It's Show Time

EPL is done until after Christmas but World Cup starts Sunday.  

We'll Be Third For Christmas

Newcastle - Chelsea seemed like such a promising match up but in practice was mostly a bore.  In fact, some Magpie shithousery at the end took a bit of luster off Newcastle's 1-0 win.  Well, maybe only a little as the win put Chelsea nine points in the rear view mirror.  

Not a miracle but this Pope is about to make a key save

Not much offense on display as Newcastle had three shots on target, Chelsea just two; xG was 1.4 -.45 in favor of the Magpies.  The only goal came on a rocket by Joe Willock from the top of the box.  We make it this week's YouTubeableMoment; check out the "heady" play by Almiron to set it up.  If I remember right, Pope had made a big save on Gallagher just minutes before the goal but for the most part, Newcastle kept Chelsea in check.  

As I mentioned, there was shithousery at the end that was not pretty, including three yellows in stoppage time.  Pope's was run-of-the-mill keeper delay on a goal kick, pretty standard game management stuff late in a 1-0 match.  Longstaff's for kicking the ball away was less cool.  Easily the most shithouseryest was Lascelles interfering with a throw-in as he was warming up on the touch line. Not pleased to see the latter two, especially Lascelles, and hope it doesn't become a permanent feature of the team.

Certainly too soon to be dreaming of Champions League but certainly happy with the performance so far - especially considering they've been without their two supposedly key offensive players Saint-Maximin and Isak.  

Wrong (Again)

So there was no Saturday morning massacre as Man City took on Brentford.  Far from it.  Even though City played the match with the full 11 - one of them being Haaland - they struggled with the visiting Bees.  An early goal by Toney was matched by a first half stoppage time score from Foden.  It stayed 1-1 until the 98th minute when Toney got his second.  Brentford almost added a third after that but they came away with the 2-1 win.  For Newcastle fans, it means that we go into the World Cup break just one point behind City.

We also missed the boat on Tottenham-Leeds, which we dismissed in favor of two other choices but turned out to be the best match of the weekend.  Spurs rallied from a goal deficit three times before finally taking a 4-3 lead in the 83rd minute.  Highlights can be had here.  The win means that Spurs sit 4th in the table despite never seeming to be able to put 90 minutes together.  

My impression about Spurs being a second half team is backed by the numbers.  They have just 10 first half goals compared to 21 in the second half.  Defensively, they've allowed 12 in the first half but just 9 in the second.  Their point total at half time would be a mediocre 20 compared to the 29 at fulltime.  Seems like more than dumb luck; Conte is able to do something at half time - tactical adjustments, subs, team talk.   To be in fourth while not really looking all that great might be comforting and frustrating at the same time.

Amtrak Wifi Sucks

Facing a 6 hour train ride to NH on Sunday I took comfort that I'd be able to stream the end of the Brighton - Aston Villa match, then take in all of the Fulham - Man United fixture.  Wrong buffering breath.  The coverage was choppy and I kept losing the connection.  I made it through the first one to see Villa grab a scrappy and important 2-1 win over Brighton on two goals by Danny Ings.  I gave up the second match so I didn't see Man United's stoppage time goal that denied Fulham a draw against a giant for the second week in a row.  

Pedigree in the Relegation Zone

Going into the World Cup break, the bottom of the table looks like this:

16 - West Ham (14 pts)

17 - Everton (14 pts)

18 - Nottingham Forest (13 pts)

19 - Southampton (12 pts)

20 - Wolves (10 pts)

There are some blue bloods on that list.  Southampton have only spent 5 of the last 50 seasons outside the top tier, West Ham just three.  Everton haven't been outside the first division since the 1953-54 season.  Going back to their start in 1887, I found they've only spent four seasons (1930-31, 1951-52, 52-53 and 53 54) in the second tier.  Certainly there's a long way to go but it would be a relegation of epic proportions. 

Football for Thanksgiving

Just not the kind Americans are used to.  Start at 5 am with Switzerland - Cameroon, 8 am Uruguay - South Korea (this critic's choice), 11 am Portugal - Ghana and closing at 2 pm with Brazil - Serbia. Of course, the whole things starts this Sunday at 11 am with host nation Qatar playing Ecuador.  I haven't checked it all yet but looks like every match will be on Fox or FS1.

The USMNT have their first match at 2 pm on Monday versus Wales.  I was a little surprised to see that 538 has us at 45/26/29 - a 45% chance of win and 29% chance of a draw.  

Speaking of 538, you can see their entire set of predictions here.  Again, a bit surprised to see the USA with a 53% chance of making it out of group stage.  Clearly, I must think more of the Wales side than they do.  

Every World Cup has been won by a European or South American country.  Looking at the 538 numbers, there doesn't seem to be much chance that will change.  The only countries not from those two continents given a measurable chance of winning at 538 are US, Mexico, Morocco and Senegal and those countries are given all of a 1% chance.

After further review, I'm letting my recommendations for the first group stage matches from last week stand:

11/20  Qatar - Ecuador 11 am (it's your only choice)

11/21 US - Wales 2 pm

11/22 Mexico - Poland 11 pm

11/23 Morocco - Croatia 5 am

11/24 Uruguay - South Korea 8 am  (gotta be better than any parade)

Hope to make a post on Black Friday to review the first group stage matches. 

Missed It By That Much

Apologies to Maxwell Smart 

via GIPHY

Late in the MLS Cup final (100 minutes maybe?) with the score 2-2, BFS Keeper Consultant Graham R and I agreed that regardless of the result, the Union had acquitted themselves well. They had rallied from 0-1 and 1-2 to take the match into extra time.  The second time was a clutch header from Jack Elliott, seen here, in the 85th minute.

Extra time was crazy.  In the 110th minute, LAFC keeper Maxime Crepeau made challenge on Cory Burke that left both players down.  Crepeau suffered a serious injury and had to be stretchered off the field with a broken leg.  Burke continued on but later had to be subbed out.  At first referee Ismail Elfath initially showed Crepeau a yellow card (a breach of referee etiquette there as he flashed yellow at Crepeau while he was frantically signaling for the physio).  There was no way this wasn't red for DOGSO and eventually Elfath got it right.  Ironically, the LAFC replacement was John McCarthy, the LaSalle grad who had been Blake's back up for several years.

Ruing what could have been (photo Stephen Speer)

Things got crazier in the 124th minute (9 minutes of stoppage time because of the injury) when Jack Elliot put the Union up 3-2.  This was not a pretty play but we still make it this week's YouTubeableMoment.  The Union are up 3-2 with about five minutes of stoppage time left.  The bad news was that all earlier statements about just being happy that we made it a real contest became null and void.  Thus, it was daggers when Gareth Bale leveled things again at 120+8 minutes.  Sure we were going to kicks from the spot but somehow the moment seemed like it was gone.  And it was.  The U missed three consecutive so when Sanchez buried his kick in the fourth round, LAFC won.  Try as I might, I can't go back to the feeling I had at 100 minutes.  We were champions for five minutes and then it was gone.  Damn, it is the hope that kills you.

To be sure, the Union had played tough, but not great.  Give aways and sloppy fouls were an issue again.  There is a silver lining though.  This is not a team that needs to be torn apart and rebuilt to win a championship.  Further good news is that except for Blake and Bedoya, they are all under 30.  That doesn't mean there won't be replacements.  We'll probably read soon that both Wagner and Mbaizo have left for Europe.  Paxten Aaronson is also set to follow in his brother's footsteps; though he didn't feature as much as we might have expected, he was likely to play a key role going forward. 

There is also some measure of satisfaction in reading that many feel it was the best MLS Cup Final of all time and that it was the most watched final in 20+ years.  Small consolation but it is something.

Does This Say Philly Sports or What?

In the space of 7 hours and 13 minutes on Saturday night, Philadelphia lost two championships - the MLS Cup and the World Series.

Fine Side Tyneside

Joe Willock slips the third goal past Gavin Bazunu

I forget which Peacock announcer coined that phrase as Newcastle were heading towards their fourth straight win, a seemingly easy 4-1 win over Southampton.  Certainly the finishing was high quality with four different Magpies - Almiron (again!), Wood (finally!) , Willock and Guimaraes - getting on the board.  But Newcastle also benefitted from the Saints not taking advantage of their opportunities; I recall Southampton missing several wide open chances.  The stats reveal how deceptive the margin of victory was.  Newcastle were outpossessed 45-55, outshot 7-16, and had fewer shots on target (4-5).  Most telling was xG, with Southampton taking a 1.6-1.1 edge there too.  Of course, you could just say Newcastle were simply more clinical in their finishing and deserved the win.  And mostly I believe that but they also need to be careful not to read their press clippings too closely.

Third in the table?  That can't be right.

Like Good Vinyl?

The highest compliment you could make about an LP (go ask your parents) was that you could drop the needle anywhere on the record and you'd like what you heard.  We can say the same about the five matches in Saturday's 11 am time slot.  You could have picked any one of them and seen an interesting contest.  I was going to say you wouldn't be disappointed but that might depend on your rooting interests.  All five were in doubt until late and in four, the decisive goal came at 83, 84, 95 and 96 minutes.  We discuss Man City - Fulham below.  Nottingham Forest were the beneficiaries of an own goal in the the 96th minute to snatch a 2-2 draw with Brentford.  Leeds finished off an unlikely comeback from a 1-3 deficit to Bournemouth with a goal in the 84th minute to grab a 4-3 win.  Given how tight the standings are Leeds get to 12th while consigning Bournemouth to 17th.  Wolves and Brighton had a fun back and forth contest but the Seagulls prevailed 3-2 on a goal at 83 minutes from Pascal Gross; Brighton's run continues while Wolves are stuck in 19th.  

Speaking of how compressed the table is, Everton had a chance to put some distance between them and the relegation zone but were outplayed by Leicester in a 0-2 loss.  So now both sides are at 14 points -  with Leicester slipping ahead on goal differential - just two points outside the relegation zone.

 

Playing With One Haaland Tied Behind Their Back

Man City started the match against Fulham with scoring phenom Erling Haaland on the bench.  Then Cancelo got sent off for DOGSO.  Perfect.  PK converted and it's 1-1.  Now we can have an even match.  Except even down a man this was one-sided in just about every respect but the score.  Even the eventual appearance of Haaland didn't tip the balance and we rolled into stoppage time level.  Then DeBruyne made an absolute meal of the slightest of touches by Antonee Robinson in the box.  You can see the play here; we are largely KDB fans but that performance is Oscar-worthy.  Of course Haaland converted the PK for a 2-1 final.  

A Second New Manager Bounce

Apparently you get an interim manager bounce and a permanent manager bounce.  In his first match in charge, Unai Emery saw Aston Villa dispatch Man United 3-1.  The match looks closer on the stat sheet but Man United's only tally was an own goal from Ramsey.  Note, that he corrected his mistake with one for the proper side a few minutes later.  There must be a name for a brace that includes one for each side.  

The contest turned a MMA demonstration when Lisandro Martinez took two bites at the cherry, as they say over there, elbowing Leon Bailey twice in the same play.  You can see the incident here. The first contact was clearly the more forceful one and probably a foul but how do you let a deliberate elbow like the second one go?  Martinez somewhat despairs that his nickname is the "Butcher of Amsterdam."  Others point out he only had four yellows last year at Ajax.  Well, with refereeing that lenient, of course he'll only get four yellows in a season.  Also, note the rematch between the two (Villa and Man United played each other in Carabao Cup action on Thursday) was more of a professional wresting contest.  Hysterically, only Bailey got a yellow in the rematch.

Selective Memory?

I remember very little from the feature match of the week, the London derby that saw Arsenal best Chelsea 1-0.  The 7 am start may be partly to blame.  The stat sheet offers another clue - Arsenal had all of two shots on target, Chelsea just one.  

In the other big match, I remember Spurs falling behind Liverpool distressingly easy - again - before staging a furious second half comeback that barely fell short.  The final was 2-1 in favor of Liverpool but a draw would have been a fair result here.  Actually xG suggests Tottenham might have been the better side.  

I have no memory of Crystal Palace beating West Ham 2-1 but that's because I didn't see it.  Too bad, because that was another decided late in stoppage time.   

A Brief Note About the Carabao Cup

Newcastle are still in it. They play Bournemouth in the next round.

Old Business

Football is life and it's the lack of hope that kills you

I neglected to post my favorite Halloween costumes of 2022.  Michael B and Susan C went to a Halloween party as Dani Rojas and Ted Lasso.  

Last Gasp Before World Cup

This weekend is the last EPL match week until after Christmas.  Feature match of the weekend, wait this can't be right, is Newcastle hosting Chelsea Saturday at 12:30 on NBC.  Looking at 538, wait this can't be right either, they have the match at 41/34/25.  So the Magpies are prohibitive favorites?  I do expect an interesting match as Newcastle have seemingly discarded their old practice of parking the bus against powerhouses.  A win?  Not so sure about that.

Back to a crowded 10 am Saturday fixture list.  USA grabbed Liverpool - Southampton but that doesn't look too competitive.  I'd be more likely to go with Bournemouth vs Everton - two teams closely matched that are way closer to the relegation zone than they would like.  Or, maybe go with West Ham- Leicester for basically the same reason.  Your other choices are Nottingham Forest - Crystal Palace or Spurs hosting Leeds.  Crystal Palace have been tough this year.  Despite Tottenham's inconsistent form, hard to see them struggling against Leeds.  

For those who like their massacres early, you can get up to see Man City host Brentford Saturday at 7:30 on USA; 538 has that one at 85/5/11.  Yikes. There's also a bonus Saturday game on USA at 2:45 with Arsenal on the road to face Wolves; given that is 1st vs 19th, not holding my breath for a tight one there.

The Sunday schedule is light as we have Brighton - Aston Villa at 9 and Fulham - Man United at 11:30.  Both are on USA.  Enjoy them as that will be your last taste of EPL until Boxing Day.  

Speaking of the World Cup

Of course, the lack of EPL football will be more than made up for by a crowded World Cup schedule.  The group stage features 48 matches between 11/20 and 12/2, with four on most days at 5 am, 8 am, 11 am and 2 pm.  Aware of the growing US market and taking advantage of the time differential,  all the USMNT group stage matches are  at 2 pm.  They include Wales (11/21), England (11/25) and Iran (11/29).

There is no lack of preview material on the web.  I liked this one from Yahoo because of its format and the fact that it's written by Chestnut Hill YSC graduate Henry Bushnell.  This one from SBNation

was a good read as well.  We'll turn to Henry again for his thoughts on the USMNT roster.  

I humbly offer my recommendations for Match Day 1 matches of the group stage for those with limited viewing windows: 

11/20  Qatar - Ecuador 11 am (it's your only choice)

11/21 US - Wales 2 pm

11/22 Mexico - Poland 11 pm

11/23 Morocco - Croatia 5 am

11/24 Uruguay - South Korea 8 am  (gotta be better than any parade)

I was going to do all the group stage days but upsets can change which are the key contests so we'll add those in subsequent posts.

The World Cup does give a different look to the holiday season.  

Wow

Must be an awesome weekend when a 4-0 Newcastle win is the second best result.  Indeed it was, as the Union roared back from 0-1 to send NYCFC up the turnpike with a 3-1 win for the Eastern Conference title.

Not Even Our Best?

There was an early tell in the Eastern Conference final.  NYCFC keeper Seth Johnson dawdled over the first goal kick in the opening minutes.  Really?  This was not an isolated incident.  They were playing for a penalty shoot out from the start? Maybe not, but they clearly wanted to slow the match down.  And it worked for a while but it was not a winning strategy.   The first half was choppy with maybe just a slight advantage to the Union, which didn't even show up in the stats.  The U seemed to lose the plot in the opening minutes of the second half.  Worse, they fell behind at 57 minutes when Maxi Moralez snuck one past several defenders and Blake.  

Three minutes later, Blake made his most MVPest save of the year, stopping Alex Callens' shot from close range; 0-2 at that point would have been a long way back.  We make it this week's YouTubeableMoment (should open to the right spot but go to 3:26 if it doesn't); sure the goals were important but they probably don't happen with out this save.

A Cory Burke ending

The introduction of Cory Burke at 62 minutes proved to be the other key moment of the game.  He changed the dynamic and shortly thereafter the U broke through on a quick free kick from Glesnes over the NYCFC defense that Carranza ran onto and put past Johnson for the equalizer.  Open the floodgates.  Two short minutes later Carranza headed a long cross from McGlynn to the breaking (and barely onside) Gazdag, who headed it in for the lead.  Feeling much better but not home yet, we were more than thrilled when Burke, largely on individual effort put one into the roof of the net at 76 minutes.  Blake took a page from Seth Johnson's playbook in the final 15 or so minutes, taking his sweet time over every goal kick and the Union managed the clock well to bring home the win.

Several notable things about the 3-1 final.  First, this reminded me and Dennis of the old Union, where we would be outpossessed (35/65 this time) and would score on blistering counters as opposed to incredible work in the final third by Gazdag/Carranza/Uhre.  Second, Uhre wasn't much of a factor.  Third, our passing percentage was a distressing 67.6%.  Fourth, Bedoya did start but only made it through the first half.  He spent most of the time behind Mbaizo on the right wing.  (An interesting sight was seeing him limp up the stage to raise the trophy in the post-game celebration - he is questionable for the final.)   In other words, this was not the Union's best.  On the flip side, xG was 1.7 - .6 in favor of the Union; that means NYCFC could not convert that possession into dangerous shots.    

In the other conference final, LAFC was never really at risk of not advancing as they rolled past Austin 3-0.  The U are decided underdogs for this final; 538 has this 64/36 for LA. That seems a bit harsh but the match is at Banc of California Stadium.  They were 13-2-2 during the regular season and have added two post-season wins as well.  

No Parking for You

LAFC may have home field advantage but it won't translate into an easier trip to the stadium for their fans.  Because USC has a home football match, there will be no parking available for those attending the MLS Cup Final at Banc of California Stadium.  As detailed here, fans will have to take public transit or park at Dodger Stadium and take a shuttle.  

Newcastle Romp

Almiron again - scoring in this third straight

The BFS derby was not the contest we envisioned back in August.  The first half was tight, with
Newcastle only getting the advantage after a tough handling call on Ashley Young in stoppage time.  Things degenerated in the second half.  Goals at 56, 59 and 67 minutes put the game out of reach.  Even allowing that there was a bit of luck on some of those, Newcastle also hit the crossbar and the post so it actually could have been more.  Villa had just three shots, none on target.  

No improvement in the table for the Magpies off the win but it did put some room between them and the middle of the pack.

You Can't Go Home Again

Chelsea outscored Brighton 3-2 at the Amex but the problem for the Blues was that two of them were own goals.  As in, Brighton won, 4-1.  I did speed through this match but the score reflects what I saw; Brighton put Chelsea under pressure for much of the match.  Though there's often bad luck involved in own goals, there were balls that were put in such a dangerous position you felt the only likely result was the somebody from one team or the other would end up putting them in the net.  All in all, a very rude homecoming for Graham Potter.  

Wrong Again

Once again, contrary to our prediction, the top sides mostly did not cruise to victory. Well, Arsenal dispatched Nottingham 5-0.  Man City could only squeeze out a 1-0 win over Leicester.  Of course, they were giving away 1.65 goals as Haaland had to sit out with a foot injury.  Frankly, it didn't look all that close anyway.  Spurs conceded two for Bournemouth and spent the rest of the day overcoming that deficit.  They did, just, with a stoppage goal to rescue the 3-2 win.  As we mentioned above, Chelsea went down at Brighton.  And Liverpool continued to scuffle, falling to Leeds - at Anfield no less - 1-2.  Yikes, consecutive losses to Nottingham Forest and Leeds. What is up with the Reds?  

We didn't put West Ham - Man United in the "easy" category and the 1-0 win for the Red Devils was a pretty good watch.  A nifty heady from Marcus Rashford was the difference there.

Compressed Still

Other resuslts did little to relieve the compression in the table.  Draws in the Fulham - Everton (0-0) and Brentford - Wolves (1-1) matches kept things pretty tight.  Even Crystal Palace's 1-0 win over Southampton didn't give them much space.  Going into the weekend, the spread from 12-18th is just three points.  If not for the fact that Leeds and Bournemouth play, the wrong set of results elsewhere could have put Everton and West Ham in jeopardy of starting the weekend 12th and 13th and waking up in the relegation zone.  Further evidence of the compression?  The spread from 9th to 18th is just five points.  Or the spread from 9th to 20th is just seven points.  

BFS Swag

Be the first on your block to get one

BFS La Liga Correspondent Michael B has found that there is BFS swag to be had (see picture left).  This was news to us.  I had our warehouse guys searching for hours but they couldn't find any of these stickers.  So don't contact us.  Check in with Buckingham Friends School, maybe they have some.

When Reindeer Fly

Santa may have met his match

You've probably seen the Fox promo campaign for the World Cup featuring Jon Hamm as Santa
realizing the international sporting event will overlap the holiday season.  Hmm, so we are turning to the guy who can make reindeer fly to help the USMNT win the World Cup?  Actually, that makes sense.  They do seem like miracles of about the same order.

Fun Stuff

A London derby (one of the more serious ones) leads the fixture list this weekend.  Chelsea will host Arsenal at - wait, what? - 7 am on Sunday on USA.  At least we get an extra hour of sleep but damn that's early.  With the match at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea are probably slight favorites.  They cannot afford to lose this one; a loss would leave them 14 points behind the Gunners.

Despite recent form and their places in the table, we will still tune in with interest to Tottenham - Liverpool at 11:30 on Sunday on Peacock.  At 538, they have the match at 33/45/22.  Ouch, that's a smack at Spurs, especially with the match being in London.  I would not have been surprised with a close prediction but that says Liverpool are solid favorites.  

For intrigue and interest, we recommend Everton - Leicester, the feature match Saturday at 12:30 on NBC.  Both have underperformed so far.  Is Leicester going to make a bigger step away from the the relegation zone, dragging Everton into the mix?  This looks like a draw on paper.

Fulham - that's 7th place Fulham to you - may get a harsh dose of reality as they travel to the Etihad to face Man City.  Especially if as looks likely, Erling Haaland returns to the line up.  That is the USA match at 11 am Saturday.  Your Peacock choices for that time slot are Leeds - Bournemouth, Notthingham Forest - Brentford, or Wolves - Brighton.  I'll be out reffing so I'll probably be stuck with Man City - Fulham but would probably go with Wolves - Brighton if I wasn't stuck using the dvr.

Sunday at 9 am is also crowded with three matches sandwiched between the early London derby and the Spurs - Liverpool fixture.  Our choice is easy as Newcastle will travel to Saint Mary's to face Southampton; trying not to get too cocky but this should be at least a draw and really a win.  I wouldn't mind seeing West Ham vs Crystal Palace (on USA) or Aston Villa - Man United in Unai Emery's debut.

But these will all be overshadowed by the MLS Cup Final at 4 pm on Fox.  Glad to see the Union make it this far.

Doop

Top Four?

With a close win over Spurs, Newcastle slip into the top four for the first time during my tenure as a Magpie fan.  Aston Villa get an excellent new manager bounce.  The Union will take on NYCFC in the Eastern Conference Final.  Lots happening.

Pinch Me

Magpies have a "stacked" offense? Goal scorers
Wilson and Almiron (Photo: David Klein, Reuters)

Recall that I was expecting a competitive contest - maybe the most interesting match of the weekend -  as Newcastle took on Spurs in London.  Though Spurs fans are likely disappointed with the result, I think that's exactly what we got.  Newcastle took a 1-0 lead on a strange play that involved a collision between Lloris and Wilson; Spurs fans probably think it was a foul.  The Magpies doubled the lead on Almiron's mostly individual effort, this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Despite the two-goal lead, this match felt very much in play and Harry Kane's goal at 54 minutes simply verified that we had a long way to go.  I kept telling myself it was the performance, not the result, that was important.  Still, squeaky bum time the rest of the way but Newcastle held on for all three points.  Statistics mostly say this was extremely close; xG at 538 even suggests that Spurs were hard done by the loss. This run continues even as Saint-Maximin and Isak remain unavailable.  Still, they have a respectable 20 goals in 12 matches. More importantly, they have yielded the league low 10 goals so far.  Trippier, Schar, Botman and Burns does sound like a great legal defense team.

Going to push back a little on the narrative that of course Newcastle have spent their way to this improved performance.  The Athletic notes that six of current starters (Schar, Joelinton, Longstaff, Wilson, Almiron and Willock) predate both the ownership and managerial changes.  Further, Pope, Burns and Trippier transfer fees were in the $12-17m range, hardly extravagant.  Guimaraes and Botman were over $40m each but certainly those are not outrageous.  Yes, the total for those five is over $130 m but when you match this against years of rarely spending more than $20 m a year, this level of spending is hardly irresponsible.  To me this is like a hospital that failed to keep up with capital improvements for over a decade and had to spend money quickly to get the plant up to reasonable standards.

So I'd argue that, to date, this isn't just about buying their way to the top.   We'll have to see if this continues.  They probably overpaid on Wood and maybe Isak too but that is arguably driven by the uncertainty of Wilson's health.  Also remember, the Financial Fair Play regulations will limit how much money they can pour into the squad.  Alas though, the signs are already appearing that people are going to lump us in with Man City, PSG and others of that ilk.  I guess we'll have to burn that bridge when we get to it. 

Conversation That Could Have Taken Place and Did

Dennis (as Aston Villa and Brentford kick off): Come on interim manager bounce!

Steve (after Leon Bailey scores in 2nd minute); Um, it's not supposed to work that fast.

Dennis: You shut up.

Hard to know for sure but it certainly looked to me that Aston Villa played like a team that was no longer scared of making a mistake.  First team manager Aaron Danks took the helm for this match and he benefitted from a quick goal by Leon Bailey followed by two from Danny Ings; 15 minutes in, Aston Villa were up 3-0 and cruising.  Danks must have thought this is way easier than I was expecting as the Villans rolled to a 4-0 win.  Looks like Danks will get to manage one more game before Unai Emery will take over.  We have discussed the new manager bounce in the past.  The research suggests that there may be some immediate improvement after a change but that more often than not, it's just attributable to reversal of bad luck.  Probably true, but sometimes you wonder if a group of players simply respond differently to different managing styles.  Obviously, Dennis is hoping for the latter.

Handling, Part CXI

Sigh.  Not again.  To all the managers, players, pundits and fans who proclaim "I don't know what a handball is anymore" in response to West Ham's goal being allowed after the ball hit Thilo Kehrer's arms in the buildup - clearly you don't.  You can see the incident here.  JFC, this is so not controversial.

First a reminder.  The rule was changed in March 2021.  The relevant section says it is handling if a player:

• Scores in the opponents’ goal:
• directly from their hand/arm, even if accidental, including by the goalkeeper; or
• immediately after the ball has touched their hand/arm, even if accidental
• Accidental handball that leads to a team-mate scoring a goal or having a goal-scoring opportunity will no longer be considered an offence. 

The people professing confusion even make the case as to why it wasn't handling.  Most of them said it clearly wasn't deliberate.  Once you say that, the case is closed.  Stop whining.  The rules are very clear.  You only have a complaint if you think the handling was deliberate.  Not too sympathetic with that view either but at least it's an interpretation that fits within the Laws of the Game.  But tuck your wrists against the sides of your stomach; unless you press your palms flat against the middle of your stomach (talk about unnatural positions!), your hands will form a small ledge.  Unless you see an outward movement away from the body, like a volleyball player scooping a ball, hard to say that's handling.  For me this is the Devon Allen Effect.  If you don't like the rule, change it but don't ask officials not to apply the rules as they are written. 

Additionally, note that the ball did not go directly from Kehrer to the goalscorer Zouma.  First it went to a Chelsea defender, who's header barely cleared the six and was sent back towards the goal by Soucek before Zouma headed it in.  What would have been interesting would have been the call had the old rules been in effect.  There were two intervening touches before the ball got to the goal scorer.  My sense though is that the rule reflected an aversion on the part of the powers that be to any goal that had a whiff of handling, accidental or not, so it probably would have been ruled out by VAR.  Side note, West Ham won 2-0.

  

Dropped Points  at the Top of the Table

First place Arsenal drew 1-1 with Southampton; some of the stats (xG at 1.45-.65 and possession at 59-41) make it look like Arsenal maybe should have grabbed all three but the Gunners only managed three shots on target, same as Southampton.  We already mentioned Spurs.  Chelsea and Man United also played to a 1-1 draw.  Chelsea looked to have sealed the win with a PK in the 87th minute until Casemiro slipped a header in during stoppage time.  And Liverpool's woes continued as they fell to Notthingham Forest 0-1. Hard to believe that 11 matches in the Reds already have four draws and three losses.  Last year they only lost two all season.

Haaland  Days

So only Man City came through unscathed, logging a 3-1 win over Brighton in which Haaland only managed two goals - and one of those was a PK. He's now averaging 1.65 goals per game, which would translate to 58 or so for the season.   The Premier League mark for a 38-match season is 32 by Mo Salah.  When the Premier League had 22 teams and played 42 games, the record was 34 by Andy Cole and Alan Shearer.  For the entire history of English first division football, the record is 60 set by Dixie Dean in a 42-match season back in 1927/28.  In terms of goals per game (in the season, not games played), the numbers are Dean 1.43, Salah .84 and Cole/Shearer .80.  Since Salah's mark, adjusted for matches, is superior to Cole and Shearer, I'd say the Premier League record is 32.  The first division mark, adjusted for 38 matches is 54.34.  I would argue that if Haaland gets to 55, that would be the first division record.

Finding Form?

Aston Villa weren't the only side to bust out of their slump.  Everton pretty much dominated Crystal Palace in their 3-0 win that catapulted the Toffees to 12th in the table.  Likewise, Leicester ran roughshod over the struggling Wolves 4-0, taking them out of the bottom three.  Fulham got another win (3-2 over Leeds) and have climbed to 7th.

This rapid movement up and down the table led Dennis to observe "we still have no idea who anyone really is yet."  That could be a good or bad thing, depending on who you are.   

Champions League

Without going into the gory details, Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City are through to the knockout round with one group stage match to go.  Spurs, because they only managed a 1-1 draw with Sporting (more on that below), are not through yet but do control their destiny.  A draw next week against Marseille will be enough to advance.  

Speaking of gory details, neither Barcelona or Atletico Madrid will be advancing.  Yikes.

Offside, Part LXXII

Sigh.  Not again.   To all the managers, players, pundits and fans who proclaim "I don't know what offside is anymore" in response to Harry Kane's game winning stoppage time goal against Sporting being disallowed - clearly you don't.  You can see the incident here.  JFC, this is so not controversial.

The proverbial 1,000 words (Image: BT Sports)

First a reminder. The rule was changed in July 2022 to clarify the difference between deliberate play by versus a deflection off a defender.  Second, there is nothing (read nothing) in the laws about the direction of the ball.  All this chatter about the ball going backwards is like the plumage on the dead parrot - it don't enter into it - it's stone offside.  People are conflating a backwards pass with the attacker being behind the ball.  The latter is all that matters.  Given that the ball has a diameter of about nine inches (i.e. it's not a pin point), it is possible for a player to look level with the ball yet still be offside on a back pass. Granted, not much room but it is possible.  I'm not sure the ball went backwards anyway.  It's true that Royal was ahead of Kane but the ball was not.

It was close but the picture shows that Kane was slightly ahead of the ball.  Based on the revised interpretation, the deflection by the Sporting defender does not put him onside.  Yes, it was a close call and it did take a long time to for VAR to sort it out but this is 1) not a question subject to interpretation and 2) not a situation where there needs to be a clear and obvious error.  If the lines say you're offside, the call has to be overturned.  Also hilarious was FIFA referee Christina Unkel trying to explain it to former players Thierry Henry, Jamie Carragher, Micah Richards and Peter Schmeichel - seen here - proving once again, it's very likely that a woman is the smartest person in the room.  A quick tour of the internet Thursday morning suggests some cooler heads are starting to prevail (see here for example) but still much outrage.  Some of the comments concede that according to the Laws of the Game, this was the correct call but are still labeling it as "ridiculous."  For me this is the Devon Allen Effect.  If you don't like the rule, change it but don't ask officials not to apply the rules as they are written. 

Landmark?

BFS Artistic Director Laura O sends us this article about what is believed to the first NCAA men's soccer match between two female coaches.  Probably don't have to explain the rules to these women. 

The Return of Yellow Balls

Somebody must have read the blog because this week we are back to a crowded Saturday 10 am schedule.  For BFS purposes, the big match is the our derby with Newcastle hosting Aston Villa.  Unfortunately Dennis will be in DC for NWSL final while I'll be refereeing so we will not be able to watch together, in person or virtually.  Slightly annoyed they have to play each other right now because Newcastle are hot and Aston Villa may be ready for a good run; it's a shame somebody has to drop points here.  That is one of the Saturday 10 am matches on Peacock

The official name is Hi-Vis Premier League
Nike Flight Match Balls but yellow balls sounds better

Looking over the rest of the fixtures, you have to say this is a "meh" match week, lacking in marquee matchups.  No, the biggest news for this week is probably that the yellow balls, supposedly new and improved, are back.  The EPL switches to these in late fall through early spring because "they deliver higher visibility in darker conditions."  The same article notes that with the Nike Flight balls, there have been 326 goals so far; that puts the league very close to on pace to break the season record of 1,072.

There are a couple of potentially competitive matches in the form of Crystal Palace - Southampton (Sat at 10 on Peacock) and Fulham - Everton (Sat at 12:30.  The latter may actually be deserving of the feature NBC match as the Toffees found their scoring boots last week but Fulham are punching way above their weight, as they say, sitting 7th in the table.

The top three all have winnable matches but we said that last week too.  Arsenal get to host Nottingham Forest Sunday at 10 am on USA.  The later start time tells us that the UK ends daylight savings time Sunday at 2 am.  Man City travel to Leicester for the 7:30 Saturday game on USA.   Spurs face Bournemouth on the coast (Sat at 10 on Peacock).   The other "names" have easier fixtures as well.  Chelsea get Brighton (ooh, Graham Potter returns to Amex Stadium - what will the reception be? - that's at 10 am Saturday on USA), Man United host West Ham (Sunday at 12:15 on USA) and Liverpool get to take on Leeds at Anfield in a rare Saturday 2:45 start on USA.  Did I miss anybody.  Yes, Brentford - Wolves at 10 am on Sunday on USA.

No Parties This Week Please

So the Union are exactly where there were last year - facing  NYCFC at Subaru Park for the MLS Eastern Conference Championship.  We hope at least one thing plays out differently.  Recall that 11 Union players were ruled out of the contest on Covid protocols.  The details of that story are here.  If you dig into the comments section (always risky I know), there is rampant speculation that attendance at a party may had led to the exclusions.  So, let us hope we do not have a repeat of that.

The injury updates read like Bedoya will play in this Sunday's rematch at Subaru Park (8 pm on FS1).  The bad news is that the stories are filled with quotes like:

I'm doing better. Day by day.

I hope [I'll be back in game shape by Sunday].  That's the game plan.  So I'm going to do everything I can to be back for that.

That doesn't sound like he'll be 100% for this match.  The good news is that 538 has the match at 69/31 in favor of the Union.  That's a pretty high percentage for them but still no sure bet.  NYCFC looked much better than they had in recent months in their 3-1 win over Montreal, on the road no less.  The two sides have had mild on-field incidents and this looks to be a solid rivalry.  I'm expecting an ugly, tense and close match. 

The Western Final is LAFC - Austin at 3 pm on Sunday on ABC.    Inquiring minds might ask why is the West Coast match early and the East Coast match late?  The Inquirer's Jonathan Tannenwald did the math for us:

Fox and ESPN split the broadcast rights to the conference finals and alternate rights to the championship game. Whichever network doesn’t have the championship game gets first pick of the conference finals. As Fox will televise the MLS Cup on Nov. 5 on its broadcast network (right before a potential Phillies-Astros Game 7), ESPN had first pick of the conference finals for a 3 p.m. broadcast on ABC.

On one hand, ESPN had a Western Conference final with LAFC stars Gareth Bale and Carlos Vela, and an Austin FC team whose fan base delivers significant TV viewership for one of the league’s smaller cities. On the other, ESPN could put the Union and NYCFC up against 1 p.m. Eagles and Jets games, and a 4:25 p.m. Giants game.

The choice was clear, and ESPN made it.

So it's a school night but Dennis and I will still be at Subaru Park.  I would proudly point out that I have not seen the Union lose at Subaru Park this year except that no one has seen them lose there this season - they are 13-0-5.  

At this point, all I can say is Doop.

Not Afraid Anymore

Way too much going on.  Two sets of EPL matches, MLS playoffs, baseball playoffs.  No way I can do justice to everything that happened. 

Not Your Father's Newcastle

Used to be that Newcastle would show up scared at Old Trafford and play for a 0-0 draw, probably lining up in a 10-0-0.  Not this time.  You could see the difference right away.    That the final was in fact 0-0 obscures what the Magpies accomplished.  They took it to Man United right from the opening whistle.  No bunkering in this time.  Good attacking football.  Two consecutive shots off the woodwork.  In the first half, the Magpies were clearly the better side.  Second half belonged more to Man United, who had some good chances as well.  But the point is that Newcastle didn't shrink into a defensive shell.  

Facing Everton at home on Wednesday, we saw more of the same, with Newcastle on the front foot from the start.  Almiron had a real moment of quality with his strike in the 31st minute.  That was the only goal of the day and a clear choice for this week's YouTubeableMoment.  The 1-0 final flatters Everton.  They had one shot, none on target.  You feel they could have played for another 2-3 hours and Everton still wouldn't have scored.

A footnote is that Newcastle played both matches without Saint-Maximin and Isak.  So 11 games in, they are 6th in the table, have yielded the fewest goals (9) and along with Arsenal and Man City, are the only sides with one loss so far.  Works for me.

Dennis at Fan Fest

The happy Aston Villa couple

Dennis and Brenna made it down to Dilworth Plaza for the Philly Fan Fest.  They saw Aston Villa play better.  It wasn't enough though as the Villans lost to Chelsea 0-2, thanks to howler from defender Mings and what looks like an error by keeper Martinez on a free kick. 

Gerrard: I need Indeed. Indeed you do.

Thursday's 0-3 defeat at Fulham was even more frustrating.  The club showed no spark, no creativity and an appalling work rate.  Already down 0-1, Douglas Luiz got sent off for "violent conduct" towards Mitrovich which looked more like 60% Luiz momentum and 40% Mitro moving into Luiz.  Shouts for a PK on Watkins were ignored and minutes later Cash was called for handling in the box; yes, his arm was extended but not sure exactly where he was supposed to hold it.  A late own goal completed the misery.  Steven Gerrard probably didn't make it back to Birmingham before he had been sacked.  

Coaches Misbehaving

You can't say that...

Neither Klopp or Guardiola distinguished themselves in an otherwise decent match that saw Liverpool edge Man City 1-0.  City had looked to take the lead on a Foden score but it was chalked off after the VAR spotted a foul by Haaland on the build up.  It was a clear foul and the call was correct.  Liverpool fans cheered loudly, as you expect they would.  Guardiola responded with sarcastic gestures.  Klopp was worse.  After City was not called for a foul on Salah, he confronted the Assistant Referee and earned himself a red card  We can only guess that he said the magic words.  Klopp has been charged with improper conduct by the FA but as of publication, we don't know what his sentence is.

Random Observations

The pile of results is simply too big to report on.  I know I watched a bunch of games but they are blurring together.

- After consecutive shutout losses to Tottenham and Newcastle in which they managed a grand total of no shots on target, Everton have fallen to 15th in the table, a mere point outside the relegation zone

- Leicester got four points in two matches and moved all the way from 20th to 19th

- Table continues to be compressed with just three points between 12th and 18th, and just six points between 7th and 15th

- Ronaldo once again proved the consummate teammate, sulking on the bench when not inserted into the match, then leaving the bench before the game was over, even though his team was wrapping up an important and impressive 2-0 win over Spurs.  As noted here, after being dropped from the squad for Saturday's match, he sort of apologized for his behavior.

Less Than Their Best

MVP, MVP
Photo: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Was still good enough for the Union to advance to the conference semis with a 1-0 win over FC Cincinnati.  The passing was atrocious (under 70% completion rate), aside from a few forays down the right wing, there wasn't a cohesive attack, and even the vaunted defensive unit allowed 15 shots.  The good news is that they blocked six of those shots and Blake had at least three important saves.  The better news is that Leon Flach got his first career MLS playoff goal in the 60th minute.  As you can see here, this was not the tidiest of goals but it still counted.  A nail-biting 30+ minutes later, the victory was in the books. 

Based on the sloppy and disorganized performance, we suggest that the Union did feel the absence of Bedoya, who didn't dress due to lingering issues with a hip injury.  Though not always a steadying influence in his time here, we do think this year he has provided the type of leadership that might have helped tighten up the team's performance.   Hopefully he will be back for the conference final a week from Sunday.

The Rest of MLS

Really?  This is where the NY MLS franchise held their playoff game

Tried to take in as many first round matches as I could.  Watched most a lot of Montreal - Orlando in the car, waiting for the parking lot to clear after the Eagles - Cowboys game Sunday night; didn't even bother to turn the engine on for an hour. Montreal were just better, though it took a while for them to prove it.  The 2-0 final, which included a stoppage time PK looks about right.

Also saw NYCFC - Inter Miami, played at my new candidate for worst MLS venue ever - CitiField.  NYCFC were just plain better and the 3-0 final, which ironically also includes a stoppage time PK, says it all.  FC Cincinnati won the chance to play the Union with a 2-1 win over the Red Bulls in a half full Red Bull Arena in Harrison.  Check out Cincy's game winner here.

Labor shortages meant BFS had no staff to cover the Western Conference matches.  I did see the second half of the El Traffico semi-final.  The Galaxy came back from 0-1 and 0-2.  The final was 3-2 favor of LAFC, decided on stoppage time goal by Arango.  Yeah, it was a classic.

Sunday 9 am Is the New Saturday 10 am?

The closest thing we have to a marquee matchup is Chelsea - Man United, the feature match Saturday at 12:30 on NBC.  Tightest fixture is probably Everton hosting Crystal Palace Saturday at 10 on USA; 538 has that at 38/34/28.  Given their respective recent forms, Tottenham - Newcastle (Sunday at 11:30 on USA) could be a good one too.  Not gonna predict a Magpie win here but I do think it could be a highly watchable contest.  

Used to be that Saturday 10 am was the most crowded time slot for EPL fixtures.  Lately, they've been cramming them in at 9 Sunday morning. This week you have four choices for that time slot including five sides that go into the weekend within three points of the relegation zone. We'll be watching Aston Villa - Brentford, hoping that Villa will benefit from the new manager bounce. That one is on Peacock.  Neutrals might opt for the Wolves - Leicester contest on USA.  In other years this would have been a battle for a Europa League spot but now it's a relegation relevant fixture.  Leeds - Fulham on CNBC will also be of interest to relegation afficionados.  Your last option is Southampton - Arsenal.

Rounding out the schedule, Liverpool go to Nottingham Forest for the early Saturday match on USA that will likely do nothing for Forest's relegation chances. Man City should handle Brighton (Saturday at 10 on Peacock) and we have a Monday match with West Ham hosting Bournemouth at 3 pm on USA.  

Mid-week has Champions League and Europa fixture (schedules here and here).  They are in match five of the six match group stage.

The other two MLS conference semi-finals are Sunday.  Montreal hosting NYCFC should be a cracker at 1 pm.  Not as familiar with Austin or Dallas, though 538 says Austin are big favorite.  Both matches are on ESPN. 

Meanwhile, enjoy the day off and watch the Phillies.

Takin' Care of Business

Apologies to Bachman-Turner Overdrive

Newcastle and the Union efficiently dispatched their opponents this weekend. Lots of other stuff too.

You Can Only Beat Who You Play - Part II

No one has doubted Miggie's work rate
but now he's backing it up with goals (Getty picture)

Brentford at St. James' Park should be three points for Newcastle so the 5-1 final is not completely surprising.  The Magpies had looked to fall behind early but VAR rescued them with a correct reversal for offside.  Guimaraes converted a spell of Newcastle dominance into a 1-0 lead with a nicely placed header off a Trippier cross.  Jacob Murphy doubled the lead shortly after with a goal off a nice pass from Wilson.  An Ivan Toney PK briefly derailed the rout.  I thought the handling call on Burns was incredibly harsh; he was attempting a leaping header and his arm - as will happen when you strain to jump - was above his shoulder and the ball struck it.  Letter of the law maybe but still dumb.  No matter.  Guimaraes got a second goal two minutes later. all he did was steal the ball, dribbled to the goal and delivered a laser shot from 24 yards out.  Add in the context of an immediate response to the Brentford goal and it sounds like this week's YouTubeableMoment.  Almiron continued his run of form with a goal at 82 minutes and they finished the scoring with an own goal in stoppage time.

Certainly Brentford contributed to their own downfall with two howlers of mistakes and an own goal.  Still, Newcastle clearly were the better side here.  And they are not at full strength yet.  ASM and Joelinton did make second half appearances and look ready to return to the starting XI, but Isak is likely a week or two away.  Good work from Longstaff and Murphy to fill in during the interim.  The Magpies finished the weekend 6th in the table.  Yes, they have benefitted from a softer schedule recently but remember they have already played Man City and Liverpool

Distracted Viewing

So I saw a bunch of the matches but viewing was either incomplete or distracted.  I did see all of the close contest between Brighton - Tottenham.  The stats say the Spurs 1-0 victory might be a touch lucky but no doubt they played well against a solid team at home.  The match had an extra level of emotion for Spurs as their beloved trainer, Gian Piero Ventrone, passed away earlier in the week at just 61 from leukemia; you can read more about Ventrone here.  As you will read, he had a long history with Conte.

I only saw the second half of Arsenal's 3-2 win over Liverpool.  The Reds fought back from 0-1 and 1-2 deficits but were undone by a PK in the 76th minute.  I'm still not convinced that Jesus was fouled but probably not an obvious error for VAR to overturn.  At some point, we may have to concede that Arsenal may be the second best team in the league.  In the 12/24/20 BFS post, we made fun of Jamie Carragher for saying the until Arteta brought in 5-6 players of his choice it was not fair to judge him.  Apologies Jamie, it appears you were correct.  Speaking of second best teams, Liverpool are certainly working hard to convince us that they aren't.  They now sit 10th in the table and only Nottingham Forest, Leicester and Wolves have fewer wins.  

I had Crystal Palace - Leeds on the TV but can't remember much except that Palace got a late goal to win.  We fit in parts of  Everton - Man United before and at half time of the Union match.  MUN did just enough to take away a 2-1 win at Goodison Park and have climbed to 5th in the table after a shaky start.  

Not Good Enough

Though not as distressing as the draw to ten-man Leeds last week, Aston Villa's 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest shows that they have still not sorted out what kind of team they want to be.  The bad news is that they are perilously close to the relegation zone but the good news is that the mid-table is so condensed, a win or two could move them to the top half of the table.  But most concerning is that win, lose or draw, they just don't seem to be playing well.  Jordan Campbell at The Athletic offered this pithy assessment of Villa under Steven Gerrard.

As a manager, his team’s way of attacking can be so structured and repetitive that it can leave you feeling cold. That is what is happening now with the lack of individual expression within his system being seen in the three games since the City draw.

We always take these things with a grain of salt but this suggests that Gerrard position is under pressure.

He may take comfort that at least he's not in Brendan Rodgers' shoes.  Leicester may have restored their position as a relegation candidate with a 1-2 loss at Bournemouth.  Wolves 0-3 thrashing by Chelsea wasn't unexpected but does confirm that they could be right there too.  West Ham's 3-1 win over Fulham suggests that those two sides are heading in opposite directions after unexpected starts for both.  Southampton can't be feeling too good either; Erling Haaland only managed one goal against  them but they still lost to Man City 4-0.

Fun With Europa

Lots of Champions League action on Tuesday and Wednesday, which you can read about here.  For some reason, we had more fun watching Europa League matches, maybe because they simply had goofier club names.  First we saw Arsenal take on Boba Fett Bodo/Glimt.  The Yellow Horde made this a close match though some of it may have been Arsenal not at their best; the final was 1-0 Gunners.  Even more fun was Man United versus Onomatopoeia Omonia.  The Cypriot side fought bravely and went into stoppage time hanging by a thread to a 0-0 draw.  Alas, a late goal from McTominay turned Cinderella's carriage back into a pumpkin.  

Conversations That Could Have Taken Place and Did

Dennis: Arsenal are missing some key players for the match against Bodo/Glimt.

Steve: Yes, but Jesus is expected to return Sunday

Dennis: This is getting too easy

Steve: Hey look, former USMNT player Mix Diskerud just entered the match for Omonia

Dennis:

Fun Talking Point Shot to Hell

Until Copenhagen managed a 0-0 draw with Man City in Champions League this week, the only sides to have taken points from City in EPL or CL competition were BFS home sides Newcastle and Aston Villa.  We note that Man City had a man sent off at 30 minutes and Haaland did not play.  So big deal, you drew Man City who had two hands tied behind their back.  

Union Win the Eastern Conference

Gazdag's hat trick took him to 22 goals, one off the league best

Very nice of the Union to get down to business early on Sunday.  Daniel Gazdag had the U up 1-0 in the 4th minute.   Though one felt they were mostly in control, they took their time putting the second one on the board.  Uhre's goal at 42 minutes made things even easier.  Gazdag got two more in quick succession at 60 and 63 and the deed was done.  Mild disappointment that LAFC lost, meaning the Union had equal most points for the season but lost the Supporters Shield on the tiebreaker, number of wins.

Many all-time MLS "bests" for this season.  Among them, seventh highest point total ever, second best goal differential, fifth highest goals scored.  I can't find it now but I believe the 26 goals allowed is the fewest all-time since the MLS moved to the 34 game season.  Still reading about how this means nothing if they don't do well in the playoffs.  Drive me nuts.  This is an excellent season as is.  The MLS insistences on following the American obsession with playoffs doesn't change that.

For the record, Laura did sort of watch Sunday's match, in between taking Dennis's dog Kaya out to the backyard so we could watch the game in peace.  In retrospect, we may have put too much blame on her for last week's 0-4 loss at Charlotte.  BFS sincerely apologizes for any distress our inferences may have caused her.

It's Always About Health Care

BFS Health Care Consultant Jack W sends along this story about his former boss at United Health Care connection to MLS.  There's almost always a link to the health care in any sports franchise.  Check out the sponsors or take a look at the advertising conspicuously posted around any sports venue.  Maybe part of the reason health care is so expensive?

More Busy

With mid-week EPL matches and MLS playoffs,  we're looking at packed week with Monday our only footballess day [check that, two MLS games that day!].  The bad news is that I see a lot of darker orange on the 538 website, indicating a shortage of competitive matches.  

We start with Friday football at 3 pm (USA) as Brentford host Brighton.  For the weekend, the most important match looks to be Liverpool versus Man City at Anfield.  That's at 11:30 on Sunday on USA.  Even as the visitor, City are solid favorite here.  For the weekday matches, Man United - Tottenham on Wednesday at 3:15 on Peacock is the best choice as well as one of the tighter fixtures of the week.

Saturday's matches are spread out so you don't have to make tough choices.  Start with Leicester - Crystal Palace at 7:30 on USA; these are the kind of matches the Foxes will need to win if they are to pull out of the relegation funk.  At 10 you can choose between surprise mid-table entries Fulham-Bournemouth or relegation candidates Wolves - Nottingham Forest.  The latter is the USA TV option.  The NBC feature match is Spurs hosting Everton; Tottenham have had a way of winning yet making every match close so this might be fun.

For some reason the schedulers have piled four games into the 9 am slot on Sunday.  Newcastle travel to Man United for the one that USA TV has.  In the past, this was a hopeless cause but now I hold out some hope for a result.  Other choices are Aston Villa-Chelsea (yikes a tough match to "find yourself"), Leeds - Arsenal or Southampton - West Ham (538 has this has the most competitive match of the week).  The discerning reader will note nary a London derby in the weekend's fixtures.

Things are less well-distributed for the mid-week fixtures.  Tuesday has Brighton - Nottingham Forest at 2:30 (USA) and Crystal Palace - Wolves at 3:15 (Peacock).  Wednesday we will be going with Newcastle hosting Everton at 3:15 on Peacock; definitely expecting points out of that one.  A crowded day, the previously mentioned Man United - Spurs match is clearly your best choice.  But, you have three other choices - Bournemouth - Southampton, Brentford - Chelsea (phew, that was a long time to go without a London derby) or Liverpool - West Ham.  Matchweek  12 wraps up on Thursday with Fulham - Aston Villa and Leicester -Leeds.  

MLS playoffs start Saturday.  Full schedule is here. We will be at Subaru Park on Thursday as the Union will take on TBD.  But the brackets are set so TBD has to be either New York Red Bulls or FC Cincinnati.  The U will be solid favorites against either.

Yeah, sure I missed something in here but there's a lot going on.