Things We Learned Over the Break

The press of other duties will keep this short but I did have some observations on the international competition.

1.      Surrendering a goal to an overwhelming underdog in the first five minutes is like a slap in the face.

Giving up that goal to St. Vincent & the Grenadines at the five minute mark was probably the best thing that could have happened to the US.  They certainly woke up and played well from there on out.  Not that a 6-1 thrashing proved much one way or the other about the direction of this team

2.      Qualifying for the World Cup out of CONCACAF is not a given for the US team

In retrospect, I was probably too glib about US prospects for the away match against Trinidad and Tobago.  They are not a bad squad and it was on the road.  I guess 2.b. would be that Gyasi Zardes is not Clint Dempsey, as the two-toned hair striker missed some golden opportunities.  Some (like Landon Donovan) were all up in Klinsmann’s face about leaving Dempsey off the roster.  For me, isn’t a road match against a weaker opponent the perfect place to find out if Zardes is up to the task?  The result – a 0-0 draw – isn’t awful but I must admit the doubts have been creeping in lately about whether Klinsmann is taking this team to a new level.

3.      You can grow grass in northern climes.

The fine looking pitches in Norway and Sweden are further evidence for the case that artificial turf should be limited to scholastic programs.  If you can grow grass in Oslo, where they have just two seasons – winter and green winter, you can grow grass in Vancouver or Portland.

 
4.      You can’t claimed to have “seen” the Bosnia & Herzegovina-Ireland match.

You may have watched it but there’s no way you saw it, at least the second half, as the fog descended and left some of us thinking about the Chicago Bears-Philadelphia Eagles playoff game of some years past.  Good on the Irish for toughing out a 1-1 draw on the road, then booking their ticket for the Euros with a 2-0 win in Dublin.  Sure they may have gotten the benefit of a dodgy handling call in the box but many will recall, they were sort of owed one.

Calendar

Not the most thrilling of schedules this weekend, at least for EPL.  The MLS does have the first legs of the semi final series on Sunday; Columbus-Red Bulls at 5 pm (ESPN) and Portland-Dallas at 7:30 (FS1).

Newcastle has a very troublesome fixture in the form of a home match against Leicester.  Aston Villa has a difficult match as well, going on the road to face an Everton side that has been a bit better as of late.  As you might expect, both of those matches are only on live streaming.

For the TV stuff, the weekend gets rolling with Watford hosting Man U at 7:45.  Yawn.  The 10 am TV games are Chelsea-Norwich and West Brom-Arsenal.  Really?  At least the 12:30 match – Liverpool at Man City – has a little appeal.  The Sunday game – Tottenham hosting West Ham at White Hart Lane might be the best match up of the weekend; both are in pretty good form and they are tied in the table right now.  Though he has his Crystal Palace side playing pretty well, Alan Pardew does have a poor record facing Sunderland; the frequent losses (just one win and three draws in nine derbies) to the Black Cats certainly fueled the Toon Army’s dislike of the man and probably hastened his departure from Newcastle.  On the other hand, he was the manager when the Eagles thrashed Sunderland 4-1 last spring.  Enough of a story line there for me to be interested in the Monday fixture between the two.

In a show of support,  "La Marseilles" will be played prior to the start of each EPL match this weekend.