Black and White, No Gray

There simply is no middle ground with Newcastle.  Saturday morning the Magpies took an early lead against West Ham on an own goal - though I would argue they had the run of play to that point and Saint-Maximin essentially put the West Ham defender in a no-win situation.  Even better, on that same play, Craig Dawson got himself sent off so Newcastle would play the next 54+ minutes a man up.  But wait, we're not done.  The generally reliable West Ham keeper Fabianski spilled the ball inside the six and Joe L. Linton put it away for a two goal lead at 41 minutes.  Start the second half up a man and two goals.  What could go wrong?

Another late game changer from Willock

If you only watched the second half, you would have thought Newcastle were the side playing a man down.  Unbelievable to watch.  The real shocker is that West Ham didn't score until the 73rd minute.  At this point a draw, or more likely a loss, really seemed possible.  When Ciaran Clark was whistled for handling in the box and Jesse Lingard (him again?) converted the PK in the 80th minute, I despaired of even the single point.  

The equalizer did seem to wake up the Magpies.  Glory be, two minutes later Joe Willock headed Matt Ritchie's cross into the back of the net for a most improbable game winner; an easy pick for this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Surely, they could hang on from here.  Hey, this is Newcastle, remember?  And don't call me Shirley.  But they did and a bonus three points were in the bag.

Certainly having Saint-Maximin back has made a big difference.  But I suggest a little love for Matt Ritchie and Jacob Murphy.  Their increased presence in the last three matches can't be overlooked.  Three matches from which Newcastle have grabbed a highly unlikely seven points; going into this set I would have thought anything more than one would be a big help.

The other big match up for us relegation junkies was Arsenal-Fulham.  You know, 9th place Arsenal?  The club that thinks it's so good that it deserves a place in the Super League (more on that below).  To be fair, they probably did outplay Fulham but all they had to show for it going into stoppage time was an 0-1 deficit.  But in the 97th  minute, Nketiah scored on a loose ball off a shot from Ceballos that  Fulham keeper Areola had done well to parry.  And more points dropped late for Fulham.  

The weekend ended with Newcastle eight points clear of relegation and actually in 15th place, slipping past both Burnley and Brighton.  Relegation percentage at 538 is down to 4%, with Fulham up to 89%.  Recall that three short weeks ago, they were both at 48%.  Looking at the remaining fixtures, it's possible Newcastle have enough but would do better to pick up two more points.  A win versus Sheffield would seal it.  So would a draw on the final day against Fulham.  But given how hot and cold this team can run, that would be unbearable if it came down to final weekend vs Fulham.

Quad Is Dead Despite Jesus's Efforts

Hopes for Man City's unprecedented quad ended rather unceremoniously on Saturday as Chelsea dumped them out of the FA Cup with a 1-0 win.  Not the most inspiring of matches and City looked pretty flat.  Not that the Blues were overwhelming but it did feel like the correct result.  In the equally uninspiring second semi, Leicester bested Southampton 1-0.  This one featured a total of one shot on goal and not much else.  The goal was scored by...EatANacho...who has simply been on fire since BFS provided the pronunciation guidance back in March.  Little known fact: both goals in these semis were scored in the 55th minute.

Do You Know the Way to Sack Jose? (apologies to Dionne Warwick)

Perhaps a mild surprise but after a 2-2 draw with Everton on Friday, Tottenham gave Mourinho the boot on Monday morning.  I say surprise because I figured he'd get the chance to win some hardware this weekend with the League Cup Final against Man City.  But as I think more about it, maybe the fear was that they would win the League Cup and it would make sacking Mourinho all that much more difficult.

With Ryan Mason appointed caretaker manager, Spurs first half against Southampton didn't look too good as they fell behind on a Danny Ings goal.  Their work rate was much improved in the second half, and eventually it produced a goal from Gareth Bale.  A possible game winner was called back (correctly for offside).  Then Reguilon was fouled right on the 18-yard line and Son converted the PK in stoppage time for the comeback 2-1 win.  Spurs still face long odds to make Champions League but at least the Mourinho nightmare is over.

Distracted?

Liverpool stumbled to a 1-1 draw against Leeds on Monday, dropping two points at a critical time in their chase for a Champions League berth.  Perhaps the players were distracted by the announcement of Liverpool's participation in the proposed Super League.  On Tuesday, Chelsea stumbled to a 0-0 draw against Brighton, dropping two points at a critical time in their chase for a Champions League berth.  Perhaps the players were distracted by the announcement of Chelsea's participation in the proposed Super League.

Man United were perhaps lucky to play Burnley before news was widespread about the Super League and got a 3-1 win to virtually cement their Champions League spot.  Leicester versus West Brom ended too late for this edition of BFS.

Leicester and Liverpool looked best positioned to get the two spots after the Manchester clubs but Chelsea are certainly still a threat.  West Ham's loss to Newcastle put a real dent in their chances.  

If You Can't Earn It, Buy It

Of course, conversation this week was more about events off the field than results on the pitch.  Sunday saw the announcement of a new Super League to be formed by six EPL, three La Liga and three Serie A clubs.  Details can be had here.  Trying to explain in unbiased terms is difficult but it was basically a proposal to create an alternative to the Champions League in which the 12 founding clubs plus others to be added would play in a mid-week competition.  Their justification was obtained by The Guardian and is excerpted here.

The outrage was so swift that the plan fell apart by Tuesday.  But, but, I didn't even get a chance to vent here before it collapsed.  Screw it.  I'm still going to get my rant in.

This was a naked power grab by a group of clubs with reputedly greater drawing power that were bothered by the fact that they didn't make enough from participation in the Champions League; they blamed the structure which includes too many unattractive fixtures.  Hmm, maybe you would make more money if you lasted longer in the existing Champions League or, here's an idea - QUALIFY FOR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE IN THE FIRST PLACE!  In the last five years, at least four of the 12 have failed to make it to the CL Round of 16.  Inter haven't reached the Champions League Round of 16 since 2011-12.  AC Milan are not much better at 2013-2014.  Hold the phone - AC Milan haven't even qualified for Champions League since then.  Arsenal haven't been there since 2016-17.   Sure looks like they are buying rather than winning their way into a super league.  Anti-competitive through and through.  These guys aren't even the Best of the Best of the Best.

Commitment to the domestic leagues?  With guaranteed participation in the Super League, any place in the table will do so how does that do anything but diminish the interest in domestic league play?  The number of meaningless matches, when a team no longer has any reason to compete, will increase.  Sure, 18-20 are still to be avoided, once 1st, 18th, 19th and 20th are out of reach, what is there to play for?

Financial troubles?  Don't doubt it.  Did pandemic make it worse? Don't doubt it.  But these 12 self-anointed clubs are saying we are bigger than European football and will take it upon ourselves to solve the economic issues.  Not saying I'd be thrilled with this, but if the current structure was modified to have a more exclusive Champions League format and an expanded Europa League format, might that help the finances.  Even that falls a bit thin when you think about how many of the Champions League matches are "unattractive."  To win the CL, you play six group stage, six knockout games and the final for a total of 13.  In theory, at most four of those matches should be against less than top 16 clubs in the world, unless of course there are upsets.

Not to pick on Michael B, but I was most disappointed to see Spurs and Atletico Madrid involved here.  Those are two clubs that fought and earned their way into Champions League success.  Now they want to make it much harder for clubs that used to be just like them.  

Gratifying to see how swift and nearly unanimous the the reaction was from most of the governing agencies, players, fans, and pundits.  But while this proposal is dead, the issue is very much alive and expect more ideas of this ilk to surface.

A Good 0-0 Draw

I know many say that's an oxymoron.  But really, the Union draw at Columbus Sunday evening was a solid achievement for the club and a decent watch as well.  First, the context.  We never get points at Mapfre Stadium - it's like Newcastle at Arsenal.  Second, Columbus are last year's MLS Cup winners and are still pretty good.  Third, the Union are a little light on depth right now, plus the average age of the squad looks to be about 17.8.

Leon Flach (l) has impressed with his work rate

The first 15 minutes did not go well as the Crew's intensity was smothering anything the Union tried to do.  A good sign was how the squad responded; Union sides of old might have fallen behind 0-1 or 0-2.  From there on out, I'd argue Philadelphia gave as good as it got.  The xG at 538 shows a very slight advantage for the Union, suggesting that a draw was probably the fair result. Like last year, there was the moment when Blake's heroics kept the Union in the match, which you can see here.  A good road point IMHO.

Conversation That Could Have Taken Place But Didn't

Dennis: Did you say the Columbus defender was terrible?

Steve: No, I said he was Afful.

At Least Grab the Right Body Part

Oscars are Sunday night

Not to pick on Jeff H and Man United, but there was a moment in the Burnley match in which  Donny van de Beek 1) totally overreacted to physical contact from James Tarkowski and 2) writhed on the ground grabbing his shin when the contact was clearly on the toe.  From the picture (left), you'd think he'd suffered a compound fracture.  But no, he was up and running in seconds.  Just stop it.

Maybe I Do Caraboa It Cup

The weekend's fixtures are slightly truncated due the League Cup Final on Sunday at 11:30.  We kid about the League Cup's status here but hardware is hardware.  For Spurs it's also a chance for automatic entry in the Europa League (albeit the second tier).  With City's quad out the window and with their first leg of Champions League semi-final against PSG on Wednesday, we wonder if Pep will look to rotate his squad here.  He's all about winning the CL so maybe.  Internet says ESPN has the coverage but I'm not seeing on my TV guide.  

In league play, Newcastle travel to Anfield on Saturday for a 7:30 match with Liverpool (Peacock).  I suspect we will walk alone on this one.  A point would be beyond expectations.  Fulham are idle so they won't gain us and we'll have the same number of games played.  Best thing here would be minimal damage to the goal differential, since we're finally equal with Fulham.

Our other relegation rivals do have a chance to make up some ground.  Burnley face Wolves on the road (Sunday 7 am on NBCSN); the Clarets have good chance for at least a point here.  Brighton travel to take on Sheffield United (Saturday 3 pm on Peacock), the Seagulls are solid favorites in this one.  West Brom are really not in it but don't know that yet; Aston Villa could make that much clearer with a win over the Baggies Sunday afternoon (2 pm on Peacock).

Biggest action on the Champions League qualification front is West Ham - Chelsea Saturday at 12:30 on NBC.  A loss to either would be costly; a draw might keep both alive but barely.  Leicester have an eminently winnable home match with Crystal Palace, who look ready for the beach.  Man United, who basically have a spot sewed up, are favored against Leeds, even on the road; um, but be careful as Leeds are unbeaten in their last five, including draws with Liverpool and Chelsea and a win over Man City.  Arsenal - Everton round out the schedule, Friday at 3 pm on NBCSN.

First legs of Champions League semi-finals this week and they look awesome.  Chelsea is at Real Madrid on Tuesday and Man City is at PSG on Wednesday.   Europa League semi-finals first legs are on Thursday, with Man United hosting Roma and Arsenal traveling to face Villareal.  Looks like CBSSports has the CL matches live while the Europa League matches are on slight delay ( 7 pm and 9pm same day).  The Europa stuff is probably live on Paramount.

The Union have two matches this week as well.  Saturday is the league home opener against Miami.  You can catch that on PHL-17 at 8 pm.  They also have the first leg of their Concacaf Champions League quarterfinal tie with Atlanta on Wednesday Tuesday night at 8 pm.  That'll be on FS1.

Again, another week with relevant matches every day.  Hard to get work done isn't it?