Yankee Almost Went Home

Wow, that was some tough viewing.  Costa Rica was a plain beat-down.  Not a big upset but a critical 0-2 loss nonetheless.  The center defense pairing of Tim Ream and Geoff Cameron - both veterans of English football - came in for some serious criticism.  Well, yes, their spacing was totally off on the first goal but Ream recovered enough to force Urena wide of the goal.  I thought Tim Howard had to take his share of the blame on that one.  The second one as well - he just seemed to react slowly.  Not to put the defeat on him.  The team basically tiptoed around, was beaten to most balls and didn't seem to offer much creativity.  The 0-2 scoreline was fully deserved.


Red Lamb Arena

Things are so bad, Red Bull Arena, arguably one of the better soccer venues in the US, was cited as a reason for the lackluster showing against Costa Rica.  Too comfortable for visiting teams.  Too many Costa Rican fans, despite the best efforts of US soccer officials to keep tickets out of their hands.  Even Bruce Arena, while not saying it was a reason for the loss, said the USMNT should not have matches there.  Seems like a bit of an excuse to me; what made the Costa Rican players comfortable was the US effort, not the venue.  Still, don't expect to see an important USMNT match played in the NY area for some time to come.


Knock on Wood

Bobby Wood (9) after scoring the tying goal.
CreditRebecca Blackwell/Associated Press

The away match against Honduras was never expected to be a picnic - 90+ temperatures, shoddy pitch and a hostile crowd.  But the loss to Costa Rica had made a draw an absolute must.  A relatively early goal for Honduras made things even worse, allowing them to pack the defense more than usual.  Fortunately, after an untidy looking scramble on a free kick, Bobby Wood scored in the 85th minute to secure the draw.  Though not necessarily a thing of beauty, several players had a role in the tally.  Acosta's free kick was a bullet that the Honduran keeper could merely punch away.  Matt Besler flicked the ball back towards the goal, where Jordan Morris headed to Wood, who calmly took it off his chest and deposited it into the goal.   A huge goal, as a loss would have essentially put the USMNT's fate in the hands of other teams.

This article from fivethirtyeight notes that the US chances of making the finals are now 69%.  There are many scenarios that get them there.  The easiest is to win at home vs Panama and away at Trinidad & Tobago but there are scenarios that involve a draw with Panama that still work.  So while it's way more uncomfortable than it should be, they should make it.  Except, what then?  Money quote for me from fivethirtyeight:

This team as currently constituted is just about good enough to qualify for the World Cup. The problem is that it isn’t much better than that.

How Many Countries From This Country Will Qualify?

All four of Great Britain's sides had a great international break, collecting six points each and keeping World Cup qualifying hopes alive.  England beat Malta and Slovakia and lead their group by five points with two to play.  Scotland bested Lithuania and Malta and are one point out of second place, which would get them to a playoff.  Wales was victorious over Moldavia and Austria and currently sit in second.  And Northern Ireland bested San Marino and the Czech Republic to clinch no worse than second in their group.

BFS faves Iceland had a mixed week, stumbling against Finland but getting a big win at home versus Ukraine.  They are tied with Croatia for first in the group but Turkey and Ukraine are just two points back so that group has everything to play for.   Belgium are in, having run away with their group.


Musical Chairs

The CONMEBOL (South America) qualifying table keeps shifting and some really good sides could be left out when the music stops.  This article from Deadspin nicely lays out just how crazy things could get.  With two wins this break, Peru flew past four teams and into the fourth and last qualifying spot.  As it stands now, Argentina (who had two draws in this break) would have to qualify via a playoff series while Chile (who got no points in this break) would be flat out of the competition.  But since just seven points separate 2nd through 8th, everything will be riding on the last set of matches in early October.  That break will include, among others, Argentina-Peru, Chile-Ecuador, Brazil-Chile and Ecuador-Argentina.  Mark your calendars...


Doing Fine

Chester are 4-0 and atop the EPL, thanks for asking.


Calendar

Back to league play and a big one for the Magpies as they travel to Wales to face Swansea (11 am Sunday NBCSN).  This will be an excellent barometer of just how tough Newcastle wants to make this season.  Since it's a road match, a draw would be an acceptable result, though I see that the  oddsmakers are preferring the Swans right now.

The weekend starts with an excellent fixture featuring Man City hosting Liverpool (7:30 Saturday NBCSN).  Last time I predicted a match would have a lot of goals I was dead wrong but I'm going to suggest this one should feature some excellent attacking football.  Another possibly tasty fixture is Everton vs Spurs at Goodison Park (10 am Saturday CNBC).  I would expect Everton to see this as an early test of whether the gazillion dollars they spent this past transfer window is going to get them something other than another 7th place finish.

Saturday's featured 12:30 match on NBC is Man United at Stoke City.  A more cynical person might say no need to turn this one on before, say, 2:05 given the Red Devils penchant for scoring most of their goals after 80 minutes.  But you might miss a Mourinho moment so watch the whole thing.  Arsenal try to right the ship with a home match against Bournemouth, a side that has struggled even more than the Gunners; that's at 10 am Saturday on NBCSN.

Bob K - you'll have to wait until Monday for Huddersfield but they are taking on a West Ham side in total disarray whose manager barely missed getting axed after losing to, gulp, Newcastle.

Saturday at 8 pm the Union take on expansion Minnesota United FC for the first time.  United are not doing all that well, have a mediocre record at home and have allowed a league high 52 goals.  But of course, the Union are 1-8-4 on the road so who knows what will happen as a very stoppable force meets a movable object.