Getting A Handle On Handling

Some excellent viewing.  Some sketchy refereeing.  Expect some revised language on what constitutes handling.

Woke Up, It Was Not A Chelsea Morning (apologies to Joni Mitchell)

Lewis Miley is about to deliver a precise pass in the box to
Alexander Isak (yeah, the guy surrounded by 5 Chelsea defenders)

I was not looking forward to the Newcastle match with Chelsea given our depleted squad but Dennis counseled optimism - "they're not very good."  Sure enough, he was right.  An early goal from Isak on a pass by a different teenager named Lewis (17-year-old Miley as opposed to 19-year-old Hall) got things moving in the right direction.  Though Chelsea levelled fairly quickly, the Magpies looked solid through  a 1-1 first half.  Then it got better.  They were on the front foot from the second half whistle and got goals in quick succession from Lascelles and Joelinton.  A second yellow for Reece James at 73 minutes meant this one was over.  The stats say the 4-1 final overstates the margin but it sure looked like the right score watching.

Even with the injuries, Newcastle still put out a decent line up.  The replacements have come up big too.  Lascelles has been solid for Botman.  Hall and Livramento have contributed defensively and now Miley looks like he can help in the middle.  Still going to be short probably through January so we hope these guys keep it up.

It's Not A Bug, It's A Feature

The announcers for the Aston Villa - Tottenham match were seemingly shocked that several Spurs' goals were called back for offside, as if this was a random coincidence.  Uh, no.  Villa employ a well-executed offside trap. Next time you watch Villa, check out how well-drilled that back line is.  

I'm pleased to say this turned out to be an excellent contest and even more pleased for the confirmation that my suspicions that Villa were in no way overmatched, contrary to what Opta had us thinking.  Spurs did have a slight statistical edge and a draw probably would have been a fair result here.

Pantomime Villan: This challenge by Cash had Spurs
fans seeing red and booing him for the whole match

A talking point was the challenge Matty Cash made on Bentancur in the first half (see left).  Unfortunately, Bentancur had to leave the pitch a few minutes after the tackle; the worse news was that Bentancur, who was just coming back from knee injury, sustained an ankle injury and will be out for over two months.  It was a reckless challenge and Cash was shown a yellow.  Every time he touched the ball after that, Spurs fans booed him.  Postgame social media was full of calls for Cash to be retroactively suspended.  I understand the sentiment but fouls, cards and suspensions aren't based on injuries, they're based on severity of the infraction.

Other Pleasant Surprises

The Man City - Liverpool contest turned out to be a good watch rather than a blowout for the home team.  City were the better side but Liverpool hung tough all game and were rewarded with a late goal from Alexander-Arnold to grab a 1-1 draw. 

As we hoped, Brentford were solid at home and made their contest with Arsenal a contest.   Only an 89th minute goal from Kai Havertz kept the Bees from walking away with a draw.  With the City - Liverpool draw, the Gunners' win moves them to the top of the table.

Okay, Everton - Man United wasn't close but it did have this week's YouTubeableMoment, a stunning bicycle kick by Alejandro Garnacho.  Hmm, that may partly explain why the final was 3-0 favor Man United but the xG was 2.38 - 1.92 for the Toffees.  The xG for Garnacho's shot? 0.03!

The matchweek concluded with a fun 3-2 win for Fulham over Wolves.  Well, fun if you're a Cottager fan.  Wolves came back twice but were undone by a penalty in stoppage time.  It was the correct call (at least IMHO) but Wolves manager Gary O'Neil must feel snakebit by now as this was the third late PK to cost them a draw.

We'll Always Have Paris

Newcastle and their fans were in Paris for a key Champions League clash against PSG.  On Monday night, fans were attacked by PSG Ultras.  Details are here; looks like there were no serious injuries.  As for the match, Newcastle got a first half goal from Isak, then spent most of the rest of the match pakring the bus.  They were minutes away from pulling off an amazing upset until a questionable handling call gave PSG a PK which they converted for a 1-1 draw.

Before launching into a rant about how the handling call against Livramento was one of the worst VAR decisions this year, I will note that call was not why Newcastle could only manage a 1-1 draw.  No, the issue was that the ball spent about 90% of its time in the second half in Newcastle's final third, much of it in the penalty area.  The stats were incredibly lopsided; possession was 73/27, shots 31/5, shots on target 7/2 and xG 4.47/1.48.  With no bench, they had exhausted defenders on the pitch who could only hack the ball away for the last 20 minutes or so of the match.  Something bad was bound to happen. Only PSG's terrible shooting kept the score at 1-0 going into stoppage time.

As for the play, you can see it here.  Referee Szymon Marciniak did not signal for a handball.  The VAR directed him to the monitor, at which point he changed his mind.  What I thought was the relevant section of the law says it is handling if:

• touches the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger. A player is considered to have made their body unnaturally bigger when the position of their hand/arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that specific situation. By having their hand/arm in such a position, the player takes a risk of their hand/arm being hit by the ball and being penalised

Does anybody disagree that Livramento's arm is exactly where you would expect it to be for a player who is running?  Livramento's elbow isn't even that far away from this body, though his forearm is.  A ridiculous call for me, especially given the on-field ruling was no penalty.  We'll add inconsistency to the list of charges as well.  A mere 20 minutes earlier in the match, the ball hit Lewis Miley in the arm in the box; Marciniak did not call that one either and the VAR was satisified that this was not handling and did not direct Marciniak to the monitor.  I didn't think that was a foul either but his arm was arguably in a more unnatural position that Livramento's was.  

That the VAR official was dropped from his next game suggests that UEFA officials agree that this was a bad call.   He was also criticized for not offering enough different replay angles to the referee.  As far as I can tell, Marciniak was not also "stood down" because he did not have another Champions League match this week. Check out the contrasting responses to the UEFA "apology" from Dennis and Steve.  I would note that Paramount might want to consider dropping their supposed referee expert Christina Unkel for a game or two as well.  Here was her explanation as to why it was a penalty:

“What’s getting everyone lost because it’s in the law is the word ‘natural,’" Unkel explains. "This is a natural running motion, however the interpretation and application is trying to get less subjective and more objective, which is coming out with these harsh decisions that people in the football community do not like. It’s not on the referees, they are required to apply it like this at this point.”

Excuse me but WTF is she saying?  Have referees been instructed to ignore the "natural position" exemption written in the law?  UEFA's action suggests no.  

The draw does keep open a change for Newcastle to advance; the Magpies must be AC Milan while PSG has to lose to Dortmund.  Neither result is impossible but they are long odds.

Deja Vu All Over Again

Well, actually reverse deja vu.  Bayern and Copenagen were level at 0-0 in second half stoppage time in their Champions League match. A ball bounced up and hit a Copenhagen defender's arm and the referee signalled for a penalty.  You can see the play here.  As you'll note, the VAR sent the referee to the monitor, where she reversed herself and signalled no penalty.  I think they got this one right, even if it was closer to a penalty than the Newcastle play.  Copenhagen definitely benefited from the shit storm generated by the Livramento handball.  They hung on for the 0-0 away draw and slip into second place in the group.  This was not good news for Man United, who played Galatasaray to an exciting and bizarre 3-3 draw.  They now have to win against Bayern while hoping that Copenhagen and Galatasaray play to a draw in the final group stage matches in two weeks.

Man City and Arsenal are through to the knock out phase of the Champions League.  Brighton and Liverpool will advance out of the group stage of Europa League, and Aston Villa will move onto the knock out phase of Europa Conference League.

There Are No Replays in Jet Landings

Speaking of VAR, did you see that Howard Webb has sought the help of British Airways pilots to improve the communication process between the VARs and the center referees.  Details are here.  Actually, I've heard of worse ideas.  When was the last time you had a landing called back for offside?

Ending With A Whimper

How much parallax error?

The Union's conference semi-final with Cincinnati Saturday night played out largely as we expected it would.  Chippy but maybe not as bad as we feared; 31 fouls and four yellow cards.  Maybe a missed red card late?  There were some shots on goal.  Not surprisingly the match dragged into second half stoppage time 0-0.  On a free kick in the 94th minute, the U's marking went to the sleep and Mosquera put away the game winner.  Except wait, there may have been offside on the header to Mosquera.  The still picture sure makes it look like it is offside.  But, the camera angle is biased towards an offside call and we all know about parallax error at this point.  MLS doesn't use lines like EPL and Apple doesn't deploy as many cameras for their broadcasts as they do for EPL matches so there was no clear and obvious picture to overturn the call.  I have no issue with the call but that the MLS hasn't put the resources into a better process.  

Definitely an up-and-down season for the Union.  There were moments that felt like last year but they were never sustained.  Clearly there will be some changes next year.  Wagner is almost certainly gone.  Carranza may not be back.  Same with Mbaizo.  What is Bedoya's future?  Plenty to ponder this winter.

Two Matchweeks In One

EPL fits two match weeks in six days and there are even some interesting fixtures.  Among our recommendations:

Burnley vs Sheffield United - Saturday 10 am on USA - 20th place takes on 18th in an early relegation contest

Newcastle vs Man United - Saturday 3 pm on USA (a special late Saturday match!) - two teams close in the standings (7th and 6th); Newcastle won with their second team in Carabao Cup a few weeks ago and that might have Man United primed for this one.  This is Opta's closest match of the weekend with the Magpies the slightest of favorites at 37/29/34.

Man City vs Spurs - Sunday at 11:30 on Peacock (yep, they are figuring out which fixtures to put behind the paywall) - Yeah, Spurs have lost three in a row and Opta doesn't think much of their chances here.  But, City are coming off two draws so we keep our hopes up

Aston Villa vs Man City - Wednesday at 3:15, TV not known yet - Villa (4th heading into the weekend) are playing attractive football so we have modest hopes for a good one

Man United vs Chelsea - Wednesday at 3:15, TV not known yet - Chelsea's recent form almost made me not list this one but you never know

Happy to see that there is no Saturday match at 7:30.  The NBC feature match at 12:30 on Saturday between Nottingham Forest and Everton may not jump out you but it does figure to be quite competitive.  You have four choices at 9 am on Sunday.  For the neutral we recommend the TV choice, Chelsea - Brighton.  Here we will be watching Bournemouth - Aston Villa.  

Only two choices on Tuesday - Wolves vs Burnley or Luton Town vs Arsenal.  Oh well.  For Thursday we will go with Newcastles at Everton but neutrals could easily be persuaded to take in the London derby between Spurs and West Ham.  

With matches against Wolves and Luton Town, Arsenal have every prospect of staying a top the table through the week.  Liverpool's week doesn't look all that tough either with away matches at Fulham and Sheffield United.  

If They Have MLS Conference Finals and Nobody Watches Does It Make A Sound?

I don't mean that because the Union are out.  I would gladly watch both Cincinnati - Columbus and LAFC - Houston.  There's every reason to believe they could be interesting matches.  However, they are both behind the MLS Season (Thou Shalt Not) Pass paywall so we won't get to see them.  

I have no idea of the bigger picture but certainly for me the MLS has done serious damage to its brand between the TV deal, the mid-season league play interruption and the playoff format and scheduling.  It's late so I'll skip the rant for another day.

Plenty of EPL to keep us occupied.