Finding A $100 Bill

Know that feeling when you pull out a pair of jeans you haven't worn in awhile and find a $100 bill in one of the pockets? Yeah, me neither. So I can only speculate as to whether that feeling would match my emotions after Newcastle's solid 2-1 win over Arsenal.  In retrospect, maybe this wasn't out of left field.  Arsenal had played in Moscow on Thursday night, left several stars at home (e.g. Ozil), have struggled some on the road and seem all in for the Europa League to the possible exclusion of the EPL games.  Maybe the Magpies were a bit lucky as well, as the 538 metrics suggest the Gunners should have scored more goals.  Whatever, I don't care how the $100 got there, I'm going to enjoy it.

Matt Ritchie scores game winner vs Arsenal (AFP Photo)

And while it's true that maybe Arsenal didn't make the most of their chances, there was nothing cheap about either of the Newcastle goals, especially the first.  Nine players touched the ball in the build-up, which was capped by a 50-yard pass from Shelvey to Gayle, who controlled the ball then sent it wide to Yedlin, who crossed it to the streaking Perez, who slotted it past Cech.  I'm biased but the announcers seemed to like it too as you can see and hear
here in this week's YouTubeableMoment.  And another thing, Newcastle have allowed the 7th fewest goals in the EPL.

With the relegation fairly settled at this point (there is a worst case scenario in which Newcastle are relegated), we can now return to the sale of the club.  Except this may have gotten more difficult.  Recall that Mike Ashley spurned what he viewed as low-ball offers when the club was threatened with relegation in hopes of a better price should they survive.  Smart or not, he has won that bet and the selling price must be higher, maybe as much as 350 million.  Will there be offers? Will he play hard ball? Will Rafa stick around for this nonsense again?  Newcastle are poised to become a top tier side but it won't happen with Ashley at the helm.


Arsene to Be Gone

BFS La Liga European Correspondent Michael B alerted me this morning to the news that Arsene Wenger is stepping down at the end of this season.  As a Magpie fan, trying not to take this too personally but Wenger has been under fire for some time now and he only announces he's leaving after Arsenal lost to Newcastle.  Are they saying we can tolerate a lot of things but losing to Newcastle, that's the last straw.  Here's a research project - which team has been most often the last loss before a manager got fired?  BFS staff will get right on it...


It's Not You, It's Them

Yet another clever promo from NBC, this time about relegation.  Best use of a Chicago song since, well probably ever.  So where do we stand after the weekend and mid-week matches, not all of which went according to form.

Huddersfield and Crystal Palace put some distance between themselves and the bottom three.  Didn't see the Huddersfield match but one of the English papers suggested it was tense but low quality; a late goal got the Terriers a 1-0 win over Watford and we guess the fans could care less how good the match was.  Crystal Palace-Brighton was a good watch, with both sides playing like their EPL lives depended on it; the Eagles early strikes were enough to carry them to a 3-2 win.  But Brighton then grabbed an unexpected point with a draw against Tottenham.  Swansea's 1-1 draw with Everton was predicted but the point was still valuable.  West Ham could have buried Stoke while enhancing their own chances to stay up.  Instead, they were lucky to grab a point with Andy Carroll's goal in stoppage time, a cruel ending for Stoke.

Southampton defenders ponder three points lost

But the cruelest blow of all had to be at Saint Mary's Stadium, where Southampton carried an improbable 2-0 lead into the 70th minute.  The three points would have been massive for the Saints.  But Chelsea goals at 70,75 and 78 minutes (two from Giroud) took the three to none.  One might think they never had visions of any points to begin with so they are no worse off.  I dunno.  That kind of loss has to leave a mark.  The Saints did get a point out of a trip to Leicester - a totally boring 0-0 draw - so the week wasn't a total loss.  But everyone around them got points, even West Brom, who stunned Man United at Old Trafford on Monday.  The three points for the Baggies are probably too little too late for them. No, the result was probably more noteworthy in that it clinched the EPL title for Man City, ironically when most of their players were on the golf course, not the soccer pitch.

Liverpool kept on rolling with a 3-0 win over Bournemouth while Tottenham's push for a top four spot temporarily stalled in a 1-3 loss to Man City and the draw with Brighton.

With our focus on the top four, I forgot to look at developments in qualification for Europa.  EPL gets three spots - League Cup winner, FA Cup winner, and 5th place in the EPL.  Well the League Cup went to Man City, who are already qualified for Champions League.  So that means 6th place in the table will get you a place in Europa League.  And the FA Cup is down to Man United, Tottenham, Chelsea or Southampton.  Excluding Southampton, these sides are already going to make either Champions League or Europa.  So, unless Southampton win the FA Cup, 7th in the EPL table is also going to get you a Europa spot.  Right now 6th and 7th are held by Arsenal at 54 points and Burnley at 52 points.  Leicester are nine back and Everton 10 back.  That puts Burnley's 2-1 win over Leicester last weekend in a different light.  Just for fun we'll note that Newcastle are still mathematically in the hunt as well.

Note that should Arsenal win this year's Europa League, they will compete in the Champions League next year but the EPL will not get another slot for Europa.  My read of the rules also suggests that the Gunners would not bump any of the other EPL sides out of the Champions League.  Clear as mud, right?


Accam's Razor

It's a philosophical construct that proposes that the simplest explanation for the Union's struggles is that the player they obtained in the off-season to boost the offense has yet to score a goal this season.  That would be a bit unfair to David Accam but certainly has a grain of truth.  He had at least three good chances on Friday night in the the 0-2 loss to Orlando but couldn't convert any of them.  Friday the 13th indeed.  The Union started brightly enough, controlling the midfield and creating plenty of chances, which went for naught.  Then the inevitable quick counter from Orlando makes it 0-1 at 38 minutes and things went downhill from there.  Orlando added a second right before half.  Though there were no more goals, it was still a horror show as the Union really didn't generate much in the second half.


Better Viewing Through Technology

Michael B demonstrates proper use of dual monitor technology

Dual monitors were the greatest advance in staying current on football results for us office bound types.  You could stream a match on one while working on your spreadsheet or document on the other. What could be better?  Well, some with greater foresight than me are pushing this concept to even greater heights.  Why limit yourself?  As Michael B demonstrates in the photo to the right,  you can stream La Liga on one screen and EPL on the other. No more of these forced choices, you can have it all.
 

Back to FA Cup

This is a mixed competition weekend, with the EPL schedule reduced to accommodate the FA Cup semi final matches.  In the first semi, Man United takes on Tottenham at 12:15 Saturday afternoon.  The match will be at "neutral" Wembley, which of course has been Spurs home field all year.  There has been some griping about this, though to his credit, I did not see Mourinho complaining.  Ah, but the Special One was making news anyway, suggesting he might bench some players after the West Brom result.  He's already softened that stance after a midweek 2-0 win over Bournemouth so who knows.  Probably a good match to check out.

The other semi is Chelsea-Southampton at 10 am on Sunday.  Is this a cruel joke or what?  A week after the Saints cough up a 2-0 lead to the Blues, they get to face them again.

The abbreviated EPL  schedule is littered with matches of consequence to the relegation battle and maybe the chase for the Europa League.  Saturday has two matches on NBCSN - West Brom vs Liverpool (7:30) and Watford - Crystal Palace (10:00).  The Hornets are probably safe but can't seem to put the issue to bed; Palace really needs a point or three to get some distance from the bottom three.

Sunday includes Arsenal hosting West Ham (8:30 NBCSN), Stoke-Burnley (8:30 NBC Gold) and Man City - Swansea (11 on NBCSN).  Not the most friendly of fixtures for the relegation candidates.

The shortened schedule concludes with Everton - Newcastle at 3 pm on Monday, curiously only available on NBC Gold (update - looks like it's on NBCSN).  At this point, the match may have more meaning as a tryout for England's World Cup squad.  We Magpie fans have been wondering about Gareth Southgate's disinclination to include either Lascelles or Shelvey in his squad.  I will grudgingly admit that Maguire and Tarkowski have better ratings than Lascelles but what about leadership?  Hasn't the rap against England in WC play been that they have the talent but somehow can't get the job done on the pitch?  Shelvey is a tougher call.  He can be mercurial, brilliant passing one minute, stupid fouls the next.  But under Benitez, I think he's gotten much steadier. 

For the Union, things just get tougher.  They have a road match against FC Dallas, who have yet to lose this year.  Jack Elliott is listed as a probable starter so the injury he picked up last week must not have been too serious.  Nicking a point here would be an excellent result.