Brain Freeze Warning

After many weeks of lean fare, we are likely to dive in much too quickly to the ice cream sundae of the next month.  Women's World Cup, Leagues Cup (MLS vs Liga MX) and the EPL Summer Series.  Okay, maybe exaggerating a little on the last two but there will be plenty to watch.

Union Continue To Be Lucky?

The match I saw (live at Subaru Park) felt like a draw.  The stats say draw or maybe even NY win; shots were 5/11, shots on goal were 3/3, possession was 44/56 and xG was 1.1/1.3.  The scoreboard says Union 2 NYCFC 1.  Philadelphia were a bit better than in recent outings but not great against a mediocre side.

Looking at the expected goals, we could go with another interpretation - that the Union had better finishing and better goalkeeping.  Those are possible - and legitimate - explanations for variation from the real score and xG.  For the first goal, Quinn Sullivan delivered a great cross to Jose Martinez, who volleyed it like a £100 million striker.  Easily this week's YouTubeableMoment. The second was created by a nifty pass from Gazdag to Donovan, who was first denied but saw the ball come back into his path and he put it away.  The stat sheet says Blake had two saves but it felt like more.  Not saying there hasn't been some good fortune in recent weeks, but for this one, it may be more than dumb luck.  

Constructive Criticism

Quinn Sullivan did just fine in place of Julian Carranza
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Quinn Sullivan had an excellent game, replacing the suspended Julian Carranza up top on the right.  As noted above he had the assist on the first goal but was generally creating opportunities down the right side.  He did however have a bad moment in the second half.  After working the ball into NYCFC's final third, in all kinds of space, with all kinds of time, he calmly delivered the pass directly to a NYCFC defender.  Oh well.  Reactions in our section varied:

Unknown Sullivan relative (the family has seats in the row behind us): Quinn really s*** the bed on that last pass

Laura: Maybe he confused the NYCFC jersey for the Union road colors

Steve: He did so well until the final pass

All three work, one is more "colorful."  The relative noted that it will never be said that they don't call 'em as they see 'em, family member or not.  

Leagues Cup

So now the regular season grinds to a halt while clubs participate in the Leagues Cup.  Details (and some hype) can be had here.  Fifteen groups of three play two group stage matches, with the bottom team dropping out at that point.  Note that there are no ties in group stage play; if level after 90 minutes they go to a penalty shootout.  Win in regulation you get three, winner in a shootout gets two while the loser in the shoot out gets one.  Thirty advance from group stage and are joined by LAFC and CF Pachuca for a knockout field of 32.  Play proceeds from there until the final on August 19.  The Union are in a group with Tijuana and Queretaro with matches on 7/22 and 7/26.  

There is a "not useless" reward for doing well in the competition.  The winner gets automatic entry to final 16 in CONCACAF Champions League.  The other finalist gets automatic entry to the Champions League, as does the winner of the Consolation match between the two semi-final losers.  

I am resistant to the hype so far.  It is an interesting idea and could be fun to watch.  But why do we shut down the MLS for five weeks to make it happen?  Every other country knows how to fold in multiple competitions without interrupting the regular season.  Or, if you were going to shut the regular season down, why didn't they do it during the CONCACAF Gold Cup?  That way teams missing key players (cough, cough, like the Union, cough cough) for the Gold Cup wouldn't have seen their regular season matches jeopardized.  Yes, they'd be undermanned for the Leagues Cup matches but what manager wouldn't have made that trade.

I feel like this league keeps shooting itself in the foot...

MLeSsi

So he is finally here.  The good news is that Lionel will likely improve his teammates' performance and put fans in the seats.  The bad news is that it's more evidence of what we already knew - the MLS is a second tier league as this is the place aging stars come to extend their careers.  Here's an interesting take on the risks of this move by Chris Gibbons at The Philly Soccer Page. Definite downside possibilities.  

The Tricolor Get Gold

As expected, Mexico defeated Panama in the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final.  However, El Tri did not dominate here and the winning goal came in the 88th minute of an enjoyable back-and-forth contest.  It wasn't all beautiful though, with 41 fouls and eight yellow cards.  The game winner by Santiago Gimenez, seen here, was a great individual effort.

Two Down, 61 To Go

Hannah Wilkinson celebrates the game winner for New
Zealand over NorwayPhoto by Phil Walter/Getty Images

Great start to the Women's World Cup, with co-host New Zealand knocking off Norway  in a tight 1-0 match.  This was the first win in World Cup history for New Zealand - men or women - and was played in front of the largest crowd ever New Zealand - men or women.  The Kiwis celebrated like they'd won the Cup at the final whistle. 

Australia vs Ireland was a tight, if choppy, contest as well.  That one went to Australia 1-0 on a PK.  The host side might have been in a bit of shock after realizing they'll be missing star Sam Kerr for the first two group stage matches.

A few initial observations (I realize they're based on a sample of two)

1) The women's game seem much less inclined to s***housery than the men's.  Much less writhing on the ground after a foul and no where near the same level of referee-swarming.  Game management (read:time wasting) is still practiced though.

2) Looks like the referees have the same instructions that were given in Qatar with respect to stoppage time; get used to seeing some big numbers.

3) The women may be as "tatted up" as the men.

24/7

We'll probably end up "watching" all the WWC matches, either live, on DVR or on "modified DVR" (which means judicious use of the fast forward button).   Hard for me to pick out which ones to focus on if you have more normal viewing habits.  USWMNT are 9 pm Friday vs Vietnam and 9 pm Wednesday vs Netherlands.  Group B (Australia, Ireland, Canada and Nigeria) looks like the Group of Death so any of those matches should be good.  With Norway's loss today to New Zealand, they need a result in their match with Switzerland on Tuesday.   

Layer into this the EPL Summer Series which brings Newcastle and Aston Villa to the Linc on Sunday.  Sure, it's a friendly, but it's still a BFS derby and we wouldn't miss it.  Dennis and I will be there with our respective colors for .  Plus we get Brentford vs Fulham as part of the ticket.  

And we told you about the Union in the Leagues Cup on Saturday and Wednesday.

Check your local listing as they say.  Well, more accurately, check Fox, FS1 and FS2 as that network has every WWC match and many of the League Cup fixtures as well.  

Not sure about posting schedule.  Might wait until the first two games of the group stage are done so we can discuss the third game scenarios.  On the other hand, might be too much to remember if I wait that long.

Wait, the British Open is this weekend too?  Now, you're just messin' with me...