The Dog Days of Summer?

When it's hot and steamy outside and not much football to watch.

Not 'Lanta

As we feared, Atlanta was a tougher opponent than Miami.  Trouble started early.  The Union had appeared to dodge a bullet when a foul initially identified as taking place in the box, was moved to a yard outside the penalty area.  Almada fired the free kick right into the wall but the rebound came back to him and he rifled a volley into the left side of the net.  Bullet not dodged.  You can see why here.  I did watch the whole thing (Fox not Apple!) but don't remember much except thinking the Union didn't look like they had any idea how to score.  A 79th minute goal that Bendik should really have stopped put away any doubts that Atlanta were going to take all three points here.  Though we had 15 shots, just one was on goal.  Currently, 538 is not providing xG (summer vacation?) but another source said it was 1.47 - .93 favor Atlanta.  It didn't seem that close to me.  

Already missing Blake and Lowe,  Kai Wagner was also out with a hamstring injury .  They started with a 5-2-1-2 with Flach and Mbaizo as wingbacks and Glesnes, Harriel and Elliott as the three center backs.  At some point, after falling behind, they moved Flach up to make it a 4-3-1-2 but other than a few crosses, there still wasn't much offense.   They have three matches before MLS takes a five week break for the League Cup.  Hope they find some answers.

Who's This Jesus Guy?

It's good to have Jesus on your side
Getty Images

Ho hum, another 6-0 rout for the USMNT, this time against Trinidad and Tobago.  And, a second straight hat trick for Jesus Ferreira.  Sure, maybe not the toughest opposition but I will note that five of his six goals have come in the first half, i.e. not garbage time.  So after a mediocre opener against Jamaica, the US were able to win their group based on goal differential over Jamaica.   They'll take on Canada in the quarters.

Phaeton Torpedoes?

Guadaloupe had some fun against Cuba.  Matthais Phaeton had two blasts in the first half seen here and here.  But he was outdone by teammate Antony Baron, seen here in this week's YouTubeableMoment; filthy indeed.  The 4-1 win over Cuba put Guadaloupe in prime position to advance.

Things looked even more promising when, only needing a draw against Guatemala in the final group stage match, they went up 1-0 early.  They also had a 2-1 lead well into the second half before Guatemala scored at 70 and 75 minutes.  But Guadaloupe were extended a lifeline with a PK in the 88th minute that would have levelled the match and sent them on.  Ironically, it was Phaeton whose attempt was stopped and it was Guatemala who advanced.  A highly entertaining match with plenty of drama.

The quarterfinal line up is set, with all matches live on FS1:

July 8 at 7 pm- Panama vs Qatar

July 8 at 9:30 pm - Mexico vs Costa Rica

July 9 at 5 pm - Guatemala vs Jamaica

July 9 at 7:30 pm - USA vs Canada

The Geography of Money

Sharp-eyed readers will ask when exactly did Qatar move to North America and become part of CONCACAF?  This is actually the second consecutive Gold Cup in which Qatar was an invited guest.  The flowery answer (per Goal.com) is something like: 

In fact, it was declared back in 2020 that Qatar would be part of the 2021 and 2023 Gold Cups as part of a major collaboration between CONCACAF and Qatari Football Association...the initiative was aimed at the growth of the beautiful game at a grassroots level in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Maybe.  Back in 2021 the Sporting News noted:

It won't hurt that Qatar's invitation has also led to Qatar Airways joining on as a multi-year tournament sponsor.

Well, there is that.

Sharper-eyed readers might ask how is it that Qatar has made it to the quarterfinals for the second straight time?  The sad answer is that CONCACAF is not that good and definitely not deep.  Based on FIFA rankings, Qatar would be the 6th country in CONCACAF.  As in, it should be no surprise they made it out of the group stage.  

Newcastle Get Tonali

Tonali will change his stripes to black and white

It took a while but Newcastle finally landed their main summer target - midfielder Sandro Tonali.  This looks to be a smart and not outrageously expensive move.  Certainly the fee was not cheap at £52m but it wasn't that much more than Maddison would have cost and Tonali may be a better fit.  For what it's worth, my version of Genie Scout (which is from 2020) suggests that Tonali is already a better player than Maddison and has some potential for improvement while Maddison is close to prime.  He'll play more of defensive midfielder and will allow Guimaraes to be more of an attacking midfielder.

This will probably sound defensive coming from a Magpie fan but for me the signing shows that while the PIF ownership is willing to spend money, they aren't throwing it around indiscriminantly like, say, the LIV Golf Tour.  There's a good article in The Athletic (behind a paywall) about the process involved in signing Tonali.  The writer - George Caulkin - notes that while Newcastle management loves them some Declan Rice, at a £100m+ transfer fee and £200,000 weekly salary, that just was not going to happen.  It would simply not leave them options to fill other positions, given the financial fair play regulations.  The takeaway was that while the new ownership will spend money, they will do so carefully.

In other transfer news, the exodus from Stamford Bridge continues.  Mason Mount is off to Man United and Acipdculta Azpiculotta Aspcicula Dave is going to Atletico Madrid.  Last guy to leave remember to turn out the lights.  I didn't notice any new defections to the Saudi Pro League.  Still plenty of rumors to chase down if you're into that kind of thing.  Still a long way to go until the window closes on 9/1.

 Forest Green Hire Interim Womanager

Sometimes the best man for the job is a woman
 Photograph: Wayne Tuckwell/ProSports/Shutterstock

When we last left the real Forest Green, they had finished dead last in League One, 17 points behind the the next closest competitor.  On July 4th, manager Duncan Ferguson left the club, citing differences over the club's direction.  Given that he had one win, three draws and 14 defeats in his 18 matches there, I'm surprised that Independence Day didn't come much sooner for him and at the club's choosing.  Anyway, he left but the club had a friendly scheduled with Melksham Town on Wednesday (7/5).  So Dale Vince appointed Hannah Dingley as the interim manager (details here).  She is the first female to manage an English Football League squad.  No word on whether she will apply for the permanent position.  

Quarters and Semis and Union Matches

Our cup does not runneth over but it's not a totally lost week.  The CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal schedule for Saturday and Sunday was listed above.  The semis are Wednesday at 7:30 and 10:00.  If the US beat Canada on Sunday, they will be in the 10 pm match vs the Panama/Qatar winner.  

The Union have two matches this week.  Saturday they travel to LA to face the Galaxy at 10:30; this one is free on Apple.  LA are next-to-last in the Western Conference and despite being a road game, I'd be thinking of three points here; 538 says not so fast and has the match looking more like a draw (39% Union, 36% LA, 25% draw).  The Galaxy may be still basking in the glow of the win in the latest edition of El Traffico in which they knocked off LAFC 2-1.

The second match is Wednesday in Nashville at 8:30 pm on not-free Apple.  Maybe I'll put it on the radio while I watch the first Gold Cup semi.  This is a serious test for the Union.  Nashville are second in the Eastern Conference; 538 has it 43/29/28.  I'd be thrilled with a point out of this one.

Cheer up, things are going to get busy again soon.  Women's World Cup starts 7/20 with matches almost every day well into August and the EPL kicks off Friday 8/11.