's the only way I can talk about Aston Villa winning a match.  And for those of you that think this makes me a die hard fan, think again.  For those of you that think I just looked up the FA Cup scores while typing this blog post, give yourselves a pat on the back. 


Mike Ashley's Dilemma

I reckon that prior to the holidays, Newcastle owner Mike Ashley might have felt he could gamble on not spending anything in the January transfer window and still avoid relegation.  The recent poor showings - and the season ending injury to Steven Taylor (ruptured achilles) - may force his hand.  Plus we have the rumors of essentially a trade of Sissoko for Cabaye.  I really like Cabaye and he probably is a bit more creative in the midfield than Sissoko but Moussa has been the outstanding player for the Magpies to this point.  The deal only makes sense to me if the alternative is that we lose Sissoko to another club and don't replace him.


We'll talk about the weekend schedule on Friday.  But it includes Newcastle traveling to Stamford Bridge to face a Chelsea side that is likely loaded for bear so maybe we won't.