Win Some, Lose Some, Draw Some

Until the Union's midweek win my Football Manager Chester Blues had provided the only good news of the week.  A disturbing trend we've seen in the past.


U Know the Way in San Jose (musical accompaniment courtesy Dionne Warwick)

BFS Referee Consultant Graham R reminds me of the expression "Better to be lucky than good sometimes."  That certainly applied to the Union performance in a 2-1 win in San Jose.  Oh, and we still love VAR.  On a night when the Union passing was atrocious they still found a way to take all three points.  As is becoming their habit, they did surrender the opening goal.  And in the first of favorable VAR calls, Wagner was not sent off for DOGSO; probably the correct call on the field but if the initial call had been a red card, probably would not have been overturned either.

Przybylko just one shy of  CJ Sapong single season record
 of 16 goals (photo Nhat V. Meyer Bay Area News Group)

Things did not improve in the second half as a leaky back line gave up the second goal in less than a minute. But wait, VAR to the rescue again.  Extremely tight, but correctly ruled offside, a call that never would have been spotted without VAR.  I didn't sense a marked improvement in their overall play but the Union managed to score in the 70th and 76th minutes.  The latter was a sweet cross from Monteiro finished with an equally sweet header from CATS-purr shuh-BILL-koh.  VAR still had one more role to play.  Collin inexpertly road Andres Rios off the ball in the box and was whistled for a foul in the 81st minute.  Again, the review went in the U's favor.  Obviously biased here but I think they got it right; Collin did not use his arms and actually had pretty good position on Rios.  From there, San Jose didn't really threaten and the all three points came home with the Union.

This was a marked improvement over Sunday's effort in New Jersey, an 0-2 loss to the Red Bulls.  They were never in the game.  It wasn't horrible defending but the offense just wasn't very threatening.  I guess they did have a chance that first required a save from Robles, then a clearance off the line.  The Red Bulls got their first goal on a Blake howler; on a ball coming through his box, he didn't hold on or push it hard enough to the side.  The ball was a sitting duck for the rebound.  The second goal came late after it was clear the Union were not going to mount a serious threat.

Helpful news from the out of town scoreboard.  Toronto's draw on Saturday meant the Philadelphia clinched a top four spot, which translates into home field advantage for the first round of the playoffs.  NYCFC's  4-1 thumping of Atlanta allowed the Union to move back into second place, which would mean a home playoff game in the second round, were the Union to get that far.  Atlanta have Montreal and New England while Philly have Columbus and NYCFC.  Going to be tight.


How to Take Your Shirt Off While Celebrating a Goal Without Getting a Yellow Card

Excessive celebrating in the stands is not a cautionable offense-
though maybe it should be 

Did you catch Chris Wondolowski's act on Wednesday night?  San Jose's leading scorer was serving a red card suspension but was in the stands for the game against the Union.  After the Earthquakes' goal, he celebrated by taking his shirt off.  He was not yellow carded.






Championship Football

Fabian Schar - defender, goal scorer and now apparently goalie

And I mean that in the worst way.  Newcastle and Brighton put on a display of Championship Division (2nd tier) finishing at St. James' Park on Saturday in a match that truly deserved the 0-0 final score it yielded.  The Magpies were listless and disorganized.  No soul whatsoever.  Well except for Fabian Schar, who must be thinking do I have to do everything myself.  Check out his clearance off the line to save a sure goal - my choice for this week's YouTubeableMoment. You can see from the picture how close it was. Truly for 70 minutes Newcastle were awful and Brighton not that much better.  The introduction of the original Bunned One - Andy Carroll- and Saint-Maximin sparked both the play and the crowd but did not result in a goal.

Some of the poor play is down to the players but the chaos surrounding their formation and system goes to Steve Bruce.  Apparently a week's worth of planning had to be scrapped after just 20 minutes because the formation/system simply wasn't working.  And how about the announced crowd of just 42,000 (with scads of empty seats to boot)?  Geez, they used to get 52,000 real bodies when they played in the Championship Division.  Yeah, things are just great Tyneside.


What Is Wrong With Tottenham Man United Everton?

Possibly a little harsh on Spurs but not the other two.  Still, you'd have to say something doesn't look quite right for Tottenham this season (written before I saw they lost to Colchester in League Cup play - see below).  They fell to a good Leicester that passed the retest in their second straight contest against a "top six" team.  The Foxes fell behind Tottenham when Harry Kane scored while basically prone on the turf (should have been this week's YouTubeableMoment).  But two second half goals, including James Maddison's 85th minute winner, gave them a 2-1 win.  Great match for the neutral but I had to spend the weekend talking Michael B off the ledge.

Man United were effectively stymied by West Ham 0-2 and frankly looked in some disarray, especially on the attacking side.  But what to say about Everton?  Losers at Bournemouth last week, the Toffees fell to newbies Sheffield United 0-2 at home.  Metrics at 538 say they may have been unlucky in several matches so maybe it's temporary slump.  But untimely too as the top six does seem a little less exclusive this year.

This is a stupid game - Palace manager Roy Hodgson shortly
 after his Eagles let a win slip away.

Started watching Man City Watford but after two quick tallies moved on to Burnley Norwich.  Not sure why City went for the two point conversion but the 8-0 result sure put a hurting on Watford's goal differential.  Burnley got a quick jump on the Canaries with goals at 10 and 14 minutes and cruised to a 2-0 win.  I did not see Crystal Palace - Wolves but the box score reads like a train wreck.  Palace were gifted an own goal early in the second half; they went a man up after a second yellow at 73 minutes.  Yet there was Jota scoring in the 95th minute to snatch a 1-1 draw.  Couldn't find the picture of Hodgson after the goal online so I took it from NBC highlights video.  Not a happy camper.

Decline the Penalty?

Speaking of not doing well when opponent gets a red card.  Last week Aston Villa could only manage a draw despite a man advantage for the last 20+ minutes.  This week they couldn't manage a win even playing a man up for about 50 minutes.  Yeah, it was Arsenal but the Villans surrendered three goals, including two in the last ten minutes, in the 2-3 loss.  Scary to think how they'd do 11 v 10 for the whole match.


False Precision

Back in the day when I was a fleet-footed redhead (well, that's what the school newspaper called me),
electronic timing of races, which could measure down to 1/100th and even 1/1000th of a second, was just getting implemented.  At the same time, digital stopwatches that measured to 100th of a second also came out.  But Track & Field News, guardians of track archives, would always round any hand timing up to the nearest 10th of second, arguing that 100ths of a second was suggesting precision not possible with hand timing.

An inch offside?

I feel that way about VAR and offside.  On the one hand, the technology does look sophisticated as they identify the relevant body parts, fiddle with the dials and draw precise lines to determine whether the play was offside.  The problem is that it's still based on the VAR's opinion as to when the ball was struck.  As Charlie O points out, that's kind of like deciding exactly when the ball is in the first baseman's mitt.  So we have goals overturned for incredibly tight offside infractions because the standard for offside is not a clear and obvious error but rather a yes or no question.  It doesn't matter how close it is, you are either on or offside. Don't see a solution but it is frustrating.


I Still Don't Carabao It Cup

Most notable result is Colchester advancing over Spurs despite not managing a shot on target; they got their win based on kicks-from-the-spot.  Overall, the round of 16 will feature 11 premier sides, three from League One and two from League Two; note the absence of any Championship sides.  And with the quaint practice of no seeding in these competitions, the round of 16 will include matches such as Chelsea - Man United and Liverpool - Arsenal.  Good thing I don't really care about it.


Two Venues That Are Better Than Yankee Stadium

BFS Travel Consultant Jeff K sends this article about soccer in Greenland, where the season looks to last about 40 minutes before the elements take over.  But check out the venue where they play (video above).  Not to be outdone, BFS Scandinavian correspondent Philip S sent the following pictures of Aalesund Norway, where he saw QPR play a friendly against a local squad.

Think of these images next time you're watching NYCFC (or New England) in their home parks.


Maybe Not Such A Great Weekend for Neutrals

Scanning the weekend's fixtures I'm not seeing many obvious choices for exciting viewing.  I guess Man United v Arsenal Monday at 3 pm (NBCSN) is the best option.  You can get up at 7:30 on Saturday to catch Liverpool at Sheffield United (NBCSN) but not expecting a tight match there.  The 10 am TV game is Chelsea - Brighton.  538 odds suggest that Bournemouth - West Ham or Aston Villa -Burnley will be more competitive matches.  Bottom dwellers Wolves and Watford also face each other.  You'll need NBC Gold for any of those matches.  The 12:30 NBC feature match is Everton - Man City at Goodison Park; doesn't feel like a great fixture for Everton to sort themselves out.  The other 10 am matches (all NBC Gold) are Crystal Palace - Norwich and Spurs - Southampton.  Tottenham are comfortable favorites so look for Michael B out on the ledge again if they don't secure all three points.

Leicester - Newcastle at 11:30 is Sunday's only match.  There are reports of a big shake up in the Newcastle line (Schar as defensive midfielder?).  The Magpies are of course big underdogs for this road match and it's hard to see them getting a result here. 

MLS scheduling is quite regimented the next two Sundays.  This weekend all the Eastern Conference matches start at 5 and the Western Conference matches begin at 7:30.  The following Sunday every fixture starts at 4 pm.  Aside from the Union-Columbus match, Toronto,  DC United and Red Bulls are fighting for the 4th spot and the home field advantage.  Toronto takes on Chicago while DC and the Red Bulls face other in New Jersey.  You can catch that one on FS1 but not sure how you do it spoiler-free if you're watching the Union first.

Any smoke you smell this weekend isn't burning leaves but my DVR.  Somehow I'm going to ref two games, watch 5-6 matches and stay current with the Track and Field World Championships, which start on Friday.  These sporting events are not going to watch themselves.


Late news - Peter Kenyon may have a renewed (continuing?) interest in purchasing Newcastle.  Color us skeptical.

Non-Stop

Once again, the news was much better on this side of the Atlantic.


Can't Say No to This

Union stock went up again as they battled likely Supporters Shield winner LAFC to a 1-1 draw at a sold-out Talen Energy Stadium.  For the second straight Saturday, this was the place to be.  Jeff H and I hadn't even finished our sausage sandwiches before shuh-BILL-koh gave our boys the lead with a looping header off a cross from Picault.  I would be remiss if I didn't mention Bedoya's role in that goal; he accurately read that Picault was going to win a header and positioned himself properly to receive that ball and send it right back to Picault down the wing.  So I spilled some peppers and onions on my lap - totally worth it.

I am not throwing away my shot - Mark McKenzie has
made the most of the chance he was given

LA drew level late in the half after a shot glanced off the cross bar that Carlos Vela deposited into the net.  That was it for the scoring but the game was great end-to-end stuff.  Consensus is that the Union actually played better than in the 3-1 win over Atlanta.  McKenzie was solid again.  We got some offensive push out of Gaddis.  Blake had to make some fingertip saves and also made better decisions in his box.  By the end, it looked like both sides were content with a draw.

Meanwhile, Atlanta were losing at home to Columbus.  They rallied with a road win over the other Ohio squad (Cincinnati) but the tables are turned now.  The Union hold a one-point lead over them for second place with both teams at 30 games played.  Both must play NYCFC and San Jose during the run-in.  Atlanta also have Montreal and New England while the Union have Red Bulls and Colorado.  Second place would mean that a likely second round match up with Atlanta would be at Talen Energy; of course I get ahead of myself here because they would need to win the first round match up for that to matter.   A top four place isn't in the bag yet either but any combination of two points added by the Union or dropped by any two of DC United, Toronto and Red Bulls, well that would be enough.  Second place would mean that a likely second round match up with Atlanta would be at Talen Energy instead of playing in front of 50,000 on turf, indoors in Atlanta.


Outgunned, Outmanned

Willems gives the Magpies an early lead. We were satisfied
 at the time but it was only momentary.
  Jason Cairnduff/Action Images via Reuters

It was fun while it lasted.  Willems gave Newcastle a short-lived lead at Anfield with a beautiful curling shot in the 7th minute.  The illusion lasted until the 28th minute when Sadio Mane got the first of his two goals; the second came at 40 minutes.  Salah put the match away in the 72nd minute.  Adding injury to insult, Schar limped off with some kind of calf injury sustained trying to stop Salah.

Actually 3-1 is an improvement over last year's 4-0 defeat at Anfield and meant minimal damage to our goal differential.  Realistically, there were no expectations of a result here.  But clearly, these are teams in two different leagues, at least figuratively.  Plus we are back in the relegation zone.


The League Turned Upside Down

Elsewhere the big news was clearly the Norwich 3-2 upset of Man City.  Yes, I know I pooh-poohed that fixture last week and it turned about to be the best of the weekend. Even after spotting the Canaries two goals, the late first half tally by Aguero made you feel like this was a case of a world class sprinter who, after getting the baton way behind, would eventually blow past the opposition.  That's why we'll make the goal from Pukki that restored the two goal lead this week's  YouTubeableMoment.  Not especially pretty but plenty exciting.

Sunday saw more craziness as Watford let Arsenal get out to a two goal lead before rallying to grab a 2-2 draw.  Commentator Lee Dixon had no shortage of words as Arsenal looked nearly helpless trying to play the ball out from the back.  Surprisingly, Unai Emery remains fairly far down the list in the Sack Race, though that may be due to a surfeit of candidates.  Cough, cough, looking at you Steve Bruce.

One those candidates would be Everton's Marco Silva, who saw his side fall to Bournemouth 1-3.  Roy Hodgson did himself no favors with an 0-4 pummeling by Tottenham; the score actually flatters Crystal Palace - they were totally outclassed.  Ole Gunnar may have bought himself some time with a 1-0 win over Leicester; that was important to re-establish their top four credentials.  Nuno Santo is also farther down on the list than we might expect.  His Wolves were easily handled by Chelsea 2-5 and they sit in 19th place with just three points, behind, ahem, even Newcastle.

Dennis F didn't take much joy in Aston Villa's 1-1 0-0 draw with West Ham.  That's because they played the final 25 or so minutes a man up and looked frankly like they were playing even up.  His lament - where are the goals going to come from?  Still the result was enough to edge the Villans ahead of Newcastle on goal differential.


EPL Refuted

Decidedly mixed results for English sides in the first week of group play in the Champions League.  Man City were fine in a 3-0 win over Shaktar Donestk but Chelsea went down 0-1 to Valencia at home and Liverpool fell on the road at Napoli 0-2.  Spurs will be kicking themselves after giving up a two-goal lead at Olympiacos to settle for a 2-2 draw.  Second set of games will be mid week in early October.


It Must Be Nice

To have your side at the top of the table.  Ze Roberto couldn't help but send this along:

Not convinced that Sevilla is going to blow us all away but look good right now.

What Comes Next?

Massively important contest for Newcastle on Saturday at home versus Brighton (12:30 NBC).  I really hate the idea of "must win" matches in September but this is close to that category.  Injury situation is not great, with Saint-Maximin, Ritchie, and Longstaff still out (never good to have your Longstaff out of commission).  The good news is that Andy Carroll may be a named substitute for the match.  At 538, Magpies are a healthy favorite but this has all the feel of a draw to me.

Bonus Friday football this week as Southampton and Bournemouth square off in a South coast derby, except they don't like to call it that.  Check it out at 3 pm on Friday on NBCSN.

Saturday starts out with a good one -  Leicester hosting Spurs at 7:30 on NBCSN.  The Foxes flunked last week's top six test against Man United and maybe loaded for bear; Spurs got into the top four and will be looking to stay there.   Saturday's 10 am TV match is Man City taking on Watford on NBCSN.

Full slate on Sunday headlined with Chelsea-Liverpool at 12:30 pm on NBCSN.  Wonder if Liverpool will take out the midweek loss to Napoli on Chelsea.  You can also see West Ham versus Man United at 9 am on NBCSN.

Several key matches in the MLS.  The Union could put the Red Bulls in the rear view mirror with a win on Sunday in Harrison - that's at 6:30 for your Sunday dinner time viewing.  Even a draw would be enough there but the Union are clear underdogs.  On Saturday Atlanta will be big time favorites at home against San Jose.  We can look to LAFC and Seattle for help against Toronto and DC United respectively.  A good chance we might not be in second but may clinch home field for the first round by Sunday night.

Got through refereeing two matches on Saturday so I'll be out there again this weekend (with Dennis F!), which means heavy reliance on the DVR.


For those paying attention, yes I did see Hamilton this week.

You Call That A Break?

Break may be a misnomer.  It's not like things stop.


Hey, No Fair

So while everybody is supposedly on international break, somehow NYCFC grab four points from two matches and now have a three point lead on the Union.  The good news is that it could have been worse and we will thank Toronto for pulling out a draw in NY on Wednesday.  Wait, you're telling me Toronto missed a PK and could have won 2-1?  Eh, still a helpful result.


The Last Straw?

Flores - I don't always coach in the EPL, but
when I do, I prefer Watford

Seems like this happens a lot.  A team drops points to Newcastle and their manager is sacked shortly
thereafter.  The latest victim is Watford's Javi Gracia.  Sure, his team had lost their opening three but they just got a point on the road against Newcastle.  It's like the losses were bad but a draw to Newcastle?  That's it, you're gone.  Note that Gracia led the Hornets to their best finish ever just last year.  Yikes. The good news is that Gracia is replaced by the "Most Interesting Man in Football" Quique Sanchez Flores.



The View from Europe

Newcastle's Fabian Schar is a goal scoring
machine regardless of which shirt he's wearing
Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

I got to see four of the Euro Championship qualifiers and most were entertaining.  Ireland - Switzerland was a 1-1 draw that featured a goal from Newcastle center back Fabian Schar matched by a brilliant header from Ireland's McGoldrick in the 87th minute.  Germany - Netherlands was good back-and-forth stuff but also featured possibly one of the most egregious calls in international football.  You can see the incident here starting at about 4:25.  How in the world is that handling?  The defender has no clue where the ball is.  Which leads to a second question; how in the world does UEFA not require VAR for the qualifying matches?   Fortunately, at least from my perspective, the Dutch proceeded to put two more in to take a 4-2 road win.  Sweden - Norway was a competitive Scandanavian affair that ended in a 1-1 draw.  And if you like scoring, England's 5-3 win over Kosovo might have been fun.  English manager Gareth Southgate probably wasn't too thrilled to see his side cough up two early goals in the second half after roaring out to a 5-1 lead.  Still, the Lions incredible streak in qualifying continues.  Didn't see exactly how many games it includes (something over 31), but the last time they lost a qualifier was in 2009 to Ukraine.

At some point down the road we'll go into more detail about the qualifying process.  Know that it it is not easy to thoroughly understand how it works.


An American in Bremen

This week's YouTubeableMoment comes courtesy of Philip S, who sent along this video.  So many great pieces to this goal by American Josh Sargent.  Note that the ball never touches the ground.  Sargent didn't get called up for summer Gold Cup action but did feature in the recent friendlies against Mexico and Uruguay.  The word is we'll be seeing more of the 19 year-old.


The Weekend

Jam packed days ahead which include my return to the pitch as a referee after hip replacement surgery and a trip to Talen Energy to see the Union take on LAFC.

Newcastle will be hard pressed to get anything out of Saturday morning's 7:30 match (NBCSN) at Anfield.  At 538 they have Liverpool at 85% win, 12% draw and 3% Newcastle win.  Eternal optimist Lloyd Christmas (right) offers his view.  Well, maybe but we're hearing that Almiron, who scored for Paraguay on international duty, may be out.  That beeping you hear is the sound of the bus being parked at Anfield.

There are five matches at 10 am.  The TV game (NBCSN) is Spurs - Crystal Palace which seems decent enough.  If you want to try NBC Gold, Man United - Leicester could be good see if the Foxes, currently third in the table, want to mix it up with the heavies again.  Also, noted top six foiler, Wolves are home to Chelsea.  The NBC "feature" match is Norwich hosting Man City.   Forgive me if I write that canary off even before it gets into the coal mine. 

Sunday has two matches at 9 and 11:30 but we are not overwhelmed.  The first is Bournemouth - Everton and the later game is Watford - Arsenal.  Bonus Monday match has Aston Villa hosting West Ham at 3 pm on NBCSN.

On the MLS side, the Union could wake up in third place on Sunday morning as LAFC are a tough customer while Atlanta host Columbus and NYCFC host San Jose in the abominable Yankee Stadium and its U-12 pitch.  On a more positive note, if my math is correct, any combination of three points gained by the Union or dropped by DC United and Toronto will clinch a top four spot for Philadelphia.  With DC on the road in Portland, that could happen this weekend: Toronto have a little easier time hosting Colorado.

Here's hoping my hip is still attached after Saturday.

Best Night Evah at Talen Energy Stadium?

An inspiring performance by the Union on Saturday took away a little of the sting of a lackluster showing by Newcastle earlier in the day.


First Place Again

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't looking forward to the match as much as the circumstances might have otherwise dictated.  Sure it was one versus two but Atlanta was hot and fundamentally a better team.  Just looking for a competitive contest.  My fears were largely borne out in the first half as Gaddis and Medunjanin were often beaten, allowing Atlanta to get some dangerous chances.  It had all the feel of an 0-2 loss.  The goal in first half stoppage time did nothing to quell that sense.  Not that the Union were bad, just Atlanta were better; seemed like everything the Union could do with some difficulty came easy for Atlanta.

That was somewhat of an audacious shot by Kacper

Fortunately, Gaddis and Medunjanin were much steadier in the second half.  Good entertaining football.  Still, without some changes, the match still seemed out of reach.  So Curtin put in Ilsinho at 57 minutes and four minutes later, Aaronson slips one past Guzan.  Next we see Santos at 77 minutes.  A draw doesn't seem so outrageous now.  That is, until Blake and Elliott have a horrible miscommunication that by all rights should have been converted to a goal by Josef Martinez.  Except he misses.  Minutes later, Wagner carries the ball past midfield, puts a good pass to Santos, who eludes the defender and sends the ball into the box to shuh-BILL-koh, who somehow puts this laser shot past Guzan for a 2-1 lead.  An easy pick for this week's YouTubeableMoment, it was likely the most electrifying moment in Union history.  The malodorous blue and yellow smoke had barely cleared the field before shuh-BILL-koh returned the favor with a pass that Santos easily deposited in the net for the insurance tally.  Pandemonium reigned!  Orlando's loss later in the evening meant that not only were the Union top of the table, they clinched a playoff berth.  On August 31st?  Definitely not your father's Union. 

Just a little cold water now.  Realistically, given the schedule and that both NYCFC (2) and Atlanta (1) have games in hand, holding onto to first or second will be a challenge. Second place would be awesome as that would offer the possibility of a second round home match versus Atlanta or NYCFC instead of a road match.  Third place probably means a first round home contest with the sixth place team (currently New England but could easily be Toronto, Montreal, DC United or even Red Bulls).


Mediocrity Reigns

Last year's returning top scorer, Schar opens his account in 2019.

Things weren't so great on the other side of the pond.  A home match with Watford certainly held out the chance of three points.  Except not when you surrender a goal in the second minute.  It was a bit unlucky but there it was.  Fortunately, the Magpies did not collapse.  But they didn't exactly excite either.  A very funky looking goal from Schar got things level just before halftime.  Watching the replay, I thought there was a real chance it would be ruled out because it sure looked like the ball game off Hayden's arm in the scramble that led up to the goal.  I would argue that Newcastle were the better side in the second half but that is a relative term.  The 1-1 draw was fair in my mind.   Did you notice that Javi Gracia got a yellow card in the second half?  One of the rule changes this year - managers can get booked.

They didn't miss Ritchie as much as I feared.  Willems may be an okay replacement.  And Atsu can do some of the things they were hoping that Saint-Maximin would provide.  I'd argue the biggest issue right now is converting Almiron's work rate into scoring chances.  No doubt the guy runs his butt off.  It's just that so far it's not generating much offense.  I'm hoping it's just adjusting to players other than Rondon and Perez. 

At four points from four matches, you can't say Newcastle are too far off what you would have expected, maybe just not collected in the way you would have predicted.  Settle in, it's going to a long season.


Too Much Sunshine

Can I just say the English football is not meant to be watched in sunshine, at least on TV?  The stands cast uneven shadows that give the cameras fits, you lose sight of players either because it's too bright or the shadows too dark.  Geez, watching the broadcast from Saint James' Park, with that baffled overhang, Watford in their traveling green were invisible much of the time.

Saturday offered a forgettable slate of matches that turned out to be head turning for a variety of reasons.  Man United fans will be forgiven for hitting the panic button after a 1-1 draw away to Southampton.  The result is particularly galling given they had a man advantage from the 73rd minute on but failed to find the game winner.  Same for Chelsea fans, who saw their side cough up a 2-0 lead - at home no less - to Sheffield United; the own goal charged to Zouma looked harsh to me but maybe I didn't see it clearly.  The upstart newcomers have five points so far, same as Man United, Chelsea and Spurs.  Ooh, one of these is not like the others.

Saturday's match noir would have to be Crystal Palace - Aston Villa.  A scoreless first half saw four Villans (Villains?) get yellow carded by Kevin Friend; he was already not Aston Villa's favorite. Trezeguet got himself a second in the 54th minutes.  Crystal Palace took the lead at 73 minutes courtesy Jordan Ayew.  But in the 96th minute, Lansbury seemingly snatched a draw for AVL.  Except Friend had blown the whistle for a Jack Grealish dive.  The goal was disallowed; the only part of the play that was reviewable was whether Grealish had been fouled in the box because Friend had blown the whistle before the goal was scored.  To complete the ugly day, Villa fans got into all kinds of skirmishes with security inside and outside the stadium.  You can see the key plays with extended highlights here; the Grealish incident is at about 8:00.  For our money, that was an incorrect call.  Grealish takes contact twice before going down and frankly it's not clear he even embellished the fall.

Sunday was better football.  As we had suggested the Everton - Wolves match was a joy to watch.  Don't remember the announcer but somebody said Wolves might be suffering from "Europa League fatigue" as they went down, not without a fight, 2-3.  Dennis relayed to me that Men in Blazers said "Europa League must be stopped.  It's the climate change of the football world."  Not sure if this is an improvement but a few years ago these same guys said qualifying for the Europa League is like getting an STD from a super model.  Anyway, we digress - it was a great match.

Then on to the main course - a North London Derby.  Up 2-0 by 40 minutes, Spurs seemed to be in charge.  A late first half goal gave Arsenal hope.  The second half was wide open and Arsenal pulled even in the 71st minute.  The Gunners definitely had the run of play from there on in and Spurs might consider themselves lucky to walk away with a point.  At one point in the second half, Spurs looked in total disarray, like they needed a time out to get reorganized.  Clearly they have some work to do. 


Random Notes

BFS Track & Field Consultant Jack W sends on this example of all-out defending.  Reminds me of this underrated defender. 

Literary critic Philip S alerted me to some excellent prose from the Guardian:

Burnley’s fibrous, streetwise approach make them the closest the modern footballer will get to playing Wimbledon at Plough Lane.

Alas, that fiber might have been stretched a bit in a 0-3 loss to Liverpool.


International Break

No club football this weekend but there are some tasty looking European Championship qualifiers.  Good luck finding them though.  You can see Ireland-Switzerland on Thursday and Germany Netherlands on Friday but from there college and NFL football takes over.  I'm guessing you'll need ESPN+ to catch the likes of Sweden Norway or Scotland Belgium.  Ah well.  Maybe we need the rest anyway.

All Is Not Lost

At least not yet.  A remarkable turnaround.  Good news on both home fronts.

Atsu in for Saint-Maximin; what looked like a bad omen
worked out fine as Atsu would find Joelinton for the game winner

Absolutely no reason to think that Newcastle would give Spurs a hard time.  Which of course, they proceeded to do.  Credit Steve Bruce for making some tweaks.  That was a 5-4-1 the Magpies trotted out there; can you say parking the bus?  But that's what Rafa would have done.  The stats are a train wreck.  Possession was 20/80. Shots were 8/17.  Touches were 391/942.  But so many of those touches were Spurs working the ball around the outside of the box.  Shots on target were actually 3/2.  The big difference was Newcastle converted their clear chance while Dubravka came up big on one against Son, Moura put his chance over the bar and Kane scuffed his.

The game's only goal came from Ritchie to Atsu (who was in the game only after Saint-Maximim's hamstring went bad) to Joelinton (which as you can hear from the video is pronounced Joe Elinton); it's an easy pick for this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Felt a little bad for Michael B as we watched the game together down the shore.   It being early season, he was more philosophical about it than upset.

The good news is that the team may have found it's competitive footing.  The bad news is that there is still no reason to think this will not be a year-long fight against relegation.  There are just too many teams like the Magpies out there to expect we can ever get confidently clear of the bottom.


How To Curl in Soccer

One of these three does not play
for Arsenal

Dennis points out that the Liverpool Arsenal match went downhill pretty much after Lee Dixon commented, "Guendouzi, David Luiz, Sideshow Bob, I get confused between the three of them."  Might have been the highlight of this much anticipated contest.  Actually, not true.  The opening 30+ minutes was an interesting contrast between the constant offensive pressure of Liverpool and the quick and nearly effective counterattacking of Arsenal.  But once Liverpool broke through with Matip's sweet header late in the first half, the spell was broken and the match seemed one-sided from that point on.

Meanwhile, at Old Trafford, Man United PK follies continued.  Recall last week that after being fouled Paul Pogba grabbed the ball to make sure that he, not Marcus Rashford (the regular PK taker), would take the kick.  Of course, he missed. This week, down 0-1 to Crystal Palace, the Red Devils were awarded another PK.  Martial quickly grabbed the ball and gave it to Rashford, who promptly slammed the attempt off the inside of the left post.  United did level things in the 89th minute only to see van Aanholt grab a winner in stoppage time.  Is it me or did that look a little soft from de Gea (video here)?

Didn't get to see much else.  Aston Villa got a nice 2-0 win over Everton.  Chelsea were twice down a goal to Norwich twice coughed up the lead to Norwich but did manage a 3-2 win.  Wolves and Burnley played to a 1-1 draw, with Wolves getting the equalizer in the 97th minute on a PK.  That'll leave a mark.

I Don't Carabao It Cup

The top four divisions do this competition of questionable necessity called the League Cup.  The current sponsor is Carabao.  In Football Manager my board would tell me annually that they expected results in the league, the FA Cup and the Champions League but told me they didn't give a sh care about the League Cup.  Look at the line ups that get trotted out for these matches and you'll see that in real life this competition is not a priority.

So we are not heartbroken that Newcastle went down to Leicester on kicks-from-the-spot after playing to a 1-1 draw.  In fact, the result suggests maybe that the performance against Spurs was not a complete fluke.


Rate This Dive

Check out the theatrics of Newcastle's Jetro Willems here.  He probably did get nudged in the back but no where near as hard as his reaction implies.  He's lucky his performance didn't cost Newcastle that goal.  In truth, he probably can't get booked for simulation because there was contact but that's risky behavior.  Hey Ted Lasso, what did you think of the play?

Ask Jeff H

Lifted directly from last week's Comments section is the wisdom of Jeff H:

The U seem to have lost the plot a bit. For all kinds of reasons a win v DCU is mandatory. Caught a break w Rooney being suspended so no excuses. Much is being said about the poor play of Creavalle (who looked good against Houston to me), Gaddis and Collin (who was a hero a few wks back). It will be interesting to see if we get the old “not going to tinker w the lineup” Curtin or the more daring guy we got earlier this season. Maybe it’s McKenzie for Collin? I say shake it up a bit Jim. If we drop points I predict the boos will rain down, despite the joy of 2 wks ago....it’s Philly.

Wish I could have been there when Jeff communicated these ideas to Union manager Jim Curtin.  Look at Saturday's line up card and tell me the two didn't talk.  McKenzie starts in place of Collin.  A  4-2-3-1 formation puts Ilsinho-Monteiro-Aaronson behind shuh-BILL-koh.  DC never knew what hit them.  Goals at 5, 16 and 36.  The 3-1 final might be kind to DC, who rather than challenging for the conference title may in fact be challenged to make the playoffs based on their recent form.

Atlanta didn't exactly destroy Orlando but got a 1-0 win to hold onto first for the moment.  NYCFC spotted the Red Bulls an early goal but came back for a 2-1 win; hard to think we were going to hold off NYCFC for second place at this point so maybe this was for the best.


Meet the New Boss (musical accompaniment courtesy The Who)

The new boss of Chester greets the media

Same as the old boss. Literally.  With Chester's 2018-19 success, I decided to retire from Football Manager 2010 and have upgraded to FM 2019.  The game's structure is such that one cannot import games from previous versions so I will be starting from scratch.  I figured why not try it all over again.  So in virtual time it is June 25, 2018 and I am the new manager of Chester.  Though the player rating approach is mostly unchanged, many aspects, especially in the areas of tactics and training are even more detailed than before.  I have a transfer budget of $0, salary space of about $70k, and a Chief Scout who is rated 2 out of 20 at judging potential ability.  Yeah, we have work to do.


You Don't Gotta Get It In To Get Three Points

So Carli Lloyd shows up at the Eagles practice and starts hitting 40 yard field goals easily.  Then she tries a 55 yarder.  The result is here.


Opportunities

Some golden, some more hypothetical.  In the former category, Newcastle take on Watford at St. James' Park at 10 am Saturday (NBC Gold), a chance to grab three points against a side that has struggled so far.  [Just before publishing, I read an injury update and don't feel so confident anymore - Matt Ritchie is out for two months due to an ankle injury picked up against Leicester, Saint-Maximim is out for 3-5 weeks, Carroll is still two weeks away and Willems is out too.] In the latter, the Union can retake first place with a win at home but must do it against a hot Atlanta team (Saturday at 7:30 on PHL 17).

After spreading fixtures out over three and four days the first three weeks, this Saturday we find six matches crammed into the Saturday 10 am slot.  We'll be taking in Newcastle v Watford on NBC Gold and dvring Chelsea v Sheffield United.  Would like to be able to see Crystal Palace host Aston Villa but the timing could be tough.  You can get up early to watch (7:30 - NBCSN) as Man United travel to the south coast to face Southampton.  The NBC feature match is Burnley - Liverpool.

Sunday offers some better match-ups.  At 9 we have Everton hosting Wolves; that could be fun to watch and good warm up for the North London derby at 11:30.  Both Arsenal and Tottenham did not have the best of weeks so this could be an early defining moment for both.

On the MLS front, we'll be at Talen Energy Stadium for that Union match against Atlanta.  Curtin will have to make at least one adjustment, as Bedoya is suspended for the match due to yellow card accumulation.  NYCFC, even on the road, is favored to take all three points from Vancouver.  This could be the Sunday we wake up to see the Union in third place.   Red Bulls will likely get their three points too as they host Colorado.  DC United could well drop another one in Montreal; they'll be missing Rooney again as he got another match tacked on to his suspension for violent conduct.

Just another crowded late summer weekend.

Makes Me Wanna Pukki

Warning - grumpy and snarky post ahead.  This says it all.  The highlight of the weekend was probably that Aston Villa played well despite losing.


I Didn't Think Magpies Were Flightless Birds

Teemu Pukki - a Finnisher
Photo: Press Association

Well, this tiding certainly hasn't left the ground yet.  This was perhaps the worst performance by the Magpies since I started following the club.  No soul, no heart, no clue.  Hard to sort out how much is down to the manager and how much the players are the problem.  For Bruce's part, why would you replace Manquillo, who had a perfectly fine debut against Arsenal, and give newcomer Emil Krafth the start at right wingback?  Not to unfairly single out the new guy but he missed a scoring chance, saw the second goal go between his legs and was beaten by Pukki as he completed his hat trick.  Ki for Longstaff was the other change, though that may have been driven by injury concerns.

What is hard to understand is that the defensive part of the lineup is largely unchanged from last year and they look like they've never played together.  Is 3-5-2 simply the wrong formation for this group of players?  Doesn't it say something when my best memories of the match are Isaac Hayes Hayden doing great work in the right corner.  He's the center mid with key defensive responsibilities!  Again, that would be the manager.  But Newcastle were also a step too slow for most of the match and that is not on the manager.

Yes, only two matches in.  Joelinton headed a clear cut chance wide but he hardly got any service so let's not write him off yet.  Almiron is a good player but may be lost at the moment without the other Dos Amigos.  On paper, we should not be this bad.  The difference is that I had confidence that Benitez would figure it out; don't feel the same about Bruce.


Somewhere the Sun Is Shining

I had much more fun as a "neutral."  Everything else I watched was entertaining.  The early start with Arsenal taking Burnley 2-1 was close.  Aston Villa pretty clearly outplayed Bournemouth but were a bit unlucky with a PK in the first minute and a ricochet goal at 12 minutes in their 1-2 loss; even Dennis was satisfied with their play.  They stay ahead of Newcastle on the strength of one more goal scored.

Speaking of luck (or was it just efficiency?), Spurs had just two shots on target but scored on both and snuck away from the Etihad with a 2-2 draw.  The talking point there of course involved another VAR non-controversy.  Jesus had apparently scored the game winner in stoppage time except that the ball had clearly come off Laporte's arm.  Under the new rules, the goal has to be disallowed.  You can see the play here.  The best part was that Aguero, who had words with Guardiola when he was replaced by Jesus earlier, came down to hug his manager after the apparent game winner.  Wonder if the hug was taken back after the VAR decision.

Sunday was just as good as the Sheffield United home crowd was rewarded for their long wait for Premier League action with a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, who have fewer goals than Newcastle at this point.  It may end up being a long season for the Blades but you have to be happy for the Sheffield fans right now.  The Chelsea-Leicester match was a great 1-1 draw.  We wrapped things up with a cracking 1-1 draw between Wolves and Man United.  Wolves continue to be a thorn in the side of the big six and I have them on the radar as my EPL team for next year when Newcastle play in the Championship division.


Turns Out There Are Dumb Questions

We realize Pep was probably upset after seeing the potential winning goal disallowed but this is just stupid.

Guardiola added: "Why is it not handball with Llorente in the Champions League quarter-final last season, but why is it hands today? Why?"

BECAUSE THEY CHANGED THE **CKING RULE!  Is it that hard to understand?  And now people are frustrated that accidental contact with the arm is cause for goals being ruled out when they were so outraged before that goals were being scored after accidental contact.  Just stop it.  For the record, I was okay with the old rule even though it was arguably harder for referees to sort out what was a violation and what was okay.


Relative Value

After hearing that Inter Milan paid a transfer fee of £72 million to obtain the services of forward Romelu Lukaku, BFS co-founder Dennis F asked "Am I not at least 1/72 the player he is and therefore worth at least £1 million?"  We have to agree and I have signed on as his agent and am entertaining offers at this point.  And I can guarantee that my client at least will not report to his new club overweight.


It's Almost Autumn and the Leaves Kits Are Changing Colors

First we saw the Bournemouth Cherries dressed as the Lemon-Limes for their away contest at Aston Villa (left).  Then Leicester showed up at Stamford Bridge with uniforms that appeared to have been washed in hot water with Man United shirts (below).  And is that the guy who scored the equalizer for Leicester?  N'didi it is.

Speaking of fun with names, late in the Man City Spurs match, I shouted at the screen when Spurs left a man wide open "Jesus, somebody has to mark him."  Dennis politely corrected me.  "No, that's Sterling."  Guess you had to be there.



Not Top of the Table Any More

Another inconsistent outing from the Union and this time it cost them an 0-2 defeat in Chicago.  A poor first half was capped off by Fire goals at 38 and 45 minutes.  Hopes for at least a draw were good though because Chicago had a man sent off in first half stoppage time.  Even with the man advantage, the Union could not find the net.  Final stats show 18 shots but a paltry three on goal.  Simply not good enough.

With Atlanta taking the measure of Portland 2-0, the Union ceded first place for the first time in over two months.  Watching that match, I'm starting to feel like the MLS is getting somewhere.  Intense and interesting.  A few weeks ago Bob K sent around highlights of the Cincinnati - Columbus derby.  Same thing.  Just more fun to watch other teams than I remember.

We continued to get some measure of help from the other clubs.  Vancouver beat DC United 1-0.  Red Bulls only managed 1-1 with Revolution. Columbus and Toronto drew, Orlando only got one point from Minnesota.  NYCFC did win over Cincinnati.  Red Bulls and NYCFC got midweek wins as well so the standings are getting more compressed.  First place was never really in my thinking but haven't given up hope on a top four finish.  Well, until I looked at the schedule.  After the home match with DC United this weekend, they play Atlanta, LAFC, and Red Bulls.  They finish with NYCFC.  That makes the matches with Columbus and San Jose close to must win if top four is the goal.


Chester Quad

Some luck, some skill involved but Chester did come home with the Champions League and FA Cup titles.  We got a break in that a few players came back from injury sooner than expected; actually that's not completely luck because I did research to get the best physios, who can reduce the amount of time lost to injury.  A second helpful development was that the four starters who were supposed to be with their international teams were all able to stick around for the FA Cup Final.  The Champions League win was not pretty (3-1 over Man United) but, of course, it won the title.  The 2-0 win over Man City for the FA Cup was a tight contest (second goal came in stoppage time) but Chester were playing the way I asked them to.  We allowed no shots on target and most of their attempts were from far out.  A satisfying end to the season.


Schedule

Away this weekend so viewing may be compromised, although I will be watching Spurs-Newcastle with Michael B Sunday at 11:30.  Early start to the weekend with a Friday match between Aston Villa and Everton at 3 pm Friday (NBCSN).

Best match of the weekend would be Liverpool - Arsenal as the NBC feature game at 12:30 on Saturday.  Kind of strange to say this but after just two weeks, these are the only two teams without a loss or draw.  Neither were at their best in wins last weekend.

If you're up early Saturday morning you can catch Norwich - Chelsea at 7:30 on NBCSN.  Not sure I'd set my alarm for that one.  The 10 am slate doesn't blow you away either.  Best of the lot looks to be Man United - Crystal Palace on NBCSN.  Sunday we have the aforementioned Spurs-Newcastle tilt but there's also Bournemouth - Man City at 9 am.  Actually, the most interesting match of the day is Wolves - Burnley at 11:30 but only on NBC Gold; these are two pretty solid clubs.

Saturday is also a big home match for the Union as they host DC United.  At 538 they have the Union as a big favorite but I'm not convinced.  DC dropped to 5th in the table after the midweek loss to Red Bulls so this is a big chance for the Union to created some cushion for a top four finish.  Atlanta have Orlando on the road but would suspect they'll come away with a win.  We get a break in that the Red Bulls face NYCFC so somebody's gonna drop points; with any luck, it will be both.

We saved the YouTubeableMoment for the end since it was kind against the run of the blog.  What a strike from Aduriz to give Athletic Club a 1-0 win over Barcelona.  Not bad for a 38 year-old.  And see Michael B, I do acknowledge the existence of La Liga.

Rereading this, I wasn't as bitter as I expected. We'll see how I'm doing after Spurs thrash Newcastle.

There's Always Next Year

Actually Newcastle weren't awful. Still a home loss though.  The Union were awful too but they stole a win anyway.

Ruing Rafa

Benitez certainly wasn't perfect but his mid-game adjustments and subs often made a difference.  Steve Bruce got off to rough start in that regard in the 0-1 defeat to Arsenal.  His named line up left him with no mid-field subs so when Shelvey had to go off with an injury, the resulting sub-optimal lineup possibly led to the only goal and certainly killed momentum for a while.  Some of the confusion may have been down to Willems not understanding where he was supposed to go but even once that was sorted out, the team looked lost.  Haven't seen an explanation for why Ki wasn't on the bench except that it wasn't an injury.

You never score from the top of the box...seats.
Andy Carroll in the stands at St. James' Park
(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Sure an 0-1 to Arsenal doesn't sound too bad.  Except this wasn't exactly the highest caliber Gunner squad on the pitch. Ozil and Kolasinac were out due to security concerns (whoa, that is really messed up - looks like a continuing problem involving London-based gangs - details here).  Their big signings were on the bench, making inconsequential late match appearances.  Newcastle did have a shot off the post but the offense was generally underwhelming and they were often careless in possession.

Going glass is 1/8th full, there were positives.  Except for that shocking break-down on the goal set up by a poor pass, the defense does look solid.  Joelinton appears capable of being a legitimate replacement or even upgrade from Rondon.  Saint-Maximin could be a real live wire based on what we saw from his short stint.

Frankly, the team looked like what I expected.  Unfortunately my fears for relegation are up because based on what I saw this weekend, there are no obvious easy marks in the bottom half of the table.

Everybody Might Be Better Than Newcastle

As I said, not so confident about Newcastle's chances of avoiding relegation after seeing the weekend's results.  Aston Villa looked competent against Tottenham even though they ended up losing 1-3.  Spurs had the run of play but Villa led for much of the time after a nice smash and grab counterattack.  Sheffield United played tough at Bournemouth and came away with a point thanks to a late goal.  Brighton and Burnley, never offensive cogs, got 3-0 wins over Watford and Southampton respectively.  Crystal Palace held Everton scoreless in a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park, though they were helped in that the Toffees did spend the last 15 or so minutes a man short.  No, of the usual relegation suspects, only Norwich played the part, falling to Liverpool 1-4.  Down 0-3 in the space of 28 minutes, Michael B texted to ask if these were the Canaries in the coal mine.  But even they managed a goal.  I guess maybe Southampton didn't shine either.  Not seeing obvious wins for Newcastle; they will have to fight for every point.

At the north end of the table, the biggest news was Man United clobbering Chelsea 4-0.  That final is misleading as it was 1-0 until 65 minutes.  Reminds me of Dennis's review of The Chronicles of Narnia - it was a good movie until it started to suck.  Red Devil fans must be thrilled though.  Man City wasn't really tested by West Ham, but again the final (5-0) makes it sound worse than it really was, with three of the goals coming after 74 minutes.  I didn't get to watch much of Leicester vs Wolves but at 0-0 that had to be a disappointing affair.

VAR Fainting Couch 

I forget where I read this but there were something like 70 VAR checks in the weekend's 10 matches.  I happened to see the three that resulted in on-field calls being changed.  Somehow every one of these will be controversial even though they really aren't.  First of all, the flow of the game argument has to stop.  In a sport where players regularly disrupt play with minor, or worse, imaginary injuries, waiting 30 seconds to review a critical play is the least of our problems.  Second, more often than not, the complainant's issue is with the rules, not VAR.  This is definitely the case for the goal taken away from Wolves because the VAR noticed the ball came off an attacker's arm.  Santo is unhappy but the new rule is very clear; even accidental and unintentional handling by an attacker in the box that leads to a goal is going to be called.  Further, this did not look like re-refereeing but a case where the referee didn't see the contact.  

I confess I was ready to jump on the fainting couch when Fabianski's stop of Aguero's PK was about to be retaken for not having one foot on the line.  But, but, you guys said you weren't going to use VAR for that.  And indeed they aren't.  The retake was because of Rice's encroachment, which was not inconsequential as he was the first player to the ball to clear it.  Again, not a different interpretation of what the referee saw but notification of something he didn't see.  So we're good there too.

Which leaves us with Sterling's offside which resulted in a goal being taken away.  Somewhat more sympathetic here.  The argument is that it's not a judgment, you are either on or off.  The picture (left) says Sterling is offside.  Except this is not quite like the more exact science of goal line technology.  The line is drawn based on when the reviewer believes the ball was struck.  It's also drawn based on the reviewer's interpretation of where the relevant body parts are.  Move the red dotted line back a little bit more on Sterling's torso and he's not offside.  This is arguably a bit of re-refereeing.  So close the AR didn't call it but the video guy gets a second, closer look.  But I don't see how you modify the VAR approach to offside.  How do you come up with objective criteria to let a call stand even when your best evidence shows it shouldn't.  Put me down as "in for a penny in for a pound."  I'll take VAR if this is its worst aspect.


Answer to Last Week's Test

In case you didn't look it up:

Club	Manager
Arsenal	Unai Emery
Aston Villa	Dean Smith
Bournemouth	Eddie Howe
Brighton	Graham Potter
Burnley	Sean Dyche
Chelsea	Frank Lampard
Crystal Palace	Roy Hodgson
Everton	Marco Silva
Leicester	Brendan Rogers
Liverpool	Jurgen Klopp
Man City	Pep Guardiola
Man United	Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Newcastle	Steve Bruce
Norwich	Daniel Farke
Sheffield United	Chris Wilder
Southampton	Ralph Hasenhuttl
Tottenham	Mauricio Pochettino
Watford	Javi Gracia
West Ham	Manuel Pellegrini
Wolves	Nuno Espirito Santo

Defending First Place

For the second weekend in a row, the Union retook first place after briefly losing it to Atlanta.  This time was more difficult, especially given that Houston managed to keep 11 on the field for the whole match.  Actually, I don't think that's true.  Can't find it and erased the video but pretty sure a Houston player got hurt after they had made their three subs and spent the last few minutes down a man.  What also made it more difficult was wretched passing by the Union.  But there they were at full time, 2-1 winners.  A scruffier pair of goals you'll not find.  The first, by shuh-BILL-koh, went through the keeper's legs.  The game winner from Jack Elliott came from some lucky pinballing.  Still, it is a game winner and is this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Is it a sign of a new attitude that the post game sentiment was "We better play better" instead of "We'll take three points any way we can get them?"

For the most part, scoreboard watching continues to be a pleasant pastime.  The Red Bulls lost, Orlando drew and while Atlanta did win, their victim was NYCFC.  Another week at the top of the table and another week closer to a good finish.



Chester Alums

Perusing the opening day rosters for the EPL squads, I saw no current Chester Blues.  There are a few alumni sprinkled around including:

Josh King - Bournemouth
Gylfi Sigurdsson - Everton
Paul Pogba - Man United
Luke Freeman - Sheffield United

We did finish out the regular season with wins to capture our 4th straight EPL title, outdistancing Liverpool by 10 points.  Now come the Champions League final (vs Man United) and the FA Cup Final (vs Man City).

Week Two

An immediate test for Newcastle with a road trip to Norwich.  What a barometer this will be.  According to 538, expect bad weather – they have Norwich at 39%, Newcastle 33% with a 28% chance of a draw.  A draw seems a likely result which would not be terrible but not great.  That match is 10 am on NBC Gold.  Dennis and I will be watching that one as well as the Aston Villa Bournemouth match (10 am Saturday on CNBC) together.  Something about misery loves company.

Key contest of the weekend is Man City hosting Tottenham on Saturday at 12:30 on NBC.  Not real optimistic about Spurs’ chances here but remember what they did last year in the Champions League.  Other TV matches include the early bird special at 7:30 am Saturday featuring Arsenal vs Burnley, Southampton Liverpool (10 am on NBCSC) and two more on Sunday – Sheffield United hosting Crystal Palace (9am NBCSN) and Leicester heading to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea (11:30 am NBCSN).  Will be interested to see how Chelsea respond after last week’s spanking by Man United.  And speaking of the Red Devils, we get a bonus Monday match with Man United traveling to take on Wolves at 3 pm on NBCSN.

Full schedule for MLS too.  The Union, DC United and Atlanta are listed as underdogs at 538 for their road contests with Chicago, Vancouver and Portland respectively.  Facing Cincinnati, this may be a chance for NYCFC to gain ground on the others.  Same for the Red Bulls, who host New England.

In short, another crowded weekend.