Coming to you early this week because there's a packed Tuesday-Thursday agenda that might be of interest. And yes, this post's title is a Hamilton reference.
Slumping Towards the Playoffs
The Union continued their descent into post-season with a 0-2 loss at home to the Red Bulls. This was better than last week's stinker against Orlando but not by much. Since they only had to keep the goal differential change to no more than 12 and with a playoff match on Wednesday, Curtin rested several players. I would have done the same but unfortunately, they enter the playoffs on a seven game winless streak, with five of those being losses. The offense continues to be punchless. We have concluded that a successful corner for the Union is one that doesn't turn into a good counterattacking opportunity for the opposition.
Before the match Jeff K and I noted that while Maurice Edu never appeared in an MLS match this year, at least he didn't get hurt. Wrong. No sooner were the words out of our mouths than we see Edu coming out of the tunnel on crutches. He fractured his tibula in training.
One of the ARs for this match was Kermit Quisenberry, who was an instructor at a referee recertification clinic I attended a few years ago. He was roundly booed by the crowd for not calling Bradley Wright-Phillips offside on the first goal. I was pretty sure he got it right. Graham R, Chief Referee Consultant for BFS, checked the tape and confirmed that it wasn't even close to offside, which again shows that the fans either don't know the rule or are blinded by their partisanship. Or both. Ya done good, Kermit, though not sure about that handling call on Fabinho.
BTW, kudos to the Red Bulls for overcoming a horrendous start to win the East and getting within three points of a second consecutive Supporters Shield.
Nil-Nil Is Not Necessarily Boring
At least that's my view after watching Bournemouth-Tottenham and Arsenal-Middlesbrough back-to-back. The fact that these were underdogs going toe-to-toe with two of the big boys probably helped, as you could see the effort put forth to hang on to a precious and unexpected point. The games were end-to-end and neither Tottenham or Arsenal had a monopoly on good scoring chances. And they were, um, shall we say spirited. At Bournemouth, Craig Pawson handed out six yellows and could have easily shown Sissoko a red for an elbow in the face to Arter; Sissoko's likely looking at a three match ban anyway once the post-match disciplinary review is finished.
Not a back weekend overall for underdogs. Besides Bournemouth and Middlesbrough, Burnley picked up a win at home against Everton, Swansea snagged a point at home versus Watford and Southampton came away with a draw at Man City. The latter match wasn't quite as pretty as I had hoped but it was intriguing.
If I Had Picked Southampton, I'd Be in the Premier League Now
A brief comment on the Saints. Southampton have seen a steady departure of coaches (Pochettino, Koeman) and quality players (check out this starting 11) yet continue to finish higher and higher up the table each year. Somebody is doing something (many things) right there. This suggests an institutional culture and systems as opposed to a club that can't survive the departure of key management or players. I'm not trashing Man United per se but they have been wildly inconsistent since Fergie's departure. And if I had picked Southampton instead of Newcastle, I wouldn't be following my team on ChronicleLive, getting updates every five minutes or so. But I'm not complaining.
Is Mourinho the Donald Trump of Football?
I usually stay away from politics here but sometimes the obvious must be pointed out. His team was thoroughly dismantled 4-0 by a superior Chelsea side and the story is that The Special One thinks Chelsea manager Antonio Conte humiliated him with wild celebrations after each goal and by encouraging the crowd to join in. Funny aside, as Mourinho spoke into Conte's ear on the touchline after the match, we laughingly speculated that Jose was saying something like "You're dead to me." Turns out we were basically correct. And there may have been some unpleasantness between the staffs in the tunnel on the way out.
To be fair, he did take some responsibility for the disaster in subsequent post-game remarks:
"Every time they went up, they scored. But I told to the players that we should take the risk in the second half even though we know they are very good on the counter-attack." He later told United's official website: "I have to apologise for that as the leader of this dressing room. But there is only one answer: training and keep fighting."
BFS was able to obtain secret footage of Mourinho's reaction to events at Stamford Bridge (NSFW) here. Yeah, that probably sums it up.
Newcastle Clear
 |
| Matt Richie celebrates scoring his side's third goal - PA Wire |
Ayoze Perez had the Magpies up 1-0 in 60 seconds in the home match against Ipswich. But the Tractor Boys are a good defensive side and things remained tight until well into the second half. But then Perez got a second and Ritchie (right) added a third and things calmed down at St. James Park. Meanwhile, Norwich were losing at home against Preston and by day's end, Newcastle were top of the table by three points. Will try to keep calm and continue watching following updates on Chronicle Live but things certainly seem on track.
No One Said This Would Be Easy
So what's all this about a jammed mid-week schedule? Let's start with the Round of 16 League Cup matches on Tuesday and Wednesday. I know I have dissed this competition more than once regularly but this time Newcastle are still in it! Among Tuesday's fixtures we have Liverpool-Tottenham (2:45 beIN Sports) plus Newcastle-Preston and Arsenal-Reading. Wednesday has some derbies with West Ham-Chelsea and Man United-Man City (2:45 beIN Sports) plus Southampton-Sunderland.
Wednesday-Thursday see the MLS knockout games involving the third through sixth finishers in each conference. We'll be following the Union up in Toronto at 7:30 on Wednesday. Paraphrasing musician Steve Forbert, "you cannot win, if you do not score." If they do advance, they'll face...the Red Bulls in a home and home series. Conference semi-finals start Sunday 10/30 with games at 3, 5, 7 and 9:30. Check your local listings.
And of course we have the regular weekend happenings in England. Newcastle will face Preston again. This is the second time this season their league cup opponent and regular season opponent for the week are one and the same. Last time they won the cup game and lost the conference match. If they can't win both, can we please get the points in Championship play as winning the league cup is a pipe dream?
EPL fixtures are a mixed bag. There is Tottenham-Leicester at 10 am Saturday; both teams have been listless but somehow Spurs are one point out of first. I fancy the Southampton-Chelsea match on Sunday at noon (? - right, they end daylight saving time a week before we do); Chelsea are also just a point out of first while the Saints sit in 8th. Other matches involving the top of the table may or may not produce interesting football. Sunderland (with 2 points in 10 matches!) host Arsenal, Mourinho gets to return to Old Trafford to face Burnley, Man City travel to West Brom, Liverpool goes to slumping Crystal Palace (Pardew might do well to stop talking about Newcastle and focus on his team), and Everton try to bounce back against a revived West Ham side.
I'm guessing you'll find something in there that interests you.
No comments:
Post a Comment