Last Call For World Cup

Unfortunately, it's not Friday morning.  I wanted to do a mid-week post to alert you to the FIFA playoffs for the final World Cup spots.  While I'm here I might as well report on the weekend.  Mostly disappointing results but your actual mileage may vary (looking at you Dennis).

Last Chance

Six spots are still open for the 48-team World Cup tournament.  Four will go to European countries and two are reserved for international playoff winners.

Europe has a two game playoff with four groups of four.  The first round is Thursday with the "finals" on Tuesday.  Here are the matchups:

Thursday 26 March 2026

A Italy vs Northern Ireland
A Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina
B Ukraine vs Sweden
B Poland vs Albania
C Türkiye vs Romania (18:00 CET)
C Slovakia vs Kosovo
D Denmark vs North Macedonia
D Czechia vs Republic of Ireland

Play-off finals

Tuesday 31 March 2026

A Wales / Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Italy / Northern Ireland
B Ukraine / Sweden vs Poland / Albania
C Slovakia / Kosovo vs Türkiye / Romania
D Czechia / Republic of Ireland vs Denmark / North Macedonia

The winner of the Group C (likely Turkiye?) thread will be slotted into the US group for the World Cup.  Some big names in there - Italy and Sweden come to mind.  FS1 and FS2 have some of these matches.

There are two international "pathways."  One includes Jamaica playing New Caledonia with the winner facing Congo DR.  The survivor there goes into Group K for the World Cup.  We have some interest in seeing Jamaica advance based on familiar names in the squad like Andre Blake (Union), Leon Bailey (Aston Villa), Damion Lowe (Union alum) and Isaac Hayden (Newcastle alum), among others.  Pathway 2 has Bolivia vs Suriname with the winner to face Iraq for a chance to be in Group I.  

"Pathetic, Weak, Lazy and Poor"

Brobbey finishes Newcastle

Thus was Newcastle icon Alan Shearer's unsparing criticism of the Magpies' second half performance in the 1-2 loss to Sunderland at St. James' Park.  He was being kind.  Newcastle got a lucky early first half goal on a Sunderland giveaway, then played okay - not great - for the rest of the half.  In the second half, Sunderland outeverythinged the Magpies.  So many problems with Newcastle's play; we'll go with ball watching as the most annoying.  Any doubt that Sunderland deserved the win is extinguished with the xG figures - 2.48 to 1.29 favor Sunderland.

So, is the lackadaisical second half showing on Eddie Howe or the players?  Answer:

They were clearly surprised by the Sunderland response.  But there was time to react and they did not.  Echoing my thoughts from last week, I am disappointed not because they lost to Sunderland but because they have clearly revealed themselves as a mediocre mid-level side.  To wit, they now sit 12th in the table.  Oh, and Newcastle again lead the league in dropped points from winning positions with 22; pretty sure that West Ham are second with 20.  We're number one!

An Ugly Day at St. James' Park

As if the loss wasn't bad enough, there were other issues Sunday.  First, prior to the match, there were violent clashes between Newcastle and Sunderland fans outside the stadium.  The sordid details can be had here. Hmm, not sure how that squares with the following as reported by the BBC:

"The policing operation around the match between Newcastle United FC and Sunderland AFC passed largely without incident" Ch Supt Mark Hall said.

Hate to think what they would consider an incident.  Fun times continued in the stadium as the match had to be stopped after allegations of racial abuse targeting Sunderland's Lutsharel Geertruida were reported to referee Anthony Taylor.  At least the Newcastle management response to this looks appropriate:

"Our stance is clear -- we do not tolerate discrimination of any form. We will work with the authorities to fully investigate and will ensure any individuals are identified and held accountable."

What happened to my beautiful game?

Conversation That Didn't Take Place But Most Certainly Could Have

Michael: Magpie fans will be drowning their sorrows at the Akenside Pub.

Steve:  Except now it's call the Ache-inside.

Meanwhile...

Spurs were throwing away all that good work last week against Liverpool.  Facing Nottingham Forest, a side one place and one point behind them, Tottenham absolutely came up flat in an 0-3 loss.  I did not see the game as it conflicted with Aston Villa - West Ham but I was following on line.  If memory serves, I don't think Spurs got a shot on goal until like 70 minutes.  The xG at 1.43 - 1.44, barely favoring Forest, hints that maybe it was closer than the score indicates.  Various accounts on the web suggest otherwise.  Whichever, this was a crushing six point loss that drops Spurs to 17th place, just one point above West Ham.  

Somewhere the Sun Was Shining

And that somewhere was Birmingham.  Aston Villa got a workmanlike 2-0 win over West Ham that featured goals from John McGinn and Ollie Watkins plus the return of Yuri Tielemans.  The Villans were certainly not overwhelming but it was a step in the right direction.  

Age is just a number: 35 year old Danny Welbeck
nets the first of his brace against Liverpool
Photograph: Simon Dack/TPI/Shutterstock

Villa also had a great weekend on the out-of-town scoreboard.  On Friday, Man United coughed up
leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth.  The Cherries' second goal came courtesy of a Harry Maguire DOGSO in the box at 78 minutes.  Man United felt hard done by the call, especially as a "similar" play was not called in their favor; ESPN's VAR review, available here, suggests the ref got both calls correct.  Aston Villa's good fortunes continued on Saturday when Brighton knocked off Liverpool 2-1 on a brace from the ageless Danny Welbeck.  That was followed by Everton's 3-0 pasting of Chelsea. Brentford's 0-0 draw with Leeds didn't hurt either.

All this means that Aston Villa go into the international break in 4th, just one point behind Man United.  Liverpool trail by five with Chelsea six back.  A few weeks to heal won't hurt either.

We Watch So You Don't Have To

Did you miss the Carabao Cup Final in which Man City beat Arsenal 2-0 ?  Even if you did, you didn't.  Arsenal had the run of play in the first half but failed to score.  Though City were better in the second half, the match was still 0-0 heading into the 60th minute.  Then, Arsenal keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga absolutely butchered Cherki's cross, letting it go through his hands right to Nico O'Reilly, who buried it from about two feet out.  You can see the play here.  O'Reilly added a second minutes later and the match was essentially over.  We needn't spend any more time on it.

No Better This Side of the Pond

The Union's 1-2 loss at Subaru Park to the Chicago Fire wasn't fun either.  They did manage a non-PK goal but it was pretty goofy.  You can see it here.  Though it was good work by Iloski to get his head on the ball, I'd argue that it was a mistake by keeper Brady getting caught in no man's land.  The xG was horrible with the Union at .6 compared to Chicago's 2.5.  Hard to know how much is just the low expectations I have at this point but at no point did I feel like the Union would win this match.

The debate is on about whether this is simply a poor start or is this team just not good enough.  I read about the need for patience with a guy like Alladoh as he is just 20; however, now we hear that he is out for an undisclosed period  while "dealing with a couple of things personally."  It's also fair to point out there are some talented players on the squad - Blake, Makhanya, Iloski, Lukic, for example.  On the other hand, they don't have a proven finisher (could be Alladoh but he hasn't proven it yet), with Wagner's departure they don't have anyone who can reliably deliver the ball into the box, and the back line is incredibly thin right now (Ndinga has not impressed so far and I swear it looks like Makhanya doesn't trust him).  These are serious talent gaps that patience will not fill. 

 

With work and travel and a lighter soccer schedule, I'll likely take one or two weeks off.  

Don't forget the FA Cup Quarter Finals the weekend of 4/4-5:

Saturday 4 April 2026

• 12.45pm – Manchester City v. Liverpool on TNT Sports 1 and HBO Max
• 5.15pm – Chelsea v. Port Vale on TNT Sports 1, HBO Max, BBC One and iPlayer 
• 8pm – Southampton v. Arsenal on TNT Sports 1, HBO Max, BBC One and iPlayer

Sunday 5 April 2026

• 4.30pm – West Ham United v. Leeds United on TNT Sports 1 and HBO Max 

And, if you're still up for it, there's the Union at Charlotte on Saturday 4/4. 

Regular EPL programming returns Friday April 10th.