Qatar Disaster Looming?

Eesh, I know they were only friendlies, but the performance of the USMNT in the final two matches before the World Cup was not encouraging.  Back to action in the EPL with some good fixtures on tap.

Is There Such A Thing As "Must-win Friendly?"

Though seemingly oxymoronic, the answer is apparently yes.  After the 0-2 loss to Japan on Friday, facing a depleted Saudi Arabian squad, the US at a minimum needed to put up a solid effort, if not a win.  Alas, though marginally better than the Japan game, the performance in the 0-0 draw simply was not good enough.  

Against Japan, a technically superior team that likes to press, the US committed some atrocious turnovers and managed nary a shot on goal and only four shots in total.  In the SA match, they did manage seven shots but just two on goal.    The final score matched what I saw on TV.

Others can do a much better job breaking down the tactical issues and shortcomings revealed in the two matches.  There are thousands of post mortems out there; I found this one helpful.  For me, I wondered if the absences of Musah, Weah and Antonee Robinson were major factors.  Not particularly interested in excuses related to the venues.  International soccer is about adapting to different circumstances;  playing in mostly empty neutral sites can't be harder than a hostile crowd in Mexico.

Adjustments are needed or we are looking at a one or no point group stage exit in November.

Wounded Magpies

Would be nice to see at least one of these guys out there Saturday

The international break was supposed to give the wounded a chance to heal.  The opposite occurred.  Guimaraes sat out Brazil's matches with a swelling in the thigh and may not be ready to go.  Isak pulled out of Sweden's matches, also with a thigh problem, and may miss several matches.  ASM is not fully healed but might be on the bench.  Chris Wood took a blow to the ribs while representing New Zealand and is likely out for a month.  The only good news is that Callum Wilson is expected to be back.  Ryan Fraser may also return.  This injury problem is one legacy from the Steve Bruce era that unfortunately seems to be sticking around.

Stay Focused on the Task at Hand

BFS Track & Field Consultant Jack W sends us this cautionary tweet on the dangers of shithousering while driving.  

Alex, I'll Take Soccer Innovations for $800

Thursday's Final Jeopardy answer was along the lines of  "In 1970, black pentagons were added to this to make it easier for TV audiences to see."  The question:  What is a soccer ball?

Back to Our Regular Programming

This week it's like the schedule makers set up the fixtures based on the teams' handicaps; top vs top, middle vs middle and bottom vs bottom, with a few exceptions.  Seriously, look at the matchups:

  1  v    3  (Arsenal - Spurs)

12  v    9  (Bournemouth - Brentford)

16  v    7  (Crystal Palace - Chelsea)

  6  v  10  (Fulham - Newcastle)

  8  v    4  (Liverpool - Brighton)

14  v  13  (Southampton - Everton)

18  v  17  (West Ham - Wolves)

  2  v    5  (Man City - Man United)

11  v  15  (Leeds - Aston Villa)

20  v  19  (Leicester - Nottingham Forest)

Except for Palace - Chelsea, the spread in every game is no more than four places.  

The proper London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham should attract attention.  Gunners have done well so far but Spurs, despite never seeming to have their best stuff, haven't lost yet.  That one will get us underway at 7:30 Saturday on USA.

We'll obviously be going with Fulham Newcastle out of the five 10 am matches.  This is on the road but the Magpies still have to be winning that one, even with a depleted squad.  Lots of other good choices at 10.  The USA game is another London Derby featuring Crystal Palace and Chelsea.  Liverpool will host Brighton, with their expected table positions at this point seemingly reversed; a big test for the Seagulls after losing their gaffer Graham Potter.  Bournemouth - Brentford and Southampton - Everton look like close contests.

Not crazy about the 12:30 Saturday NBC "feature" match, which for some reason is on USA this week.  West Ham - Wolves probably sounded better before the season started.  Both have struggled thus far.  

Sunday at 9 am is a Manchester Derby, on Peacock(?).  Wait, this can't be; at 538 they have it 74/10/16 - as in 74% chance of City win, 10% chance of United win and 14% chance of draw.  That does not sound like a Manchester derby.  Here's hoping recent United form will make this a decent contest.  The second match on Sunday at 11:30 on USA - Leeds vs Aston Villa - could be one of the most competitive matches of the weekend.  

Lastly, maybe it's a good idea to put Leicester - Nottingham Forest on Monday; we'll watch anything on a weekday. That's at 3:00 on USA.

On this side of the pond, the Union have a chance to wrap up the Eastern Conference has they face Charlotte at the early time of 5:30.  Montreal host D.C United (7:30 on TSN).  A Union win or a Montreal draw or loss clinches the conference title.  We like the Union's chances in Charlotte but aren't expecting any help from D.C. United.  As for the Supporters Shield, LAFC travel to Portland for a 3 pm Sunday match that you can catch on ABC.  Any dropped points there for LAFC would be awesome and 538 offers some hope of result for Portland.  

Might rain all weekend.  Good for the grass and watching football.

Unhelpful Draws

 Another post while on the road...

Both Newcastle and the Union came away with draws.  Neither was very helpful to their situations.  Sure, sometimes draws are fine but this weekend, Ted Lasso's wisdom was spot on:

“Look, we are not playing for a tie. Ain’t nobody here gonna kiss their sister…which is an American phrase that I’m now realizing does not exist here, and that’s good, ‘cause it’s creepy, and I hate it myself; I don’t know why I said it.”

No Fair, This Time They Played Hard

In Atlanta, the home team played like they were fighting for a playoff spot while the Union looked completely surprised by the intensity of their opponent, a team they had beaten 4-1 a few weeks ago.  The stats match perfectly with the one sided contest we saw on the field.  Possession was 60/40, shots were 16/5 and shots on goal were 6/0, though both sides did hit the post.  xG was 1.3-.2 on MLS and 1.7-.45 at 538.  The Union were lucky to come away with a 0-0 draw.  

Yeah, the draw did clinch a spot in next year's Champions League and it did reduce the magic number to win the Eastern Conference to two points (as in two draws in the final two matches would be enough).  But with LAFC beating Houston, the Union no longer control their destiny for the Supporters Shield.  

What, Me Worry?

Good advice from Alfred E. Neuman

Newcastle pushed Bournemouth all over the place but came away with a 1-1 draw.  Though it partially offsets the lucky draw they got with Brighton, this a fixture they must be winning.  Despite having the run of play, Newcastle's only goal came on a PK.  Guimaraes was back but ASM and Wilson were still sidelined so they are not playing their complete line up.  The Magpies still have just the one loss, but still just the one win too.  Not panicking yet but really would like to see a win or two to shore up the confidence.  

Return of the Prodigal Son

Tottenham - and South Korean fans - were happy to see
 Son break his scoring drought Photograph: Vincent Mignott/EPA

At least we are not Leicester.  As sort of predicted last week, Tottenham took the measure of the Foxes with a 6-2 win.  Actually, this was a close 3-2 contest until Son Heung-Min entered the fray.  Son, who has struggled this year, posted a natural hat trick with goals at 73, 84, and 86 minutes, allowing Spurs to coast in.  Tottenham remain unbeaten through seven matches.  This was another game in which Spurs were much better in the second 45 minutes.  Thinking that this might be Conte's strength - half time adjustments.  Will try to look more closely if I get time.

Arsenal (over Brentford) and Man City (over Wolves) both posted 3-0 wins to stay 1-2 in the table.  At the other end of the table, West Ham lost again, this time 0-1 to Everton and sit 18th in the table.   

 

It's Hard Out There for a Premier League Manager - Part II

Aston Villa still looked totally out of sync but got a goal from Jacob Ramsey but were never really threatened by Southampton. The 1-0 win was deserved.  We're going to make Ramsey's goal this week's instructional" YouTubeableMoment.  The announcers profess surprise that there was no offside on the play.  First, Konsa (#4), though in an offside position, clearly does not affect the keeper's ability to play the ball.  Second, Ramsey, also in an offside position when the initial shot was taken, is put onside by the deliberate play by the Southampton defender.  Before the recent IAFB clarification, there would have been no question that Ramsey was on.  With the new directive to look for a more deliberate play as opposed to a simple touch on the ball, the play probably deserved the second look.  But even then, that was a clear play so the offside assessment resets.  The call really can't be considered controversial.

Well, if this gig with Southampton doesn't work out,
I can always be a casino dealer

Southampton have had an up and down start to the season.  However, we are still surprised that
manager Ralph Hassenhuttl looked to be interviewing for a position at the Borgata in Atlantic City at this match (see picture right).

Bloated Mid-table

Right now the EPL mid-table is bigger than a beer-guzzling bowler's belly.  Sure it's only 7 games in but the spread from 10th to 17th is just 2 points and from 8th to 17th is just 3 points.  Newcastle (and Aston Villa) are disappointingly involved. 

Break

We're on the last international break before the World Cup.  The US has two friendlies.  The first is against Japan at 8:25 am on Friday (as in by the time you read this, the first half may be in the books).  The second is Saudi Arabia at 2 pm on Tuesday.  Berhalter is getting down to the last decisions on the squad for Qatar.  One Union alum - Brenden Aaronson - looks to be a lock.  A second  - Mark McKenzie  - is still in the running.

World Cup is just 58 days away.

We're From Philly

Which means we'll find any way we can to discount good news surrounding our sports franchises.  But the Union's success is getting hard to ignore.

Stunningly Easy?

Mbaizo's play as wingback is a reason the U score so much

Even if they are a mid-table side, Orlando are also the recently crowned US Open Cup champions. Thus, I didn't expect to see them swept aside this easily.  Though the Union didn't get on the board until the 39th minute, they did look comfortable.  The first goal was initially credited to Mbaizo, but everyone knew it was an own goal and in the end, Ojee got credit.  Not that Mbaizo didn't do great work down the right side to make it happen.  Uhre added a second at 43 minutes for a 2-0 halftime lead; that one was set up by a great through ball from Gazdag and is this week's  YouTubeableMoment.  A softish PK made it 3-0 and Bedoya added another with an awesome diving header.  That one came at a cost, as the captain suffered some kind of groin injury.  The teams traded late goals to make the final 5-1.

This was a more complete performance than the win over the Red Bulls.  Orlando managed just two shots on goal and I don't remember Blake being tested.  With three matches remaining, the U have a chance for 70 or more points (only three other clubs have done that), will most likely exceed 70 goals scored (only five have ever done that), and with just 22 goals conceded could break the record for the fewest goals allowed in a 34-game season (27).  Further, with a goal differential of 46, they could surpass the previous high of 48.  

Going to be real annoyed if, as could happen, they don't win Supporters Shield and/or the MLS Cup and people start pooh-poohing the season.  This was one of the best seasons ever for an MLS franchise and should not be defined by a two or three single games.

Games No Longer in Hand

Both of the sides chasing the Union - Montreal for the Eastern Conference title and LAFC for the Supporters Shield  - cashed in their games in hand on Tuesday.  Montreal did fine, handling Chicago 3-2 at home in a match in which the visitors could only threaten the goal on PKs.  The good news is that this was paired with a 2-2 draw on Friday to Columbus.  What the scoreline doesn't tell you is that Montreal were down 0-2 when the Crew had a man sent off at 76 minutes; Montreal scored at 89 and 94 minutes to snatch that point.  The Union lead over them is seven with three to play.

LAFC had an even tougher time.  Minnesota gave them a good contest and the 1-1 final looked right - maybe even flattering LAFC - to me.  The better news is that this was paired with a 1-2 loss at Dallas, as they played a man down for 77 minutes.  Five dropped points for them and now the Union are in the lead for the Supporters Shield by two points.  

Champions League

The EPL had another uneven week in Champions League.  Man City handled Dortmund okay and Liverpool rebounded with a win over Ajax.  But, Chelsea could only draw RB Salzburg at home; you could hear a "murmuring of boos" at the final whistle in Graham Potter's first match at Stamford Bridge.  Also, Tottenham fell to Sporting 2-0 on the road.  Didn't see that one but the stats make it look like Spurs were a bit unlucky.  

Dennis notes that through six EPL and two CL matches, the only sides to take points from Man City are ...Newcastle and Aston Villa.

He Cleans Up Nice

At Stamford Bridge, black tie required

Speaking of Graham Potter, anybody notice the upgraded wardrobe and haircut since his arrival at Stamford Bridge?  Check out the before and after shots.

At Brighton with no jacket or tie 

The Sounds of Silence (apologies to Simon and Garfunkel)

Checking in on the AC Milan - Dinamo Zagreb Champions League match, the commentator offered this gem:

Dinamo Zagreb will hope for a good start to take away the home field advantage; a silent crowd would be music to their ears

Oxymoronic but somehow you know exactly what he means.

 

It's Hard Out There for a Premier League Manager 

With all the traveling this summer, there hasn't been much time for my Forest Green Football Manager side.  The quieter weekend did allow for some catch up, but still only in August in the virtual world.  We were off to a surprisingly good start in the Premier League, winning our first four matches, including a totally lucky 1-0 win over Arsenal.  Virtual reality reared its ugly head though as we were totally outplayed in an 0-2 loss to Man United; we were outshot 27-2.  We normally play a 4-2-2-2 but figuring we'd be under the gun, we went with 4-1-2-2-1.  You wouldn't believe the crap I took from the press and the fans like this was a disastrous decision on my part.  One post on social media (yeah, that's how complete this game is - it comes with simulated Twitter) was:

He thinks he's a tactical genius but he's just a muppet.

Well that'll leave a mark.  Here's the thing.  Just for fun I went back and played the match with our usual 4-2-2-2 and we lost 0-5, getting outshot 32-4.  Leave me alone.

Good to have the early points in the bank but I suspect we'll still end up in the relegation mix.

And We're Back - Mostly

With a few exceptions, the EPL is set for a return to action.  The Brighton - Crystal Palace postponement came even before the queen's passing, due to an expected rail strike, which is apparently not going to materialize.  Chelsea - Liverpool and Man United - Leeds are off due to the funeral.

But we have Friday Football so it's all good.  You can catch Aston Villa - Southampton (USA) or Nottingham Forest - Fulham (Peacock) at 3 pm.  Villa really need to step up here; this is a match they need to be winning.  The latter match could be highly competitive and a preview of the relegation battle.

Thumbs up from Bruno but he might still be rested
ahead of the international break

Three more matches on Saturday, none on Peacock, which is very helpful for those of us refereeing or attending Michael B's wedding or stuff like that.  The earlybird special is Wolves - Man City at 7:30 on USA; Wolves have revealed their desperation for scoring punch with the signing this week of Diego Costa.  Probably won't help against City.  The 10 am match is Newcastle - Bournemouth.  Eddie Howe won't have Saint-Maximin and Wilson but might get Guimaraes back.  The Magpies will be favorites for this one.  The feature NBC match at 12:30 is Tottenham - Leicester.  That would be last place Leicester.  Facing Spurs at home doesn't look like a potential result for the Foxes to me.

Sunday's fixtures include Brentford - Arsenal at 7 and Everton - West Ham at 9:15, both on USA.  Good that we can DVR these two unnecessarily early matches because who knows how late we'll have to sleep after the wild wedding the night before.

The Union have a Saturday matinee (3:30) down in Atlanta.  This is probably the trickiest of the three remaining fixtures, though 538 has them as solid favorites (47/30/24).  Hope Atlanta aren't too upset about the 4-1 loss in Chester a few weeks ago.  On Thursday Jim Curtin said Bedoya trained all week and should be good to go.  Note that you'll need to go to TUDN to catch this one on TV.  You can watch in Spanish or follow the directions here to get commentary in English.

New England, fighting for its playoff life, might give Montreal a hard time this weekend.  That's Saturday at 7:30.  A combination of three points earned by the Union or dropped by Montreal will give the U the conference title.  Houston, already eliminated, may not help us much against LAFC.  That match is Sunday at 10:30.

 

  

Clear and Obvious Errors

The referees got more attention than is healthy.  Some interesting results.  A quality win for the Union. Despite the trip to NH, I did get to see a few matches but some were consumed on the phone while others didn't get my full attention.  I will fill in as best I can.

Salisbury Mistake?

Isak goes for chip but might have done better going far post

Even on the small screen of my phone, it looked like Newcastle outplayed Crystal Palace but came away with a 0-0 draw.  Actually, most of the stats don't match that impression; most are pretty close.  A notable exception is xG at 538; those suggest a 2.85 - 1.00 Magpie advantage.  The problem of course is that the numbers are saying that Newcastle had more and better chances but didn't convert.  That matches what I saw.  Isak had a breakaway but Guaita denied the cheeky chip.  

Not to put the draw all on referee Michael Salisbury's shoulders but he and Lee Mason looked to have screwed up in chalking of an own goal that would have given Newcastle a first half lead.  You can see the play here or here (fast forward to 6:25 of video).  Salisbury called it a goal on the field so he had decided either that Willock's contact with Guaita was not worthy of a foul or that Mitchell had pushed Willock into Guaita.  VAR Lee Mason sent Salisbury to the screen.  I am not the only one puzzled as to how Salisbury concluded he had made a clear and obvious error.  The PGMOL admitted that this was a mistake.  Lee Mason was dropped from VAR duty this week, although Salisbury is assigned as VAR for Southampton - Brentford.  I find this curious.  I don't have a big problem with Mason telling Salisbury to go to the monitor.  The error was that Salisbury didn't see that his initial call was correct, or at a minimum, was not a clear and obvious error.  Circling back, none of this would have mattered that much if Newcastle had put away some of the chances. 

Seven points from six matches doesn't sound all that great until you look at the fixtures.  With their schedule, a dream start would have been probably eight points at best.  Also, remember that they were without Wilson, Saint Maximin and Guimaraes for the Palace match.  

Keeping Good Company

Foster and Lasse Viren in 1976
Olympic Final: Running 10Ks prepares
 you for the difficult
job of being a Newcastle fan

Several more famous Magpie supporters were revealed to me this week.  First, during the Crystal Palace match, the camera found 10k Olympic medalist Brendan Foster among the crowd.  His Newcastle United bona fides are solid.  Later, in a text string discussing the Roxy Music reunion tour, we found out that Bryan Ferry is also a Magpie fan.  Between Sting, Mark Knopfler and Bryan Ferry, we have an all-star band.  Maybe they need a keyboard player?

Now You Raise the Flag?

NBC is lucking out a bit with their feature game selection.  On paper, Man City should have had an easy run against Aston Villa, regardless of where they play.  Not this time.  Villa played City tough and got a great "equalizer of real quality" from Bailey, seen here.  

But the story doesn't end there.  In the 79th minute, Coutinho had looked to put Villa up 2-1 only to be denied by an offside call.  You can see the play here.  Except 1) Coutinho was not offside when Watkins made the pass and 2) given how long ARs have been waiting to raise the flag on plays where the offside was way more obvious, why did Hooper choose this time to blow the whistle before Coutinho took the shot?  Because of that, the play was not reviewable by VAR.  I also saw some comment about there possibly being a touch by a Villa player after Watkins made the pass at a point where Coutinho had in fact moved into an offside position.  But the central question remains, after seeing ARs hold off on so many way more obvious offside calls, why was the flag raised on one that was actually close?  Still a good point for Villa.

 

VAR's  Bad Week Continues

Alas, we are not through with the VAR stuff for the week.  Late in Chelsea's 2-1 over West Ham, the Hammers had the potential equalizing goal called back for a foul on the keeper (where have we heard that before?). You can see the play here or here (forward to 13:32).  Andy Madley has a great view of the play and does not call a foul on Bowen.  Again, I don't have a problem with the VAR suggesting Madley look at it to make sure he saw what he thought he saw.  What I don't get is why he reversed himself.  At most, his initial call wasn't wrong; at a minimum, it was not a clear and obvious error.  PGMOL agrees, saying this was mistake as well.

We Correlate, You Decide

Man United are undefeated since taking Maguire and Ronaldo out of the starting line up.  This time the Red Devils took care of the last team with a perfect record, handing Arsenal a 3-1 defeat.  Half watching the game while going through moving boxes at my Dad's place, I had the impression that Man United were clearly the better side here; the stats look more like a draw though.  Four wins on the spin perfectly correlated with the benchings.

 I had Brighton on but don't really remember much other than these two clubs have gone in opposite directions in recent years.  The 5-2 win for the Seagulls looked thoroughly deserved.  Liverpool look to have caught whatever Man United had; their statistical edge did not translate into goals and they had to settle for a 0-0 draw with Everton.  In their first six matches, Liverpool have already dropped nine points.  The stat sheet says Tottenham ran Fulham ragged but in the end they only came away with a 2-1 win. Whatever, they are still unbeaten.

Arsenal continue top of the table but Man City and Spurs are close behind.  Steady and surprising Brighton are currently fourth, though their fortunes may be about to change, as you'll read below.

Heard on Peacock

Leeds keeper Meslier 
is older than he looks

Dennis noted that the announcer in the Brentford - Leeds match (won by the Bees 5-2) said "it's hard to believe Meslier is only 22."  To which Dennis responded, "Come on dude. It's easy to forget that he's older than 12."

Sieve-rpool?

Not the best of starts for EPL sides in the Champions League Group Stage play.  Man City were fine, handing Sevilla a 4-0 defeat on the road.  Spurs got a 2-0 win, which sounds great, except they played half the match up a man, managed only two shots on goal and needed late goals from Richarlison to get the victory.  Chelsea were beaten 0-1 at Dinamo Zagreb (and Tuchel was sacked - more on that below).  But easily the strangest result was seeing Liverpool being completely taken apart by Napoli.  The 4-1 final could have been even worse.  Dennis texted me early in the second half when Napoli added their fourth - "what are we even watching?"  Tough games for Gomez and Van Dijk.  At least Klopp didn't get fired.

Buh Bye

On the face of it, the sacking of Thomas Tuchel after the loss to Dinamo Zagreb was out of the blue, so to speak.  Turns out, Tuchel's fate was probably sealed long ago.  There's a great article in The Athletic here (behind a paywall) outlining how the situation had been deteriorating for some time.  I pulled out the best summary paragraph from the article here:

 Understanding how Chelsea’s new owners settled on this drastic and ruthless course of action requires a closer look at the sequence of events that led to this point — a remarkable story that includes:

• Tuchel delegating some recruitment meetings to his agent owing to tensions with owners
• “Slapstick” moments as new owners got used to soccer, including a 4-4-3 formation Chelsea deny happened
• Tuchel feeling he wasn’t given the signings he asked for
• Too many players left feeling isolated or even ignored, with separate pre-season meetings
• Tuchel believing he had verbally agreed a new contract with Chelsea
• Tuchel feeling he was close to sack on pre-season over tensions with Behdad Eghbali
• Boehly displaying detailed knowledge of Potter’s career in Cucurella meeting
• How communication from owners dried up after Leeds defeat

Tuchel is out only 16 months after leading Chelsea to Champions League glory, and the new ownership group led by Boehly and Clearlake Capital have made their most divisive decision yet.

The article points out there is a marked difference in Chelsea's performance in his first 50 matches compared to the last 50 matches.  

The other shoe to drop in this story is that Chelsea have hired Graham Potter away from Brighton.  You wonder how this will affect Brighton going forward.  Potter got them to their highest ever finish last year (9th) and they are off to an excellent start, seemingly not missing a beat after losing key players like Cucurella and Maupay.  Brighton fans are not happy. I liked Potter and was impressed with what he did with that club.  Now...well, won't be same for me.

YouTubeableMoment - College Division

BFS Track and Field Consultant Jack W sends along this video from a Long Beach State match.  Love the honest reaction: I can't believe what I just did.

How You Like Me Now?  (apologies to The Heavy)

Last week we suggested that maybe people were downplaying the Union's recent accomplishments because of the quality of the opposition.  Okay, so let's take a trip up the NJ Turnpike to face the Red Bulls in their home stadium for a third match in eight days.  That's a fair test, right?  So what will people say after the Union brought home a 2-0 win?

I should be careful not to overstate this win.  Red Bulls probably had the run of play for the first 30 minutes.  Andre Blake had his usual collection of saves to keep us in the match.  They slowly grew into the match, perhaps needing some time to adjust to a revised lineup that saw Bedoya and Martinez not starting with McGlynn and Flach replacing them.  It was McGlynn who helped get the scoring started with a cool flick over a defender followed by a sweet through ball to Uhre.  Watch it here as this week's YouTubeableMoment - Professional Division.  A NY defensive lapse in the 74th minute gave Daniel Gazdag a chance to add to his season record goal scoring total and he did not miss, netting his 18th of the year.  The stats says this was closer than 2-0 and xG actually favors NY.  Except the Union get 1-2 critical stops per game from Blake and the quality of finishing is high right now, two factors that can skew the xG stats. 

The U go into the weekend knowing they can finish no lower than third.  They have an eight point lead over second place Montreal, who have a game in hand.  Orlando could also still catch them as they still have six to play.  The U are also level on points with LAFC for the Supporters Shield, although again, LA have a game in hand.  

League Interrupted

With refereeing for the Chestnut Hill Youth Sports Club starting up this weekend, I was figuring I'd be watching Saturday's matches on delay.  Apparently, everyone else will too.  A long delay.  As of publication there wasn't an official announcement but the expectation is that all EPL matches will be postponed as England enters a 12-day period of mourning following the Queen's passing.  If I did my counting right, a 12-day period would mean that next weekend's matches will be postponed.

The Union match is still on as far as I can tell.  They'll play Orlando at 7:30 on Saturday night at Subaru Park.  A win will mean they can finish no worse than second.  LAFC have a tough road match against Dallas.  

Geez, I might end up watching the NFL - .nah, not going to happen.  Maybe the US Open though.

A New Newcastle?

Last second loss to Liverpool notwithstanding, this is not the old Newcastle. Looks like they can play with anybody.  Union do well except they keep missing the extra point.

A Good Draw

Yes, there is such a thing.  Wolves and Newcastle were playing an excellent back and forth match in which the difference was only an awesome first half strike from Juan Neves.  As the clock hit 90, Allan Saint-Maximin unleashed a volley from the top of the box that was pure gold.  This is an easy call for the week's YouTubeableMoment.  There is some statistical evidence to suggest that Newcastle were actually the better side but I thought a 1-1 draw was the right result for this highly watchable contest.

VAR played a big role.  First,  Peter Bankes didn't call it on the field and VAR Lee Mason declined to intervene when Longstaff was held in the box (get your minds out of the gutter); I thought it affected his ability to get to the ball and should have been a PK.  Later, Schar made a nasty tackle on Neto; I think he was, as they say, a lucky boy that the VAR did not intervene there and push for a red card.  The biggest one though was a potential foul in the build up to what would have been Wolves' second goal.  Peter Bankes had not been calling that pushing foul all day and did not initially on this play.  Looking at the monitor he changed his mind, overruling the goal that would have put the game out of reach.  Probably the right call, if inconsistent with how he had refereed up to that point.

A third straight draw for the Magpies but again, this was a match they would have lost in previous years.  They were without Guimaraes and Wilson, new signing Alexander Isak was unavailable since his work permit didn't come through, and Dan Burn was deputized to play left back as Matt Targett wasn't fully fit yet.  The streak includes away draws against two decent sides (Brighton and Wolves) and a home tie against the current league champions Man City.  Six points from four matches is just fine.

Newcastle acquire AI: the striker we've been looking for?
PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

The basic premise of the previous paragraph is not negated by the 2-1 loss at Liverpool on Wednesday.  They did not come out in the old defensive shell against a top side but played attacking football the whole time.   They had a 1-0 lead for much of the match.  They only lost on basically the last play of the game in the 98th minute.  And, they did it without Wilson, Guimaraes and Saint-Maximin.  A key reason this was a tight contest was the forward play of new acquisition Alexander Isak (pronounced E-sock).  Boy he looks fast and seems to have a nose for the goal.  He had the Magpies' only goal and had a second ruled out for a tight offside call.  Frankly, the tone of the game changed when he was substituted out; the attack went mostly lifeless allowing Liverpool to press more.  Sounds like he got a dead leg and had to come out but isn't supposed to be anything serious.  This could be interesting with him, ASM and Guimaraes on the pitch at the same time.

Newcastle were upset with Andre Marriner when five minutes of stoppage time became seven plus, allowing Liverpool to get the game winner on that corner.  As one who's regularly annoyed that referees almost never add back enough to account for the time lost to injury and shithousery,  I'm not going to complain  Further, I think Marriner got it right.  During the original five minutes there were two more stoppages for injuries to Joelinton and Nick Pope; Pope was down for at least a minute, maybe more.  The corner was signaled before 97:00; it was delayed a few seconds because there was a second ball on the field.  The corner was still taken before 97:00.  It didn't go into the net until about 97:10 but there's no way Marriner should have blown the whistle before the kick was taken.  Frankly, here's hoping to more accurate stoppage times going forward.

Conversation That Could Have Taken Place and Did

Steve:  Surely, they should have let Trippier take that free kick from just outside the box instead of Schar.

Michael B: Agree 100%. But please don't call me Shirley

Not Just Fine

Fortunes are not so good farther south.  Aston Villa could not put the ball into the net against West Ham and fell 0-1 when an unlucky deflection found its way past Martinez.  Dennis described it well - " a 1-1 draw that we lost somehow."  Villa did have a nice goal called back when it turned out the corner kick went out of bounds before it reached the box.  Dennis pointed out, and I'm seeing some of it too, that Ings and Coutinho might not play all that well together; I don't remember that being an issue last year but they do not look in sync right now.  On Wednesday I saw pieces of their 2-1 loss to Arsenal. Emil Martinez has been a rock for them in goal but he looked culpable on both of the Gunners' tallies.  

The good news is that Villa were not passive as the transfer window closed.  They added defensive midfielder Leander Dendoncker on a permanent deal from Wolves and defender Jan Bednarek on a season long loan from Southampton.  Dendoncker might have been a hedge against losing Douglas Luiz, who seemed certain to be headed to Arsenal but ended up staying with Villa.  Bednarek will add depth after the loss of Diego Carlos to a season-ending Achilles injury; based on what I read, I'd start Bednarek over Mings.  Personnel moves aside, the Villans need to sort out their chemistry and start playing like they should be capable of.

What Slump?

Erik Ten Hag to Man United ownership

Ronaldo and Maguire remained on the bench and Man United got two more wins, though arguably
against mediocre competition.  They were not dominant in either of the 1-0 wins over Southampton or Leicester City, though we do note they were road wins.  [Side note: Happy to see my FM Forest Green keeper Gavin Bazunu looking strong in goal for the Saints.  Can't hold him responsible for the Fernandes goal.]  Impressive or not, against less than the league's best or not, Man United have three consecutive wins, nine points from three matches and are up to 5th in the table.  We should all suck so badly.

Ronaldo is apparently not leaving in this transfer window. Not sure how all of sudden everybody becomes okay with him staying.  Maguire isn't going anywhere either.  

Meanwhile...

I remember watching a bunch of other games but confess the highlights aren't too clear in my memory.  Man City fell behind by two goals but still beat Crystal Palace 4-2, then plastered Nottingham Forest 6-0; their goal differential is already plus 14.  Liverpool took out a month's worth of frustration on Bournemouth in a 9-0 win that made Scott Parker the winner in this year's Sack Race.  I know I saw Brighton beat Leeds 1-0 but remember hoping that was going to be a more interesting contest.  

Tottenham didn't exactly shine in the 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest but they did get the job done.  The home fans were certainly pumped and the team gave Spurs all they could handle.  Tottenham were outpossessed 44-56 and shots were 18-17.  Telling though was just one shot on goal for the hosts versus two clinical finishes from Harry Kane.  They shone even less on Wednesday in a 1-1 draw with West Ham.  I didn't see the match but the stats, except possession, suggest a draw was about right.  Ogee got another goal for Spurs and is now the team's second leading scorer behind Kane.  Wouldn't worry too much.  They're still unbeaten and sit third in the table despite not really clicking yet.  Nice problem to have.

Toffees clad in bubblegum: Everton change kit makes no sense

I remember two things about the 1-1 draw between Leeds and Everton.  First, Brendan Aaronson got the assist on the Leeds' goal.  Second, who picked the uniforms for Everton?  All of a sudden the Toffees turned into the Bubblegums.  

Arsenal marched on though they struggled to beat Fulham 2-1 at home, then muddled through the win over Villa.  They're still top the table.

Conversation That Could Have Taken Place But Didn't

Dennis: How come there was no foul when Richarlison got kicked in the nuts?

Steve: Defender got all balls

Shithousery: Too Much or Not Enough?

For Richarlison "fans," in addition to getting kicked in the family jewels, he performed this juggling act (keepy-uppies!?) late in the Nottingham Forest match with Spurs holding a 2-0 lead.  As you can see, he was clocked shortly thereafter by Forest's Johnson.  Though some have defended "Richy" (including Antonio Conte), the reaction looks mostly negative, as in the play was disrespectful.  I'd say the negatives are mostly from players and coaches while the defenders are mostly pundits.  One line of  defense is he was just playing smart soccer, trying to slow the game down with Spurs in the lead.  Like, this kind of action helps win games.   Watching the video, I'm not buying that at all.  The other tack in support is that the game needs more, not less, of this type of shithousery; for example see this article.  Again, not buying it.  For me it takes away from the game and makes me think the guy is a dick, however talented he may be.  Noah Lyles is a great 200 meter runner but his antics make me lose interest real fast.  To be clear, I'm not condoning Johnson's tackle; yellow card was the appropriate sanction for the reckless challenge that did not involve excessive force, serious foul play or violent conduct.  Also, in small print, I have to acknowledge that it was Richarlison's great cross into the box for Kane that provided the insurance goal.  

Last Minute Shopping

Lots of action in the final hours of the summer transfer window.  A complete summary can be found here .   Newcastle say goodbye to Martin Dubravka (who served us well even if he was injury prone) and Frederico Fernandez (a serviceable center back).  Fulham were quite busy, adding Daniel James (loan from Leeds), Carlos Vinicius and Willian.  Is that a slap at Mitrovic?

Seis a Cero

This is becoming a common scoreline for the Union.  And it looked about right in Saturday's contest versus Colorado.  There was one hairy play in front of the Union goal but otherwise the Rapids didn't threaten much.  The opening goal was perfect chested through ball from Uhre onto Gazdag's feet that Daniel finished cleanly.  The second was an deserved PK - as in it was the result of pressure and the foul was obvious.  The third was also a PK, deserved because of the pressure but probably not a foul.  With a 3-0 half time lead, not much happened until Curtin put in the subs.  Not unexpected, when you put in a bunch of young guys fighting for playing time, they were eager to prove themselves.   Prove themselves they did, as the Union added three more in the final 10 or so minutes.  Though you wouldn't think it possible, the final flatters Colorado a bit; Carranza could have easily had three more.  So many things working well, starting with the trio of Gazdag, Uhre and Carranza.  Jack Elliott bossed the Union half of the field.  Solid tackling and challenges throughout.  

Not Lanta

Blake's appearance vs Atlanta was 200th league match;
he's also been playing well with the new 'do
Photo:Shivant Krishnan

Right back out there Wednesday night against an Atlanta team that really is a shell of their former self. Bad traffic got us there barely in time but Jeff H came through with a clutch approach to buying our beers - purchase from a roving vendor rather than waiting in line at the booths.  It would not be his only time saving idea of the night.   Gazdag Carranza (see below) got the U on the board at 17 minutes with an accurate shot from the top of the box that maybe the keeper should have stopped.  Atlanta leveled at 24 but the Union took the lead for good in first half stoppage time.  As BFS Keeper Consultant Graham R noted, the U were the better team and both teams played like they knew that.  Sure enough, Gazdag (the real one) provided some breathing room mid-way through the second half with his 17th of the season - breaking CJ Sapong's old record.  They added a fourth late.  The final of 4-1 felt mostly right but looking at the stats suggests this was not a crisply played match.  Neither team was over 80% passing accuracy.  The xG numbers say the U were probably lucky not to have surrendered at least one more goal.  Jeff H and I would have liked to have seen more subs and earlier.  At 3-1, looking at three games in eight days, why is Bedoya still on the field at 75 minutes?  These are nits however and night was good, capped off by Jeff H finding a back way home that saved 10 minutes.  Beat the traffic! 

With the win, the Union clinch a playoff berth.  With results elsewhere, the chances of winning the Eastern Conference and the Supporters Shield got big boosts.  Montreal lost, NYCFC lost and LAFC lost.  The LA loss was to Houston, the team we beat 6-0.  Hmm, some have heavily discounted the U's recent performance based on the quality of opposition.  Well, we didn't lose to Houston...

Holy Smokes, We've Been Marking the Wrong Guy

Gazdag in his Carranza disguise

No wonder he keeps on scoring.  This is effing brilliant by The Inquirer.  Publish an article ion Wednesday's edition on the front page of the sports section about how good Daniel Gazdag has been playing but use a picture of Julian Carranza, not Gazdag (see left).  I think they got it right in the digital edition.  Jeff K notes that there's no way this happens to the Eagles wide receiver who just got cut.  We call this the best attempt to confuse opponents since South Korea in the last World Cup; check this out from the BFS post on 6/19/18:

He's Allowed to Say That 

South Korean manager Shin Tae-yong had his players wear numbers different than what they wore in recent friendlies in an attempt to limit the usefulness of scouting reports.  His reasoning?

‘We switched them around because we didn’t want to show our opponents everything and to try and confuse them. They might know a few of our players but it is very difficult for Westerners to distinguish between Asians and that’s why we did that.’

On the Road Again

Back up to New Hampshire from Saturday - Tuesday so not sure what I'll get to see.  Hopefully I'll get to some Peacock or ESPN+ replays.

The most interesting fixture of the match week is Man United - Arsenal Sunday at 11:30 on USA.  It's also the most competitive contest of the weekend, according to 538 who have it at Man United 35% Arsenal 41%, draw 24%.  Helps that it's at Old Trafford.  The Gunners are unbeaten but their opponents have been Palace, Leicester, Fulham, Aston Villa and Bournemouth so have they really been tested yet?  Man United have been better of late, including a win over Liverpool.  A test for both sides.

A Merseyside Derby gets the weekend rolling for you early birds; Everton are hosting this one that kicks off at 7:30 Saturday on USA.  On paper it doesn't look like much of a derby.

The schedulers have piled six matches into the 10 am slot.  Neutrals have some pretty good choices, though that may not be obvious at first glance.  I'd be going with Newcastle - Crystal Palace anyway but I'd argue that could be a fun watch for everybody else; should be some open entertaining football.  The TV people chose Brentford - Leeds and that's not a terrible match up.  Neither are Wolves - Southampton (mid table) or Nottingham Forest - Bournemouth (an early preview of the relegation battle?).  Also on tap are two London derbies -  Chelsea hosting West Ham and  Fulham at Spurs; those don't look all that close.  Question - with seven London sides, doesn't that mean that like 35% of the matches are London derbies and doesn't that dilute the meaning?  Just askin'.

In a common theme so far this season, the feature 12:30 match on NBC doesn't look all that competitive even if Aston Villa are the home side against Man City.  However, last week's Arsenal-Fulham contest turned out to be okay so maybe there is hope.  Brighton - Leicester (last place Leicester to you) rounds out the schedule; that's Sunday at 9 on USA.

This side of the Atlantic, the Union have a tester, taking on the Pink Cows in Harrison; that's Saturday at 7 on PHL-17.  Yes, the U clinched a playoff spot Wednesday night.  But among other things to be settled are winning the conference, winning the Supporters Shield (we are now tied with LAFC though they have a game in hand) and at least making sure we have home field advantage for the early rounds of the playoffs.  Geez, look at me now talking about all these possibilities.  Realistically, this is a tough match so a draw would not be a terrible result, except maybe for the Supporters Shield chances.

The Fox game of the week is Portland - Atlanta at 5:30 on Sunday.  Okay, both teams are fighting for playoff spots but wouldn't New England  - NYCFC have been a better choice?

Complaining about not subbing players out to give them a rest and choice of contests for TV coverage.  Things must not be too bad.