More Please

Despite some serious bumps along the way, the results played out very nicely for the BFS sides.

Butt, butt.  Two butt heads but only Schar gets red card

Newcastle opened sluggishly against newly promoted Southampton.  That looked to be a bigger problem after Schar got himself sent off for "violent" conduct in the 28th minute.  He had been clearly shoved from behind by Diaz, who was going to get a yellow for the action.  But Schar got up all aggrieved and made a forward motion with his head that connected with Diaz.  For my money, it looked like 2/3 Schar, 1/3 Diaz but Schar got the red; shithousery from Diaz but Schar just has to be smarter. You can see the play here.

So that changed the tone of the match and left me thinking a draw would be good.  Joe L Linton had other ideas.  Helped by an errant pass from keeper McCarthy, Isak fed him nicely in the middle of the box and the Brazilian buried the shot.  It would be the Magpies only shot on target all day and is this week's YouTubeableMoment. They spent the rest of the match mostly defending with 8-9 players behind the ball.  The stats tell the story well - shots 19/4, shots on target 4/1, possession 78/22 and xG 1.73-.36; xGScore has it as the most "unfair" result of the weekend.  

Maybe, but I'll score it as Newcastle 1 Shithousery 0.  One bad thing is that, since Newcastle had to play mostly defense, we didn't get a real sense of what this team has.  The good thing is we got three points in the opener.

The Correct Claret and Blue Won

Even if they were in white and light blue.  As hoped for, the West Ham - Aston Villa was a highly watchable match.  Also as hoped for, Aston Villa did well in a tricky opener against a decent side at home, coming away with a 2-1 win.  Stats were basically even.  Villa's early goal in the 4th minute was offset by a West Ham PK late in the half.  The game winner,  seen here, was a well-worked build-up and a nice finish from Jhon Duran.    

Random and Incomplete Observations From Week 1

- Michael B announced he no longer follows EPL after the 1-1 draw at Leicester

- A net transfer spend in 2024 of £80m may not be enough to get Chelsea back into the top six

- Are Everton in for another dragged out relegation battle (they lost 0-3 at home to Brighton)?

- Will Man United have buyer's remorse at keeping ten Hag?; they barely edged out Fulham at home with a late goal

In Any Medium, It's Still Football

So my dad was a real good sport as we worked our way through the Saturday schedule.  I think we also wowed him with the lengths we will go to follow the action.  Over the course of the day we watched one match directly on his TV, one streaming Peacock through my computer, one using Dennis's computer to watch the dvr that his future father-in-law made while watching live in Minnesota and concluded watching on Dennis's computer using MLS Season pass. 

Conversation That Could Have Taken Place and Did

Steve: Emery, Lopetegui, Iraola and Arteta are having drinks at a bar.  They all leave together but get stuck in the doorway because they don't go one at a time.

Dennis: Why are you telling me this?

Steve: As a reminder that you shouldn't put all your Basques in one exit.

Shithousery: The Sequel

With the Newcastle nonsense fresh in our minds, we watched as the Liga MX side Matazlan went full-on shithousery early.  For me, a referee needs to be aware that a team has seen an opponent sent off in the last two matches.  Apparently referee Selvin Brown did not get the memo and was frequently duped by the flopping Canoneros.  It was so obvious that my dad, a novice viewer, picked up on it.  Things got worse as Baribo got a suspicious yellow in the 32nd minute, then an absolutely ridiculous straight red for nothing more than a coming together in the box on a corner kick.  The VAR sent Brown to the monitor but all he did was "downgrade" the nothingburger from a red to a yellow, which meant Baribo was gone. You can see the play here.

Just like Newcastle, the Union took quick advantage of the situation and scored despite being shorthanded.  Matazlan did equalize in the second half and the match went to penalty kicks.  Blake came up big a few times and the Union won 4-3 to advance to the semis.  Frankly, all I could think was "suck it Matazlan" because that was just embarrassing.  What a great day when shithousery is on the losing end two times. 

How Do You Say Yo La Tengo in French?  (apologies to Yo La Tengo)

An outgunned and outmanned (no Baribo, no Martinez) Union side fell 1-3 to Columbus in the Leagues Cup semis on Wednesday.  Threre were some good moments but in the end, that was about the right result.  They still have a chance to get something from the competition when they face Colorado on Sunday at Subaru Park.  A win there would get them a place in next year's CONCACAF Champions League.

Je ne parle pas anglais

Late substitutions in the match included new acquisition Danley Jean Jacques, a Haitian midfielder with good reviews.  He may turn out to be a good replacement for Jose Martinez.  There is a bit of a language barrier though.  Apparently someone had to translate Jim Curtin's final instructions to Danley before he entered the match.  Once there, he and Glesnes had a nasty collision as both tried to head the ball at the same time.  Glesnes was off briefly for concussion protocol but did return, hopefully no worse for the wear.  This does bring back memories of the never fully debunked story about Richie Ashburn and his communication issue with Elio Chacon; I believe the phrase Glesnes will need is "Je m'en occupe."

 

What Is To Be Done?

I'd say there are two things that could address the issue of shithousery.  First is simply better refereeing.  Trained referees are still too easily duped by theatrics.  Second, aggrieved players need to refrain from retaliating.  That was clearly the issue for Schar.  For Baribo, he could have probably avoided the first yellow but the second was clearly a referee mistake.  

Offside Revisited

In the Comments section last week, Anonymous (is that you Philip S?) noted that the offside law might be "undercooked."  A player standing in an offside position could be distracting to the defenders even if he makes no play on the ball.  I hear this often, mostly from defenders and keepers.  Heck, when I first started coaching I thought the rule was daft too.  How is the keeper supposed to ignore an attacker standing on the corner of the six yard box even if he's doing nothing?   The answer is, according to the laws of the game, you just are.  This begs two questions for  me. First, can the defender be sure that the attacker is in fact in an offside position?  It could be too close to know.  Second, how does the defender know that the referees will get it right?  VAR helps with the second question.  But, for better or worse, this is how the law is written and this issue is specifically addressed in the guidance provided.  Standing in an offside position may be distracting to the defenders but by itself is not considered being involved in active play.

More Please

Another week like last week would be okay by us.  Note that this is a Peacock weekend for the EPL, with only one fixture on USA. Things start with Brighton hosting Man United, which could be a very competitive match, possibly worth getting up at 7:30.  The schedulers have crowded five fixtures into the 10 am slot.  Probably can skip Man City hosting Ipswich; that was cruel to have the Tractor Boys open with Liverpool and Man City.  Southampton - Nottingham Forest could be a preview of the relegation battle; for us it will be another chance to boo Ben Brereton Diaz.  Crystal Palace - West Ham is not a bad choice either.  If he still followed the EPL, Michael B would be watching Spurs host Everton.  Your only other choice is Fulham - Leicester.

Diaz displays his only
attacking move

The feature TV game (USA not NBC for some reason) is Aston Villa hosting Arsenal.  The Villans are decided underdogs here but I think they will put up a good fight against the Gunners.

Three matches on Sunday.  We'll be taking in Bournemouth - Newcastle.  An appeal of Schar's red card seems unlikely, as does signing Guehi or any of the other potential transfer targets; thus, they could be shorthanded at centerback.  Still, the Magpies are prohibitive favorites.  Your other choice at 9 is Wolves - Chelsea.  The 11:30 match is Liverpool - Brentford, which doesn't seem all that appealing.

Though it's at the point where we don't Caraboa it yet, the EPL sides enter the Leagues Cup competition with mid-week matches.  Newcastle host Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.  

Two matches for the Union.  They host Colorado on Sunday, then turn right back around and renew their chase for a playoff berth as they face Columbus on Wednesday as the MLS regular season returns.  The Leagues Cup was a chance to forget for a little bit that the Union sit in 10th place with much work to do to make the playoffs.