Yankee Go Home

Surely, you can't say the US exit in the semi-final to Jamaica was a complete surprise.  Except for a thrashing of a defection-riddled Cuba side, the Yankees never looked settled.  They started out well enough against Jamaica but couldn't score and two set piece goals by the Reggae Boyz turned out to be an insurmountable deficit.  Tough call on Guzan handling outside the box.  Replays show the call was technically correct, though some will argue that it's never called.  I will say I always watch the keeper's release of the ball near the edge of the box closely as an AR and would not hesitate to signal a clear violation.  Full credit to Barnes for a marvelously struck free kick.

I have generally defended Klinsmann's work but am puzzled by the contradiction between his claim of the importance of the Gold Cup and his choice to experiment/not use our best players in the tournament.  Brooks and Alvarado may turn out to be good but if winning the Cup was critical, shouldn't Besler and Gonzalez have been our central defenders.  To be fair, I think he made some good choices elsewhere and they either weren't enough (I thought Fabian Johnson was pretty effective) or didn't have the best of games (e.g. Evans, Zardes, Johannson, and Dempsey).  I'll be interested to see the squad Klinsmann chooses for the 10/9 playoff with the winner of Sunday's Mexico-Jamaica final that will decide CONCACAF's representative for the Confederations Cup.


More Black Eyes for CONCACAF


Mexico's quarterfinal triumph over Costa Rica on a questionable PK call in the 121st minute already had people talking conspiracy. CONCACAF and conspiracy? You cynical bastards.  I'd be shocked, shocked if there was anything dodgy going on.  The whole idea took a further hit with the US loss to Jamaica, in part due to the very close call that went against the US.  But that reprieve was short-lived, as the Mexico-Panama provided more than enough fodder.  Unfortunately, US referee Mark Geiger was at the center of the controversy, first with a red card to a Panama player in the 25th minute, then with a PK call in the 90th minute.  The red card looked to me like a garden variety foul though a hand to the face always gives the referee the opportunity to view that as striking a player. The call for handling in the box looked more like a player falling down and his arm landing on the ball than handling plus it's possible he was pushed rather than fell.  Neither call by itself was the worst I've ever seen but the context couldn't have been worse.  The first meant Mexico played much of the match a man up.  The second allowed Mexico, down 0-1 despite the man advantage, to level things in the last minute and extend the match into extra time.  The scene after the PK call was ugly from so many perspectives - players confronting Geiger, players confronting each other, fans throwing stuff on the field.  I suppose it could have escalated into something worse but it was bad enough.  Mexico ended up winning 2-1 (on another PK - this one pretty legitimate).  Geiger needed a security escort from the field.  On Thursday, the talk of how CONCACAF had taken another one on the chin nearly overshadowed the US defeat.


And Another Thing...

During the Women's World Cup we lamented (railed against) the fact that the top international tournament for women was played on artificial turf.  We also noted the common practice on the men's side of putting sod over turf for international competitions could have easily addressed the situation.  Upon further review - that is, viewing the Gold Cup - I'm not so sure that would have been any better.  Many of the Gold Cup venues featured this situation and the results were less than satisfactory, IMHO.  In one case you had chunks of the field coming up, in others you had players constantly slipping on the loose surfaces.  One commentator suggested it might have been responsible for a lot of shots sailing over the goal.  Aren't there enough venues to choose from that a tournament of this stature doesn't need to go that route (not a rhetorical question, I really don't know the answer)? Also, why do they need to have it spread across the US and Canada?  That much travel can't be good for the quality of play.  I love the idea of a bi-annual regional championship but is CONCACAF capable of putting one on without f...messing it up?


Union Escalator

No change here.  First, there was a 1-2 loss to Toronto on Saturday in which they were punchless. A late goal by Casey made it look closer than it was.  Actually, they didn't look awful but after two quick goals against the run of play, the Union had no chance of catching up.

This was of course followed up with an Open Cup victory over the Red Bulls on Tuesday.  On the road.  And a man down.  Can anybody explain this?  Technically, they did not beat the Red Bulls but advanced on kicks from the spot.  Whatever.  This is reminding me of Aston Villa last season.  Can't get a result in league play but are world beaters in Cup play.

Loose End

Back in March I explained the how the EPL Fair Play Table works.  Circling back, we find that 1) the EPL did hang on to third place, thereby qualifying the league for an additional spot in the Europa League and 2) West Ham hung on to the league lead to get that spot.

Who Are These Guys?

Though there is no specific news since last week, the likelihood that Newcastle will sign at least one quality center back is high (Mbemba is agreed to but apparently there is some issue with his visa).  The Magpies are actually spending money to address deficiencies in their line up.  As hope for the new season rises, I must look at the half empty part of the glass.  First, this is mostly a return to old policies, not something new.  With the exception of last January, Newcastle's model has been to fill gaps with good but underpriced talent, a policy that has generally kept them out of relegation danger.  Second, historically, they never keep this talent, or add enough, to move them from a mid-table side to a contender for European competitions.  The prices they've paid for Wijnaldum and Mitrovic offer some hope that maybe there's more this time.  We'll see.

With Benteke and Delph gone, Aston Villa have lost they're two best players.  This is not necessarily awful depending on what they do with the money.

Around the league there's plenty of interesting transactions.  Bastian Schweinsteiger is actually Man United's second best signing for a name beginning with "sch."  For us, that honor goes to Morgan Schneiderlin, a 25 year-old midfielder formerly at Southampton.  Manchester City added Raheem Sterling but we do have to wonder if he'll prove to be worth the $76 million they paid Liverpool. Tottenham have added Toby Edelweiss Alderweireld (we'll provide pronunciation guidance later) to shore up their back line.  For Michael B, there is no net gain, as Spurs gain is Atletico's loss.


Do you believe that the EPL season starts in two Saturdays?  Can't wait for those three hour breakfasts!

Deja vu

US National Team stumbles their way through the prelims, winning the group despite never really gelling.  None of the other favorites are playing that well either.  Get a relatively easy opponent for the quarter finals.  The USMNT's Gold Cup experience to date seems to be following the same path as the USWNT did in the World Cup.  Hope it works out the same.  Like Jill Ellis, Klinsmann has made some personnel changes after the group play in hopes of finding a better formula.

They will play Cuba tonight at 5 pm (Fox 1); tonight's other quarter is Haiti-Jamaica (Fox 2).  Tomorrow has Trinidad (with Tobago)-Panama at 4:30(Fox 1) and Mexico-Costa Rica at 7:30 (Fox 1).  Trinidad has looked perhaps the best so far.  Mexico-Costa Rica is a match you might have expected in the semis or even the final but neither have impressed so far.  If US advance, they will play the winner of Haiti-Jamaica (a side that has looked decent) on Wednesday at 6, with the other semi at 9.


Up the Union Escalator

Outstanding performance by the Union in a 3-0 win against Portland last week.  Andrew Wenger got his first of the year and Vincent Noguiera added two of his own;  Maidana assisted on all three.  Though it doesn't feel like it, the side is 7-3-1 in last 11 matches.  To all this good news I must add the wet blanket; the Union still have the second worst points per game in all of MLS.  Big match this afternoon in Toronto (4 pm Comcast Sports Net), who will have Altidore back (he was dumped by Klinsmann after group play) but not Michael Bradley.

Next week sees a rare mid-week match vs the Red Bulls in Harrison, NJ for the Open Cup, then a Saturday match at RFK vs DC United on Sunday.  Speaking of the Red Bulls, they looked good thrashing the Revolution 4-1 last week and now sit in third in the East, with several fewer matches played.


Silly Season Marches On

Nothing concrete since the Wijnaldum transfer but lots of chatter about two very big signi...WAIT - as I write I'm seeing Aleksandar Mitrovic (left) confirming on Facebook that he is moving to Newcastle.  This is very good news as he looks to be a top level striker.  The second potential big signing is center defender Chancel Mbemba, from the same Belgium club - Anderlecht - as Mitrovic.  Everything I read suggests he would be an important signing.  The Charlie Austin saga continues, with Newcastle seeming to have it in the bag and then not happening, then on again.  Personally, if Mitrovic is in, I'd rather see the focus shift to center back.

The news in Birminghan isn't quite so good, unless you are the club's investment portfolio manager.  Fabian Delph is now confirmed to be heading to Manchester City and Benteke looks to be moving to Liverpool.  The £40+ million, if spent (wisely), could minimize, or even turn these losses into gains.  The signing of left-back Jordan Amavi, for example, could be an improvement at a revolving door position for the Villans.

Haven't really processed these transfers yet, but I can't say I'm all that surprised.  Benteke was clearly never going to be around for the long haul as 17th place and FA cup runners up is not a satisfactory place for someone of his enormous, though still inconsistent, talent.  I had the faintest hopes that Delph would stick around and am especially disappointed in his departure given his definitive statement last week.  I realize that all public statements can be smoke screens or just nonsense (see every "Vote of Confidence" given to a coach), but it still stings.  Especially since I have no idea how much he'll even play at Manchester City - seeing him languish on the bench there would be extra painful.  Villa are supposedly targeting Anthony Martial from Monaco or Emmanuel Adebayor from Spurs.  Don't know anything about the former except that he is 19, which makes him my preferred choice over the seemingly ancient Adebayor.  Signing a bunch of "veterans" to see the season out sounds like a miserable slog to watch and I'd rather see the higher risk, higher reward strategy of building through younger talent.  In either case, Sherwood will really be put to the test this season.


And this is the "slow" part of the year...

Don't Blink Or You'll Miss It

Porchgaters at 6911 for the Women's WC Final who dallied in moving from the back deck to the TV missed the first goal. Those who grabbed an extra hot dog missed the second goal (left).  We did suggest that there were at least  two matches more worthy of the final than the actual final and the 5-2 blowout seems to support that view.  The match is well-chronicled elsewhere so we'll pass on the details. We will suggest that Jill Ellis, US            Dennis Grombkowski via Getty Images  manager, deserves a lot of credit for guiding this team through the tournament.  Off the early performances it was hard to see the US even making it to the final.  But Ellis made adjustments to personnel and formations and found a winning combination.   Also too, the backline of Klingenberg, Sauerbrunn, Johnston, and Krieger was solid, even when the rest of the team was struggling.  Defense wins championships, right Kenz?


Next Competition

The parade for the USWNT hadn't even been held yet but the USMNT began play in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.  First, we have to explain what CONCACAF stands for - Confederation of North, Central American and Carribean Association Football.  The Gold Cup is a competition to determine the regional or CONCACAF champion.  The winner will play the US for a berth in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup; if the US win the 2015 Gold Cup, they will automatically get the berth.  Crap, now I have to explain the FIFA Confederations Cup.  This is a eight-team competition involving the six major soccer association champions (Europe, South America, CONCACAF, Africa, Asia, and Oceania) plus the current World Cup Holder plus the host of the next World Cup.  Aside from being a prestigious competition in its own right, the Confederations Cup provides an opportunity to play matches in the some of the venues for the upcoming World Cup, potentially an advantage for the World Cup competition.

Where was I?  Right, the Gold Cup.  This is a 12-team competition.  Teams are divided into groups of four, with first and second and the two best third place sides advancing to knockout rounds.  As you might expect for a regional tournament, the sides know each other well and the competition can be fierce.  And, though the US is the defending champion, it is not a slam dunk for the Yankees, what with teams like Costa Rica and Mexico in the mix.

Despite not playing very well, the US is off to a good start with wins over Honduras (2-0) and Haiti (1-0).  Klinsmann seems to be continuing various experiments -both personnel and formations, some of which are working better than others.  Frankly, Haiti's counterattack on Friday night regularly shredded the US defense and only poor finishing kept them off the board.  Like the USWNT, they are getting results but will have to improve their game if they expect to do well against the better sides.


Less Talk, More Action

Finally, Newcastle have a signing.  Welcome Georginio Wijnaldum.  He is 24 years old, played midfielder for PSV in the Dutch league, was the Dutch Footballer of the Year last season.  He also played for the Netherlands in last summer's World Cup; check out his goal against Brazil in the consolation match.


Wijnaldum is considered a playmaker so we may finally have a replacement for Cabaye.  More importantly, at 14.7 m (pounds), this is atypically rich for a Newcastle signing.  Sure it could be a bust but at least they're making the effort.  Speaking of Cabaye, he'll be back in the EPL, reunited with his former manager Alan Pardew at Crystal Palace.

Ruh-roh, things look a little funky at Aston Villa.  Delph may be heading to Manchester City (late reports now suggests not). Benteke is still in the fold but the vultures are circling.  Vlaar is likely gone too but that may not be a big deal at this point given his age and health.  They may be able to handle the loss of Delph with the signing of Idrissa Gueye, a Senegalese international who was playing in Lille.  Also, Tim Sherwood keeps talking about getting Andros Townsend from Tottenham.

Apparently, Man United may be signing Bastian Schweinsteiger, which would be great news for those of use who like to say "Schweinsteiger."


The Calendar

Gold Cup group play continues through Wednesday (US Monday night a 9:30 on Fox1) with the quarterfinals set for the weekend of 7/18-19 (the US have already clinched so we know they will play at 5 pm on 7/18 on Fox).

The Union have been quiet but return with a home match vs Portland on 7/11 and away at Toronto on 7/18.  Despite a 2-1 loss at Columbus, the Red Bulls remain in the sixth playoff spot; they face New England at home on 7/11, then Orlando away on 7/18.

Wow, for a supposedly quiet time there's a lot to do.

Third and Final Final

 Between the quarters and the semis, I'd say we've already seen two final matches.  Germany-France was a marvelous contest; I thought the French outplayed the Germans, showing perhaps the most attractive soccer seen in this World Cup.  They were undone by an unfortunate handling call; even I probably would have called it because the arm was in such an unnatural position but it really was ball to arm.  The resulting PK tied the match.   Added extra time added no goals so they went to the dreaded kicks from the spot.  Germany made 'em all, France missed the last one and the Germans advanced...

...to face the US (comfortable - well as comfortable as a 1-0 game can be - winners over China) in the second final semi-final.  Another quality match.  The US built on the work they started in the quarter finals and outplayed the Germans for most of the match.  They got lucky when Sausage Sasic missed the PK and maybe lucky again they were awarded the PK for the foul on Morgan (more on that below) but luck had little to do with the clinching goal from O'Hara set up by Klingenberg and Lloyd. 



Japan beat England 2-1 in a strange match that featured two PKs and a truly unfortunate own goal by an English defender in stoppage time.  That sets up the final final on Sunday at 7 pm on Fox.


Referee Under Fire

Wow, imagine that.

I'll start with the second of the calls that drew attention.  This one revolved around whether Krahn fouled Morgan in the penalty area.  Watch this video first and see what you think.  If you're sure the foul wasn't in the box, well full credit to you.  I wasn't convinced until I looked at this still (right) created from that video.  Yeah, it was outside the box.  And if you want to criticize the ref (and the AR), go right ahead.  But, you can't say she was out of position; she was right where she was supposed to be.  You can't expect too much help from the AR, who's primary responsibilities in that situation are 1) to watch for offside, 2) to watch for offside, and 3) to watch for offside; plus there were four bodies between her and the play and it was on the far side of the field.  But, like I said, feel free to rail about the call; I hope your referee experiences don't involve any close calls like that.


The first call is a bit harder to understand.  It sure looked like Julie Johnston pulled Popp down in the box and was fully deserving of a red card.  Here's the video (the play starts at :37).  In slow motion, the whole thing isn't quite as obvious.  Popp may have already been leaning back to try and reach the ball and that's why the fall looked so dramatic.  Johnston did have her hand on Popp's shoulder and our view is you get what you deserve when you do that.  But we're not discussing why the ref didn't call a foul - she did.  What I don't understand is why she didn't issue a red card for DOGSO.  Um, for all those making comments on the various websites, I'm thinking it's a strong likelihood that she knows what to look for to make a the call on DOGSO - no more than one defender, distance to the goal, distance to the ball, direction of play.  Given that she knows the rules, what element did she decide was missing? The only possibility I see is that Albon did not think Popp had a chance to continue playing the ball.  If you look really closely, it is possible that Popp wasn't going to have much of a play on the ball regardless of what Johnston did; the best she was going to do was get a wild off-balance stab at it anyway.  I'll suggest it's plausibly the correct call.  Again, if you want to say she blew the call, go ahead but I wish you well when you take the field to officiate.  Oh yeah, Germany got a PK out of the play so it's not like it Johnston's indiscretion did not go unpunished. Arguably Solo should have gotten a yellow for delaying the match but Sasic isn't supposed to get rattled by that kind of stuff.


Riding the Union Escalator

Eric Ayuk scores in the 8th minute as the Union take an early lead against Montreal at home and are playing pretty well(going up).  But the Impact get the equalizer in the 28th minute (going down).  The Union are playing well in the second half and then Patrice Bernier gets his second yellow (going up).  But down a man, Montreal scores (Jack McInerny no less) anyway to take the lead (going down, down).  Then Maurice Edu gets his first goal of the year in the 76th minute and the score is tied plus we still have a man advantage (going up).  But a minute later Ayuk gets his second yellow and the rest of the match is played ten a side (back down to the ground floor).  A draw at home against one of the division's weaker sides?  Another sign of the team's inconsistency which, unaddressed, will doom their playoff hopes.

But wait, it gets weirder.  First place DC United came to Chester for a US Open round of 16 match. After a long lightning delay, CJ Sapong got sent off with a straight red in the 24th minute.  Three minutes later DC is up 1-0.  So what happens next?  Why, of course the Union score two second half goals (Ayuk and Fabinho) while shorthanded and advance to the quarterfinals.  DC left a few starters home in light of their trip to Seattle this weekend but this is still a formidable squad. How do you explain victories over the two division leading teams in a week sandwiched around a shoddy draw to a weak Montreal side?  You don't.


Transfer News

Blah, blah, blah.  That is all you need to know.


For the Independence Day weekend my advice is the same as last year.  Watch soccer to piss off some conservative pundits.  Call it football and that will really get them going.  For the 4th you've got the Copa American final between Chile and Argentina (3:50 on BeIN Sports), the World Cup third place match between England and Germany (4 pm on Fox) and a full MLS schedule (no Union though).  Sunday of course is the WC final.