There's Snow Place Like Home

Red card, white snow.  Charlie Adams fouls
Rooney and gets sent off.

I don't remember seeing so much snow during matches, especially in March.  Scenes like the one pictured on the right here were common on Saturday.  Of course, it matches perfectly with our spring weather here in the US Northeast.  Maybe it was good the schedule was light, with four FA Cup matches and four EPL games.


FA Cup 

The semis are set and it's not really a surprise:

Man United - Tottenham
Chelsea - Southampton

Hmm, one of these is not like the other.  That would be Southampton, which had the luxury of playing League One Wigan.  Despite being outplayed by the lower division side, the Saints managed a 2-0 win and a berth in the semis.  Tottenham and Manchester United were generally not pressed in beating Swansea (3-0) and Brighton (2-0) respectively.  The last of the quarters - Leicester vs Chelsea - was easily the most interesting of the four.  A generally even match throughout, Chelsea held a 1-0 lead late until Jamie Vardy leveled things in the 76th minute.  Pedro's goal in extra time (the 105th minute) ended up being the match winner.  The semi finals will be on Saturday April 21 at Wembley.  Uh, that's not exactly a neutral site for the Man United - Tottenham match.


Relegation Picture 

Even with a reduced schedule, the matches this weekend may have sealed the fates of a few sides.  West Brom, always a favorite in the relegation race, carried a 1-0 lead over Bournemouth into the 76th minute but late goals from Ibe (77th minute) and Stanislaus (89th minute) meant the Baggies got nothing.  The three points for Bournemouth take them to 36 and almost certain survival.  Stoke played in the snow with just 10 men but battled Everton gamely.  Everton finally broke through in the 69th minute but the Potters hopes of a point were restored with a goal in the 77th minute.  Alas, Cenk Tosun stole it back with his second of the match in the 84th minute.  The BFS model now has Stoke finishing 19th with 29 points, six short of safety.

Crystal Palace made a big move towards survival with a 2-0 win on the road at Huddersfield.  We won't say it was awesome soccer but the five yellow cards in the second half are an indication of the match's intensity.  This was two points the Eagles didn't expect.  Even better for Crystal Palace, it changed a few of the 538 projections for future matches so the BFS model now shows them at 42 points, well clear of the relegation zone.

In the only other match of the weekend, Liverpool more than handled Watford, keeping the Reds on track for a top four finish and leaving the Hornets stranded mid-table but probably safe from relegation.


What If They Played a Match and No One Came?

As the old saying goes, there were many in the crowd at Saturday's Union match who came disguised as empty seats.  The announced attendance was over 15,000 but I'd be surprised if there were 5,000 bodies in the stands.  And we were treated to a less than scintillating 0-0 draw with Columbus.  Not that this was a terrible result, just not the greatest viewing.

New CB Auston Trusty (I think this is just after 'megging
the Columbus midfielder) Photo:Trey Madara

The biggest issue seemed to be that Union players would only shoot when the ball was placed on a platter for them, which means they either never got the shot off or by the time they did, the defense had closed them down.  Our new midfielder, Borek Dockal (pronounced Smith Dotch-kal), was less than stellar but this was his first match so we're not too upset about that.  The highlight was the positioning of the back line, especially the work of Trusty and Elliott.  Those two seemed to be constantly disrupting the Columbus passing lanes.  Check out this from The Philly Soccer Page player ratings for the match:

Auston Trusty — 7

Another game, another impressive performance by the Union Academy product. Trusty plays with a real swagger atypical of centerbacks. Please tell me the last time you saw a CB nutmeg a midfielder 40 yards from goal. Yeah, me neither. Extra points for being the inspiration for a Jim Curtin quote about how “centerbacks don’t look like they just walked out of the pub anymore.”

In fact, I did notice him nutmeg that midfielder.  It was right after Jeff K and I agreed that maybe ball handling was not Trusty's strong suit.  What do we know?

So four points from two matches and two clean sheets.  Good start.


Life Imitates Art Football Manager

Referee stats for the 2017-18 season:
Mike Dean (real life): 3.67 yellow cards per game (2nd most in EPL)
Mike Dean (Football Manager): 4.40 yellow cards per game (most in EPL)

Watching as a neutral, I don't mind seeing Mike Dean as the referee because he can make things interesting.  If it's a Newcastle match, there's a slight sense of dread, because he can make things interesting.  Same thing when I'm managing Chester; I cringe when I see he's been assigned to our game.  But I've learned now to instruct my players to be cautious in their tackling when he's the referee and we're doing a better job of staying out of trouble.

With the EPL title sewn up, the Blues are focused on the FA Cup and Champions League.  We are set for the final in the FA Cup and carry a 4-2 lead heading into the second leg of the Champions League against Man United.  Yes, nice to have four away goals coming home.


International Break

No league matches this week.  Check out your favorite national team's friendlies; there's a pile of them between now and next Thursday.  US takes on Paraguay on Tuesday.

BFS is also going to take a break next week.  Don't forget there will be a full slate of EPL matches the weekend of 3/31.  We'll be focused on Newcastle-Huddersfield, West Ham-Southampton and Chelsea-Tottenham.  Check your local listings for dates and times.