Sunday, July 29, 2018
DC United 2 - 1 Colorado
Wayne Rooney scores his first MLS goal, gets his nose broken, and wins me over completely. What a warrior, and what a force. OK, we were at home against a poor team that almost stole a point from us, but I liked what I saw from the squad last night. They showed some belief, and they justified it. It should have been 4-1, really, but chances went begging. The playoffs are almost certainly out of reach for us, but most of our games the rest of the way are at Audi Field and we should climb in the standings. I have to go to a game.
Congratulations, France. Now, Back to Club Football!
Nice WC. France were deserving winners. Croatia won me over with their heart and skill. England overachieved, Belgium was impressive. OK, that happened.
Arsenal's preseason is going about how I expected. Emery is finding out some things members of his squad do well and not so well. About that:
What happened to Mkhitaryan? He really looked poor in the ICC games. Unless he recaptures his old form, Lucas Perez could rise above him in the pecking order.
Kolasinac looks like a guy every winger in the EPL will want to play against. That's not what i'd have expected after his first few games for us.
I hate to say it, but Aaron Ramsey is talking like a guy who loves his football but would rather be doing it for someone else. He's still got the skills and the engine; I just wish he'd commit to us so Emery could instill the discipline he's lacking.
Gwendouzi has really announced himself. Emery wouldn't have given him so many minutes if he weren't considering him as a first team regular. he looks the part; time will tell.
Leno seems solid enough. Cech cost us points last season, and we can't afford that. Martinez does not convince me, but I want him to stay and improve.
Bellerin is still excellent. I can't believe anyone is criticizing him.
I'm perplexed about the center back situation. All of them have weaknesses. Unless Torreia can provide lots better protection than Xhaka and Elneny and Ramsey did, we're going to ship a lot of preventable goals again. The upside is that we have a lot of decent (though not great) CBs, so we're not an injury away from a bigger problem. Maybe a three-back system is a tactical option in some games. Mustafi has to break his habit of diving in to try to win balls in the attacking half, or get better at it.
Smith-Rowe may have sold Emery on keeping him on the first team. He looks like an Arsenal player. Nelson showed well, I thought.
Auba and Lacazette looked as dangerous as ever. Both are going to score plenty of goals for us. There's no Giroud-flavored Plan B now, but maybe that's just something we have to accept. I miss the big lug, but I'll get over it.
All our rivals have plenty of talent and (except for Spuds) have bought more of it. If we crack the top four at the end of the season, it will be because Emery gets more out of his squad than anyone has a right to expect. You never know; maybe City is jaded, United has Jose fatigue, Spuds tear themselves apart, and Chelsea keeps fading. Liverpool is the top six team that seems surest to improve in the standings. I'm not going to worry about West Ham or the other teams that are trying to climb the table this season. I have to believe we're better.
And there's always the cup competitions, which I hope Emery takes very seriously.
Arsenal's preseason is going about how I expected. Emery is finding out some things members of his squad do well and not so well. About that:
What happened to Mkhitaryan? He really looked poor in the ICC games. Unless he recaptures his old form, Lucas Perez could rise above him in the pecking order.
Kolasinac looks like a guy every winger in the EPL will want to play against. That's not what i'd have expected after his first few games for us.
I hate to say it, but Aaron Ramsey is talking like a guy who loves his football but would rather be doing it for someone else. He's still got the skills and the engine; I just wish he'd commit to us so Emery could instill the discipline he's lacking.
Gwendouzi has really announced himself. Emery wouldn't have given him so many minutes if he weren't considering him as a first team regular. he looks the part; time will tell.
Leno seems solid enough. Cech cost us points last season, and we can't afford that. Martinez does not convince me, but I want him to stay and improve.
Bellerin is still excellent. I can't believe anyone is criticizing him.
I'm perplexed about the center back situation. All of them have weaknesses. Unless Torreia can provide lots better protection than Xhaka and Elneny and Ramsey did, we're going to ship a lot of preventable goals again. The upside is that we have a lot of decent (though not great) CBs, so we're not an injury away from a bigger problem. Maybe a three-back system is a tactical option in some games. Mustafi has to break his habit of diving in to try to win balls in the attacking half, or get better at it.
Smith-Rowe may have sold Emery on keeping him on the first team. He looks like an Arsenal player. Nelson showed well, I thought.
Auba and Lacazette looked as dangerous as ever. Both are going to score plenty of goals for us. There's no Giroud-flavored Plan B now, but maybe that's just something we have to accept. I miss the big lug, but I'll get over it.
All our rivals have plenty of talent and (except for Spuds) have bought more of it. If we crack the top four at the end of the season, it will be because Emery gets more out of his squad than anyone has a right to expect. You never know; maybe City is jaded, United has Jose fatigue, Spuds tear themselves apart, and Chelsea keeps fading. Liverpool is the top six team that seems surest to improve in the standings. I'm not going to worry about West Ham or the other teams that are trying to climb the table this season. I have to believe we're better.
And there's always the cup competitions, which I hope Emery takes very seriously.
Sunday, July 1, 2018
Not Watch World Cup? Like That Would Happen.
I tried not to tune in, but of course I failed. Fox is doing its best to drive me away. Their coverage stinks. Derek Rae is the only decent play by play guy, and the color commentators are pretty bad. Warren Barton is fine in the studio, but he gets really annoying in my ear for 90 minutes. Aly Wagner is decent; Tony Meola OK. Everyone else goes on mute. Actually, that's how I usually watch this WC.
Now that Messi and Ronaldo are going home, the only player left that Fox acknowledges is Neymar. It's as though no one at Fox follows football beyond reading gossip magazines.
OK, the games:
I was delighted that Germany crashed out and Mexico moved on. Play was uneven and many games were not exactly thrilling, but most were at least close. There were plenty of late goals. VAR is a success as far as I'm concerned. There was the usual excitement and drama in most of the groups for the third group game. In the knockouts, France 4 - 3 Argentina was really good, I thought. The two games today that were decided via kicks-from-the-spot were fairly dour affairs, especially the Russia win over Spain, which was terrible. In 120 minutes, Spain completed over a thousand passes to Russia's 200, but never tested Akinfeev. Their only score was an own-goal; Russia got a PK after the aptly named Pique intentionally blocked a header with his arm. DaGea was shockingly bad this WC, and he looked awful in the shootout. I'm thinking Belgium has as good a chance as any team to win it all, and if Mexico can't do it, I'll be rooting for them. But if England or Switzerland can be champion, great. I can't get behind Russia; I hate the way they play.
Now that Messi and Ronaldo are going home, the only player left that Fox acknowledges is Neymar. It's as though no one at Fox follows football beyond reading gossip magazines.
OK, the games:
I was delighted that Germany crashed out and Mexico moved on. Play was uneven and many games were not exactly thrilling, but most were at least close. There were plenty of late goals. VAR is a success as far as I'm concerned. There was the usual excitement and drama in most of the groups for the third group game. In the knockouts, France 4 - 3 Argentina was really good, I thought. The two games today that were decided via kicks-from-the-spot were fairly dour affairs, especially the Russia win over Spain, which was terrible. In 120 minutes, Spain completed over a thousand passes to Russia's 200, but never tested Akinfeev. Their only score was an own-goal; Russia got a PK after the aptly named Pique intentionally blocked a header with his arm. DaGea was shockingly bad this WC, and he looked awful in the shootout. I'm thinking Belgium has as good a chance as any team to win it all, and if Mexico can't do it, I'll be rooting for them. But if England or Switzerland can be champion, great. I can't get behind Russia; I hate the way they play.
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