In Rafa We Trust
For me the biggest news was Rafael Benitez agreeing to stay with Newcastle even as they descend to the Championship Division. This opens up the possibility that many players who otherwise might have bolted will stay. More importantly, maybe some of these players might actually get better under Rafa's tutelage. And most importantly, it means Charnley and Carr won't be making important decisions. This is the most optimistic I've been about the club, ever.There are the wet blankets out there, epitomized by this article here. Essentially, the author makes two arguments. First, Benitez hasn't managed in 2nd division English football so he won't know the competition - clubs or players. Second, he is managing a group of recidivist underachievers, players who arguably didn't step up when it mattered this past year. Maybe. But he was clearly making progress at the end of the season as Newcastle were undefeated in their final six matches. As for the competition, I'd say Newcastle's toughest competition is themselves; if Rafa gets their heads on straight, I'm not sure it will matter how much he knows about the other Championship sides. Sure it's not guaranteed but I'm all in here. I hope I'll be able to watch at least some of the games.
Chester-on-Delaware
The Union continue to do well, even with less than their best performances. Friday's 1-0 win over DC United was a snoozefest, the soccer equivalent of endless three and outs. They looked like the Union of old with no mid-field play, dumping long balls into the corner. Fortunately, in a singular moment of quality, LeToux put a cross to about four yards out from the far post which Richie Marquez nudged into the net for a game winner in stoppage time. Three points despite playing like crap - sweet.
Mackenzie: [some comment about the last play]
Eastern European sitting next to her: Wow, you really know the game!
Mackenzie: Well, I played.
Steve: Internationally, in France!
Eastern European: [Impressive nod of the head]
Move ahead to Wednesday night, with Jeff H hosting a viewing of the away match at Orlando. First half, not really that much better than Friday. Only moment of consequence is Blake's stop of Kaka's PK, which was not well taken (you might say his kick was kaka).
Second half is a roller coaster. Union go up on a cross from Tribbett that Pontius heads to Barnetta wide open at the far post. I say "too easy." Camera zooms in on the Orlando keeper who mouths the words "too easy." Then two goals in quick succession by Orlando, both with some controversy. Was Blake fouled on the first? Looked like a collision without a foul to me. On the second goal, was the ball all the way across the line? Hell if I know and so far I haven't seen any replay that would provide a better view than the AR had so I'm going to go with his decision at this point. Of course, goal line technology would remove this as an issue. I do think Kaka fouled Fabinho (or Tribbett) before making the cross but whatever. Then Tribbett later put a rebound past Bendik to level things at 2-2. Not a bad result on the road in a less than friendly place. Damn I do not like that artificial turf. Guess they can't grow real grass in Florida.
As a bonus, we switched to the US-Ecuador friendly for the last 20 minutes, in time to see Nagbe's nice settle and volley for the game winner.
This week's U-12 moment is the NYCFC-Red Bulls "derby." Derby is in quotes because it was 0-3 Red Bulls at halftime and the final was 0-7. Isn't the coach supposed to say you can only score on a header when the lead gets too large? The Red Bulls continue to march up the table and have largely solved their poor goal differential.
FA Cup Not Enough To Save van
After a tepid first half, Crystal Palace and Manchester United got down to business. But goals were hard to find. At last, Jason Puncheon, on as a substitute, put Crystal Palace up 1-0 in the 78th minute and gave Alan Pardew a chance to show off his moves.
Unfortunately for him, his joy lasted barely longer than his dance, as Mata leveled things at 81 minutes. With no more scoring in regulation, we headed to added extra time. Smalling's send off for a second yellow might have given Crystal Palace an opening to snatch the cup but Jesse Lingard's laser in the 110th minute meant Manchester United were champions again; Lingard's instinctive volley is this week's YouTubeableMoment.
Dennis: Check out Pardew's boutineer
Steve: Boutineer? It looks like the whole garden
Even with the win, Louie van Gaal was relieved of duties on Monday and as I write, news comes across that Jose Mourinho has been hired to take his place. As Carlo Ancelotti put it:
United might start "selling tickets" for news conferences as a result of the arrival of Mourinho.This could be fun.
Copa America
Forgive my cynicism. This is likely a great tournament but given that it's the brainchild of soccer executives and promoters - two of the more corrupt segments of the population - my first instinct is to make sure I still have my wallet. The cheapest seats for US-Paraguay at Lincoln Financial Field I found were $60. Looks like you can still get Haiti-Peru ducats for a mere $50 in Seattle.
On paper the whole thing looks really cool. Ten teams from South America (including Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile), six from Concacaf (including US, Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama). Divide them up into four groups of four, two from each group advance to the knockout stages. Matched with Colombia, Costa Rica, and Paraguay, my first thought was that the US chances of advancing to the knockout stage are on the low side. Except both Colombia and especially Costa Rica fell off dramatically in 2015. Of course so did the US so it's hard to say what happens in this group.
Matches start June 3rd and the final is in East Rutherford (which is in NJ despite the NY moniker of teams that play there). We'll be looking in on the matches but with ticket dollars earmarked for the Union and the US Track and Field Olympic Trials, probably won't be seeing anything live.
Saturday's Triple Header
Start with the Championship Playoff at noon (BeIN Sports) between Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday. This is the match to determine the third team, along with Middlesborough and Burnley, that will be promoted to the EPL. With new TV money, promotion is worth over $200 million. Uh, no pressure there.
Moving on through the day, we then have the Champions League Final at 2:45 (Fox) between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. Our rooting interest here, and we have the scarf to prove it, is the Mattressmakers; besides, everybody knows Real Madrid was Franco's team (hat tip Philip S).
Later in the evening (9 pm) we have the Union (first place in the Eastern Conference) taking on Colorado (first place in the West). A result here would be good but not expected.
Watching soccer on a holiday weekend. A great American tradition.
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