Makes Me Wanna Pukki

Warning - grumpy and snarky post ahead.  This says it all.  The highlight of the weekend was probably that Aston Villa played well despite losing.


I Didn't Think Magpies Were Flightless Birds

Teemu Pukki - a Finnisher
Photo: Press Association

Well, this tiding certainly hasn't left the ground yet.  This was perhaps the worst performance by the Magpies since I started following the club.  No soul, no heart, no clue.  Hard to sort out how much is down to the manager and how much the players are the problem.  For Bruce's part, why would you replace Manquillo, who had a perfectly fine debut against Arsenal, and give newcomer Emil Krafth the start at right wingback?  Not to unfairly single out the new guy but he missed a scoring chance, saw the second goal go between his legs and was beaten by Pukki as he completed his hat trick.  Ki for Longstaff was the other change, though that may have been driven by injury concerns.

What is hard to understand is that the defensive part of the lineup is largely unchanged from last year and they look like they've never played together.  Is 3-5-2 simply the wrong formation for this group of players?  Doesn't it say something when my best memories of the match are Isaac Hayes Hayden doing great work in the right corner.  He's the center mid with key defensive responsibilities!  Again, that would be the manager.  But Newcastle were also a step too slow for most of the match and that is not on the manager.

Yes, only two matches in.  Joelinton headed a clear cut chance wide but he hardly got any service so let's not write him off yet.  Almiron is a good player but may be lost at the moment without the other Dos Amigos.  On paper, we should not be this bad.  The difference is that I had confidence that Benitez would figure it out; don't feel the same about Bruce.


Somewhere the Sun Is Shining

I had much more fun as a "neutral."  Everything else I watched was entertaining.  The early start with Arsenal taking Burnley 2-1 was close.  Aston Villa pretty clearly outplayed Bournemouth but were a bit unlucky with a PK in the first minute and a ricochet goal at 12 minutes in their 1-2 loss; even Dennis was satisfied with their play.  They stay ahead of Newcastle on the strength of one more goal scored.

Speaking of luck (or was it just efficiency?), Spurs had just two shots on target but scored on both and snuck away from the Etihad with a 2-2 draw.  The talking point there of course involved another VAR non-controversy.  Jesus had apparently scored the game winner in stoppage time except that the ball had clearly come off Laporte's arm.  Under the new rules, the goal has to be disallowed.  You can see the play here.  The best part was that Aguero, who had words with Guardiola when he was replaced by Jesus earlier, came down to hug his manager after the apparent game winner.  Wonder if the hug was taken back after the VAR decision.

Sunday was just as good as the Sheffield United home crowd was rewarded for their long wait for Premier League action with a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, who have fewer goals than Newcastle at this point.  It may end up being a long season for the Blades but you have to be happy for the Sheffield fans right now.  The Chelsea-Leicester match was a great 1-1 draw.  We wrapped things up with a cracking 1-1 draw between Wolves and Man United.  Wolves continue to be a thorn in the side of the big six and I have them on the radar as my EPL team for next year when Newcastle play in the Championship division.


Turns Out There Are Dumb Questions

We realize Pep was probably upset after seeing the potential winning goal disallowed but this is just stupid.

Guardiola added: "Why is it not handball with Llorente in the Champions League quarter-final last season, but why is it hands today? Why?"

BECAUSE THEY CHANGED THE **CKING RULE!  Is it that hard to understand?  And now people are frustrated that accidental contact with the arm is cause for goals being ruled out when they were so outraged before that goals were being scored after accidental contact.  Just stop it.  For the record, I was okay with the old rule even though it was arguably harder for referees to sort out what was a violation and what was okay.


Relative Value

After hearing that Inter Milan paid a transfer fee of £72 million to obtain the services of forward Romelu Lukaku, BFS co-founder Dennis F asked "Am I not at least 1/72 the player he is and therefore worth at least £1 million?"  We have to agree and I have signed on as his agent and am entertaining offers at this point.  And I can guarantee that my client at least will not report to his new club overweight.


It's Almost Autumn and the Leaves Kits Are Changing Colors

First we saw the Bournemouth Cherries dressed as the Lemon-Limes for their away contest at Aston Villa (left).  Then Leicester showed up at Stamford Bridge with uniforms that appeared to have been washed in hot water with Man United shirts (below).  And is that the guy who scored the equalizer for Leicester?  N'didi it is.

Speaking of fun with names, late in the Man City Spurs match, I shouted at the screen when Spurs left a man wide open "Jesus, somebody has to mark him."  Dennis politely corrected me.  "No, that's Sterling."  Guess you had to be there.



Not Top of the Table Any More

Another inconsistent outing from the Union and this time it cost them an 0-2 defeat in Chicago.  A poor first half was capped off by Fire goals at 38 and 45 minutes.  Hopes for at least a draw were good though because Chicago had a man sent off in first half stoppage time.  Even with the man advantage, the Union could not find the net.  Final stats show 18 shots but a paltry three on goal.  Simply not good enough.

With Atlanta taking the measure of Portland 2-0, the Union ceded first place for the first time in over two months.  Watching that match, I'm starting to feel like the MLS is getting somewhere.  Intense and interesting.  A few weeks ago Bob K sent around highlights of the Cincinnati - Columbus derby.  Same thing.  Just more fun to watch other teams than I remember.

We continued to get some measure of help from the other clubs.  Vancouver beat DC United 1-0.  Red Bulls only managed 1-1 with Revolution. Columbus and Toronto drew, Orlando only got one point from Minnesota.  NYCFC did win over Cincinnati.  Red Bulls and NYCFC got midweek wins as well so the standings are getting more compressed.  First place was never really in my thinking but haven't given up hope on a top four finish.  Well, until I looked at the schedule.  After the home match with DC United this weekend, they play Atlanta, LAFC, and Red Bulls.  They finish with NYCFC.  That makes the matches with Columbus and San Jose close to must win if top four is the goal.


Chester Quad

Some luck, some skill involved but Chester did come home with the Champions League and FA Cup titles.  We got a break in that a few players came back from injury sooner than expected; actually that's not completely luck because I did research to get the best physios, who can reduce the amount of time lost to injury.  A second helpful development was that the four starters who were supposed to be with their international teams were all able to stick around for the FA Cup Final.  The Champions League win was not pretty (3-1 over Man United) but, of course, it won the title.  The 2-0 win over Man City for the FA Cup was a tight contest (second goal came in stoppage time) but Chester were playing the way I asked them to.  We allowed no shots on target and most of their attempts were from far out.  A satisfying end to the season.


Schedule

Away this weekend so viewing may be compromised, although I will be watching Spurs-Newcastle with Michael B Sunday at 11:30.  Early start to the weekend with a Friday match between Aston Villa and Everton at 3 pm Friday (NBCSN).

Best match of the weekend would be Liverpool - Arsenal as the NBC feature game at 12:30 on Saturday.  Kind of strange to say this but after just two weeks, these are the only two teams without a loss or draw.  Neither were at their best in wins last weekend.

If you're up early Saturday morning you can catch Norwich - Chelsea at 7:30 on NBCSN.  Not sure I'd set my alarm for that one.  The 10 am slate doesn't blow you away either.  Best of the lot looks to be Man United - Crystal Palace on NBCSN.  Sunday we have the aforementioned Spurs-Newcastle tilt but there's also Bournemouth - Man City at 9 am.  Actually, the most interesting match of the day is Wolves - Burnley at 11:30 but only on NBC Gold; these are two pretty solid clubs.

Saturday is also a big home match for the Union as they host DC United.  At 538 they have the Union as a big favorite but I'm not convinced.  DC dropped to 5th in the table after the midweek loss to Red Bulls so this is a big chance for the Union to created some cushion for a top four finish.  Atlanta have Orlando on the road but would suspect they'll come away with a win.  We get a break in that the Red Bulls face NYCFC so somebody's gonna drop points; with any luck, it will be both.

We saved the YouTubeableMoment for the end since it was kind against the run of the blog.  What a strike from Aduriz to give Athletic Club a 1-0 win over Barcelona.  Not bad for a 38 year-old.  And see Michael B, I do acknowledge the existence of La Liga.

Rereading this, I wasn't as bitter as I expected. We'll see how I'm doing after Spurs thrash Newcastle.