Up A Certain Creek Without A Paddle

NBCSN commentator Jim Beglin summed up Newcastle's situation well.  Though he was referring to the situation on Sunday, he might as well have been talking about the prospects for the season.

Newcastle players realize they are in real trouble as Hayden
has just been red carded [Getty Images]

The Magpies weren't awful for much of the first half but were still down 0-1.  That said, their play gave no indication that they would get anything from the match, just that they wouldn't get blown away.  Then Isaac Hayden made an unfortunate challenge that earned him a straight red card.  Consider it a text book example of excessive force.  For a while Newcastle hung around but when Jamie Vardy netted the second goal at 54 minutes, you had the feeling the floodgates were about to open.  And they did.  When the dust settled, it was an 0-5 loss for the Magpies.  From 65 minutes on, it was really hard to watch.

Now certainly Hayden's rash challenge put Newcastle under the gun.  But they were pretty much irrelevant from the start.    Bruce switched to a 4-2-3-1 this week; looks like that is another formation we can rule out.  Not much he has done has worked.  He now rises to the second spot in the EPL Sack Race, behind only Everton's Marco Silva. Of course, Ashley may be too cheap to fire Bruce, plus sacking him now is a clear admission that it was a mistake.  Up a creek indeed.


Which Keeper Error Was Most Egregious?

1. Sheffield United were giving Liverpool fits through 70 minutes with some heroic defending.  They saw that hard work go down the drain when Wijnaldum's shot trickled through Dean Henderson's legs.  You can see the tough moment here.  In the lingo, the Blades gave a good account of themselves but came away with an 0-1 loss.

2. Tottenham were down a man but up a goal at home to Southampton and seemed in relative control despite playing shorthanded.  Then Hugo Lloris committed this gaffe. Fortunately for him, Kane and his teammates bailed him out with a great piece of build up play.  In fact, that goal was so good (and critical), we'll make it this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Spurs hung on for a 2-1 win that steadies the ship for them (well at least until Tuesday's 2-7 thrashing by Bayern Munich).

3. You already know the score of Leicester - Newcastle, but one of the five tallies was this goal by Jamie Vardy.  You have to say that is keeper error - you can't get beat near post like that.

I swear there was another on Saturday but I can't remember now.  Union keeper Andre Blake may have messed up but that's another story we'll discuss below.


A Mid-Table Match?

I saw more than one pundit suggest that the Man United - Arsenal contest was, ahem, not worthy of teams that consider themselves top six material.  One suggested it was like watching a mid-table match.  Oooh, that'll leave a mark.  But they're right.  It was a competitive 1-1 draw but lacked any level of quality.

As I hinted at in last week's post, I had some hope that Aston Villa - Burnley would be a good watch.  It was.  In Gary Birtles's words it was "entertaining, fractious and niggling."  Unfortunately for the Villans they twice coughed up the lead.  Fortunately for the Villans, the 2-2 draw was a point they probably hadn't necessarily counted on.  Everton weren't terrible against Man City but took a 1-3 loss anyway.

I will concede that my prediction that the neutral would be largely disappointed last weekend was off base.  Pretty much every match (except Newcastle of course) was highly entertaining.


Worst Away Kit

Southampton's Danny Ings - I make these uniforms look good

Where does Southampton get their uniforms?  They are like the University of Oregon football team - an experimental playground for some kit manufacturer.  Also in the running are Man City, who appeared to have used old Houston Astro uniforms to make their away kits.  Check out the pictures below and tell me Nolan Ryan wouldn't look at home in a Man City kit.

Names

Bjorn Engels plays for Aston Villa.  During Saturday's contest with Burnley I kept wondering who marks Engels.  Just some word play for the political economists who might be reading the blog.


Union Pass Up Golden Opportunity

Sunday's "fun" continued into early evening as the Union faced Columbus on the road.  Not thinking it was a guaranteed win but was definitely believing they would get something out of the match.  A tepid first half ended scoreless; the U's passing couldn't have been worse.  The second half was delayed 30 minutes by lightning.  Might have been better if the storm continued.  Despite maybe have a little better of the play, the Union conceded the first goal in the 69th minute.  Watch the video here and tell me whether you think Blake might belong on the earlier list of keeper gaffes.  Looks like the ball goes under his arm.  A scant four minutes later, a second goal meant the Union weren't getting any points.

And all this was happening as results elsewhere couldn't have gone any better.  NYCFC lost at New England while Atlanta could only scrounge up a draw with Montreal.  So for a short while, the Union were in command of their own destiny.  With a win at Columbus, this Saturday's match with NYCFC would have offered the chance to win the East and get a first round bye.  A win or draw would have made second a real possibility.  Now, first is gone and the Union must do better than Atlanta on Sunday to grab second. 


A Brief Comment on Champions League

Generally better sledding for the EPL teams for Match Day 2 of the group stage.  Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea all got wins.  Spurs got hammered.


Doesn't Get Any Easier

Newcastle have an excellent chance to build on the momentum from the Leicester mauling as they take on Man United Sunday at 11:30 (NBCSN); certainly the Red Devils have been tough to figure out so far but even at their worst, they are in a different league than the Magpies.  A draw would be a miracle.

The weekend has another early start with Brighton hosting Tottenham at 7:30 on Saturday (NBCSN); Spurs are favored and really need to bounce back from the Bayern debacle.  The 10 am TV game is Liverpool - Leicester.  For the third time in four weeks, the Foxes' credentials as a top six candidate will be tested; except, how many teams beat Liverpool at Anfield?  Right, so maybe it's not a fair test.  The other 10 am matches might actually be more competitive.  Burnley-Everton is a solid mid-table clash while Norwich-Aston Villa and Watford - Sheffield United have implications for the relegation battle.  You'll need NBC Gold to check them out.  Saturday's NBC feature match is a London derby with Crystal Palace "traveling" to West Ham; every reason to think that's competitive too.

For some reason the schedulers crammed in three matches at 9 am on Sunday.  Man City vs Wolves is the TV game (NBCSN) and probably the one I would have gone with.  Last year Wolves were top six beaters and after a slow start may be finding their feet again.  Arsenal - Bournemouth and Southampton - Chelsea don't sound all that thrilling but I said that about a bunch of last week's games and look how they turned out.  Again, you'll need NBC Gold to see them.

And speaking of building on negative momentum, the Union have to face NYCFC in their final regular season contest.  You would like to see them do well here and head into the playoffs with some confidence.  At least it's at home.  As we said earlier, second place is still up for grabs but they need a better result than Atlanta get at home vs New England.  Right now, the Union's likely opponent in the first round is Toronto, though it could be any of New England, DC United or Red Bulls.

A preemptive note about the assessing the Union's season.  Certainly, if they were to win the first round playoff match, few will dispute this was a good season for the Union.  But I'd like to counsel against dissing the season if they lose that match.  This is the American obsession with playoffs at work again.  The Union will finish the season with between the 3rd and 5th best record in the MLS (Minnesota play Seattle so at most one can catch the Union).  In most other soccer leagues, a top five finish in a 24-team league would be considered an excellent year.  Regardless of the playoff results, I'd argue this was a major step forward for the franchise and a solid season.

Somehow I have managed to stay on top of the IAAF World Championships (which continue through the weekend) and most of the soccer as well.  Obviously, something isn't getting done and I guess I'll find out soon enough what it is.