Prepare For A Little Withdrawal

With the Euros and Copa America done plus the MLS moving out of league play for five weeks, things will feel very slow until the EPL returns on August 16th.  

Can't Complain About the Reign in Spain

Spain are back on top of Europe again

They were the most consistent side in the tournament.  Their 2-1 win over England was by no means decisive but at the final whistle, you did feel the better team had won.  Down 0-1, England manager Gareth Southgate tried to reprise his Ollie Watkins and Cole Palmer substitution success of the semis and it sort of worked.  Palmer got the equalizer at 73 minutes and there was a sense that maybe England had a chance.  But Spain regrouped pretty quickly and started to work their possession game again.  Oyarzabal got the game winner at 86 minutes; seen here, the whole play was quickly and simply executed.  It was a perfect example of how Spain, while abandoning the tiki taka passing seemingly for passing's sake that had limited their success in recent years, has reworked the tactic so the passing has a purpose. 

Overall, the tournament was entertaining enough, certainly not short on drama.  The big negative I saw was long stretches between moments of quality.  Seems like there was a tendency on the part of managers to play not to lose.  But on balance, still a good watch. 

Southgate Departs

Though he did not sport his 
usual waistgate at Euro 2024,
this is likely how Southgate 
will be remembered

Two straight Euro finals (narrowly losing both) a World Cup semi final (2018) and a World Cup quarterfinal (2022).  Not a bad record - the only European team to reach at least the quarterfinals in those last four tournaments.  Sometimes it's hard not to measure reality against the weight of expectations for this team and the feeling that they could have done more creeps in.  But that's more likely a function of overestimating their talent because we're so familiar with the personnel.

Speculation is wild as to his replacement.  Eddie Howe and Graham Potter come up a lot. I've heard Klopp mentioned again.  Pochettino may be in the mix.  With the World Cup just two years away, they really don't want to wait too long.

Probably means we won't see a waist coat on the sidelines again.

COPA America Concludes

Here are the highlights:

1) Uruguayan team climbed into stands and got into fights with Colombian fans

2) As detailed here, some untold number of fans were able to enter Hard Rock Stadium without tickets for the final.  Apparently there was also some trashing of stadium property.  The match kickoff was delayed by over an hour.

Fans sneaking in through the air vents at Hard Rock Stadium

3) As detailed here, the head of the Colombian football federation and his son were arrested on charges of battery for hitting security officers after the COPA America final.

4) As detailed here, Enzo Fernandez and some of his Argentine teammates were caught on tape singing a racist and homophobic chant directed at French players of African heritage.  The most surprising thing here is that there was misbehavior by the Argentina team and I have seen nothing to indicate that Emi Martinez was involved.

Seriously, WTF?  Seems like various parties are pointing fingers at other parties but there may be enough blame to go around.  We'll be watching closely for sanctions and changes.  Given that the World Cup will be here in two years, and Hard Rock Stadium is one of the venues, this stuff needs to be sorted out.

Oh, Argentina won.

Lightning Strikes Limited to the Pitch

After another abysmal come-from-ahead loss by the Union on Saturday, I was seriously on the fence about heading down to Subaru Park on Wednesday to see them face New England with the forecast calling for gusty thunderstorms.  In the end, the prospect of Blake and Martinez returning some stability to the defense and the potential debut of Cavan Sullivan won out.  Plus, gotta support the team.  Very happy to say the decision was handsomely rewarded.  The Union had the most attacking pressure I'd seen in months.  They reaped the benefits with goals at 29, 39 and 44 to take a 3-0 lead into the lockerroom. New England got one back early in the second half but the U immediately responded to restore the three-goal lead, then added another on a laser by Quinn Sullivan, seen here as this week's YouTubeableMoment; check out the slide over to where his brother was warming up as a sub.

After Quinn's goal, the only thing left was the introduction of Cavan Sullivan.  We could see he'd gotten word he was going in as he was getting high fives from the other subs and had a big grin on this face.  He came in at 85 minutes to a standing O, then got massive cheers everytime he touched the ball.  He made a nice run late that resulted in a decent shot.  

Baribo became the first Israeli player to get a hat trick in MLS;
his name kept coming up as "buddy ball" on the close captioning
Photo: Caean Couto-USA TODAY Sports

How to explain the turnaround? To my eye, Martinez was more the difference than Blake but maybe Elliott and Glesnes were buoyed by Andre's return as well.  Tai Baribo, whose playing time had been rather limited before Carranza's departure, has come to life, as witnessed by his hat trick Wednesday night.  In the glass half empty version, we can't forget they were playing New England.  Falling into "it's the hope that kills you trap," I think this team, with the key players on the pitch, should be able to make the playoffs. 

Conversation That Could Have Taken Place and Did

Jeff H (with the Union up 3-0 on the Revolution): Didn't we lose two games 4-3? Just sayin'

Steve: Always with the negative waves, Jeff. Always with the negative waves.

So maybe the Union have figured things out - just in time for the break in MLS action for the stupid Leagues Cup competition.  They have group stage matches against Charlotte and Cruz Azul.  Any Leagues Cup games after that depend on performance.  They don't play an MLS match again until August 24th against Columbus.  [Editor's Note:Except for the 7/20 match against Nashville - who does the proofing on this blog?]  Did I mention I think this is stupid?   Just because I'll be there for the Charlotte match doesn't mean I changed my opinion.