Heart-on-Sleeve Club

I forget who was doing Tuesday's game on NBC Gold but he said there is "no more heart-on-sleeve club than Newcastle."  And what a crazy ride the last week has been.

First, on Friday came the news that there is indeed a more dysfunctional organization than the US Government and that is Newcastle United.  Just as I was reporting that Newcastle were going to complete a January signing, that deal fell through but by 9:30 that evening the US Government was back in business.  Follow that up with a totally lifeless performance on Saturday morning against Watford.  The final was 0-2 but it was way worse than that.  Yeah, I know it's the FA Cup but Watford were an eminently beatable side and we just weren't even close.  Also yeah, that was a weak line up that Benitez sent out there but Watford sat many of their key players as well.

To paraphrase Will Rogers, I am not a fan of any organized football franchise.  I am a Newcastle fan.

Then on to Tuesday, where we were facing the prospect of a beat down at the hands of Manchester City, a squad that had scored something like 30 goals since last surrendering one.  Or something like that.  The point spread was greater than the Pats-Rams line.

But wait, what light through yonder window breaks?  It is the MLS, and Miguel Almiron is the sun.  Suddenly the acquisition of the Atlanta United star is back in high gear.  He's actually on a plane to Newcastle for a medical exam.  This could be happening!

Ah crap, first we have to deal with Man City but the mood is definitely improving.  Benitez puts our best line up out there and maybe we can keep the goal differential down.  Surrendering a goal in the first 25 seconds seems to put a major dent in that plan.  After that though, Newcastle keep things pretty tight and occasionally mount an attack of their own despite playing a 10-0-0 5-4-1 formation.  In the 66th minute, one of those attacks actually results in a goal, a scruffy looking finish from Rondon.  Well alrighty then, a point from this match would be awesome.  But wait, there's more.  In the 80th minute, Man City are penalized for pushing Longstaff in the box (happy Michael B?) and Matt Ritchie converts the PK (Barely? Luckily? It actually went under the keeper).  We'll make it this week's YouTubeableMoment.  And there it was a 2-1 upset win, three points from out of nowhere.

Reveling in the win, we just sat back and read the news accounts as the signing of Almiron actually went through.  Newcastle also ended up signing Antonio Barreca on loan from Monaco; though not on the seismic scale of Almiron's signing, this does address a glaring lack of depth on defensive left side.

There is hope on Tyneside.


Beware the Minnows

Some butchering of the form chart in the 4th Round FA Cup matches over the weekend.  Premier League sides came away with five wins, two draws and six defeats.  Championship Division and League One sides actually fared better, 4-4-2 and 2-2-2 respectively.  To be fair, there were four match ups with PL sides facing each other.  But in the five matches involving a PL side and a lower division team, the PL sides only got one win and two draws against two defeats.

Most fun match of the weekend was AFC Wimbledon (bottom of League One) taking the measure of West Ham United in front of a delirious crowd in southwest London.  I didn't see the match but 5th division Barnet kept their hopes alive with a 3-3 draw against Brentford.  Some of the more notable sides dispatched from the competition this weekend include Tottenham (0-2 loss to Crystal Palace), Arsenal (1-3 loss to Man United) and Everton (2-3 against Millwall).

Looking ahead to the 5th round, we see the "charm" of not seeding teams in this competition.

Fixtures set to take place the weekend of February 15-18.

Date	Match	TV?
Feb 15-18	Chelsea vs Man United	TBC
Feb 15-18	Middlesbrough or Newport County vs Man City	TBC
Feb 15-18	Bristol City vs Wolves or Shrewsbury Town	TBC
Feb 15-18	Doncaster Rovers vs Crystal Palace	TBC
Feb 15-18	Brighton or West Brom vs Derby County	TBC
Feb 15-18	QPR or Portsmouth vs Watford	TBC
Feb 15-18	Wimbledon vs Millwall	TBC
Feb 15-18	Swansea vs Barnet or Brentford	TBC

Kind of jumps right out at you doesn't it?  One of these matches is not like the others.  Arguably the 2nd and 3rd best teams - Chelsea and Man United - left in the tournament will face each other in the 5th round.  In a way I guess it is exciting that some of the lesser lights will go deep into the tournament.  On the other hand, doesn't it turn the whole thing into a novelty as opposed to a serious tournament.


Midweek Mayhem

Already told you about Man City going down.  Liverpool hosted Leicester in snow and could only manage a 1-1 draw.  Chelsea wish they could have been that lucky, losing 0-4 to Bournemouth.  Tottenham struggled mightily against Watford but managed to get the win with late goals by Son and Llorente.  Now we know why Spurs fans were rejoicing when South Korea got knocked out of the Asia Cup; Son would not have been available had his country advanced to the semis. Arsenal didn't exactly dismantle Cardiff City but did get a 2-1 win.  For drama though, we probably have to give the award to Man United.  Down 0-2 at home no less to Burnley, Pogba converted a PK in the 87th minute and noted goal scorer Victor Lindelof got the equalizer at 92 minutes.  Burnley were lucky that stoppage time was limited to just five minutes.


Did anyone else think that Deulofeu (left, bottom) looked like a Saturday Night Live Killer Bee (left, top) with that away kit and black tights?  I know they are the Hornets but maybe they're taking that too literally.




What Did Your Team Do in the January Window

Nice team by team summary of transfers in and out in this window is available here.  Aside from Chelsea adding Higuain and Arsenal getting Suarez (Denis, not Luis), can't say that the top six did all that much. 


Worst Dive Evah

Giving new meaning to the term "booked for simulation," we have this Randolph NJ man who dumps ice on the floor, then fakes a slip and fall.  Maybe Neymar could have helped him stage it a little better.


Schedule

Saturday morning finds me at a referee re-certification clinic so I'll can't take in the Spurs-Newcastle 7:30 am match live.  Nor any of the Saturday matches for that matter.  Not a huge loss looking at the fixture list.  Some great relegation matches in Burnley-Southampton and Crystal Palace - Fulham.  The 10 am TV match is Chelsea - Huddersfield; that could get ugly if Chelsea take out their frustrations on the Terriers.  The NBC feature match is a head-scratcher - Cardiff City hosting Bournemouth?  If I had the time, I might be inclined to check out Wolves at Everton.  Wolves are on track to put up one of the better finishes ever by a newly-promoted side; they won't hit top five ever but have a shot at the top 10 best (details here).

Sunday looks a bit more inviting with Leicester - Man United first, then Man City hosting Arsenal.  Monday completes the week with West Ham - Liverpool.

And barely a month until MLS starts.  I would be really happy if the Union could complete a signing of a #10 just like Newcastle just did.  Not holding my breath.