D'oh

Actually applies to both of the Union matches.  Simpson (Jay, not Homer) got a rare start and was the unlikely source of two goals in the "upset" win over Sporting KC on Sunday.  The first was a real nice volley off a Bedoya header; such a quality goal has to be this week's YouTubeableMoment.  The result is a bonus two points even as Jim Curtin rested many first teamers in advance of Wednesday's US Open Cup final.  It looked like a win-win.

Which made the 0-3 loss to Houston in that final a real big downer.  They fell behind 0-1 early but then looked fully capable of rallying from the deficit.  Until they surrendered a second goal in the 25th minute.  As Jeff H said, it looked like deer in the headlights from that point on.  They never really tested Houston and went meekly into the night.  A common admonition I get from my Football Manager assistants is that the team seems to think off their recent string of performances, all they have to do is show up.  Yeah, maybe the Union came in a little overconfident, looking at Houston's poor recent form.  More disappointing than the previous losses in the final because this one did seem winnable.

So we will not dwell on that but will return to the implications of the win over SKC and MLS results elsewhere.  NYCFC finally did us a favor and snuck away from Montreal with a draw; that was two points dropped for the Impact.  Updated projections now have the Union 5th at 50 points, DC 6th at 48 points and Montreal on the outside looking in with 46 points in 7th.  One more win (home against Minnesota at home 10/6?) might be enough.


Mostly Forgettable

Sakho only had half the goal to work with

My initial impression that the weekend offered a tepid fixture list was pretty much borne out with the matches I saw.  Certainly the 0-0 draw between Crystal Palace and Newcastle offered little.  Sakho's missed header in the 82nd minute let the Magpies off the hook; still wondering how he missed such a wide open shot.  The picture at left gives you an idea of just how bad it was.  I suppose we should be grateful for the point on the road.  This team is so punchless you wonder where the goals - and points - are going to come from.

Dennis and I started on Liverpool-Southampton but at 2-0 we switched to Leicester-Huddersfield in hopes of something more competitive.  I guess the 3-1 win for the Foxes was a little better but the standout moment for me was the foul throw in which the back foot came up about two feet.  Tottenham weren't great but good enough in the 2-1 win over Brighton.  I know I saw Arsenal - Everton (2-0 to the Gunners) and West Ham - Chelsea (0-0) but have no lingering memories of either.  Honestly, the Fulham - Watford 1-1 draw was the best thing I saw this weekend.  Probably should have watched Wolves take another point from a Manchester club, this time drawing Man United 1-1 at Old Trafford.

In any event, now Liverpool are the only side with a perfect record.


Try Again

Three matches of interest for the MLS East.  The Union travel to Columbus for a 7:30 match on Saturday night.  Not expecting anything here but...should the Union take all three points, they would be on track to finish 4th, which would mean the play-off game would be at Talen Energy.  Just sayin'.  Also on the calendar is DC United-Montreal.  This is a good thing as one (or both!) of the sides chasing us will drop points.  And on Sunday (1 pm ESPN), the Red Bulls host Atlanta in a match up of the two best teams in MLS.  Even with a win, the Red Bulls will be hard-pressed to pass Atlanta but a loss would surely seal their fate.

The EPL fixture list has a real attractive matchup for the featured NBC slot - Chelsea hosting Liverpool.  The visitors are ever so slight favorites according to 538 but a draw may be in the offing here.

Newcastle have a difficult assignment in Leicester (10 Saturday on NBC Gold). Though 538 favors the Magpies, I'm feeling like a draw here would be good result.  The 10 am TV games are Huddersfield-Spurs (CNBC) and Man City - Brighton (NBCSN); I might be more inclined to look in on Wolves-Southampton on NBC Gold.  Okay, I confess to scouting Wolverhampton as my team of choice next year should Newcastle not survive the season. 

Sunday's match up at 11 is Cardiff-Burnley while you can see Bournemouth-Crystal Palace Monday at 3 pm.  Try to hold down your enthusiasm.

The Wrong Kind of Three Points

Is there such a thing?  I am reminded of this scene from Woody Allen's Manhattan.  And yet, a cleared-eyed look at the Union's playoff chances after a home loss to Montreal but a road win in Seattle suggests there may indeed be a wrong kind of three points.

Updating the projected final standings for the MLS East, Montreal, DC United and the Union all show 48 points.  The Impact's win on Saturday added three unexpected points but it also changed 538's projections for some future matches as well.  The good news is that without the Union's upset win against the Sounders, they'd be looking at 7th place.  Additional good news is that the first tiebreaker is wins, with goal differential second.  The Union have 13, Montreal 12 and DC 9; projections show a final tally of Montreal 15, Union 14, and DC United 13, which means we squeak into the last playoff spot.

And how bad was Saturday night's performance at Talen Energy?   Possibly the worst of the year.  This was your father's Union.  After a rare goal off a corner, the Union proceeded to pile up poor passes, poor touches and poor decisions and the 1-4 final might even be a bit flattering.  They couldn't control the midfield and we saw the return of the dreaded dump and chase.  The only positives I could count were that it wasn't raining and the sausage sandwich was tasty.

In Seattle, they weren't exactly awesome either.  With some competent finishing by the Sounders, the halftime score could have easily been 0-3.  But it wasn't and the Union were more organized in the second half.  They even had a goal taken away by VAR (we are still like a net 10 or 12 on VAR decisions so we remain enthusiastic supporters).  Just when it looked like our boys would scrape out a point, there came a most improbable goal in stoppage time.  Possibly the most improbable part is that it involved Jay Simpson, making his first appearance since April.  He pressured Seattle's keeper into a hasty clearance pass that Fafa Picault intercepted and converted into the game winner.  Easily this week's YouTubeableMoment.

The week would have been so much better if they had switched results but I guess the key is that they at least won one of two.  Obviously, going forward every point is precious and scoreboard watching is required too.


Same Old Same Old

Facing Arsenal at home, Newcastle continued to "overachieve" with another 1-2 loss to a top six side  However, there were some differences.  This time they did not park the bus, dropping the back five for Benitez's more preferred 4-2-3-1.  This might be an answer to the critics who jumped all over Benitez for being too defensive-minded in contests with Man City, Chelsea and Tottenham - it doesn't matter.  We might deploy an 0-0-10 and still get a 1-2 result.  I kid.  Sort of.  The bigger problem was that the Magpies were actually worse than in any previous outing this season.  They clearly missed Shelvey and Rondon.  Ciaran Clark's nifty header goal in stoppage time provided little consolation other than keeping our goal differential down. 


Then There Were Two

Man United were able to hold on for a 2-1 win over Watford in a highly watchable contest; that dropped the number of teams with a perfect record down to two.  Liverpool pretty well thumped Spurs, 2-1, with a stoppage time goal making that look closer than it actually was.  Chelsea fell behind early to Cardiff City, then cruised to a 4-1 win.  So the Reds and the Blues sit atop the table with five wins each.

I didn't see the match but Bournemouth continue to do well; their 4-2 win over Leicester might be most notable for the fact that the Foxes scored two goals after going down a man.  West Ham surprised Everton at Goodison Park with their first win of the season, which served to drop Newcastle one place lower in the table.  The 2-2 draw between Southampton and Brighton (and Hove Albion) featuring a late PK for Glenn Murray to allow the Seagulls to come away with a point, was a pretty good watch too.


Wolves in Wolves Clothing?

Okay, so their wins have come against Burnley and West Ham.   But they also have draws with Man City and Everton. Maybe they've been a little lucky too. Whatever.  Newly promoted Wolverhampton sit 9th in the table with eight points.  This is a fun squad to watch, especially in their infectiously energetic home venue.  538 projects them to finish 11th. 


Talkin' Uniforms

Do Spurs have dinner at 4:30? 

Dennis pointed out that Spurs new kit (left) might have been designed by senior citizens.  The styling makes them look like shirts are tucked in and the waistband is pulled up to the midriff.

Then we have Man United's pink away jersey.  I imagined a scenario something like this:

Laundry error at Old Trafford?

Laundry technician: Ah, we have a problem.

Management; Yes?

Laundry technician: Yeah, somebody washed the red home jerseys with the away white jerseys in hot water

Management: No problem, we'll just market the pink ones as our new away kit.  It'll be great for new sales.

Chester Defend

How do we top last year's triple (EPL, FA Cup and Champions League)?  I guess repeat all those plus add the League Cup.   The oddsmakers favor Man City over us for the EPL title.  Hah, we just dismantled them 4-1 in what might have been the best match in Blues history.  Still a little behind on the virtual calendar but we are off to a good start.


What's Next?

Sunday afternoon (1 pm ESPN) sees the Union with a home match versus Sporting KC.  I see this as a draw.  Hope I'm right.  Montreal host slumping NYCFC; would really like to see NY get their act together and at least steal a point here. 

The EPL fixture list is not brimming with excitement.  For the 10 am matches, the TV is offering Cardiff-Man City (CNBC) or Liverpool-Southampton (NBCSN) but I'll be doing Crystal Palace - Newcastle on NBC Gold.  Most of the pundits see that as a draw at best for the Magpies.  Sure it's easier than a top six side but Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park is no picnic either.  Man United - Wolves might also be a good choice if you have Gold.

You can rise early to see Fulham-Watford.  The NBC feature match is Brighton (and Hove Albion) vs Tottenham.  That's probably worth checking out; can Spurs rebound from poor outing vs Liverpool and the mid-week late collapse in Champions League vs Milan?  An early test of Tottenham's resilience.  Sunday am games are West Ham - Chelsea and Arsenal - Everton.  Good enough I guess.

An increasingly useless hip means less no refereeing and more live watching.  I would prefer good hip and using the DVR but that's where things are right now.  New hip coming in time for Christmas though (12/17).

Status Quo

Despite a moment or two when it looked like the BFS home sides were going to pick up some unexpected points, the Union and Newcastle ended up with exactly what we expected from last weekend's matches.


Two Points Lost

The Union were winding down the expected draw with Orlando City when Fafa Picault unleashed an incredible individual effort to score the go ahead goal in the 88th minute.  Check out his effort in this week's YouTubeableMoment.  So late in the match, it was hard not to start counting those two extra points and what it meant for the Union's playoff chances.  Which made the Orlando goal in stoppage time all that much more deflating.  So we have to remind ourselves of the original premise - this was projected as a draw.  Not a great effort from the Union but not awful either.  Flashes of that great midfield play but just not as consistently.

Some unexpected results elsewhere though.  Three in the chase group picked up some extra points.  Montreal got two by beating rather than drawing with the Red Bulls.  DC did the same by beating Atlanta.  And New England added three unexpected points with their win over NYCFC.  So the top three sides really let us down this week.  On the other hand, Toronto got spanked by LAFC and really look like a long shot for the playoffs at this point.  With that set of results, the Union's cushion over 7th is now projected at just six points and DC is projected to finish just one point behind the Union.  The only difference between 5th or 6th is that the first round opponent would likely be Columbus if we finish 5th or NYCFC if we end up 6th; either would a road match.


Overachievers?

At some point in Newcastle's 1-2 loss to Man City, the commentator suggested that with three one-goal losses to Spurs, Chelsea and Man City, might we consider the Magpies as "overachieving" at this point in the season.  Ignoring for a moment that Newcastle are sitting 18th in the table with just one point to their name, this viewpoint might have some legs. When the fixtures were announced back in June, we had every reason to expect that the Magpies would go into the international break with no more than three points.  If not for Kenedy's missed PK at Cardiff, that's exactly where they would be right now.  Three times they have rallied to draw level after falling a goal down to elite sides.  I'm going to try to heed the advice of Michael B - CTFD.


And Then There Were Three

Elton John and sons celebrate Watford goal

We noted that Watford were likely not pushovers at home and Spurs found out this was the truth.  After going up 1-0 on an own goal, Tottenham surrendered two relatively quickly and found themselves on the wrong end of a 2-1 result.  Sir Elton John was in the stands for the match and the announcers did note "how wonderful life is" for the knighted Hornet fan (and Honorary Life President of Watford).  The Tottenham loss leaves only Liverpool, Chelsea and Watford with perfect records through four matches.

Liverpool survived a "catalog of calamities" by keeper Allison (seen here in this week's U12 Moment) to take away a 2-1 win over Leicester.  To be fair, the video doesn't capture the ill-advised back pass from Van Dyk but still.  Chelsea also remained perfect with a patient 2-0 defeat of Bournemouth.  On the flip side, West Ham remained unperfect with a 0-1 loss at home to Wolves, who have five points from four matches so far.  Highly entertaining, though probably not for Gunners fans, was Arsenal's 3-2 win away to Cardiff City.  The Bluebirds rallied twice from a goal down and it wasn't until Lacazette's 81st minute tally did Arsenal get the lead for keeps.   Man United got a solid 2-0 win at Burnley to quiet things down for the time being.


International and BFS Break

Not too much on the calendar except friendlies, though there is an MLS match up of note - NYCFC hosting DC United at 4:55 on Saturday.  We'll be looking for NYCFC to start playing better and take all the points there.

The following weekend (9/14-16) is a return to a full schedule.  Definitely worth rising at 7:30 on Saturday to see Tottenham-Liverpool. For the Saturday 10 am games I'll be homing in on Newcastle Arsenal.  Though the Gunners have been inconsistent this year, they are a better squad.  If we squeak out a point, I'll be happy.  Watford vs Man United is the 12:30 NBC match; that's worth a look. Can't say I'm drooling over any other matches but I'll probably take in Wolves-Burnley (Sunday at 8:30) and maybe Monday's sort of English Channel derby between Southampton and Brighton.

That weekend will have some big MLS stuff too.  The Union will look to take care of business at home vs Montreal in another one of those six-point matches.  DC United probably takes all three at home vs Minnesota while New England hopefully drop three out in LA.  The Union can control things by winning what they're supposed to but I can see some scoreboard watching in the coming weeks.

We'll take advantage of the international break by taking a week off as well.