Not Afraid Anymore

Way too much going on.  Two sets of EPL matches, MLS playoffs, baseball playoffs.  No way I can do justice to everything that happened. 

Not Your Father's Newcastle

Used to be that Newcastle would show up scared at Old Trafford and play for a 0-0 draw, probably lining up in a 10-0-0.  Not this time.  You could see the difference right away.    That the final was in fact 0-0 obscures what the Magpies accomplished.  They took it to Man United right from the opening whistle.  No bunkering in this time.  Good attacking football.  Two consecutive shots off the woodwork.  In the first half, the Magpies were clearly the better side.  Second half belonged more to Man United, who had some good chances as well.  But the point is that Newcastle didn't shrink into a defensive shell.  

Facing Everton at home on Wednesday, we saw more of the same, with Newcastle on the front foot from the start.  Almiron had a real moment of quality with his strike in the 31st minute.  That was the only goal of the day and a clear choice for this week's YouTubeableMoment.  The 1-0 final flatters Everton.  They had one shot, none on target.  You feel they could have played for another 2-3 hours and Everton still wouldn't have scored.

A footnote is that Newcastle played both matches without Saint-Maximin and Isak.  So 11 games in, they are 6th in the table, have yielded the fewest goals (9) and along with Arsenal and Man City, are the only sides with one loss so far.  Works for me.

Dennis at Fan Fest

The happy Aston Villa couple

Dennis and Brenna made it down to Dilworth Plaza for the Philly Fan Fest.  They saw Aston Villa play better.  It wasn't enough though as the Villans lost to Chelsea 0-2, thanks to howler from defender Mings and what looks like an error by keeper Martinez on a free kick. 

Gerrard: I need Indeed. Indeed you do.

Thursday's 0-3 defeat at Fulham was even more frustrating.  The club showed no spark, no creativity and an appalling work rate.  Already down 0-1, Douglas Luiz got sent off for "violent conduct" towards Mitrovich which looked more like 60% Luiz momentum and 40% Mitro moving into Luiz.  Shouts for a PK on Watkins were ignored and minutes later Cash was called for handling in the box; yes, his arm was extended but not sure exactly where he was supposed to hold it.  A late own goal completed the misery.  Steven Gerrard probably didn't make it back to Birmingham before he had been sacked.  

Coaches Misbehaving

You can't say that...

Neither Klopp or Guardiola distinguished themselves in an otherwise decent match that saw Liverpool edge Man City 1-0.  City had looked to take the lead on a Foden score but it was chalked off after the VAR spotted a foul by Haaland on the build up.  It was a clear foul and the call was correct.  Liverpool fans cheered loudly, as you expect they would.  Guardiola responded with sarcastic gestures.  Klopp was worse.  After City was not called for a foul on Salah, he confronted the Assistant Referee and earned himself a red card  We can only guess that he said the magic words.  Klopp has been charged with improper conduct by the FA but as of publication, we don't know what his sentence is.

Random Observations

The pile of results is simply too big to report on.  I know I watched a bunch of games but they are blurring together.

- After consecutive shutout losses to Tottenham and Newcastle in which they managed a grand total of no shots on target, Everton have fallen to 15th in the table, a mere point outside the relegation zone

- Leicester got four points in two matches and moved all the way from 20th to 19th

- Table continues to be compressed with just three points between 12th and 18th, and just six points between 7th and 15th

- Ronaldo once again proved the consummate teammate, sulking on the bench when not inserted into the match, then leaving the bench before the game was over, even though his team was wrapping up an important and impressive 2-0 win over Spurs.  As noted here, after being dropped from the squad for Saturday's match, he sort of apologized for his behavior.

Less Than Their Best

MVP, MVP
Photo: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Was still good enough for the Union to advance to the conference semis with a 1-0 win over FC Cincinnati.  The passing was atrocious (under 70% completion rate), aside from a few forays down the right wing, there wasn't a cohesive attack, and even the vaunted defensive unit allowed 15 shots.  The good news is that they blocked six of those shots and Blake had at least three important saves.  The better news is that Leon Flach got his first career MLS playoff goal in the 60th minute.  As you can see here, this was not the tidiest of goals but it still counted.  A nail-biting 30+ minutes later, the victory was in the books. 

Based on the sloppy and disorganized performance, we suggest that the Union did feel the absence of Bedoya, who didn't dress due to lingering issues with a hip injury.  Though not always a steadying influence in his time here, we do think this year he has provided the type of leadership that might have helped tighten up the team's performance.   Hopefully he will be back for the conference final a week from Sunday.

The Rest of MLS

Really?  This is where the NY MLS franchise held their playoff game

Tried to take in as many first round matches as I could.  Watched most a lot of Montreal - Orlando in the car, waiting for the parking lot to clear after the Eagles - Cowboys game Sunday night; didn't even bother to turn the engine on for an hour. Montreal were just better, though it took a while for them to prove it.  The 2-0 final, which included a stoppage time PK looks about right.

Also saw NYCFC - Inter Miami, played at my new candidate for worst MLS venue ever - CitiField.  NYCFC were just plain better and the 3-0 final, which ironically also includes a stoppage time PK, says it all.  FC Cincinnati won the chance to play the Union with a 2-1 win over the Red Bulls in a half full Red Bull Arena in Harrison.  Check out Cincy's game winner here.

Labor shortages meant BFS had no staff to cover the Western Conference matches.  I did see the second half of the El Traffico semi-final.  The Galaxy came back from 0-1 and 0-2.  The final was 3-2 favor of LAFC, decided on stoppage time goal by Arango.  Yeah, it was a classic.

Sunday 9 am Is the New Saturday 10 am?

The closest thing we have to a marquee matchup is Chelsea - Man United, the feature match Saturday at 12:30 on NBC.  Tightest fixture is probably Everton hosting Crystal Palace Saturday at 10 on USA; 538 has that at 38/34/28.  Given their respective recent forms, Tottenham - Newcastle (Sunday at 11:30 on USA) could be a good one too.  Not gonna predict a Magpie win here but I do think it could be a highly watchable contest.  

Used to be that Saturday 10 am was the most crowded time slot for EPL fixtures.  Lately, they've been cramming them in at 9 Sunday morning. This week you have four choices for that time slot including five sides that go into the weekend within three points of the relegation zone. We'll be watching Aston Villa - Brentford, hoping that Villa will benefit from the new manager bounce. That one is on Peacock.  Neutrals might opt for the Wolves - Leicester contest on USA.  In other years this would have been a battle for a Europa League spot but now it's a relegation relevant fixture.  Leeds - Fulham on CNBC will also be of interest to relegation afficionados.  Your last option is Southampton - Arsenal.

Rounding out the schedule, Liverpool go to Nottingham Forest for the early Saturday match on USA that will likely do nothing for Forest's relegation chances. Man City should handle Brighton (Saturday at 10 on Peacock) and we have a Monday match with West Ham hosting Bournemouth at 3 pm on USA.  

Mid-week has Champions League and Europa fixture (schedules here and here).  They are in match five of the six match group stage.

The other two MLS conference semi-finals are Sunday.  Montreal hosting NYCFC should be a cracker at 1 pm.  Not as familiar with Austin or Dallas, though 538 says Austin are big favorite.  Both matches are on ESPN. 

Meanwhile, enjoy the day off and watch the Phillies.