Well That Went Well...Not

Eesh, not much good to report for Newcastle, the Union or even Football Manager for that matter.  

Three Goal Losses 

Saturday was particularly galling as I watched three clubs of interest - on delay no less - lose by three goals.  Start off with Tottenham's wretched effort at Selhurst Park.  The Eagles were already outplaying Spurs when Tanganga got himself sent off for two yellows in the space of five minutes.  Took a little while for Crystal Palace to take advantage but take advantage they did and the 3-0 final looks totally representative of what we saw on the pitch.  

Proceed to Old Trafford for the EPL re-debut of Christian Ronaldo.  As expected, the Magpies were set up in their defensive 5-3-2 shape.  They absorbed the pressure well and managed some counter attacks so we were prepared to go in at half happy at 0-0.  Except Ronaldo scored in stoppage time.  We argue this was bad luck as opposed to anything special from CR7.  The ball was deflected off a Newcastle defender, which meant that Woodman didn't handle it as cleanly as he should have and of course the rebound fell at Ronaldo's feet.  Newcastle did level things with a rare goal from Manquillo (ironically in the line up over Jacob Murphy for defensive purposes).  But Ronaldo got a second, more deserved this time, shortly thereafter, STAYING ON HIS FEET for a change and getting off a nice shot that beat Woodman in the five hole.  I was preparing to feel pretty good about a 1-2 loss except MUN added two late goals to make the final 4-1.  This one felt like 2-1 and xG mostly backs me up.  Sure, a loss but not awful.

We closed the day out with Chelsea - Aston Villa.  The final says 3-0 but our eyes tell us that Villa were the better side.  The stats, especially xG, suggest our eyes did not deceive us.  This was at worst a draw.

So we had a big goose egg for Saturday, though we suspect Jeff H was okay with proceedings.

A Little Help Here?

Though my initial reaction to results elsewhere was "thanks a lot guys," closer inspection says overall, Newcastle may have gotten some help.  The Palace win wasn't helpful, nor was Southampton's 0-0 draw with West Ham.  But Arsenal did their job - barely - with a 1-0 win over Norwich; didn't see the match but it reads like the Gunners pushed the Canaries all over the place yet only managed the one goal.  Though the Wolves 2-0 win over Watford pushed them past Newcastle in the table, we are more realistically worried about Watford in the relegation battle so this was fine.  Thoroughly enjoyable match on Monday as Everton rallied from 0-1 to handle Burnley 3-1.  A 90th minute goal got Brighton a 1-0 win over previously unbeaten Brentford; we might have preferred a draw there.

And how sad is it that I'm already closely following results at the bottom of the table?

Meanwhile, In Another Part of Town

Liverpool took care of shorthanded Leeds (more on that below) 3-0. Earlier this year we noted that Leeds can be like a chicken with its head cut off - running around not knowing it's already dead.  A man down, we will suggest they run around like a chicken with its head and one leg cut off; they just don't know any other way.  It does make for entertaining football though.  Man City look to have run Leicester City all over the map but only have a 1-0 win to show for it.

So we have four teams (Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton) at 3-1-0; the first three also have a goal differential of +8 but United are top based on goals scored.  

Elliott Down

One of the few pleasures so far this year has been watching my Forest Green Football Manager star, Harvey Elliott, perform live for Liverpool.  Even that has been taken away, as he suffered a dislocated ankle after a tackle in the match with Leeds.  The good news is that he had successful surgery and is expected back this season.  No timeframe was given for his comeback.  I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV; however, checking the web suggests likely a 12-week recovery before sport-specific training can begin.  That would put him back in the line up maybe by the beginning of the year.

Struijk beats Elliott to the ball and does not come
 thru him after the challenge

The Leeds player who made the tackle, Pascal Struijk, received a red card for the challenge.  I argue this was a case of sanctioning to the injury, not the challenge - reminiscent of Son's tackle on Gomez last year.  Craig Pawson was in excellent position to see the play and made no call at the time. Very confusing as to whether or how much  the fourth official or VAR were involved but Pawson ended up showing Struijk a red card, without going to check out the play himself on the monitor.  I have watched the video and while it's not pretty, it's not as gruesome as you might think.  I include a still picture (sorry for the quality) of the first part of the challenge.  As you can clearly see, this was NOT a tackle from behind.  I remind people all the time, getting the ball does not mean there might not be a foul.  But the direction of the tackle is not into Elliott; the collision after the tackle is as much Elliott's momentum as Struijk's.  There is quite a bit of support that this was not a red card.  However, as with the handling case a few week's ago, the authorities do not agree with me; the league rejected an appeal of the red card.  

Fortunately for me, Elliott's injury in real life has no impact on his play for me in Football Manager, as the game separates from reality the moment you start.  Think about that statement for a minute.

A quick note on Forest Green.  After blowing through League One last year, we are finding life in the Championship Division a bit more rigorous.  Through five matches we have two wins, two draws and a loss.  Plus we are already out of the League Cup.  My initial thought is that while we are good enough to stay up promotion at the first time of asking may be beyond our reach.

Mortuary Ball of the Week

We all know about a hospital ball, a pass so weak that it subjects the recipient to heavy contact, possibly requiring hospitalization.  I add a new term this week - a mortuary ball - a pass so bad it leaves your teammate for dead.  We have two excellent examples this week.

First Tyrone Mings ruined 49 minutes of superb play by Aston Villa with this back pass.  Instead of 0-1, Villa were now down 0-2 on the road to Chelsea.  As bad as that was, we're going with this one from Man United's Jesse (oh to be back at West Ham) Lingard.  Maybe only marginally more egregious than Mings', the context elevates it to our winner.  The play cost United a point in Champions League group stage play, with the late goal giving Young Boys all three points.  An ugly day for the Red Devils as a Ronaldo goal had given them a lead but Wan-Bissaka's red card at 35 minutes allowed the Young Boys back into the match.

No CONCACAF Champions League Final for U

We know it was a long shot, coming home 0-2 to Club America.  There was always a chance though if they could get the first goal.  Club America did well to confound, confuse and otherwise annoy the Union for the first 30 minutes.  Then, our guys started to grow into the game and arguably had the run of play the rest of the night.  That advantage on the field was about to show up on the scoreboard when shuhBILLkoh was fouled in the box.  Unfortunately, Ochoa saved Monteiro's take, then saved Burke's rebound attempt.  Monteiro's take was actually pretty good; maybe you fault him for telegraphing the attempt too much but Ochoa was fully extended and the ball was at a difficult height.  This was likely the turning point of the match so we make it this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Club America got a deflected goal (second one of the tie) and a late one in stoppage to make this a 0-2 final (0-4 on aggregate).

A spirited two-leg effort from the Union.  Failure to convert the chances they had and maybe a little bad luck - CA had two deflected goals and a softish PK.  We won't blame referee Said Martinez for the loss but we will fault him on two fronts.  First, have some balls and show yellow cards for persistent delay of game on free kicks.  After one or maybe two warnings to move back, show the damn yellow card.  Finger wagging and arm gestures don't stop that behavior.  Second, the foul on shuhBILLkoh should have been red for DOGSO.  The double jeopardy clause only applies if there was a legitimate attempt to tackle the ball.  In this case, the defender grabbed CatsPurr's shoulder.  

Sucks To Be Right Sometimes

Last week I warned that it was possible that by the time the Union kicked off against Orlando on Sunday afternoon, they could find themselves in 9th place.  The dreaded "results elsewhere" have conspired to make it happen.  Actually, it could get even worse, as Columbus play Saturday and could climb past the Union with a win against New England.

The good news is that the Union have a game or two in hand on several of the teams above them.  The bad news is that only matters if you get results in those matches.  So upcoming home matches with Orlando and Atlanta take on critical importance.

The participation in Champions League was both valuable and cool.  But failure to make the playoffs will take most (all) of the sheen off that accomplishment.

There's A New Sheriff in Town (hat tip Bob K)

Sheriff's name comes from a
company in the region
 but the badge is a more fun image

Making their Champions League group stage debut this week was Fotbal Club Sheriff, often referred to as Sheriff Tiraspol, or even more simply, Sheriff.  Where to begin?  Well, of course their emblem is a badge, though the name derives from a company in the region.  What region is that you might ask?  They are a Moldovan club based in Tiraspol.  Except Tiraspol is a city located in the unrecognized Pridnestovian Moldavian Republic, otherwise known as Transnistria.  For those wishing to continue the geo-political lesson, click here.  The narrow strip of land that constitutes Transnistria looks like a gerrymandered Republican Congressional district.

But we digress.  The club has had some success, qualifying for Europa four times and Champions League twice.  Their group stage debut went swimmingly as they bested Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 and sit atop Group D. Ya done good, guys.  

Try Again

On paper, two best matches of the weekend involve the BFS sides.  Newcastle host Leeds Friday afternoon at 3 pm (NBCSN).  Two sides with more differing philosophies I don't think you'll find.  Leeds are a car with no reverse or even neutral gear while Newcastle are a bus that is frequently parked.  The Magpies figure to be under pressure the whole time.  Some optimism here because they did manage decent counters against Man United and should have more luck with those counters against a weaker side, particularly one missing some key defenders.  

For the second straight week, Aston Villa are the 12:30 Saturday feature match on NBC, this time against Everton.  This should be fun, two evenly matched sides that offer attractive football.  Highly recommended.  

Best action at the top of the table is a London Derby featuring Tottenham - Chelsea at 11:30 on Sunday (curiously only on Peacock).  Both are coming off unimpressive performances.  Chelsea have only allowed one goal so far while Spurs are averaging less than one per game; they'll have to change that trend to get a result. The other topside match of interest is West Ham hosting Man United (Sunday at 9 am on NBCSN).  Though both are undefeated, the Red Devils are in much better form.

Liverpool and Man City have every chance to stay close to the top with home matches against Crystal Palace and Southampton respectively.  Both of those are at 10 am on Saturday.  However, my choice for that time slot is Burnley - Arsenal, which is conveniently available on NBCSN.  Having barely passed one test against Norwich last week, Mikel Arteta and the Gunners face a tougher side, on the road.  

Saturday morning early risers can take in Wolves - Brentford at 7:30 Saturday on NBCSN.  Relegation candidates Norwich and Watford square off at 10 am Saturday on Peacock.  Rounding out the schedule is Brighton - Leicester Sunday at 9 on Peacock.  They are 6th and 9th respectively, though the order is reversed from what you might expect.  This could be a pretty good watch if Brighton continue their early season form.

We'll be at Subaru Park Sunday afternoon at 4 to see the Union take on Orlando City.  Trite to say but this is a critical contest.  ESPN seems to agree, as they will be televising the game.  Three points is practically a must.  

I hear that doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results is the definition of insanity.  But I'll be watching again this weekend.