Entertaining Soccer Is Not the Same Thing As Quality Soccer

The first BFS derby of the season is in the books and the winner is...Mother Nature.  The monsoons came to Tyneside, turning St. James Park into a quagmire.  Newcastle had more chances and more possession but Aston Villa made their one shot count.  The Magpies had pretty much owned the first half and had a 1-0 lead to show for it.  Siem deJong should have made it 2-0 but couldn't get the relatively easy header on target.  AVL grew into the game and were definitely the stronger side in the second half.  Jordan Ayew's goal was hardly a surprise (and damn it, is this week's YouTubeable Moment) and frankly it was Newcastle that hung on for the draw.  The weather made it somewhat fun to watch and it was a tight game but we should clearly not confuse entertaining soccer with quality soccer.  Dennis, you see anything different?

Not really.  Overall, I think the draw was the fairest result, but Newcastle easily could have put this game away multiple times.  I didn't think the Villans were really ever going to win, but maybe we are both just showing how pessimistic we are about our teams.  Jordan Ayew has now shown several flashes of brilliance, but a handful of lightning strikes are not quite going to get the job done.

Newcastle midfielder Siem de Jong (centre) sees his header bounce just wide of the post during wet weather conditions in the north east

Clearly the more important news is the questionable refereeing from our BFS readers as evidenced by last week's poll results - the final tally showed only a slight majority declaring foul play.  I gotta say I found the results surprising.  Even trying to factor in my clear bias for one team, I truly thought this was an obvious foul.  Maybe a key distinction is that I thought this was a foul by the established refereeing standards in the EPL and those disagreeing actually disagree with those standards and think the game should be allowed to be more physical.  Or maybe I am just getting soft and/or going blind.  In any case, it reinforces the notion that refereeing is closer to an art than a science.

Sack Race

I realize the departure of BFS favorite Jose Mourinho went unmentioned last week.  It was like watching a five-month long car wreck that started on opening day when The Special One went ballistic on the team physio for going out on the pitch to treat Eden Hazard (details here).  Maybe fitting that you knew Mourinho was done when Hazard went off with an injury in the match with Leicester; seemed like neither had much regard for the other and the announcement wasn't too long after the incident.

With Mourinho gone, we can now turn our full attention to Louis van Gone Gaal, who at last look is 1/10 to be the next manager shown the door; Alex Neil of Norwich, at 12/1 is a distant second.  Sure, Man United is still in fifth (tied with Spurs on points but behind in goal differential) but nobody seems happy with him.   He might not make it to New Year's Day.  For those keeping score at home, five EPL managers have been sacked since opening day.


Around the League

This being December in England, every match was played in something between a steady drizzle and intermittent squalls.  Dennis took Everton-Leicester while I watched Southampton-Tottenham.  He got the better viewing.  Spurs fans had to be happy with the 2-0 win over the Saints but other than the first 25 minutes (during which Southampton did everything but score) and the three minutes right before halftime (when Tottenham scored two nice looking goals), it wasn't all that great to watch.  As to the action in Liverpool, Dennis adds:

My first thought when tuning is was that I really hoped this game was not decided by the weather.  The first 20ish minutes were a little slow to develop and had bouts of sloppy play that made me fear for a 1-0 contest decided by some rain-aided fluke.  Instead, I got to add another tally to the long list of thrilling Leicester contests.  The Foxes twice took the lead on, what I feel, were deserved PKs and notched a third on some lazy Everton defending.  Everton managed two separate nice offensive moves that didn't immediately result in goals, but some failed clearances from Leicester and some perseverance by Everton finally got the ball in net both times.  The second came with just 2 minutes left to add some tension, but Leicester easily hung on to ensure they would be top of the table at Christmas. 

Watford-Liverpool was fun to watch as the wacky season continues.  The Hornets 3-0 win moved them into seventh, just one point out of fourth.  Swansea-West Ham, played in a gale in Wales, was a dreadful 0-0 draw.  And what's with putting the best match of the week on Monday?  Hard to view it in one piece between work and basketball.  It was a 2-1 win for Arsenal but it didn't really seem that close. Luke P might be happy that Giroud scored a goal against one of the top sides.


Talking Pardew

So I have this new car for work and it has a trial subscription to Sirius satellite radio, which means I get some Football Channel listening.  I can only take it in fifteen minute chunks before I've had enough or they move onto talk about Serie A or something like that.  But one day this week, the topic was Alan Pardew, fresh off Crystal Palace's 2-1 away win at Stoke on a goal in the 88th minute.  The gist of the discussion was that in retrospect, given how badly the Magpies have fared since his departure, it's becoming clear that Pardew did pretty well in Newcastle with the cards he was dealt.  One guy used the phrase "worked miracles."  Don't know if I'd go that far but the trend was pretty obvious.  Pardew would have the team playing well up to the January transfer window, they'd lose a key player and/or fail to address developing needs, and sink back down the table in the second half.  These guys were talking like he might be the next England Manager.


Boxing Day and the 12 15 Days of Christmas

Not quite as fun with Boxing Day falling on a Saturday, the usual game day, but still a hoot nonetheless.  But then everybody has to turn around quickly for matches Monday-Wednesday, then again for Saturday/Sunday.  So we'll make it four games for everybody between 12/19 and 1/4.  Did I say I hate Monday matches?  I meant unless I had the day off.  Can't wait to watch me some weekday soccer. We'll have our exclusive BFS holiday ratings (outlined here) the first week in January.

Too many matches to review the schedule in detail.  My Newcastle side faces Everton at St. James' Park then travels to the Midlands to face West Brom. This is test of how tough the relegation battle is going to be.  I suppose two points wouldn't be a disaster but really, anything less than three points total means it's going to be a long winter/spring.  Aston Villa get West Ham at home then travel to Norwich.  Unfortunately for the Villans, the relegation battle already seems assured but the Canaries have been vulnerable.

Can't say the other fixtures offer the greatest matchups.  Definitely make time for Leicester hosting Man City on Tuesday at 2:45 pm on NBCSN.  For those who like watching car crashes, you might want to check out the Man United matches - Saturday morning at 7:45 away at Stoke (NBCSN) and home to Chelsea Monday at 12:30, also on NBCSN.  It's possible that anything less than two wins for the Red Devils is the end for van Gaal.

Here's hoping you don't find a lump of coal in your side's stockings...unless of course, you're playing against my side.