Yankee Stay Home

Perhaps the title of last week's post should have been "Wither the USMNT."  Certainly they stepped up with a good effort in the 4-0 win at home against Panama but Tuesday's sleepy 1-2 performance against Trinidad & Tobago simply wasn't good enough.  Combined with wins by Honduras and Panama, the US will being watching next year's World Cup on TV.

Pulisic's reaction says it all (ASHLEY ALLEN / GETTY IMAGES)

Despite the 4-0 scoreline, the US performance against Panama was not flawless.  They did take advantage of Panama's defense, which was "shambolic" in the words of commentator Ian Darke.  But the US defending was nothing to write home about either; Kasey Keller labeled it "laxical," which it was, even if it is not a word.  Tuesday's effort was inexplicably awful.  Don't blame the field (hilarious though that the pump draining the last of the water that had flooded the pitch was louder than the crowd).  Don't blame the short turnaround (the team had clicked on Friday and it made sense to go with the same group of players).  Still at a loss as to how they couldn't at least get a draw.

So now everybody should expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition.  Bruce Arena was a caretaker manager for the rest of this WC cycle so he was leaving anyway.  Bucknellian Sunil Gulati is unlikely to be reelected to lead US Soccer next February.  But the changes likely have to run much deeper than that.  We have a lot of people playing soccer; don't have the figures but it has to be way more than we had in, say the 80s.  Why aren't we producing more top level players from that expanded pool?  I realize that basketball and football take away a huge chunk of talent but that can't be the only thing.  One potential reason is addressed in this article from June 2016; I might have chosen "rich" instead of "white" as the defining characteristic but the point ends up being the same.  I should probably do a more thorough analysis of this but it sure seems to me that the teams ahead of us in the Hex table have plenty of MLS players on their roster.  In other words, we're not getting beat by sides that depend on professionals from the European league. 

As things were unraveling on Tuesday night I started to wonder if it would be better if the US didn't even get into the play-in series with Australia.  Kind of like Newcastle getting relegated in 2016.  This is a sign that you can't keep doing things the way you have been for the last 15+ years.  We came a long way between 1986 and 2002 but things seem to have stagnated since then.  Of course this is really painful lessen but maybe it is necessary.


Shaqiri and Madonna Share the Stage

A boatload of critical matches for the final rounds of group play in Europe.  The Portugal-Switzerland match featured Shaqiri on the pitch for the Swiss and Madonna in the stands rooting for the Portuguese. (Her son is now enrolled at the prestigious Benfica soccer academy.)  A win or draw for the Swiss would have given them the automatic berth but they looked pretty listless in a 0-2 loss that means Portugal is in.

How about that Iceland side?  Friday, they got a big win in Turkey at the same time Croatia stumbled through a draw with Finland.  All the Vikings had to do was handle Kosovo at home on Monday - which they did 2-0 - and they punched their ticket to Russia.  Croatia will be left to survive a playoff series.

WDDDDDWWWL is not Welsh for "we are not going to the World Cup this year" but rather their sequence of results in European WC qualifying.  They had a great run, losing just once in 10 matches but that tense 0-1 loss to Ireland in the final contest sends the Irish, not Wales, to a playoff spot.  Scotland's draw with Slovenia meant that Slovakia will be heading to the playoffs.  Northern Ireland closed with two losses but will still be in the playoffs.  So the tally for the Four Countries in That Country is one in for sure (England), one still alive (Northern Ireland) and two out (Scotland and Wales).

Netherlands didn't make it either.  A third place finish in Group A means they'll be home for the WC.  Italy lost just once in group play but had the misfortune to be in the same group as Spain so they have to make it through a playoff series as well.  The draw for that playoff series is Tuesday with the matches to be played in November.


No Picnic in South America

Very tough to make it out of CONMEBOL qualifying.   Only Brazil had a spot going into the final two matches and there had been a lot of shuffling of places throughout the process. When the music stopped and the chairs were filled, Chile was the one left standing without a ticket.  Another pretty good squad, Ecuador, is also staying home.   Uruguay and Argentina finished well to take 2nd and 3rd behind Brazil.  Colombia kind of limped home with a loss and a draw but still finished 4th.  Peru managed two draws in the final match days and grabbed the playoff spot. 

And another thing...look at the heavyweights that can't make it out of the European and South American confederations WC qualifying, then look at CONCACAF.  Makes you realize how far behind the US really is.    If you can't win the Ivy League title, you ain't ready for the Bowl Series Division.  Jeff H has suggested a losers' friendly series, an NIT of the World Cup if you will.  Certainly we could have the US, Netherlands, Chile and Ghana.  The European playoff losers could help fill out the brackets. 

Joy in Mudville

Somewhere the sun was shining and you can find any number of great videos of fans reacting to their country qualifying for the WC.  My favorite so far is this guy getting down on his knees as Mo Salah's PK in stoppage time sent Egypt to the WC for the first time since 1990.  Hey, who among us hasn't watched a match in pajamas?  Here's the actual play; pretty good call by the commentator, who might actually be crying.


Did I Miss Anything in Newcastle?

Um, apparently I did.  First there was a training ground dust-up in which Jamaal Lascelles was trading punches with Mo Diame and Jon Jo Shelvey tried to play peacemaker (I am not making this up) only to get a broken finger for his efforts.  Despite media efforts to make a big deal of it, not sure there's a big problem here.  More importantly, the rumors and speculation of an impending sale of Newcastle are rampant. Details can be had here.  Apparently as many as four groups are interested.  Why yes, now that you mention it, Amanda Staveley is quite attractive; I hadn't noticed.  Unfortunately that's not a characteristic I'd be looking for in an owner.  My concern is a willingness to do what it takes to make Newcastle the club it should be.  The Magpies could be a real bargain at about $400 million.  I heard Liverpool would sell for about a billion. 


Chester-on-Delaware

Better known as the Union, they didn't play over the international break but managed to be eliminated from playoff contention anyway as the Red Bulls beat Vancouver over the weekend to wrap up the last spot.  If MLS was more like Europe without the conference setup, the Union would sit 17th in the table of 22 teams.  If three were relegated each year, they would be safe but not by much.  In EPL terms, this is a lower table side and you'd be hard pressed to find many positives about this season. We'll save a post mortem on them for a few weeks. 


Chester (FM version)

My apparently undisciplined managerial style (to some anyway) resulted in a 2-0 win at St. James' Park in which we limited the Magpies to one shot on goal.  That we only got two goals is a tribute to the Newcastle keeper and maybe all we could expect against a side that played four in the back plus a sweeper to try to slow us down.  We also got a 5-1 win vs St. Pat's Athletic in Champions League group play using mostly second team players. 


Weekend

Feels like forever since the EPL played.  If you're motivated or don't have a life, you can catch seven of the 10 matches this weekend without even having to resort to streaming.  Not saying they're all classics though.

Newcastle have a tough fixture as they head to the coast to take on Southampton Sunday at 11 (NBCSN).  The Saints haven't been setting the league on fire and have just five goals in seven matches; they've been held scoreless in four.  But they don't give up a lot either.  The EPL website notes that Newcastle have failed to keep a clean sheet at St Mary's Stadium in 26 visits dating back to 1969 and that Rafa is 0-0-3 in previous trips here.  Yeah, I'd be happy with a draw.

Saturday's 7:30 match (NBCSN) has second place Man United taking on Liverpool at Enfield.  This a big test for Liverpool's defense; was Klopp able to address some of their issues over the break?  You have a choice at 10 am - Crystal Palace vs Chelsea at Selhurst Park (NBCSN) or Spurs-Bournemouth at Wembley (CNBC).  Palace's woes have been well-chronicled and it's hard to see how playing Chelsea is a good thing for them.  Spurs have the quality to handle the Cherries, though maybe they will have to imagine they're playing somewhere other than Wembley.  Saturday's viewing concludes with Arsenal traveling to Watford for the 12:30 NBC match; though the Hornets are a surprising 8th in the table and have just one loss, only West Ham and Crystal Palace have surrendered more goals.

Everton take their troubles to the coast to face the Brighton.  And Hove Albion.  On paper the Toffees are favored but that hasn't helped them much this season.  That's at 8:30 Sunday on NBCSN.  You can also catch the Leicester-West Brom match at 3 pm on Monday on NBCSN.

Michael B would probably get on my case if I didn't mention Atletico Madrid is hosting Barcelona on Saturday.  Probably a good match if you're into that league...