Playoffs!

Yikes, a surfeit of stories with two rounds of MLS playoffs, EPL action, BFS correspondents reporting in from all over the world and me with papers to grade.  You know what that means?  Coverage a mile wide and an inch deep.


First Union Playoff Win Evah

U teammates celebrate with Fabian

And what a contest!  Down 0-2 and 1-3 at half time, largely (though not entirely) due to a poor outing from Andre Blake (more on that below), the U scrambled back to level things in regular time and then snatched a win in extra time.  Besides Blake's troubles, the U's passing in the first half was atrocious so it's not completely fair to dump responsibility on our keeper.  Jack Elliott (hasn't done much wrong all year) got the comeback started with a sweet header at 52 minutes.  Fafa Picault got the equalizer, also on a header, at 78 minutes.  Late sub Fabian got the game winner in stoppage time of the first extra period on a deflected shot that some are still trying to figure out how it find the back of the net.


Curtains on Union Manager Bashing?

Once again, his substitution pattern rescued the game.  Ilsinho got the offense going while Picault and Fabian scored.  We got four goals with our leading scorer - shuhBILLkoh - out with an injury.  This has been happening all year.  Curtin has done an excellent job with this squad, making changes to the starting line up and in-game substitutions that have made a difference.  Go back to some of the less savory results and I'll bet you'll find Curtin's choices were compromised by player availability.


Tepid Atlanta

The Union run ended with an 0-2 defeat in Atlanta.  Once again the U were without leading scorer shuhBILLkoh and it showed.  This was a pretty decent showing against a superior team in their own setting.  Not sure how much blame to assign Blake for the early goal here but looked like he made the wrong choice again.  Can't help but wonder what might have been had Aaronson converted that golden chance at 17 minutes, which would have leveled things at 1-1; some credit to Guzan for a good save there.  We'll do a more complete round up when things are quieter but in sum this was easily the best season in the U's 10-year history.


Keeper Gaffes - Special Halloween Horror Edition - The Blakening

Apparently this feature is destined to continue.  We need only focus on the Union - Red Bulls match to gather enough material for this week, courtesy of Andre Blake's bad awful first half.

1. Normally a reliable shot stopper, this one got past Andre for an early 0-1 deficit.  Maybe harsh but looks like he got both hands to it.

2. As BFS Keeper Consultant, Graham R points out, "crosses in the air" are not Blake's strong suit.  We present Exhibit A.  Things looked pretty blake bleak at that point, down 0-2 at 24 minutes.

3. In the same text, Graham R also noted that "communicating with his defenders" is also not Blake's strong suit.  We present Exhibit B.  That one felt like an absolute sucker punch, coming right at the end of the first half and leaving the Union in a 1-3 hole.

To be clear, we are not saying Blake is a bad keeper.  But he does have some weaknesses and they were on display in that first half.


Random Thoughts on the MLS Playoffs

We assume MLS is thrilled with the single elimination format so far.  The first round matches were all close, many going into extra time.  Toronto-DC produced a curious scoreline - 5-1 in extra time; yes, Toronto scored four in extra time.  All but one of the higher seeds (Minnesota the exception) advanced.

For the NYCFC - Toronto conference semi-final fixture, Yankee Stadium was expected to be occupied by the true tenants - the Yankees; turns out it was available but they couldn't know that the Yankees would crash out of the baseball playoffs so early so alternate plans had to be made.  Instead of finding a real soccer venue, they simply moved to another inadequate site - Citi Field.  Based on the field markings and the grain of the mowing pattern, we know that the pitch was 66 x 108.  Why does MLS allow important any matches to be played on pitches that would be inadequate for a high school game?  Never mind, I know the answer.  $$$$.  So I can't say I was heart broken when Toronto slipped by NYCFC 2-1 on a late penalty.

Seattle worked hard and came away with a deserved 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake.  The big takeaway for me was the heroic performance by Rimando in his final match.

The last conference semi was the renewal of El Trafico - the derby between LAFC and the LA Galaxy.  Wild stuff as LAFC took a 5-3 win.

Conference finals are Atlanta - Toronto (Wednesday at 8 pm on FS1) and LAFC - Seattle (Tuesday at 10 pm on ESPN).


Not Awful Is Still No Points

Saint-Maximin - A bright spot in Chelsea loss (Getty)

Newcastle held Chelsea at bay for most of the match but in the end fell 1-0 on a goal from Marcos Alonzo in the 73rd minute.  When we say not awful, we're really saying their defense was well-organized.  Possession was 71-29, shots were 16-5 and shots on target 8-0.  As we have pointed out many times, depending on your opponent to provide an own goal is no way to go through life; if you don't manage a shot on goal, the best you can do is a draw.  Actually, those stats are slightly misleading because there were many times that the Magpies did muster a counterattack; it's just they never put the shot on frame.

Saint-Maximin continues to look like a live wire who eventually is going to generate some goals.  Less sure about Joelinton.  He doesn't get much service but he isn't converting the few chances he does get.  Almiron is a puzzle too but I will say he does make some promising runs and provides possession that takes some of the pressure off.  Yeah, not much to hang your hat on, eh?


Random Thoughts on EPL

Embattled managers got some results but it didn't seemed to help their odds in the Sack Race.  Man United did a very creditable job against Liverpool and earned a 1-1- draw.   The Liverpool goal came late (85th minute) and United made Liverpool look disorganized in a way no team has this year.  Still, there's Old Gunner leading the Sack Race at 2/1.

Same for Marco Silva.  His Everton squad woke up with a solid 2-0 win over West Ham but Silva is still listed at 3/1. Spurs rescued a 1-1 draw with a late goal at home to Watford, which needs to be considered an unsatisfactory result for them so it's not a surprise that Pochettino sits at 4/1 odds.  We have to say the Spurs equalizer looked highly suspicious to us.  I thought it clearly came off of Alli's upper arm and under the new rules, you don't even have to consider intent in that situation.

The 0-1 loss at Chelsea was hardly a surprise for Newcastle so Steve Bruce didn't go up or down at 12/1.  I thought Southampton's 1-1 draw with Wolves was a mild upset but Hasenhuttl stays at 12/1.  And Arsenal's poor 0-1 showing against Sheffield United puts Unai Emery into the mix at 16/1.

Leicester rallied from an 0-1 deficit to get a hard fought 2-1 win.  They now sit third in the table.  Before the Aston Villa match, I might have argued that the EPL has used a high standard for clear and obvious error in its use of VAR.  The disallowed goal for Villa must be the exception that proves the rule.  They ended up with a 2-1 win despite playing a man up for much of the match - which has typically not been helpful to them.  Only four teams have a better goal differential than the Villans.

Man City got a 2-0 win over CP wearing their Houston Astros throw-back jerseys.  The second goal, from David Silva is a thing of beauty from the build up to the finish; it's also this week's YouTubeableMoment.

Crazy season so far.


Champions League

All you need to know I have time for right now is all EPL sides got wins in Matchday 3 of group play and all look good to advance to the knockout round halfway through the group stage.


BFS in Europe

 La Liga Correspondent Michael B reports in from Mallorca:

Correspondent Michael B is the one in the goofy hat.
Correspondent Michael B is the one in the goofy hat, third
from the right.

Mallorca (newly promoted and #18 in the table) 1, Real Madrid (#1 in the table). Note Samuel E'to's name on stadium wall of fame next to men's room. He started out playing for Mallorca!

He was there cycling but not surprisingly find time to take in some football.

Meanwhile, in Israel, BFS Real Estate consultant, Ze Roberto (aka Bob K) tells us that his new favorite club is Hapoel Kfar Saba FC (double checked spelling, not a typo).  Details on the newly promoted side can be had here.


If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium

Yeah, but the wrong town.  Michael B sends us this story of a travel mix-up by two Liverpool fans who went to Gent instead of Genk and missed out on their side's Champions League match.  All those European cities look alike.


Britain Off Daylight Saving Time

I have given up looking for easy fixtures on the Newcastle schedule. - there is no such thing this year.  Facing Wolves at home might qualify as one of the "less difficult" matches but still looks incredibly daunting.  They haven't lost in four matches after getting off to a slow start.  A draw would be awesome.

Early start to the weekend with Southampton vs Leicester at 3 pm on Friday (NBCSN).  Leicester are taking advantage of the vacuum at the top and look in good form; Southampton have yet to find any rhythm to date.

We'll get up early on Saturday (7:30 NBCSN) to see how Aston Villa fare against Man City; 538 has this has a lopsided affair but we'll watch anyway.  Just three matches at 10 and none are that exciting.  The TV game is Brighton - Everton or you can go for Watford - Bournemouth or West Ham - Sheffield United on NBC Gold.  See what I mean.  Even the featured 12:30 match on NBC doesn't grab me all that much - Burnley hosting Chelsea; the Clarets do play tough so it might be a tight, low scoring match.

For some reason, the schedulers felt the need to pile three matches in at 12:30.  The TV match (on NBC, not NBCSN) is Liverpool - Tottenham.  Playing at Anfield hardly seems like a way for Spurs to put their season back on track.  NBC Gold will have a London derby between Arsenal and Crystal Palace plus Norwich hosting Man United; the latter might be a good test to see if United have found their feet.

Don't forget the MLS conference finals on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I'm sure I forgot something but whatever...