Our Cups Runneth Over

No league action just FA Cup and Carabao Cup stuff.  Going to be heavy on links to random events/stories around the soccer world this week.


Beware of the Minnows

Recall that the third round is where the top two divisions make their first appearance in the FA Cup. That means there were 20 teams from the lower leagues of English football (the so-called minnows) still afloat heading into the weekend.  And 10 of them are still alive after the weekend.  Here's a good article on the unlikeliest of the survivors - Barnet from the 5th division (who beat Sheffield United) and Oldham and Newport from League 2 (4th division) who beat Fulham and Leicester respectively.

Matt Ritchie scores penalty for Newcastle against Blackburn.
 Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images via Reuters

Overall, the EPL teams had 12 wins, 6 losses and 2 draws.  One of those draws was unfortunately Newcastle, who looked uncomfortably similar to a mediocre Championship division team in Blackburn.  This match was at home but the Magpies needed a PK from Matt Ritchie to even come away with a draw.  So we get a midweek fixture in an already congested schedule.  The evidence that Newcastle need reinforcements keeps mounting but no action, only rumors.  The wage demands of Almiron seem excessive to me for an unproven (at least in terms of EPL experience) player so I'm not faulting them on that transaction.  But something clearly needs to be done to spark the offense.

Liverpool got bounced by Wolverhampton but this might not be as big a surprise given 1) the funky line up that Klopp sent out for the match and 2) Wolves proclivity (discussed last week) to be a pain to the top sides.  League One (3rd division) teams acquitted themselves nicely with  five wins and two draws against six losses; the wins included one Premier side and two Championship sides so they punched above their weight.

Replays for the four draws will be next Tuesday/Wednesday.  Fourth round matches are Saturday, January 26th.  The quaint practice of not seeding teams means that one of those matches will be Arsenal vs Man United.  Tough draw.  Though Spurs will be favored, you can say that Crystal Palace - Tottenham is one of the toughest draws in the next round as well.  Prospects for the minnows?   Newport City is away to Championship side Middlesbrough, Oldham has drawn an away match with League One side Doncaster and Barnet is home to Championship Brentford.  Could have been worse.  If I read the schedule right, there should be at least six non-EPL sides standing after the fourth round.

Jeff K sent around this article discussing how much of the magic is gone but the FA Cup still has its moments.  On the non-magical side of the ledger, I note that just 36,000 fans showed up at Saint James' Park for the FA Cup match with Blackburn.  This from a city that regularly packed in 52,000 for second division matches just two years ago.


Carabao Cup and the VAR Fainting Couch

Man City made hash (9-0) of Burton in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi.  Tottenham - Chelsea was, ahem, a bit more interesting.  Spurs take a 1-0 lead to Stamford Bridge based on Harry Kane's converted PK.  How the PK came to be is the story, one that the anti-VAR forces are more than happy to retell.  So Harry Kane took a pass and headed towards the Chelsea goal.  The AR raised his flag to signal offside but referee Michael Oliver did not blow the whistle to stop play.  So Kane proceeded into the box, where he was unceremoniously dumped by Chelsea's keeper Kepa.  Everybody's upset but Michael Oliver remained calm and said, yes we're going to look at it.  Note that there were two decisions to be reviewed - the offside and the potential foul in the box.  The views available for VAR suggested that Kane was onside and that there was indeed a foul in the box.

I swear, other than Harry Kane, I can't find anybody saying good things about this call.  A particularly nasty review from Deadspin is here, though note that the writer already hates VAR. Pochettino didn't like it because it took too long; maybe but remember there were two decisions to review.  Plus, the ball had gone over the end line so play was stopped anyway.  Sarri was upset because most of his players shut down when the AR raised his flag but more so because his people found a different camera angle (not available to the VAR) that suggested Kane was indeed offside.  As to the first point, please to STFU as every player from U12 on up should know that just because the AR raises the flag, the play is not offside until the referee blows the whistle.  With VAR, players better get used to this.  I have a little more sympathy on the second point, but note that the second view is not level with the AR either so it's going to be biased towards looking like it's offside.  More generally, just stop demonizing VAR because it's not perfect.


Union Hot Stove Activity

A little scary as it seems like the pilot light on the Hot Stove portion of the season has gone out.  Ray Gaddis is re-signed.  Tanner has traded all our Super Draft picks to Cincinnati for cash.  Details are here.  By themselves I don't have problem with either action.  Gaddis seems like a handy defender to have around.  I can also see Tanner's point that getting players at age 22 may be too late for serious professional development.  But the issue is, as Jeff H notes, that basically we lost and have not replaced the key playmaker from last year's squad.  Maybe the money from the draft picks and the Rosenberry trade will be enough to find a suitable replacement.  But opening day is less than two months away and you have to say we are worse team at this point.


Your Pies Are Shit

Vegan pie and chips at the Forest Green Rovers’ stadium
Photo:Joseph Fox

Then we have this item courtesy of my acupuncturist Rachel, who let me know that she had heard an English football team had gone vegan.  Quick check on the internet and here's the story.  Ah yes, Forest Green.  They were featured in this space a few years ago based on their plans to build an all wood stadium.  The club is now certified as carbon neutral.  Away fans do taunt them about their pies but food consumption at the stadium is actually up since the change.  Forest Green were fifth division a few years ago but now sit in 6th place in League Two. Promotion to League One is definitely a possibility.


Geiger Retires

Philip S notes that American referee Mark Geiger has retired.  This article suggests nagging injuries are to blame.  He'll continue to be heavily involved in refereeing, just not on the pitch.  Too bad; at 44 we might have expected to see him in a few more World Cups.


Schedule

Any weekend which could end with your team in the relegation zone is a scary one.  But with Burnley hosting Fulham and Cardiff at Huddersfield, some teams at the bottom are going to get points.  Wins by Burnley, Cardiff and Southampton (at Leicester) would be enough to sink the Magpies to 18th.

But Newcastle could win its match.  Right.  We're on the road to Chelsea for Saturday's featured 12:30 match on NBC.  I don't see a good result there.

A London Derby starts things off bright and early Saturday with West Ham hosting Arsenal (7:30 NBCSN).  The 10 am TV match is Brighton - Liverpool.  I might be tempted to look in on some of those relegation specials instead.

Sunday is a good double header starting off with Everton-Bournemouth at 9:15, then Tottenham - Man United at Wembley at 11:30.  The Red Devils have been cruising under Ole Gunnar's leadership but they really haven't been tested since he took over.  Spurs should be a bit more competitive.

The Man City steamroller hosts Wolves at 3 pm on Monday.  On paper it looks like a blow out but remember last week's table showing how Wolves have done versus top six sides.

Enough with these Cup distractions, let's get back to league play.