Outgunned, Outmanned, Outnumbered, Outplanned

 apologies to Lin-Manuel Miranda 

Well maybe not outplanned. Graeme Jones' game plan did work for a long time but it was no where near enough to mask the fundamental differences between Newcastle and Chelsea.  Aston Villa didn't have a good time either.  At least the Union and my Football Manager Forest Green did okay.  Some strange doings elsewhere.

Under the Cosh

From The Free Dictionary:

under the cosh

Contending with a difficult or stressful situation; experiencing pressure or difficulty. Primarily heard in UK.Local businesses have been increasingly put under the cosh by the austerity measures imposed by the government after the economic crash.Manchester United has really been under the cosh in this second half. I don't think they've left their own side of the pitch more than a handful of times.

Replace "Manchester United" with "Newcastle" and "second half" with "the whole game" and that is exactly how the color commentator described the Magpies' 0-3 loss to Chelsea.  The lads did put up a well-organized defense that took Chelsea sometime to crack.  And it took a pretty good shot in the 65th minute from Reece James to do it.  Unfortunately, James did it again in the 77th minute.  Jorginho added a PK to round out the scoring.  Everything on the stat sheet screams 0-3 too.  Very tough to go into a match with the realization that your only hope for a result is to keep the score at 0-0.

Eddie Howe ready to step in ?

As of Thursday, they still have no permanent manager have reached an agreement in principle with former Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe. Transfer rumors come and go.  Coutinho, Tarkowski, Conor Coady, Aaron Ramsey, Deli Alli, Ismaila Sarr, Karim Adeyemi, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham.   We hear that the January transfer budget will be £50 million; not sure whether to believe it or not.  Given that is more than they've spent in the last three (?) years, I guess we should be grateful.  However, those thinking there would be a major overhaul of the squad in January should dial back those expectations.  We can only hope it will be enough to avoid relegation.

Seeing Red

Might apply in more than one way for Aston Villa - West Ham.  The Hammers were only slight favorites so we had some high hopes for at least an interesting match and maybe even a result.  An early, seemingly savable, goal that slipped past Martinez put a early damper on proceedings.  Fortunately the Villans shook it off, grew into the game and were rewarded with a solid looking goal at 34 minutes.  But then Declan Rice put another seemingly stoppable ball past Martinez minutes later.  Fifteen minute of decent football shot to hell.  Still, it was only 1-2 with a whole second half to play.

Except it got worse.  Early in the second half, Fornals dribbled deep into Villa territory before taking an elbow in the face from Hause; the ball still made its way to the 18, at which point Konsa fouled Bowen.  By the time VAR had sorted everything out, Konsa had a red for DOGSO and Hause was incredibly lucky to only get a yellow.  You can see the whole sordid thing here.  It took a little while for West Ham to take advantage but they eventually did to make the final 1-4.  Grrrr.  Annoying on so many fronts.  Martinez is usually rock solid, they had some frustrating stretches, the red card (and being lucky not to have gotten two on one play); maybe West Ham are a better side but I don't think this game proved it despite the final score.  

You Can't Play Newcastle Every Week Part II

After a frustrating loss to West Ham last week, Spurs were even worse this week, looking entirely moribund against a Man United side that hadn't exactly been overwhelming themselves.  In some ways, the 3-0 final favoring the Red Devils looks harsh given that Tottenham had 58% of the possession and were only outshot 9-10.  Ah, but look closer to see Spurs had zero shots on target.  Depending on own goals to win is a tough way to go through the EPL.

Santo did not make it to Tuesday as manager.  On the one hand, the situation was so bad that you felt that Santo was simply not going to be able to turn it around.  And clearly, the squad was not gelling and maybe some of that is on him.  On the other, he was Manager of the Month in August.  A win over Man United would have moved them into fourth.  Spurs have talent, maybe enough to compete for 4th but  this is not a team that contends for the title.  Santo walked into the effed up Harry Kane situation that was not of his own doing.  Did that contract nonsense maybe affect his performance?  Uh, well, he has as many yellow cards (2) as he does goals (1) plus assists (1).  More on his underperformance here. 

I used to respect Tottenham as a club that took the classy route to becoming a big four/six club with judicious spending and patience.  The sacking of Santo after just 10 matches is another example of how that's just not the case anymore.  Fired Poch when they were becoming a regular Champions League participant.  Hired Mourinho.  Participation in the Super League fiasco.  Handling of the Harry Kane situation (either let him go or spend some money to make the squad match expectations).  So now they've hired Conte.  Will be real interested to see if Kane responds and if Spurs are big spenders in January.   If Conte gets a $200 million transfer budget and the team miraculously improves,  please do not tell me that this proves that Santo was not up to the job.

Table Matches Results

The top three had eminently winnable matches.  Only Chelsea, as noted above, managed to do so.  Liverpool at least got a 2-2 draw with Brighton.  Man City struggled early and fell behind 0-1 to Crystal Palace.  Then LaPorte got sent off.  Palace didn't take advantage of that until very late but the 0-2 loss was a shock anyway.  Based on these results, it only seems fair that the top three in order are Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City.

The proverbial results elsewhere didn't do much to help Newcastle on the relegation front.  Burnley got their first win, 3-1 over Brentford; how does Burnley score three goals?  Southampton got a 1-0 win, albeit over Watford; how does Watford score five against Everton and none against Southampton.  Leeds also got a win, albeit over Norwich.  We would have been better served with draws in those last two.  

Don't look now but after starting the season with three straight shut out losses, Arsenal have five wins and two draws since.  The latest result was a solid win 2-0 win over Leicester.  Right now West Ham are fourth in the table but there will be plenty of competition for that spot.

Conversation That Could Have Taken Place But Didn't

Dennis: Did you say NBCSN commentator Arlo was paying close attention to West Ham's midfield Declan?

Steve: Yes, he was on him like White on Rice

Conversation That Could Have Taken Place and Did

Dennis (while watching Norwich-Leeds): Amazing how both Grealish and Buendia have a much larger negative impact on their former teams than a positive one so far on their current team.

Steve: Like when a top econ major switches to math and the GPAs of both departments drop

Just Askin'

So the buyout provision in Nuno's contract for which he'll be paid the remainder of his £14 m in salary for two years would appropriately be called a "Santo Clause", no?  He did last longer at Tottenham than Ted Lasso.

Just Sayin'

Spurs will now be paying about £29 million for two people not to manage the club.  

You Can Only Shut Out Who You Play

Paxten Aaronson got another goal v Cincinnati

Certainly Cincinnati was not the most difficult of opponents but the Union still had to take care of
business, which they did pretty well.  Early pressure and a quick goal set a great tone for the rest of the evening.  Initially we thought the goal was Mbaizo's (would have been his first ever) but turns out Gazdag had deflected it; given how important it was to make the night less stressful, we make it this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Though they wouldn't add a second until the 50th minute on a nifty strike from Paxten Aaronson, the Union were pretty much in control here; the final could have easily been three or four to zero.

By itself the win didn't change the Union's playoff situation.  They had already clinched a playoff berth by kickoff due to results elsewhere.  And, the win didn't seal a top four spot because Atlanta had a game in hand.  But, good news for us it that Atlanta could only manage a draw with that game in hand, a 0-0 draw with the Harrison Pink Cows.  Thank you to our Moo New Jersey neighbors. 

   

Critical (But Not Necessarily Winnable) Fixtures

Some meaningful matches this weekend.  Newcastle do need to start collecting some points and Brighton might normally be a place we could find one or three, except they are no where near each other in the table this year.  How exactly did this end up as the feature match on NBC Saturday at 1:30?  The question becomes even more poignant when you realize the highlight of the weekend is a Manchester derby, which will run on NBCSN at 8:30 Saturday morning.  The thinking must be we'll watch a Manchester derby at any time on any channel but if you don't make it easy to watch Newcastle - Brighton, no one will tune in.  But is getting more people to watch Brighton - Newcastle necessarily a good thing?

Aston Villa also have a critical fixture at Southampton at 4 pm Friday on Peacock; after four straight lossses and the Saints not being the toughest opponent, a result here is kinda important for the Villans.  They are slight underdogs but they should be able to at least work a draw here.

At the top of the table, Chelsea figure to have it pretty easy hosting Burnley (11 am Saturday on Peacock).  Liverpool face a sterner test, traveling to West Ham (11:30 Sunday on NBCSN).

Some of the more competitive looking matches include Crystal Palace vs Wolves (the best choice of the three 11 am matches Saturday, as evidenced by the fact it's the one on NBCSN), Everton - Tottenham at 9 am Sunday (also NBCSN) and Leeds - Leicester ( 9 am Sunday on Peacock); that last one wouldn't figure to be so tight but Leicester are not the Foxes of the last few years.

Rounding out the schedule is Brentford - Norwich (11 am Saturday on Peacock) and Arsenal - Watford (Sunday at 9 on Peacock); every reason to think that the Gunners will extend their seven-game unbeaten streak.

Really? This is sacriligious to both sports

The MLS regular season wraps up Sunday afternoon/evening.  Though the Union are in the playoffs with home field advantage for the first round, there is still plenty to play for as they face NYCFC (Sunday 3:30) at the worst soccer venue in the world, Yankee Stadium.  I will skip all the permutations except to note that the Union could finish anywhere from 2nd to 4th and that there is a big difference between finishing second, third and fourth.  Fourth means you get New England away for the second round match.  Third means the second round game is on the road, though not against New England.  Second means the second round match is at home vs Nashville.  Yeah, I know I'm assuming that the Union will win the first round match so this is meaningful.

We're heading into another international break, which means more CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.  Only two matches during this break - hosting Mexico on 11/12 at 9 and away against Jamaica on 11/16 at 5 pm.  Not sure if we'll check in next week so don't forget those USMNT fixtures.

Now, off to play some Football Manager, where Forest Green recently grabbed a road draw against first place West Brom, then scored five goals each in wins over Luton and Reading.  I tell ya, some days, it's the only good football thing that happens.