Tis Better to Have Led and Lost...

...then to never have led at all.  Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez made the brave decision not to "park the bus" at Old Trafford last Saturday.   The result was about 30 minutes of the best football of season and a 1-0 lead thanks to some fine play between Yedlin and Gayle.   So rarely do the Magpies put something that nice together that I have to make it this week's YouTubeableMoment (sorry for the ad but it was the only version I could find).  But, since Newcastle are Newcastle and Man United are better, things deteriorated from there.  The Magpies were sliced open multiple times as the Red Devils cruised to a 4-1 win.  Manquillo and LeJeune had terrible games, and Yedlin was outjumped on one of the goals too; DeAndre is listed as 5'8" so maybe we can give him a pass on that.

Would it have been better to play it tight and lose 0-1 or 0-2 as opposed to absorbing the beat down?  I'm going with the latter.  This style of play will suit Newcastle better as they face opponents of lesser quality, hopefully resulting in fewer 0-1 losses and more 2-1 wins.  We also saw a different Jacob Murphy.  Sure, he stills looks raw but at least this was a "making the wrong choices" kind of inexperience as opposed to the "deer in the headlights" we had been seeing.   So, while it was demoralizing to watch them get shredded like this, ultimately there were positives to be had from what was always a loss on the calendar.


Gunners on the Move

Mustafi and Arsenal celebrate opening goal vs Spurs

Arsenal came up with their best effort of the season to make the North London derby a bit of a runaway as the Gunners cruised to a 2-0 win over Spurs.  Sure, the foul on Sanchez that led to the free kick that led to the goal by a potentially (probably) offside Mustafi was, ahem, soft.  Sure, Sanchez might have been offside on the second goal (probably not).  Make no mistake though, Arsenal thoroughly outplayed Tottenham.  Not to take anything away from the win but Spurs did look off, maybe the worst they've played this year.  The win brought Arsenal all the way back into the fight for a top four spot and left Michael B fearing a return to Europa Cup after two straight years in Champions League.

Leicester put up a good fight but goals by Jay Zeus and DeBruyne were enough for Man City to take a 2-0 win.  As I suggested, the Crystal Palace - Everton match looked to be a good watch, at least for the first half; the 2-2 draw doesn't really help either side in the relegation fight.  Bournemouth, obviously buoyed by their win over Newcastle, spanked Huddersfield 4-0, with two of the goals coming even after the Cherries went a man down; after a great start defensively, the Terriers have surrendered 14 goals in the last 6 matches.  Chelsea's 4-0 win over West Brom sent Tony Pulis packing; for those keeping score at home, that's five EPL managers sacked before December 1 (yes, 1/4 gone before 1/3 season completed).  Of course, after suggesting it was an unexciting fixture, the Brighton (and Hove Albion) Stoke match was a rather enjoyable 2-2 draw.

Man City have an eight point lead after 12 matches and a staggering plus 33 goal differential.  Whether Man United's outburst versus Newcastle indicates a surging side or merely a hopeless opponent remains to be seen.  Certainly the return of Pogba is a positive.  Mark Sunday December 10th on your calendar for the next Manchester derby.


MLS Sleep Play Offs

Those who fell asleep during the first leg of the Toronto - Columbus Eastern Conference final can be excused.  Missing Altidore and Giovinco, Toronto played it safe and the 0-0 draw was perhaps inevitable.  All to play for as they head to Toronto for the second leg. 

Houston - Seattle wasn't scintillating but at least there were goals.  Already down 0-1, Houston got  a man send off for DOGSO.  Their keeper saved the PK but the damage was done.  Seattle added another and taking a 2-0 lead back to their friendly home stadium, you have to think the Sounders are in good position to return to the MLS Cup final.  Btw, is the Houston home pitch the best argument for artificial turf you've ever seen? 


Checking in on Chester

Finally got back to my Football Manager Blues and was shocked to see a calendar that included 12 matches in 38 days and six between 12/16 and 1/1.  Our EPL season is mirroring the real life Man City's, with 12 wins and draw and a +34 goal differential.  Champions League group play has been a little tougher with some road draws but we just qualified for the knockout stage.   The weakest part of our game looks to be tackling so we've made some adjustments to the training routine. 


We Give Thanks for a Full Schedule

Add a midweek slate of EPL games plus the second legs of the MLS playoffs means matches just about every day.  This is what we do right - watch football over the Thanksgiving holiday?

You can take a break from shopping on Friday to check in on West Ham - Leicester at 3 pm on NBCSN.  Both sides are under new management so maybe a change in fortune?

Saturday is the typical full slate - minus that annoying 7:30 early game.  I'll be NBC Gold streaming Newcastle - Watford at St.James' Park.  The Hornets are an excellent side while the Magpies are still sorting things out; I'm not saying Newcastle can't win here but I'm fully prepared for a draw or even a loss.  The 10 am TV matches are Man United - Brighton (NBCSN) and Tottenham-West Brom (CNBC); thinking the home sides are big favorites here.  The featured 12:30 match on NBC looks great with Liverpool hosting Chelsea.  Two more to take in on Sunday with Burnley-Arsenal at Turf Moor ( 9 am CNBC) and Huddersfield-Man City (NBCSN at 11).  Arsenal will be up after big win over Spurs but do not underestimate the Burnley side.  If Huddersfield defense doesn't sort things out, they could be shredded for multiple goals by the Citizens, who seem to be operating on one speed - all out - this year.

The Tuesday/Wednesday TV schedule wasn't out as I wrote this.  Matches to check on would be, um, well nothing jumps out at me.  I'll be watching Newcastle take on West Brom at The Hawthorns on Tuesday; the Baggies are reeling and I have some hope for a result here.  Most of the top of the table look to be favorites in their matches - Leicester v Spurs, Arsenal v Huddersfield, Man City v Southampton, Chelsea v Swansea, Stoke v Liverpool and Watford v Man United.  That last one might be the best hope for a truly competitive contest.  If you're looking for something with more of a relegation feel, go for Everton v West Ham.

Wednesday night at 7:30 on FS1 is the second leg of Toronto-Columbus and the week's viewing concludes with Seattle - Houston.  Pretty good leftovers.








 

Winners and Losers

Peruvian players celebrate 2-0 win over New Zealand

The high stakes playoffs for the final spots in the 2018 World Cup Finals did not produce the finest of football.  Four out of the eight European matches were 0-0 draws and two more were 1-0 affairs that featured a dubious handling call and a ricochet goal. The inter-conferederation playoffs were no better. However, judging by the celebrations of the winners, they really could care less how the matches looked; they're going to Russia.  Pictures capture the contrasting emotions of those who made it and those who didn't.

I saw most of the matches and offer the following random recollections.


Switzerland 1 Northern Ireland 0 - In the first leg, Switzerland benefited from the questionable hand ball call and the return leg in Basel was more notable for the rain-soaked pitch than anything else.  I guess there was the moment when the Swiss cleared a ball off the line; with the away goals rule that actually would have sent Northern Ireland into the finals.  Good on the underdog Northern Ireland side for making this such a close contest.

Italian soccer players after their team’s elimination in a
 World Cup playoff match against Sweden in Milan on Monday.
 CreditLuca Bruno/Associated Press

Croatia 4 Greece 1 - If you missed the first 33 minutes, which I did, you missed all the action.  Croatia was up 2-0 in 20 minutes, Greece grabbed one back but things were pretty much settled with a third goal in the 33rd minute.  I cannot remember a thing from the 0-0 second leg.

Sweden 1 Italy 0 - Very mixed feelings about this.  Sweden's goal in the first leg was a lucky deflection off an Italian defender.  Italy did nothing to engender the support of neutrals as the fans booed during the playing of the Swedish national anthem for the return leg in Milan.  Onslaught is probably the best word for the how the match went but Italy could not break through.  Sad that this was Buffon's final performance; at least he was classy until the end, as he tried to stop the booing during the anthem.  Italy misses the WC for the first time in 60 years.

Denmark 5 Ireland 1 - Christian Eriksen turned a tight qualifying series into a laugher with his hat trick.  After an 0-0 first leg in Denmark, Ireland had taken an early 1-0 lead in front of a delirious Dublin crowd.  Unfortunately, you could see the Danes get stronger as the match went on and two goals in the space of four minutes put the Irish in a deep hole by the 33rd minute.  They would not recover.  You can see all three of Eriksen's goals here.

Australia 3 Honduras 1 - Truly all I can remember from this series was how ridiculously high the grass was on the pitch in Honduras for leg one.  Might as well have been playing in snow.  Not surprisingly, it ended 0-0.  Down Under however, Mile Jedinak, not necessarily known as a goal scorer, put up a hat trick and Australia moved on.

Peru 2 New Zealand 0 - The contrast in pitches was staggering and the first leg in New Zealand looked to be played on a pool table.  Alas, the result was 0-0 too.  Back in Lima, Jefferson Farfan sent Peru on their way with this goal. Subsequent replays show it was slightly deflected but the quality of the buildup and the finish make it my choice for this week's YouTubeableMoment.

So the World Cup field is set and the draw will take place on December 1st.  We'll be talking more about this in subsequent posts.


Rumors from the Tyne

Two big stories coming out this week regarding Newcastle's future.

1) Fernando Torres wants to return to the EPL on a short-term loan for the rest of the season.  Newcastle and Southampton are the two clubs mentioned.  At 33, he would not be the force he was at Atletico Madrid (the first time) or Liverpool.  On the other hand, he might be less risky than spending big bucks on somebody who then has trouble adjusting to the EPL.

2) An Indonesian media outlet reported on 11/12 that Amanda Staveley's group has made an actual bid to purchase Newcastle United with the clear intent to close the deal before year-end.   Other sources say that's not correct but suggest that talks are progressing smoothly and a deal is likely.

Pictures of both the key actors below.  I'll let you figure out who is who.

Where Were We?

EPL action returns this weekend and the MLS playoffs resume on Tuesday.  Can't do much better than a North London derby to start the weekend (7:30 NBCSN).  Arsenal is hosting Spurs, which might not be an advantage for the Gunners given that Tottenham have tended to play better away from Wembley.  Arsenal are scoring goals but only five have allowed more than them.  Have to think there's more pressure on Arsenal here as a loss could leave them farther from the top four.  

An MLS season ticket holder derby at 12:30 on NBC with Jeff H's Man United hosting Newcastle.  Low expectations here for me, given that Man United have allowed just five goals in 11 matches this season.  I suppose we could steal a 0-0 draw but I think that's the only way the Magpies get a result.  But 0-1 or 0-2 seems much more likely.  

The rest of the schedule looks like a big meh to me.  You can see Leicester hosting Man City at 10 am Saturday on NBCSN.  Leicester has surrendered 16 goals while Man City have scored 38; might not be pretty.  I'd be more inclined to check out Crystal Palace vs Everton at Selhurst Park (also 10 am but only on NBC Gold); two teams fighting for the their seasons might make for interesting viewing.  Liverpool - Southampton at Anfield might also be a better choice.  Sunday's match is Watford vs West Ham at 11 (NBCSN) and Monday has Brighton (and Hove Albion) taking on Stoke (3 pm NBCSN); neither would be in the "mouth watering" category.

MLS playoffs get back in gear on Tuesday with the first legs of the conference finals.  Toronto travels to Columbus (last game ever in Columbus before move to Austin?) at 8 pm on ESPN.  Later that night Houston host Seattle at 9:30 on FS1.  Someone please tell me why with the whole night to work with they've scheduled the two matches 90 minutes apart?   Return legs are Tuesday/Wednesday of the following week.  Recall that for the first leg Toronto will be without both Giovinco and Altidore due to suspensions; that might be enough to give Columbus some hope. A more detailed preview of the matchups from ESPN can be found here.  My rooting interests will be with Toronto (not that I like them but I would prefer to see the team that was clearly the best in the regular season actually get the MLS Cup too) and Houston (I have no idea why my sympathies lie with them but for whatever reason I don't like Seattle).

Oh, and so I don't get sh grief from Michael B, I must also note that Atletico Madrid host Real Madrid at 2:45 Saturday on beINSports.  If you expect to run into Michael later this weekend, be sure to check the Tottenham and Atletico results before you do; they'll give you some idea of what to expect his mood to be.  

Exposing Relegatability

Not a word I realize but that's what Newcastle's loss to Bournemouth reveals.  And the 0-1 final actually flatters the Magpies.  Could have been 0-2 or 0-3.  True, Newcastle did have a goal ruled out by a debatable offside call, but from about 20 minutes on, they did little and were hanging on by a thread before Cook's stoppage time header settled the matter.  How much worse is a 0-1 loss than a 0-0 draw.  Meh, either is an indication of serious problems.  No doubt they are missing Merino in the midfield.  And still not much quality up top.  I'm with those who are puzzled why Mitrovic isn't getting some minutes as the scoring drought drags on.

Not much on the takeover front.  One would think that Newcastle's recent form is eating into the purchase price.  Why would you pay EPL money for a Championship Division franchise?  If the sale isn't completed by January 1, would tightwad Mike Ashley risk not making funds available to ensure the team doesn't get relegated?  He has taken risks like that before (how'd that work out?) but maybe because we're talking about his exit strategy here, things might play out differently.


Turning the Clocks Back

The end of daylight savings time meant an extra hour of watching soccer on Sunday, which was helpful given how much there was to see.  Some of it, unfortunately was not very pretty.

The day started at 8 7 am with a rather lukewarm effort from Tottenham as Spurs edged Crystal Palace 1-0.  We'll cut them some slack as that could easily have been a residual hangover of the marvelous midweek win over Real Madrid.  In the next match, Arsenal gamely hung with Man City but the 1-3 result suggests they are just not at the same level this year.  The morning portion of the day concluded with Chelsea's 1-0 win over Man United.  The score doesn't fairly reflect how wide open this match was.  A good watch with the players, not the managers, the focus of the contest.  Except until Conte headed onto the pitch to congratulate his players when the match ended, leaving Mourinho waiting at the tunnel for a handshake. 

By and large the second legs of the MLS conference semi-finals, despite being close, weren't all that scintillating.  In fact, Toronto - Red Bulls was compelling for all the wrong reasons.  A scoreless first half was notable only for its chippiness and yellow cards for Altidore (bad acting) and Kljestan (cheesy mustache).  Further silliness in the tunnel on the way to the locker rooms at the end of the half resulted in both getting straight red cards, meaning both sides would play the second half at 10 a side.  The Red Bulls got one in the second half to make things close; Toronto seemed disinterested in attacking much.  So it ended 2-2 on aggregate and Toronto advanced based on the two away goals in Jersey.

At Yankee Stadium NYCFC nearly pulled off a great comeback, scoring two and hitting the post late.  But 2-0 was not enough to make up the 1-4 deficit left from the first leg and Columbus will advance.  The Yankee Stadium pitch looked silly but at least the footing seemed better than usual.  The last match - Portland vs Houston - might have been the most interesting.  The Timbers scored first to take a 1-0 lead on aggregate but four minutes later Houston tallied; this away goal meant the Dynamo had the advantage.  Portland was likely limited by injuries and couldn't respond.  A late goal for Houston sealed the deal for the Dynamo.

Yeah, I watched just about all of this action, though I didn't check out the Portland-Houston match until Monday morning.  Right, I probably need a life.


Adios Slaven

So quick was Liverpool's response to the West Ham goal,
the bubbles were still in the air as Oxlade-Chamberlain
restored the two goal lead.

Saturday's 1-4 loss at home to Liverpool was the last straw for West Ham ownership and Slaven Bilic
was sacked.  There was hope after Lanzini had brought the Hammers back to 1-2 but the trademark West Ham celebratory bubbles hadn't even hit the ground before Oxlade-Chamberlain restored the two goal lead.  A late goal for the Reds was merely the last nail in the coffin.  Bilic asked several West Ham players what he could have done differently and they bluntly told him that he was not "tough enough" on them and the qualify and intensity of the training session was insufficient.  So in the game of Managerial Musical Chairs, David Moyes found a seat and Bilic is out.  I would expect to see him back.  Wasn't really worried about it but glad that Moyes got the job with all the rumors swirling about West Ham being interested in Rafa Benitez.

I would be remiss if I did not point out a possible turnaround for Everton's season.  Down 0-2 at home to Watford and facing another crippling defeat, the Toffees rallied for an improbable 3-2 victory.  Oumar "Pain" Niasse got things started and Leighton Baines' PK in stoppage time lifted Everton out of the relegation zone.  But wait, there's even more to the story.  Because of significan injuries, there was 12 minutes of stoppage time and in the 100th minute, Watford were awarded a PK.  Except that Tom Cleverely failed to put the shot on frame.  We'll make that this week's YouTubeableMoment 1) because we never said it had to be a great play and 2) it will make Dennis's day, him being a big fan of Cleverely from his Aston Villa days.

With the Man United loss, Man City now has an eight point lead over both the Red Devils and Spurs, which seems like a lot this early in the season; on the other hand, it is early in the season so we won't hand them the title just yet.


Final World Cup Spots Up for Grabs

This weekend is the last international break of the season so no EPL and the MLS conference finals start next week.  Plenty of good stuff to check out between Thursday and next Wednesday.

The two-leg European playoff series include:

Northern Ireland - Switzerland
Croatia - Greece
Sweden - Italy
Denmark - Ireland

There's a few more spots to be decided from Africa and we have the intercontinental playoffs between New Zealand - Peru and Honduras - Australia.  Details on exact times and stations are here.

When that's done, buckle your seat belts as the EPL sides will play a ridiculous crowded schedule between Saturday 11/18 and New Year's Day.  By my count, Newcastle has 11 fixtures in that 45 day period, including three between 12/27 and New Year's Day.  I realize all the clubs face a crowded schedule so I'm not complaining for Newcastle per se but just wondering how is that many matches in a compressed time frame good for the players or the quality of play.

Mediocrity Exposed

Well, Newcastle - Burnley went about as expected.  Two sides with extremely well-organized defenses but not much quality up top.  Burnley got the 1-0 win but this could have easily been 0-0, 1-1 or even 1-0 in favor of the Magpies.  Except close only counts in horseshoes and atom bombs; it's another loss.  You cannot win if you do not score.  Newcastle's four wins have come against the 14th, 16th, 17th and 20th place teams.  This is not a top ten team. They are lower table and without improvements could find themselves dragged into a relegation battle (again).

Picture says it all as Hendrick celebrates goal in 74th
minute while Elliot and LeJeune react

Wonder if we'll see something different than Joselu/Perez up top on Saturday.  Benitez just doesn't seem to trust Mitrovic and I trust Benitez so maybe there's something happening on the training ground.  Still, I'd like to see something different.

Surprisingly, Newcastle is generating transfer news and seems to be hunt for Besiktas striker Cenk Tosun, who does have a pretty good track record of scoring goals.  At £20 million pounds it's hard to believe that this could happen with Ashley trying to sell the club but there are some players Benitez could jettison to generate the cash.  Very positive if true.

Not enough news on the sale of the club to justify a picture of Amanda Staveley. Maybe next week.


Tepid Viewing

A somewhat unsatisfying weekend, at least for the neutral.  Man United - Tottenham wasn't all that great. Spurs were on the toothless side without Kane and Man United didn't generate that many chances either.  That was a nice flick-on from Lukaku to Martial for the game winner in the 81st minute though.  Arsenal spotted Swansea a goal but came back to win 2-1. A stoppage time goal made the West Brom - Man City match look a little closer than it actually was but the 3-2 win keeps the Citizens firmly in first.  Can't remember much of Chelsea's 1-0 win over Bournemouth except that Hazard got his first goal of the season.  Liverpool made short enough work of Huddersfield with a 3-0 win.

I switched from the Liverpool-Huddersfield match to see most of Crystal Palace - West Ham.  Slaven Bilic was looking safe with the Hammers up 2-0 but a stupid PK got the Eagles back into the match at 50 minutes and the rest was highly entertaining.  Zaha rescued a draw with a goal in the 97th minute.   There's just something compelling about matches at the lower levels when EPL survival is at stake. I don't mean to suggest it's high quality football but it is quite watchable.  Somehow, Bilic survives for another weekend. The other surprising match for me was Brighton (& Hove Albion) drawing with Southampton.  Great attacking football that ended 1-1.  Great names on the Siegels Seagulls. Dunk. Gross. Propper.  Bong.  If they weren't so competitive with Newcastle, I'd definitely be on board with them.

So the week ends with Man City at the top with 28 points,  five over Man United and eight ahead of  Tottenham. Chelsea and Arsenal have 19 each, with Chelsea ahead on goal differential.  Newcastle sit in 9th.


The Boring Boring West

Were there two more unwatchable matches last week than the 0-0 draws in the first legs of the Western Conference semi-finals?  The key moment of the Houston-Portland match was the video review that overturned the PK that might have given Houston and 1-0 win.  Vancouver-Seattle didn't even generate that level of excitement.  And what is up with the Houston field?  More divots than a public golf course.  The second leg in Seattle started out with more of the same but the Sounders did manage two goals in the second half and advance to the conference finals.  Portland-Houston return leg is Sunday night.

More interesting viewing in the East.  A tight contest in New Jersey as Toronto got a quick 1-0 lead but the Red Bulls leveled things in first half stoppage time.  A Sebastian Giovinco free kick (this week's YouTubeableMoment) gave Toronto a second road goal and a significant 2-1 lead heading into the second leg.  The possible move of Columbus to Austin provided extra drama as the Crew faced NYCFC in the second semi-final.  Columbus also got a early 1-0 lead but things were still pretty tight in the second half - until Callens got a straight red for an elbow to the face.  Columbus took advantage to get to a 3-0 lead but Villa pinched one back.  Not great but 1-3 heading home with a road goal might have been salvagable.  Except a stoppage time tally restored the three goal advantage.  Having fun with names, it was an Afful goal despite Brilliant defending (you can look it up).


Leaving the Union

So the exodus begins.  The Union declined options on nine players and announced that two more are out of contract.  Details in this article.  Among the casualties are Alberg, Edu, Herbers, Ilsinho, Onyewu, Pontius and Wijnaldum (and maybe Fabinho).  A little surprised about Herbers but apparently that was because his salary will now count against the cap; Stewart may try to resign him at a lower salary.  Stewart wouldn't mind keeping Ilsinho but not at $500k.  These moves (plus the retirement of Brian Carroll) could clear almost $3 million off the payroll.  That would certainly provide the funds for some serious shopping this winter.


Chester Blues

Life on the virtual pitch continues to be good.  We did fail to win for the first time this year when Aston Villa scored in the 93rd minute to snatch a 2-2 draw.  But a gamble to rest key players in the League Cup match against very tough Man City paid off when they got a man sent off early and we coasted to a 3-1 win.  With rested first teamers, we handled Arsenal 5-1.  Undisciplined, my ass.


Something Has To Give

For some reason, instead of spreading the second legs of the conference semi-finals over several days, MLS put one on Thursday night and three on Sunday.  This is on top of EPL deciding to schedule four Sunday matches instead of the usual two.  Even moving the clocks back an hour isn't going to help me.  Here's the full list:

7 am           Tottenham-Crystal Palace (NBCSN)
9:15 am      Man City - Arsenal (NBCSN)
11:00 am    Conte - Mourinho Chelsea - Man United (NBCSN)
11:00 am    Everton-Watford (NBC Gold)
3 pm          Toronto FC - Red Bulls (ESPN)
5 pm          NYCFC - Columbus (ESPN)
7:10 pm     Portland - Houston (FS1)

On paper, Spurs should be walking over Crystal Palace but we like watching Tottenham plus it's been fun following the Eagles' car crash of a season.  The Gunners have recovered from some early stumbles to get up to 5th place but mostly at the expense of mediocre sides; Man City will be a much sterner test.   Hopefully the Chelsea-Man United match will end up being about the players, not the managers.  Maybe skip Everton-Watford though it might be interesting to see if the Toffees can make any progress in turning things around.

Toronto got two away goals and has the upper hand but the Red Bulls do have the potential to pull off the upset.  With Columbus up 4-1 on NYCFC, the second leg of that semi-final might be one to pass on; plus it's at Yankee Stadium, the finest U12 pitch in the country.  At 0-0, the Portland-Houston series has everything to play for. Portland's home goal differential was +20 while Houston's away deficit was -14, which does seem to favor the Timbers, although they are banged up a bit and could be missing some key players.  So I'll be clearing space on the DVR.

And this is after the regular Saturday schedule.  Refereeing in the morning so I'll be on DVR delay for Newcastle - Bournemouth at St. James Park at 11 am on NBCSN.  The Cherries are 19th in the table and have scored just six goals in 10 games.  At worst this should be a 0-0 draw, which is really unacceptable; failure to get all three here suggests maybe relegation is back in the conversation.

Other Saturday contests include Stoke - Leicester at 8:30 on NBCSN (meh), and West Ham hosting Liverpool at 1:30 on NBC (probably worth checking out).  If Bilic didn't get fired after the draw at Crystal Palace, it would seem harsh to sack him if West Ham don't get a result here.  But you never know.


Oh yeah, don't want Michael B on my case again.  Tottenham were absolutely awesome midweek as they thoroughly handled Real Madrid 3-1 at Wembley in Champions League action.  Spurs dominated and advance to the knockout stage. Truly a masterful performance.  I'm not kidding.  Kane was back in the lineup; though he did not score his work rate earned a throw-in that resulted in one goal and his pass to Eriksen set up another.