Slow and Choppy

Had to watch Newcastle-Swansea on NBC Extra Time.  Neither the Magpies nor the online channel had a good day.  Newcastle looked slow and choppy, and it wasn't just the quality of the streaming, though that was pretty bad too.  Ernst Blofeld Jonjo Shelvey split Coloccini and Mbemba (they don't seem to be on the same page yet) with a beautiful pass to Gomis, who made a nice deke on Krul before depositing the ball into the empty net in the 9th minute.  Daryl Janmaat got himself booked chasing Jefferson Montero.  All this while the video is going in fits and starts.  Then it was gone.  Then it was back but Newcastle was down a man. No surprise, I guessed that Janmaat was gone with his second yellow and was correct.  Then the video was gone for good.  But so were Newcastle's chances. Swansea added a second goal while the Magpies never threatened to score, at least according to what I read, since I didn't bother to watch the second half when it finally became available on replay.  I did catch the video of Coloccini and Mbemba talking after the match.

Not going to trash Janmaat; Montero gave Chelsea's Ivanovic fits the week before.  He does have the occasional defense lapse but IMHO, they need him to get the ball moving around the pitch.  Transfer activities continue - we got Florian Thauvin to help on the wings.  Which still leaves unaddressed the overall lack of depth/quality in the back line.  Rumors about defender Abdennour and striker Charlie Austin are swirling.  If they do sign the defender, it will be difficult to complain that Newcastle didn't at least try to address their shortcomings.


Asking for Relegation's Hand in Marriage

Not much better down in Birmingham.  First the announcer says that Aston Villa has more than flirted with relegation over the past years but asked for its hand in marriage.  And what's with the Friday game?

Originally, I was annoyed by this Friday game nonsense.  I can't leave work to make a 2:45 start.  Maybe a 3:30 or a 4, but not a 2:45.  So I was stranded hoping it was available on replay.  Turns out it was the only game whose replay was not screwed up and available before Wednesday, because it was on Friday.  I guess that works. [Get used to it.  Though this one was only because of a political event in Birmingham, next year there will be up to 10 Friday contests.]

The most notable aspect of this game turned out to be the bizarre Friday start time.  Villa muddled their way through a 1-0 loss that they probably deserved.  As usual, they had decent spells of possession but no real attacking threat and an almost tangible sense of the team trying to gel.  They didn't succeed, but it's hard to argue that this was a step backward as I never expected points against Manchester United.  The real question is will this small step lead to a larger step in the near future or are there months of struggling yet to come.  

The bigger Villa news is the signing of much coveted Adama Traore from Barcelona.  Just another in the line of young, seemingly dynamic players around which Sherwood is rebuilding.  Sherwood claims that Traore "looked very short of fitness" and warned the fans to not expect too much too soon.  Should be another good long term signing though.


Physios Get Standing O

The Man City fans, already enjoying their early lead over Chelsea, gave the Blues replacement physios a standing ovation when they raced onto the pitch to treat Gary Cahill, who had just taken a (accidental) punch from his own keeper.  With blood pouring from Cahill's nose, presumably Jose did not feel his staff were naive or lacked an understanding of the game.  I used to secretly want to be a Chelsea fan but not any more and the 3-0 thumping by the Citizens was fun to watch.  Aguero's goal to open the scoring is this week's YouTubeableMoment.

The weekend opened (not counting Aston Villa's stray Friday night appearance) with a surprisingly uncompetitive Everton-Southampton match.  Not that I'm begrudging the Toffees their impressive 3-0 win but I 1) was hoping for a closer match and 2) am worried that Newcastle's draw against the Saints the week before is less meaningful than first appeared.  Tottenham seemed to be cruising against Stoke, up 2-0 through 77 minutes but a PK and a good cross in the space of five minutes meant Spurs would only walk away with a draw.  In the only other match I saw, Crystal Palace did put up a good fight in the London derby with Arsenal but the Gunners prevailed 2-1.


Union Find Their Offense

But lose their defense in the process.  Only got to see highlights but it looked liked exciting action.  You would think three goals (all assisted by Maidana, who takes over the league lead in that category) would be enough at home but it wasn't in this back and forth contest.  At 2-2, the Union had peppered the Fire's keeper Sean Johnson in the closing minutes before finally breaking through in the 90th minute.  But once again, before the colored smoke had cleared from the River End of PPL Park, the Union had surrendered the tying goal and would have to be satisfied with the draw.

Though the last two playoff spots look tantalizingly still in reach, don't be fooled - the Union have played several more matches than either of those teams.  Check out the points per game, where the Union are dead last in the league.  Unless they figure out a way to win these matches, the only thing to cheer about this year will be the US Open Cup final on September 30th.

With some help from their NY counterparts, the Red Bulls edged closer to first in the East with a win over Toronto while DC United was losing to NYCFC.  Looking at points per game rather than total points (because of the wide variation in games played), the race for the Supporters Shield looks tight but the Red Bulls are definitely in it.


No Streaming This Weekend

The good news is that Newcastle will be on NBCSN for the weekend's first match Saturday at 7:45.  The bad news is that they face Man United at Old Trafford.  Aston Villa also avoid streaming this weekend as their match with Crystal Palace is on USA at 10 am Saturday.  In another 10 am match, Tottenham will have their hands full with a hot Leicester City side.  Sunday's matches look pretty good too as Chelsea seek their first win of the season (love saying that) on the road against West Brom at 8:30 and Everton host Man City at 11; for some reason the Chelsea match is on USA but the second match is back on NBCSN.  Monday's matchup with Arsenal and Liverpool looks interesting too; Liverpool have two wins but haven't really been all that good and the Gunners aren't, shall we say, firing on all cylinders yet.

The Union play the sixth place team, Montreal on the road Saturday night.  A win is really the only thing that would help their playoff chances at this point.