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.