www.newcastle.com
Three W's in a row for the Magpies; last time I saw that was on their website. Thought I had everything set up to watch the match with Brighton and every other beinSport Connect channel was working but no Newcastle; so I followed live updates from The Mirror. This was a very satisfying 2-0 win. Granted it was at home and the second goal came after a Brighton player was sent off but the Magpies frontline was depleted by injuries so this was an important win. The rehabilitations of Yoan Gouffron and Jonjo Shelvey continue, as both played pivotal roles in the victory. Still early but the trend is good.
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C'mon the U
Good news from Chester-on-Delaware. First a midweek 2-1 win on the road at Columbus, then a 2-0 win at home over Sporting KC. Did not see the Columbus match so can't comment on that. For the KC match, I'd argue the Union had the run of play even before the two ejections, though they didn't convert any of a number of scoring chances. Roland Alberg had a noteable trifecta. First there was this strike for the opening goal, this week's YouTubeable Moment. (Oh yeah, and how great is it to hear Tommy Smyth doing color for the Union match; sticking it in the roof of the old onion bag indeed!) He also had the assist on the second goal. And third, his fine acting job resulted in Espinoza being ejected for violent conduct. Comparing reports, many of us were left wondering whether it was even a foul. In any case, six points in four days and the U sit in third, three out of first but only nine ahead of seventh. No time to let down.
Red Bulls looked pretty much in control in 1-0 win over New England; I watched that match and thought the score doesn't reflect how it looked. Orlando got three valuable points in a mild upset win over NYCFC. Montreal's win over Toronto kept things pretty tight at the top.
Eden Returns to Paradise
Remember the scene in "Happy Gilmour" when he starts sinking putts - "Happy learned how to putt, uh-oh." Well "Eden Hazard learned how to enjoy the game again. Uh-oh." Check out this goal in Chelsea's 3-0 win over Burnley. This is not good news for the rest of the EPL. Neither is the fact that Chelsea will not be distracted by any European competitions this year. The simultaneously praised and maligned decision to reacquire David Luiz for about $40 million to me is a sign that Chelsea is all in for a title chase this year.
JIP
New abbreviation I just figured out in reading TV schedules - joined in progress. That's how I saw most of the weekend's EPL action. Saw some of Spurs - Liverpool; not a terrible result for either side but neither has found their feet yet at this point. Watching West Brom-Middlesbrough 0-0 snoozefest was more boring than cleaning the shore house. Chelsea was hardly put upon by Burnley. Leicester got their first win, beating Swansea 2-1; real hospitable-like of the Foxes to order in a Welsh monsoon just for the match. Arsenal, Man United and Man City all got wins. Still way too early to be looking at the table.
Going Solo
Not a good month for Hope Solo. Zika post wasn't a great idea. Not a great tournament; though you can't put the USWNT defeat all on her, she did have two bad matches in a row. Then the unfortunate comments about Sweden. A six month suspension from the USWNT team and now leave from her club team.
I have very mixed feelings about all this. Two questions pop into my head. Given some of her earlier transgressions, discussed here, the relatively tepid remarks about Sweden were the straw that broke the camel's back? Really? I'm left with the impression that she was viewed as indispensable to the USWNT's fortunes and US Soccer only lowered the boom after a poor performance and once there were no major international competitions on the calendar until 2019; as in, it's convenient for us to level the serious discipline now that her star is falling. That feels like the wrong signal to me. Too often it seems to me that when you see an athlete do something stupid you look back and realize there's a long trail of misbehavior that has been forgiven or only lightly punished because of their athletic talent.
The second question is whether things would have played out differently if she was a male athlete. Clearly a hypothetical question but I'm not convinced she would have taken so much grief for some of the things she said and did had she been a male. We hear "boys will be boys" as an excuse for bad behavior (looking at you Ryan Lochte) from male athletes but don't hear "girls will be girls" when it's the women acting up.
Not exactly the same sentiments but clearly Mike Woitalla at Soccer America here is struggling a little with these events, at least as they relate to my first question.
Chester Gellin'?
A solid 4-1 win over Middlesbrough, then a 2-0 win on the road over CSKA Moscow in Champions League action. Squad depth is allowing for nice rotation in a congested calendar.
International Break
If you have beINSports you could see a lot of World Cup qualifying action. Thursday you can see a trio of CONMEBOL (South America) matches and Friday there's a quadruple header for CONCACAF, starting at 3:35 with the USMNT taking on my favorite
MLS, which doesn't shut down for the international break, has some important matches. Thursday night has NYCFC hosting DC United; since I'm more concerned about teams below us, I'll go with NY for the win. The Union travel to Chicago; it's a road game but they really need the three points against the last place team in the conference. Not happy that we will be without Blake and Bedoya, who will be off on international duty; Ilsinho's return may mitigate the loss of Bedoya a little. Red Bulls are in the same situation; they travel to Vancouver but the White Caps are 9th in the West. Tuesday has a big match between Montreal and Orlando; again, since Orlando is the one outside the playoffs looking in, I'll go with Montreal in that one.
How'd it get to be September already?
So much to talk about! Nice post.
ReplyDelete1. Awesome to have Tommy Smythe on the broadcast team!! Seems like a big upgrade, tho I thought Pappas was pretty good.
2. Columbus should had to forfeit the game bc of poor attendance. Fickle much?
3. Rookies Yaro, Rosenberry, and Herbers started, scored, stepped up!
4. Totally agree about the hypocrisy in the Solo affair - goalies are supposed to be a little whacked but less if you are a girl, I guess.
Yea the whole Solo thing was bizarre. Like you said, a pattern of bad behavior combined with no important competitions imminent. She is probably done for good, but this gives them an opportunity to groom someone else. I still use the original quote from her first transgression of "anyone who knows anything about the game knows it was the wrong decision" all the time haha.
ReplyDeleteYou guys can talk about the MLS and the lack of hope but, meanwhile, Rome is burning (or the equivilent): Atletico Madrid has only managed two draws to two newly promoted La Liga squads in the campaign's first two weeks. Griezmann went public with some downbeat comments and Simone is being criticized for selection and squad shape... Things in the "Red & White" house better improve after the international break. Los Colchoneros must take the table from Barca and RMA this season. No excuses.
ReplyDelete