The Ilsin-Show

An unprecedented comeback from the Union and a largely to form first round of Women's World Cup group stage play.

Wagner greets the conquering hero Ilsinho

At half time it was hard not to feel discouraged, like nothing had really changed for the Union.  Despite a modest possession and shot advantage, the Union were down 0-2 to the New Jersey Red Bulls because of two defensive lapses and a continued inability to put a shot on frame.  At 53 minutes Curtin switched out Aaronson (who exited to polite applause) for Ilsinho (who entered to an anticipatory welcome).  Things happened quickly.  At 60 minutes the Brazilian made a run down the right side and completed a pinpoint cross to Monteiro, who slotted the ball on frame to get the comeback started.  A bare minute later, Ilsinho beat two Red Bulls in the box and slipped the equalizer past Robles.  An easy choice for this week's YouTubeableMoment.  At that point, the crowd sensed that a win might be possible.  Indeed it was.  In the 70th minute, Isinho (again) fed a beautiful pass to Bedoya, who looked offside but wasn't.  Bedoya's cross was intercepted by the arm of a Red Bull defender in the box.  Monteiro's PK was stopped by Robles but there was Ilsinho to deposit the rebound into the "old onion bag." There were a few queasy moments before the final whistle but by and large they did a good job possessing the ball to protect the lead.

The win, a critical one over an Eastern Conference rival, puts the Union top of the table by four points heading into the US Open Cup break.  What a luxury that they can pull someone like Ilsinho off the bench for a jolt of energy like that.  Also not bad to bring in Picault late for a change of pace.  Now for a moment of the glass is 1/4 empty.  Both Atlanta and NYCFC have games in hand, which if they win, would be enough to overtake the Union.  Second, this Union team can go long periods without managing a credible shot on frame.  Third, as Graham R (BFS goalkeeper consultant) has pointed out many times, Andre Blake's marshaling of defensive resources and decision making skills are not necessarily the best.  Consensus is that he was late coming out for the ball on the second Red Bull goal.  There were other moments when it seemed like the communication just isn't what it needs to be, leading to some scary moments.  Lastly, the despite the recent bench play, the roster still feels thin.  Curtin only used two of his subs on Saturday and Jeff K and I were thinking that was probably right given his choices.

Okay, enough Debbie Downer.  Many things are going right.  Medunjanin hardly ever makes a mistake out there anymore.  You don't often see him on the scoresheet but his work as a defensive midfielder has been solid.  Wagner was a good pick up by Tanner.  So was Monteiro.  Santos has had his moments.  We can also hope that Fabian 1) gets healthy and 2) contributes.  The playoff format changed this year so only first place team gets a bye.  But, a top four finish gets you home field advantage for the first round.  That doesn't seem out of the question.


The Ugly Americans?

Mixed reaction to the USWNT 13-0 thrashing of Thailand.  Anyone who's coached knows how hard it is to keep a team from scoring against a hopelessly overmatched opponent.  Also, Dennis points out that merely toying with opposition by controlling the ball, making it clear you could score at will isn't that much less embarrassing.  However, the celebrations and choreographed bench dancing at 11-0 is unnecessary.  Acknowledge the goal humbly and move on. 

Early candidate for Best Hair-
Holland's Shanice van de Sanden

So far, things have pretty much adhered to form, though Australia and Japan would beg to differ.  France looked powerful in an easy win over South Korea.  Pre-tournament favorites Germany and England got wins over China and Scotland respectively but hardly looked overwhelming in the process.  Clearly the most excitement so far was Italy's last second game winner against Australia.  Argentina's 0-0 draw with Japan was pretty good watching.  So too was New Zealand's valiant effort in a 0-1 loss to the Netherlands.  Probably should include Sweden's late charge to beat Chile 2-0.

Maybe the second leading story has been the use of VAR.  Several PKs added based on video review.  Mostly we won't complain, except to say it still takes too long.  If you can't decide in 15-30 seconds, it's just not an obvious error.

Speaking of Netherlands, Shanice van de Sanden makes a strong opening statement for Best Hair of the Tournament with her ocelot (leopard?) dye job.  No, this isn't sexist because we comment on hair in the men's tournament as well.



No Jacket Required (musical accompaniment courtesy Phil Collins - yeah I know this song isn't from that album but this is the one I wanted to link to)

But apparently a waist coat (vest to us Yankees) is.  There was England manager Phil Neville (right) looking just like Gareth Southgate (below).  Must be standard issue for the England national teams.  Will Neville be okay with a fourth place finish like Southgate got in the 2018 men's World Cup?


















"All Good"

The two word message from the Bin Zayed Group is the only piece of information we got on the possible sale of Newcastle.  Apparently Benitez is back in Newcastle but not clear that it means anything.  The Chronicle is reporting that the transfer budget will be £60 million plus the proceeds from any transfers out.  That doesn't sound awful but feels irrelevant until the sale is finalized or trashed and Benitez is signed or departs.

EPL transfer news is mostly in one direction so far - players released - but Eden Hazard has signed with Real Madrid.  Some of the more notable releases:

Danny Welbeck - Arsenal
Peter Crouch - Burnley
Gary Cahill - Chelsea
Phil Jagielka - Everton
Shinji Okazaki - Leicester
Alberto Moreno, Daniel Sturridge - Liverpool
Ander Herrera, Antonio Valencia - Man United
Mo Diame - Newcastle
Andy Carroll - West Ham

Figure things will pick up soon as we would expect at least Man United, Arsenal and Chelsea to be very active.


European Qualifiers

Hopefully loyal readers will cut us some slack but we totally missed the UEFA Nations League action.  Portugal beat Netherlands 1-0 for the title while England bested Switzerland on PKs for third.  Somewhat of a beauty contest as a substitute for friendlies, the competition does have implications for the European Championships to be contested next summer.  Extensive reading on the subject still leaves me slightly confused but I think I have the basics.  All 55 UEFA countries have to compete in qualifying.  Teams were put into one of 10 groups - five with five teams, five with six teams.  If you were one of the Nations League finalists (Portugal, Netherlands, England and Switzerland), you were automatically placed in one of the five-team groups; I believe the advantage there is fewer qualifying matches.  Group play has been going on since March and continues until November.  Current standings are here.  First and second place finishers of the groups go to the Championships.  The last four slots for the Euro Champs used to be decided by playoffs between the countries that finished third in their group.  Now, the playoffs for the last four slots will be among the top four finishers in each of the Nations League groups.  So there was an incentive to do well in the Nations League, as opposed to simply playing friendlies.  There's some added complication in how all the slots will be filled if some teams are already qualified via group play but that's the basic picture.  Everybody clear on this?  Good.

By the time you read this, Matchday Four contests will have been played.   Matchday Five isn't until September.


Hardware!

BFS co-founder is back row, third from the left

BFS co-founder Dennis F saw his team come home with the league title up in Allentown. Taught him everything a lot of some of what he knows.


Schedule

Union have US Open Cup match on Wednesday night at DC United (TV?).  USWNT play Chile on Sunday at noon.  Other second match WWC fixtures of interest include Spain-Germany (Wednesday at noon), France-Norway(Wednesday at noon) and Australia-Brazil (Thursday at noon). USMNT play Guyana on Tuesday at 10 pm in Gold Cup action.