The Rosie Perez School of Football Punditry

According to Ms Perez, the results may not be what you think.  She expounds on her theory here.  Let's look at this week's results applying those concepts.

Sometimes When You Win, You Actually Lose

We present as Exhibit A, Newcastle's improbable 4-3 decision over West Ham.  Sure, it was exciting to see them rally from a 3-1 deficit and we really needed the points.  The game winner from Harvey Barnes - seen here as this week's YouTubeableMoment - was clinical.  Just awesome in front of the 52,000 at St. James' Park.  But the cost?  Three more serious injuries.  Lacelles is out with ACL, Almiron left with a knee problem and Livramento hurt his ankle.  In the 1-1 draw with Everton on Tuesday, teenager Lewis Hall went out with a rib injury.  So we got as many points as injuries in the two matches.   

"I punched something."  Seems like a fair reaction of Nottingham
 Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo to the points deduction.
Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA

Exhibit B might be Nottingham Forest.  They got a 3-1 win over Fulham to go with a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace yet found themselves with the same number of points they began the week with thanks to a four point deduction for breach of profitability and sustainability rules.  The Guardian provides details here.  Of course Nottingham have appealed so there will be uncertainty hanging over the relegation fight until that is resolved.    

Sometimes When You Tie, You Actually Win

Best example of this is Burnley's 2-2 draw with Chelsea.  Late in the first half, Chelsea were awarded generous PK on what Dennis and I don't even think is a foul; you can judge for yourself here (should open to 6:39).  What's more, Darren England gave Assignon a yellow, his second of the match.  Needless to say, if you don't think it's a foul then it's certainly not a yellow.  But there it was and Palmer converted the PK.  Down a goal and down a man, things did not look good for the Clarets.  An early second half goal levelled things but a second Chelsea goal at 78 minutes looked like the end.  Then O'Shea provided a stunning equalizer in the 81st minute and Burnley held on for the draw, which under the circumstances had to feel like a win.

We'll include Fulham in this category as well after their come-from-behind 3-3 draw with Sheffield United.  The sides made up for a slow first half as Sheffield built up a 3-1 lead by the 70th minute.  The Blades had looked to extend the lead to 4-1 but had a goal chalked off for offsides in the 84th minute.  Turned out they really needed that as Fulham poured in two goals in the closing minutes.  

Sometimes When You Tie, You Actually Lose

Well, Exhibits A and B are Chelsea and Sheffield United as explained in the previous section.  Dropping two points like that had to be devastating for Sheffield United, who are 10 points adrift of safety.  

We will add Exhibit C, Man United's 1-1 draw with Brentford.  No doubt the Bees are tough at home. Man United couldn't break through until Mason Mount got what surely looked like a game winner in the 96th minute.  Nope, Ajer got the equalizer for Brentford in the 99th minute seen here.  The point is useful for Brentford to move farther away from relegation but the dropped two points really hurt Man United in their effort to catch Spurs in fifth.

Sometimes When You Lose, You Actually Win

Luton Town lost to Spurs but briefly moved out of the relegation zone because Nottingham Forest took a four point deduction for violation for FFP regulations.  But after a 2-0 loss on Wednesday to Arsenal, we are forced to conclude that sometimes a loss is a loss.  They are now three points from safety even after the Nottingham Forest point deduction.  

Sometimes When You Win, You Actually Tie

Not sure about this one

The pitch at Spurs Stadium prior to Luton Town match
Photo:Michael B

Rosie didn't have this category but sometimes when you win, you win.  Examples include Aston Villa (2-0 over Wolves), Spurs (2-1 over Luton Town) and Liverpool (2-1 over Brighton).  Also, sometimes when you tie, you tie.  Prime example there would be the 0-0 between Man City and Arsenal, though some might suggest that the Gunners would be the happier side with that result.   

Our point - and Rosie's - is that sometimes you have to look beyond the scoreline.

An American in England

Long-time BFS readers will remember
Simon (r), who again outdid himself with 
hospitality for American football fans

The Americans got a great welcome in London

It wasn't the Five Guys from the USA, just Michael B and his wife Susan, but they represented us well.  Some things were quite similar to that awesome trip in 2016 - taking in some football matches (Norwich vs Plymouth and Spurs vs Luton Town), some awesome hosting by Simon, walking around cool English towns, and of course taking in multiple pints of ale and cider.  As far as we know, Michael drove on the left side of the road without incident and as of this writing, has not received any tickets.    

Union Still Unbeaten

Mostly encouraging signs with the Union 2-0 win over Minnesota on Saturday. Countless forays down the right side by Quinn Sullivan made it seem like we dominated the Loons, even though the match was 1-0 for the majority of the time.  They were a couple of defensive breakdowns and I do remember a key save from Blake.  Minnesota did have more possession but much of it didn't feel that dangerous.  Frustrating part was probably the number of crosses that went into and then through the box untouched; we need to see this opportunities turned into shots.  The other bummer was Blake eventually having to leave with a concussion.  We'll see if he can go Saturday vs Nashville  

You Say Tomato, I Say Tomahto

Union fans might get to see Cavan Sullivan play here
before he heads off to Europe in a few years

Local phenom Cavan Sullivan (Quinn's younger brother) was in the news quite a bit last week as the Union and Man City negotiated details about his professional contracts.   But what we really wanted to know was how to pronounce his first name.  kahVAN? KAYvon? Fortunately, we were able to go to an inside source, the Sullivan family who sits behind us at the Union matches.  The correct pronunciation is KAvin, rhymes with cabin or the start of the Cavanaugh, as in the county in Ireland.  The good news is that it looks like we'll get to see him for a few years before he leaves for Man City.  Side note to the story is that Sullivan can't play for Man City until he's 18 because Great Britain is not in the European Union.

Keep 'em Coming

Full EPL slate Saturday and Sunday and all the European competitions have action mid-week. The EPL schedule is here.  We'll be stuck with Peacock for Newcastle at Fulham at 10 am on Saturday.  We do recommend Man United - Liverpool on Sunday at 10:30 on NBC.  

We do suggest you clear your Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons for Champions League Quarterfinal first leg matches.  Tuesday you can go with Arsenal - Bayern or Real Madrid - Man City.  Wednesday is PSG - Barcelona or Atletico Madrid - Dortmund.  All good looking fixtures. Thursday we'll go with Aston Villa vs LOSC in the first leg of their quarter final Europa Conference League tie.

Hard to remember the last time we didn't have football almost every day of the week.