Playoffs!

Yikes, a surfeit of stories with two rounds of MLS playoffs, EPL action, BFS correspondents reporting in from all over the world and me with papers to grade.  You know what that means?  Coverage a mile wide and an inch deep.


First Union Playoff Win Evah

U teammates celebrate with Fabian

And what a contest!  Down 0-2 and 1-3 at half time, largely (though not entirely) due to a poor outing from Andre Blake (more on that below), the U scrambled back to level things in regular time and then snatched a win in extra time.  Besides Blake's troubles, the U's passing in the first half was atrocious so it's not completely fair to dump responsibility on our keeper.  Jack Elliott (hasn't done much wrong all year) got the comeback started with a sweet header at 52 minutes.  Fafa Picault got the equalizer, also on a header, at 78 minutes.  Late sub Fabian got the game winner in stoppage time of the first extra period on a deflected shot that some are still trying to figure out how it find the back of the net.


Curtains on Union Manager Bashing?

Once again, his substitution pattern rescued the game.  Ilsinho got the offense going while Picault and Fabian scored.  We got four goals with our leading scorer - shuhBILLkoh - out with an injury.  This has been happening all year.  Curtin has done an excellent job with this squad, making changes to the starting line up and in-game substitutions that have made a difference.  Go back to some of the less savory results and I'll bet you'll find Curtin's choices were compromised by player availability.


Tepid Atlanta

The Union run ended with an 0-2 defeat in Atlanta.  Once again the U were without leading scorer shuhBILLkoh and it showed.  This was a pretty decent showing against a superior team in their own setting.  Not sure how much blame to assign Blake for the early goal here but looked like he made the wrong choice again.  Can't help but wonder what might have been had Aaronson converted that golden chance at 17 minutes, which would have leveled things at 1-1; some credit to Guzan for a good save there.  We'll do a more complete round up when things are quieter but in sum this was easily the best season in the U's 10-year history.


Keeper Gaffes - Special Halloween Horror Edition - The Blakening

Apparently this feature is destined to continue.  We need only focus on the Union - Red Bulls match to gather enough material for this week, courtesy of Andre Blake's bad awful first half.

1. Normally a reliable shot stopper, this one got past Andre for an early 0-1 deficit.  Maybe harsh but looks like he got both hands to it.

2. As BFS Keeper Consultant, Graham R points out, "crosses in the air" are not Blake's strong suit.  We present Exhibit A.  Things looked pretty blake bleak at that point, down 0-2 at 24 minutes.

3. In the same text, Graham R also noted that "communicating with his defenders" is also not Blake's strong suit.  We present Exhibit B.  That one felt like an absolute sucker punch, coming right at the end of the first half and leaving the Union in a 1-3 hole.

To be clear, we are not saying Blake is a bad keeper.  But he does have some weaknesses and they were on display in that first half.


Random Thoughts on the MLS Playoffs

We assume MLS is thrilled with the single elimination format so far.  The first round matches were all close, many going into extra time.  Toronto-DC produced a curious scoreline - 5-1 in extra time; yes, Toronto scored four in extra time.  All but one of the higher seeds (Minnesota the exception) advanced.

For the NYCFC - Toronto conference semi-final fixture, Yankee Stadium was expected to be occupied by the true tenants - the Yankees; turns out it was available but they couldn't know that the Yankees would crash out of the baseball playoffs so early so alternate plans had to be made.  Instead of finding a real soccer venue, they simply moved to another inadequate site - Citi Field.  Based on the field markings and the grain of the mowing pattern, we know that the pitch was 66 x 108.  Why does MLS allow important any matches to be played on pitches that would be inadequate for a high school game?  Never mind, I know the answer.  $$$$.  So I can't say I was heart broken when Toronto slipped by NYCFC 2-1 on a late penalty.

Seattle worked hard and came away with a deserved 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake.  The big takeaway for me was the heroic performance by Rimando in his final match.

The last conference semi was the renewal of El Trafico - the derby between LAFC and the LA Galaxy.  Wild stuff as LAFC took a 5-3 win.

Conference finals are Atlanta - Toronto (Wednesday at 8 pm on FS1) and LAFC - Seattle (Tuesday at 10 pm on ESPN).


Not Awful Is Still No Points

Saint-Maximin - A bright spot in Chelsea loss (Getty)

Newcastle held Chelsea at bay for most of the match but in the end fell 1-0 on a goal from Marcos Alonzo in the 73rd minute.  When we say not awful, we're really saying their defense was well-organized.  Possession was 71-29, shots were 16-5 and shots on target 8-0.  As we have pointed out many times, depending on your opponent to provide an own goal is no way to go through life; if you don't manage a shot on goal, the best you can do is a draw.  Actually, those stats are slightly misleading because there were many times that the Magpies did muster a counterattack; it's just they never put the shot on frame.

Saint-Maximin continues to look like a live wire who eventually is going to generate some goals.  Less sure about Joelinton.  He doesn't get much service but he isn't converting the few chances he does get.  Almiron is a puzzle too but I will say he does make some promising runs and provides possession that takes some of the pressure off.  Yeah, not much to hang your hat on, eh?


Random Thoughts on EPL

Embattled managers got some results but it didn't seemed to help their odds in the Sack Race.  Man United did a very creditable job against Liverpool and earned a 1-1- draw.   The Liverpool goal came late (85th minute) and United made Liverpool look disorganized in a way no team has this year.  Still, there's Old Gunner leading the Sack Race at 2/1.

Same for Marco Silva.  His Everton squad woke up with a solid 2-0 win over West Ham but Silva is still listed at 3/1. Spurs rescued a 1-1 draw with a late goal at home to Watford, which needs to be considered an unsatisfactory result for them so it's not a surprise that Pochettino sits at 4/1 odds.  We have to say the Spurs equalizer looked highly suspicious to us.  I thought it clearly came off of Alli's upper arm and under the new rules, you don't even have to consider intent in that situation.

The 0-1 loss at Chelsea was hardly a surprise for Newcastle so Steve Bruce didn't go up or down at 12/1.  I thought Southampton's 1-1 draw with Wolves was a mild upset but Hasenhuttl stays at 12/1.  And Arsenal's poor 0-1 showing against Sheffield United puts Unai Emery into the mix at 16/1.

Leicester rallied from an 0-1 deficit to get a hard fought 2-1 win.  They now sit third in the table.  Before the Aston Villa match, I might have argued that the EPL has used a high standard for clear and obvious error in its use of VAR.  The disallowed goal for Villa must be the exception that proves the rule.  They ended up with a 2-1 win despite playing a man up for much of the match - which has typically not been helpful to them.  Only four teams have a better goal differential than the Villans.

Man City got a 2-0 win over CP wearing their Houston Astros throw-back jerseys.  The second goal, from David Silva is a thing of beauty from the build up to the finish; it's also this week's YouTubeableMoment.

Crazy season so far.


Champions League

All you need to know I have time for right now is all EPL sides got wins in Matchday 3 of group play and all look good to advance to the knockout round halfway through the group stage.


BFS in Europe

 La Liga Correspondent Michael B reports in from Mallorca:

Correspondent Michael B is the one in the goofy hat.
Correspondent Michael B is the one in the goofy hat, third
from the right.

Mallorca (newly promoted and #18 in the table) 1, Real Madrid (#1 in the table). Note Samuel E'to's name on stadium wall of fame next to men's room. He started out playing for Mallorca!

He was there cycling but not surprisingly find time to take in some football.

Meanwhile, in Israel, BFS Real Estate consultant, Ze Roberto (aka Bob K) tells us that his new favorite club is Hapoel Kfar Saba FC (double checked spelling, not a typo).  Details on the newly promoted side can be had here.


If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium

Yeah, but the wrong town.  Michael B sends us this story of a travel mix-up by two Liverpool fans who went to Gent instead of Genk and missed out on their side's Champions League match.  All those European cities look alike.


Britain Off Daylight Saving Time

I have given up looking for easy fixtures on the Newcastle schedule. - there is no such thing this year.  Facing Wolves at home might qualify as one of the "less difficult" matches but still looks incredibly daunting.  They haven't lost in four matches after getting off to a slow start.  A draw would be awesome.

Early start to the weekend with Southampton vs Leicester at 3 pm on Friday (NBCSN).  Leicester are taking advantage of the vacuum at the top and look in good form; Southampton have yet to find any rhythm to date.

We'll get up early on Saturday (7:30 NBCSN) to see how Aston Villa fare against Man City; 538 has this has a lopsided affair but we'll watch anyway.  Just three matches at 10 and none are that exciting.  The TV game is Brighton - Everton or you can go for Watford - Bournemouth or West Ham - Sheffield United on NBC Gold.  See what I mean.  Even the featured 12:30 match on NBC doesn't grab me all that much - Burnley hosting Chelsea; the Clarets do play tough so it might be a tight, low scoring match.

For some reason, the schedulers felt the need to pile three matches in at 12:30.  The TV match (on NBC, not NBCSN) is Liverpool - Tottenham.  Playing at Anfield hardly seems like a way for Spurs to put their season back on track.  NBC Gold will have a London derby between Arsenal and Crystal Palace plus Norwich hosting Man United; the latter might be a good test to see if United have found their feet.

Don't forget the MLS conference finals on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I'm sure I forgot something but whatever...

Let the Inquest Begin

Pulisic's expression says it all (ESPN2)

After a 7-0 pasting of Cuba, the USMNT put up a real stinker in a 0-2 defeat to Canada in Nations League action.  This was the first loss to Canada in 34 years.  Though the actual place in this competition is not a real issue, performances like that one are.  They managed just three shots on target.  The Sports Illustrated write up is littered with phrases like "lack of meaningful possession in final third," "lack of creative runs," and "scatterbrained."  Pulisic didn't have the greatest night but was also often isolated in the attack.  He was subbed around 60 minutes and was visibly unhappy.  Commentators Ian Darke and Taylor Twellman used the word "inquest" liberally in the closing minutes.  The competition is somewhat of a no-win situation for the USMNT, as in if they win so what.  But they need to win so people can say "so what" as opposed to "wtf."

England also saw their unbeaten qualification streak ended with a 1-2 loss to the Czech Republic in European Championship qualifying.  This was their first loss in Euro or World Cup qualifying since October 2009.  Not as shocking as the US loss to Canada, just notable.  No inquest likely here, plus they pounded Bulgaria 6-0 in their second match during the international break.  That match may have been more notable for the racist behavior of vulgar Bulgarian fans, who directed monkey chants and Nazi salutes at Tyrone Mings and others.  England was also criticized for not bringing enough traveling stewards.  Uh?  Seems like FIFA could go no tolerance on this - either no home matches or home matches in empty stadia.

Took in a few other Euro qualifiers, including the Dutch 3-1 come-from-behind win over Northern Ireland in which all goals were scored after the 74th minute and a tight 1-1 draw between Sweden and Spain where Rodrigo got the equalizer in stoppage time to rescue a draw for Spain.  Also got to see Ukraine take an early lead and hold on to a 2-1 victory over Portugal.  Pretty good stuff all around.

For those keeping score at home, the following countries have qualified:

Belgium
Italy
Poland
Russia
Spain
Ukraine

Matchdays 9 and 10 in early November will conclude group play and determine many more automatic spots.  But there will be all kinds of playoffs to determine additional spots.  The playoff process is more complicated than the NBA draft lottery so I won't go into it here.


Turning Your Back on a Teammate

Apparently isn't always bad.  In one of the Dutch matches during the break, I saw a choreographed throw-in play in which a Dutch player stood maybe five yards from a teammate with his back turned to the thrower.  The throw-in gently bounced off the back and the thrower easily settled it and merrily dribbled away.  I couldn't find a video of the play but I did find this play by Canada's Junior Hoilett and Mark-Anthony Kaye from a match in March.  Same idea except the Canadian version looked more casual and spontaneous.  In the Dutch plan, the teammate clearly planted himself with his back parallel to the touchline to provide the perfect backboard.  Let's see if this catches on.


I Thought They Had National Health Insurance

In Football Manager 2010, I would occasionally have to deal with injury situations in which there was a choice between letting the injury heal or giving the player an injection that would get him through the next match but would cause him to miss more time in total.  I never chose the injection route because, I don't know, I hate shots?  Anyway, in FM 2019 the same thing happens, except now it tells me that the injection will cost the team $650 and goes against our budget.  I guess it's not covered by the British national health insurance plan.

I'm about two months into my tenure at Chester and in that time, team cohesion has gone from "abysmal" to "very poor" to "poor."  I'm told my position is secure at the moment because the cost to terminate my contract is more than the team is willing to spend.  That, and we are in first place after seven games. 


EPL and MLS Playoffs

And me out much of the weekend with refereeing and other stuff...

Newcastle can look to build on the win over Man United but not feeling much promise with a road trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea.  Anything from that match is a bonus.  That's at 10 am but only on NBC Gold.

Saturday dawns early with a 7:30 (NBCSN) match between embattled Everton and mildly surprising West Ham.  The other five 10 am matches offer a range of interesting contests.  The TV guys picked Spurs -Watford; story line there is whether Tottenham get their act together against the last place side.  Leicester - Burnley could be a real good fixture between relatively equal squads.  Same for Aston Villa - Brighton.  Are Wolves really back to last season form?  They face Southampton at home.  Bournemouth and Norwich is the least interesting of the bunch but the Canaries sometimes surprise.  The Saturday 12:30 feature on NBC doesn't look great as Man City go to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace; except, Palace have more points in the last five matches than City so who knows?

Sunday has just a solo game with Man United hosting Liverpool (11:30 on NBCSN).  Used to be we'd think of this as a big time match up with all sorts of implications.  Recent form for both sides suggests otherwise but maybe United will get their act together.  We get Monday afternoon football this week as Arsenal travel to face Sheffield United; the Gunners look in much better form and are favorites here.

MLS has six single elimination playoff matches spread over Saturday and Sunday.  Our primary focus will be the Union vs Red Bulls at Talen Energy (3 pm Sunday on FS1).  At 538 the Union are a solid favorite (70%) which seems on the optimistic side to me.  The good news is that shuhBILLkoh and Bedoya are both expected back.  This gives Curtin many more options than he had against NYCFC two weeks ago.

Saturday has games at 1 (Atlanta - New England on Univision), 3:30 (Seattle - Dallas on FS1), 6 (Toronto - DC United on [can't find it on my TV], and 10 (Real Salt Lake - Portland on ESPNews).   Again, surprised that 538 doesn't see these as all that close with Atlanta at 78%, Seattle at 66%, Toronto at 75% and RSL at 66%.  The weekend concludes with Minnesota - LA Galaxy at 8:30 on Sunday night (ESPN), the tightest match up according to 538 with Minnesota at 62%.

MLS apparently wants the playoffs to go quickly as they scheduled the second round matches for mid-week on 10/23 and 10/24.  Wow, another big advantage to the division winners, who got first round byes and will face sides working with four days rest.  And conference finals are next Saturday/Sunday so teams could have three games in 7-8 days.  This might be driven by the international break in mid-November.  If they don't get the final in by 11/10, they'd have to wait until 11/24.

The break is clearly over.

Paddle Found?

Another week of confounding results in the EPL and the Union once again limp to the end of the regular season.


Not As Far Up the Creek As We Thought?

Twice now, Newcastle have gone into matches in terrible form against seemingly more formidable opponents and come away with 1-0 wins. First it was Tottenham, Sunday it was Man United.  That both of those clubs are struggling maybe should be no surprise.  Maybe they are up the same creek as Newcastle.

Dream PL debut for Matty Longstaff (PA Media)

And it was not an undeserved three points.  Arguably the Magpies had the run of play.  Except for Maguire's missed header, Man United didn't threaten all that much.  Neither did the Magpies but at least 19 year-old Matty Longstaff didn't miss his big chance - an easy choice for this week's YouTubeableMoment.

Could the Magpies actually be ahead of expected points through eight matches?  Maybe.  The way they've been collected makes it seem worse.  At best we could have planned on wins versus Norwich, Brighton and Watford and Norwich on the road might have been forecast as a draw.  Hard to expect any points from Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool, Leicester and Man United.  So somewhere between seven and nine points was our likely total and here we sit with eight.  Disappointing draws to Watford and Brighton, plus the debacle at Leicester have been overcome by surprise wins over Tottenham and Man United.


Keeper Follies

I hadn't planned on it being a regular feature but again this weekend, several keepers did not distinguish themselves.

1. Hugo Lloris possibly surpasses last week's performance with this gaffe.  Adding injury to insult, he's out with a dislocated elbow until January.  That goal was the start of a bad awful day for Spurs, as they put up an 0-3 stinker at Brighton.  There was nothing unlucky about this either, they were just plain bad.

2. If you're going to mess up, best to do it when you're leading 5-0.  Check out this incident late in Aston Villa's 5-1 thrashing of Norwich.  We do have to give partial credit to Tyrone Mings' ill-advised back pass but Neal Heaton didn't handle it all that well.  BTW, during this blow-out, Dennis says he only got comfortable when the score reached 4-0.

3. Maybe a little harsh but shouldn't Adrian have been able to stop this shot?  The goal by Maddison leveled things between Liverpool and Leicester at 1-1 late.  But a rash challenge by Albrighton in the box in stoppage time set up James Milner for the PK that gave Liverpool a 2-1 win.  A much anticipated match that more than satisfied.

4. Also maybe on the harsh side but looks like Guaita could have done better here.  No matter.  His Crystal Palace side rallied to get a 2-1 win at West Ham and move into 6th place.


Happy Learned How to Putt. Uh Oh.

If Traore can finish like this, look out (Getty)

So the knock on Adama Traore has always been that he's a marvelous athlete, lightning fast, but lacking in finishing skills.  On Sunday, he put away two goals late with confident finishing to sink Man City in their home park.  We couldn't help but think of the scene from Happy Gilmore in which Happy, who could hit the ball a mile but couldn't putt for sh**, can now putt.  Last year's giant killers look to have found their form.  Wolves absorbed  a lot of pressure until Traore broke free and calmly deposited the ball in the goal in the 80th minute. 

Everton's rocky campaign sputters on as they had Seamus Coleman sent off for a second yellow at 56 minutes and saw Burnley get the game winner at 72 minutes.  Sure it's only eight weeks in but there are the Toffees, sitting in the relegation zone.  After this weekend, I guess it's no surprise that the top three managers in the sack race are Marco Silva (5/4), Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (2/1) and Mauricio Pochettino (5/1).  Wow, Steve Bruce isn't even top four anymore.

Arsenal handled Bournemouth 1-0 and have quietly worked their way back to 3rd.  Likewise, Chelsea hammered Southampton 4-1 and sit in 5th, equal on points with Leicester.  So, it's not like things are totally out of whack but it has been an interesting season so far.


Union Shorthanded

The Union faced NYCFC without shuhBILLkoh (hurt his foot in warmups) and Santos so it wasn't exactly our most explosive line up of the season.  For about 70 minutes they stumbled around and trailed 0-2 on a massive defensive breakdown and an unlikely ricochet (set up by a giveaway at midfield).  They did rally some in the final 20 and did pull back a goal on a PK that was generated by invigorated offensive pressure.  But in the end it was still a 1-2 loss, their second in a row.  Worse, they seem to be adrift at exactly the wrong time.

Jim Curtin is taking heat in the comments sections again and that seems short-sighted to me.  They were not great in Columbus but that was their third road game in eight days.  For NYCFC (second best team in the league) he's already down a scorer with Santos out and he loses shuhBILLkoh in warmups - exactly what is he supposed to do?  People are already forgetting he made some bold line up moves at other points in the season.  They finished with the fifth best record in the league.  Shut up already.  Further evidence that the comments sections of every blog except this one are the seamy underbelly of the world.


MLS playoff Preview

So the playoffs are here.  You can get an explanation of the format here.  Note that it's all single matches now, no home and home series.  I believe the logic here was to give an advantage to teams with the better regular season record. The Union are strong favorites to beat the Red Bulls at home.  Maybe, but this will be a tough match.  Probably better than getting Toronto or New England. 


A Reunion of Sorts

Two legends of the game meet for the first time

BFS Scandanavian correspondent Philip S was in Portugal and met up with another of the game's greats.  My understanding is that Philip did all the talking.



More International Break

So the club scene takes a break for some international stuff.  Plenty of European Championship qualifiers, some you can actually see on ESPN or one of its 17 spin-offs.  Netherlands - Northern Ireland was a great match yesterday with the Dutch storming back from 0-1 to take a 3-1 lead with three goals after 80 minutes, including two in stoppage time. 

The USMNT is back in action with some semi-meaningful matches.  Welcome to the Concacaf Nations League. This is a similar competition to the European Nations League which is designed to replace friendlies with something that has at least some consequences.  Results in the Nations League will determine the 16 teams that qualify for the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup.  It also provides for additional matches for the weaker teams in the federation, who always have trouble scheduling friendlies.  The US has matches vs Cuba (Friday at 7 pm on FS1) and Canada (Tuesday at 7:30 on ESPN2).  Yeah, it's sort of a made-up competition but it still beats friendlies.

Up A Certain Creek Without A Paddle

NBCSN commentator Jim Beglin summed up Newcastle's situation well.  Though he was referring to the situation on Sunday, he might as well have been talking about the prospects for the season.

Newcastle players realize they are in real trouble as Hayden
has just been red carded [Getty Images]

The Magpies weren't awful for much of the first half but were still down 0-1.  That said, their play gave no indication that they would get anything from the match, just that they wouldn't get blown away.  Then Isaac Hayden made an unfortunate challenge that earned him a straight red card.  Consider it a text book example of excessive force.  For a while Newcastle hung around but when Jamie Vardy netted the second goal at 54 minutes, you had the feeling the floodgates were about to open.  And they did.  When the dust settled, it was an 0-5 loss for the Magpies.  From 65 minutes on, it was really hard to watch.

Now certainly Hayden's rash challenge put Newcastle under the gun.  But they were pretty much irrelevant from the start.    Bruce switched to a 4-2-3-1 this week; looks like that is another formation we can rule out.  Not much he has done has worked.  He now rises to the second spot in the EPL Sack Race, behind only Everton's Marco Silva. Of course, Ashley may be too cheap to fire Bruce, plus sacking him now is a clear admission that it was a mistake.  Up a creek indeed.


Which Keeper Error Was Most Egregious?

1. Sheffield United were giving Liverpool fits through 70 minutes with some heroic defending.  They saw that hard work go down the drain when Wijnaldum's shot trickled through Dean Henderson's legs.  You can see the tough moment here.  In the lingo, the Blades gave a good account of themselves but came away with an 0-1 loss.

2. Tottenham were down a man but up a goal at home to Southampton and seemed in relative control despite playing shorthanded.  Then Hugo Lloris committed this gaffe. Fortunately for him, Kane and his teammates bailed him out with a great piece of build up play.  In fact, that goal was so good (and critical), we'll make it this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Spurs hung on for a 2-1 win that steadies the ship for them (well at least until Tuesday's 2-7 thrashing by Bayern Munich).

3. You already know the score of Leicester - Newcastle, but one of the five tallies was this goal by Jamie Vardy.  You have to say that is keeper error - you can't get beat near post like that.

I swear there was another on Saturday but I can't remember now.  Union keeper Andre Blake may have messed up but that's another story we'll discuss below.


A Mid-Table Match?

I saw more than one pundit suggest that the Man United - Arsenal contest was, ahem, not worthy of teams that consider themselves top six material.  One suggested it was like watching a mid-table match.  Oooh, that'll leave a mark.  But they're right.  It was a competitive 1-1 draw but lacked any level of quality.

As I hinted at in last week's post, I had some hope that Aston Villa - Burnley would be a good watch.  It was.  In Gary Birtles's words it was "entertaining, fractious and niggling."  Unfortunately for the Villans they twice coughed up the lead.  Fortunately for the Villans, the 2-2 draw was a point they probably hadn't necessarily counted on.  Everton weren't terrible against Man City but took a 1-3 loss anyway.

I will concede that my prediction that the neutral would be largely disappointed last weekend was off base.  Pretty much every match (except Newcastle of course) was highly entertaining.


Worst Away Kit

Southampton's Danny Ings - I make these uniforms look good

Where does Southampton get their uniforms?  They are like the University of Oregon football team - an experimental playground for some kit manufacturer.  Also in the running are Man City, who appeared to have used old Houston Astro uniforms to make their away kits.  Check out the pictures below and tell me Nolan Ryan wouldn't look at home in a Man City kit.

Names

Bjorn Engels plays for Aston Villa.  During Saturday's contest with Burnley I kept wondering who marks Engels.  Just some word play for the political economists who might be reading the blog.


Union Pass Up Golden Opportunity

Sunday's "fun" continued into early evening as the Union faced Columbus on the road.  Not thinking it was a guaranteed win but was definitely believing they would get something out of the match.  A tepid first half ended scoreless; the U's passing couldn't have been worse.  The second half was delayed 30 minutes by lightning.  Might have been better if the storm continued.  Despite maybe have a little better of the play, the Union conceded the first goal in the 69th minute.  Watch the video here and tell me whether you think Blake might belong on the earlier list of keeper gaffes.  Looks like the ball goes under his arm.  A scant four minutes later, a second goal meant the Union weren't getting any points.

And all this was happening as results elsewhere couldn't have gone any better.  NYCFC lost at New England while Atlanta could only scrounge up a draw with Montreal.  So for a short while, the Union were in command of their own destiny.  With a win at Columbus, this Saturday's match with NYCFC would have offered the chance to win the East and get a first round bye.  A win or draw would have made second a real possibility.  Now, first is gone and the Union must do better than Atlanta on Sunday to grab second. 


A Brief Comment on Champions League

Generally better sledding for the EPL teams for Match Day 2 of the group stage.  Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea all got wins.  Spurs got hammered.


Doesn't Get Any Easier

Newcastle have an excellent chance to build on the momentum from the Leicester mauling as they take on Man United Sunday at 11:30 (NBCSN); certainly the Red Devils have been tough to figure out so far but even at their worst, they are in a different league than the Magpies.  A draw would be a miracle.

The weekend has another early start with Brighton hosting Tottenham at 7:30 on Saturday (NBCSN); Spurs are favored and really need to bounce back from the Bayern debacle.  The 10 am TV game is Liverpool - Leicester.  For the third time in four weeks, the Foxes' credentials as a top six candidate will be tested; except, how many teams beat Liverpool at Anfield?  Right, so maybe it's not a fair test.  The other 10 am matches might actually be more competitive.  Burnley-Everton is a solid mid-table clash while Norwich-Aston Villa and Watford - Sheffield United have implications for the relegation battle.  You'll need NBC Gold to check them out.  Saturday's NBC feature match is a London derby with Crystal Palace "traveling" to West Ham; every reason to think that's competitive too.

For some reason the schedulers crammed in three matches at 9 am on Sunday.  Man City vs Wolves is the TV game (NBCSN) and probably the one I would have gone with.  Last year Wolves were top six beaters and after a slow start may be finding their feet again.  Arsenal - Bournemouth and Southampton - Chelsea don't sound all that thrilling but I said that about a bunch of last week's games and look how they turned out.  Again, you'll need NBC Gold to see them.

And speaking of building on negative momentum, the Union have to face NYCFC in their final regular season contest.  You would like to see them do well here and head into the playoffs with some confidence.  At least it's at home.  As we said earlier, second place is still up for grabs but they need a better result than Atlanta get at home vs New England.  Right now, the Union's likely opponent in the first round is Toronto, though it could be any of New England, DC United or Red Bulls.

A preemptive note about the assessing the Union's season.  Certainly, if they were to win the first round playoff match, few will dispute this was a good season for the Union.  But I'd like to counsel against dissing the season if they lose that match.  This is the American obsession with playoffs at work again.  The Union will finish the season with between the 3rd and 5th best record in the MLS (Minnesota play Seattle so at most one can catch the Union).  In most other soccer leagues, a top five finish in a 24-team league would be considered an excellent year.  Regardless of the playoff results, I'd argue this was a major step forward for the franchise and a solid season.

Somehow I have managed to stay on top of the IAAF World Championships (which continue through the weekend) and most of the soccer as well.  Obviously, something isn't getting done and I guess I'll find out soon enough what it is.

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.