Surfeit of Football

Not necessarily great football but lots of it.


MLS Is Black (Lives Matter) Tournament

Familiar names but for the wrong reason

For the second time this summer an unexpected but powerful statement by players is the YouTubeableMoment of the week.  For their first match in the MLS Is Back tournament (Thursday morning) Philadelphia Union players replaced their own names with those of Black men, women, boys and girls killed by police.  Their jerseys also included the message "One name, too many."  Apparently it was done without the league's knowledge, based on this from Jim Curtin:

The idea today was action over permission; I hope the league understands that.

What's the old expression, better to ask for forgiveness than permission?

And check out this article from mlssoccer.com:

        THE UNION ARE ALL OF US

I highly doubt you’re an MLS neutral if you’re getting this newsletter but if you were starting from scratch and looking for a team to support in this tournament, I’m wondering if there’s a more likable team than Philadelphia. That’s not to say [whatever your favorite team is] isn’t great. They are. You’re great, too. Don’t get in my mentions about this you winner, you. But this Union team is for the people.

They aren’t one of the league’s big spenders. They don’t necessarily have a superstar. They do have Ilsinho, who hates you even though you love him. They’re outspoken. They’re managed by Jim Curtin, whose eyes radiate intelligence and kindness. They’ve got Jose Martinez, a man who has never once skipped leg day. They have Andre Blake, a wall. And they have whatever DOOP is and a weird snake mascot.

The people’s champ must be everything the people can’t be while still reflecting the flaws of the people. Yesterday we saw Ilsinho get tired at about minute 25 and leave in the 58th because Ilsinho is all of us right now. We saw Jose Martinez get told by his team not to foul his man several times, ignore the fact he was told not to foul his man several times and then slap his man’s arm away before fouling him because Jose Martinez is all of us right now. And then we saw the outspoken and charismatic Alejandro Bedoya score the winner and Blake make seven saves to help their team win a game they probably should have lost, which is what all of us want to be right now.

The team is fun, got three points against the toughest team in their group and–especially if Blake continues to ball–they have a great chance to go deep in this tournament. I kind of hope they do. You know. For the people.

Yeah, that's my team.  And Kevin Durant is a part owner.  I don't think it's a coincidence.


Magpies in the Middle

Soon to be striker Shelvey levels things

With not much to play for now, Newcastle contributed one of the better matches but also one of the biggest stinkers of the week.  On Sunday they twice rallied from a goal down to draw West Ham 2-2; good back and forth and generally entertaining.  Shelvey rescued the draw with his 6th goal of the season, still the team leader in EPL action.

Wednesday's match at the Etihad?  Not so much.  Steve Bruce tried to get clever with the line-up, likely necessitated by the crowded schedule.  The 4-4-2 featured Krafth as a center back, Schar in midfield, and Shelvey as one of the strikers (hey team leader in goals, right?).  No Almiron, no Saint-Maximin.  The result was predictable.  Down 0-2 in 20 minutes, the Magpies were never in this one as they fell 0-5 to a clearly superior Man City side.  The good news is that with City's likely ban and Newcastle drifting in mid-table, the match had pretty much zero implications.


Aston Villa Hanging By A Thread

Though they were not awful, the week did not go well for the Villans.  They were solid in an 0-2 loss at Liverpool but mediocre in an 0-3 loss at home to Man United.  The other problem was they got inconsistent help from others.  Chelsea did beat Watford 3-0 and Burnley "upset" West Ham 1-0, taking points away from the key rivals.  On the other hand, Newcastle could only draw with West Ham and even a point for the Hammers hurt Aston Villa.  And though Norwich did take an early lead against Watford, the Canaries eventually fell 1-2 on a great bicycle kick from Danny Welbeck (remember him?). The goal, seen here, would have been the week's YouTubeableMoment most weeks.

A critical match for Aston Villa's hopes, we got video of Dennis watching.  From left to right - Norwich take early lead, Watford level the match, Welbeck gets game winner with bicycle kick.



The scenarios that keep Aston Villa up are few and improbable.  They are also complicated by the fact that Watford and West Ham play each other in Week 36.  My understanding is that there is no possibility that both could come away from that fixture with no points.  Any scenarios that work pretty much require that this weekend Watford lose to Newcastle and West Ham lose to Norwich.  As I said to Dennis, depending on Newcastle and Norwich is no way to go through life.  Norwich, Bournemouth and Aston Villa are looking like locks to go down.


Growing Clarity at the Top Too

An American in London - Pulisic has 3 goals in 5 games

Wolves' chances took it on the chin with consecutive losses to Arsenal (0-2) and Sheffield United (0-1).  That second one was particularly cruel, coming on a header in the final seconds.  Their chances of making CL dropped to 4%.  Leicester got an easy 3-0 win over Crystal Palace and snatched a late 1-1 draw against a 10-man Arsenal.  Those four points put them in much better shape.  Surging Man United (wins over Bournemouth and Aston Villa) and steady Chelsea (wins over Watford and Crystal Palace) look solid too.  That match with Palace, a 3-2 final, might have been the best viewing of the week plus it included another goal for Christian Pulisic.

Arsenal did well with the four points from Wolves and Leicester but it's just not going to be enough.  Even if they win all four remaining contests, Chelsea, Leicester City and Man United would basically have to lose every match for the Gunners to make it.  Tottenham also got four points but their prospects seem even worse.  The 1-0 win on Monday over Everton is now being marketed as a non-pharmaceutical alternative to Ambien plus they could only manage a draw at Bournemouth.  As Michael B. puts it, "looks like we'll be playing in Baku on Thursdays next season."  Actually, they might not even make that.  One or both of Arsenal and Spurs will be clearly finished after this weekend's North London Derby.

At 538, they are showing Chelsea, Man United and Leicester at 99% or 98% likely to qualify for Champions League.  Wolves, at 4%, are the only other team listed with measurable chance.  Note however, this is predicated on the Man City ban being upheld.  If the appeal is successful, then one of those three "sure things" would get left out.  Hey look, Man United face Leicester on the final day of the season.  That would be the match to settle it.


Don't Give Me Any of Your Schit

During the Union-NYCFC match, Taylor Twellman needled Jon Champion for his pronunciation of "shedule."  Without missing a beat, Champion responded "This from a man who says we are broadcasting from "Conneticut"."  Touche.  Enjoyed that match with the traditional 9:05 am MLS starting time.  And the frequent bleeping of the pitch side mics.

The Union came away with an unlikely 1-0 win on the strength of Bedoya's cheeky strike and some late match heroics from keeper Andre Blake.  The score somewhat flatters the U.  NYCFC had more and frankly better chances and more possession.  Even a draw would have been a bit of a steal.  But Blake makes two big saves and Johnson gets his hand to but does not stop Bedoya's shot and there's the difference.  Since the Group stage matches in the tournament count for the regular season (if it really happens), this was a doubly helpful win.


Enough with the Water Breaks

Remember Ted Lasso telling the press how his Tottenham side would play hard for all four quarters?  That's what it's like with these drinks breaks.  They are turning soccer into a game of four 22:30 quarters.  Maybe it was appropriate for the first week or two to ensure players were back to form but shouldn't be necessary now.  And most of the time it's 71 degrees and raining anyway.  It's so U12 youth soccer.  And frankly, as a referee of youth games I often get crap from a few of the parents for allowing water breaks in September when both teams have only one sub.  Man up.

I will make an exception for the MLS tournament in Orlando.  80 plus degrees and 80% plus humidity does justify a break.


How About A Water Break for the Fans?

Twenty more matches in seven days.  Plus whatever you want to take in for the MLS tournament.

The feature match of the weekend is clearly Tottenham-Arsenal Sunday at 12:30 on NBCSN.  A loss probably mathematically eliminates one or the other from Champions League contention; a draw might be enough to sink both.  Chelsea (at Sheffield Saturday 12:30 NBC), Leicester (at Bournemouth Sunday 2 pm NBCSN) and Man United (hosting Southampton Monday 3 pm) are good bets to take all three points in their matches.  Wolves (hosting Everton Sunday at 7 am) will need to rebound to keep pace.

Down at the south end of the table,  Aston Villa's fate could effectively be sealed by two 7:30 Saturday morning matches.  Norwich host West Ham (NBCSN) while Newcastle travel to Watford (Gold).  Wins for the Hammers and the Hornets would be disastrous and even draws might be enough to doom the Villans.  We hold out hope that the Aston Villa - Crystal Palace match at 9:15 Sunday on NBCSN still has meaning.

So much of the Week 36 interest will depend on the weekend results. Chelsea (Tuesday) and Man United (Thursday) have clearly winnable matches against Norwich and Crystal Palace respectively.  Leicester might not have it so easy with a home match against Sheffield United (also Thursday).  Wolves are definitely up against with a road match Tuesday at Burnley (538 doesn't think so but that looks like a tough one to me).

If Aston Villa aren't wiped out over the weekend, they'll need a road win or draw with Everton on Thursday.  The match week concludes with West Ham vs Watford on Friday; Both might already be safe by then but it's another chance to close the relegation door.

The MLS tournament already had to revise its format as Nashville and FC Dallas had so many positive covid-19 tests that both had to drop out.  Somewhat fortuitous for MLS in that instead of different sized groups, they now have a more normal looking set of six groups of four.  The Union play Miami at 10:30 pm on Tuesday.  Plenty of other matches in that tournament if you have the bandwidth.

Seems like a lot to take in now but remember the EPL will be done in just over two weeks.  Then what will you do?