Premier League – Man United Win Away in Honor of Sir Bobby Charlton

Earlier today, Manchester United traveled to the northeast of England for a Premier League match with Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. This was the first match for both clubs after the international break, with the Blades and manager Paul Heckingbottom (amazing last name) perhaps needing a positive result even more than United. They are currently bottom of the table, having taken only one point from their opening eight matches. United and manager Erik ten Hag meanwhile were looking for a bit of consistency. They won their last match against Brentford before the two week break, but have failed to string together consecutive victories so far this season. Perhaps a bit of extra motivation for the Red Devils would be to go and win one in memory of Sir Bobby Charlton, an England, United, and footballing legend who passed away from dementia just a few hours before kickoff. More on Charlton below.

The Blades were the better side for much of the opening half. Their finishing was poor, but they were moving the ball around well and creating a lot more than United. Keeper Andre Onana was forced into a few important saves as well, but it was United who opened the scoring on 28 minutes thanks to midfielder Scott McTominay. He found himself inside the box and on the receiving end of a sharp pass from fellow midfielder Bruno Fernandes. McTominay’s first touch with his chest sent the ball high into the air, but it fell right back down in front of him to hit on the volley first time. It wasn’t the cleanest of connections and it appeared to take a deflection off a Sheffield defender on it’s way to the net, but it rolled into the right hand side of the net with Blades keeper Wes Foderingham (another great last name) rooted to the spot. The goal was against the run of play to be sure, but that has been the story of Sheffield’s season so far. They create chances, but they don’t finish them and then get picked off at the other end. 1-0 to Manchester United!

Unfortunately, McTominay went from hero to villain just six minutes later when he was adjudged by referee Michael Oliver to have handled the ball in his own penalty area. Oliver pointed to the spot for a penalty straight away, and it was confirmed a few moments later by VAR. Now, this time, I don’t have too much of a problem with this one being given as a penalty. McTominay had his hand away from his body when it struck his lower arm, which under the current version of the handball rule should be a penalty every time. Alright, fine. My problem with this call is that even more egregious handball calls by opposing teams have not been called in previous matches, most notably when United played Arsenal and Tottenham earlier this season. There’s just no consistency in the application of this rule. None at all. It depends on the subjective decision of the referee and the VAR official, and subjectivity was the main thing the new handball rule was supposed to eliminate! It’s supremely annoying and threatens the integrity of the game when the rules are not applied equally across all matches. Blades striker Oli McBurnie stepped up to the spot and blasted the penalty past Onana for 1-1, giving him no chance to save it. The match remained 1-1 at halftime as well, with Bruno striking the crossbar from a free kick being the only other major action after the goals.

United improved in the second half, at least in terms of possessing the ball and creating chances. They still looked fairly uninspired, though. They seemed content to try and play the long ball over the top from midfield towards the forwards, but Sheffield were aware of this and set themselves up in a low block defensively. United have struggled monumentally to break down teams in the low block this season, and those struggles continued for most of this game. Midfielder Sofyan Amrabat struck the woodwork from distance, but most United attacks were breaking down in the final third.

United got their winner however thanks to a moment of individual brilliance from right back Diogo Dalot. United had the ball forward, and Dalot collected a pass in the center of the pitch from deputizing left back Victor Lindelof about 30 yards from goal. After taking a touch and composing himself, he unleashed a divine curling effort that Foderingham was late getting over to. The Blades keeper got a hand to the shot, but he could not keep the effort out and it settled into the top corner for 2-1. It was a massive sigh of relief for the United players and fans, and it came from a fairly unlikely source. Dalot has only scored 4 goals in total over the span of his United career, but he produced some real quality with this finish. It was a goal that Charlton himself would have been proud of! An effort from distance that curled into the top corner. 2-1 to United on 77 minutes.

The final 13 minutes plus stoppage time were not the pressure cooker United have seen at times this season. Sheffield forged some half chances from set pieces, but United looked more likely to grab a 3rd than Sheffield did to get a 2nd. Substitute winger Alejandro Garnacho was a terror down their left hand side in the closing stages, and had his finishing been better he would have had a third for United. The ref’s whistle finally blew and United secured three points on the road, which was a fitting tribute to Charlton.

Positives and negatives on this one. The makeshift back four mostly played well, marshaled by an excellent match from center back Harry Maguire. He was a rock at the back today, always on hand to make a clearance or win a header in the air. The injuries to the United defense have led to him seeing more playing time, and he has given ETH a selection headache with his good play. Also solid games from Lindelof, Onana, and Amrabat. The attack still looks very disjointed, however. They were better going forward as the match went on, but they are not relying on good tactics or build-up play to score goals. We are still continuing to rely on moments of individual brilliance to score and thusly to win matches. It worked today thanks to Dalot and lower quality opposition, but it will not work consistently. I know that the return of key midfield and defensive starters will fix things somewhat, but ETH clearly still has more work to do to get this team firing on all cylinders.

Today was all about Sir Bobby, though. United needed a win on the day of his death to honor his legacy appropriately, as the man did nothing but win during his career. This is a man who was arguably the best-ever player for both England and United. He is one of only 9 men EVER to win the World Cup, Champions League (then called the European Cup), and the Ballon d’Or. He was a menace in the midfield to deal with, and he held goal scoring records for both England and United until relatively recently. He also was a survivor the Munich Air Disaster, the awful plane crash that almost led to United shutting it’s doors in 1958. Put simply, without Sir Bobby, United is not the club it is today. England would not have a World Cup trophy to it’s name, either. He was a regular at Old Trafford well into his 80s, and the place will feel significantly different without his presence in the stands. Tributes have been pouring out from fans, players, managers, pundits, and clubs; and they will continue to do so throughout the week. Sir Bobby was 86 years old.

United next play in midweek in the Champions League, at home to FC Copenhagen. Three points are desperately needed if United want to make it out of their group. After that is the not-small matter of the Manchester Derby next Sunday at Old Trafford. The club’s form needs to improve if we want to win either of the upcoming matches.

Glory Glory Man United! Glazers Out!

Premier League: Defeat at Tottenham

Manchester United travelled south to London earlier today for match #2 of their Premier League schedule against Tottenham Hotspur at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. They would be looking to improve on their opening day performance last Monday, a match which they won but looked far from convincing in doing so. Tottenham and new manager Ange Postecoglu were looking for their first 3 points of the season, having drawn their opening match last weekend. United manager Erik ten Hag named an unchanged lineup from the last game, which raised some eyebrows among the pundits pre-match. Everyone at the club knows that our away form against the bigger sides needs to improve, as it was abysmal last season and the main reason why we didn’t challenge for the title. This was Spurs’ first home match since the departure of talismanic striker Harry Kane to Bayern Munich, with many wondering how they are going to replace his goal production.

The first half started strongly for Tottenham, but United settled in a little and began establishing possession after the first 10 minutes or so. Half chances and narrowly missed opportunities were the theme of the first 35 minutes. Tottenham were struggling to play the ball out from the back, but United were again (like the previous match) disjointed in attack and not really clicking with one another. United had a penalty shout when the ball struck the hand of Spurs center back Cristian Romero in the box, but VAR confirmed referee Michael Oliver’s decision to not award a spot kick. Romero’s hand was up, but it was deemed to be close enough to his body to not be in an “unnatural” position, whatever that means this week.

Midfielder Bruno Fernandes should have put United ahead 1-0 right around 36 minutes or so, when a pass over the top found him all alone about 6-7 yards in front of the Tottenham goal. He tried to re-direct the pass into the far corner, but his header was far too powerful and it went over the bar. It was an embarrassing miss given how much time and space he had to put it away. Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario was relieved to see it go over, because Bruno is normally ruthless from that close.

Tottenham had the next best chances of the half, with right back Pedro Porro striking the crossbar of the United goal with keeper Andre Onana beaten. Tottenham then struck the woodwork again just a few seconds later, although this time it was via a deflected cross off Red Devils center back Lisandro Martinez. It was only down to fortune that the ball did not go in. At halftime it was 0-0, and while United were probably slightly better than the first half of the match last week, they still had nothing to show for it. Postecoglu was undoubtedly the happier manager going into the locker rooms.

Tottenham raised their urgency a bit in the early part of the second half and were rewarded for their efforts on 49 minutes with the opening goal from defensive midfielder Pape Matar Sarr. Spurs winger Dejan Kulusevski ran down the right wing with the ball virtually unchallenged before getting to the end line and playing an aerial cross back across the face of the goal. The ball took an unlucky deflection off Martinez before falling straight to the feet of Sarr, who buried a shot into the roof of Onana’s net. Spurs got a bit lucky to be sure, but what on earth was United left back Luke Shaw doing in the build-up? He was 20 yards off Kulusevski, and he didn’t bother to come over and make a challenge until the Swedish winger was already in the box! Very poor defending from a player who is usually sturdy at the back. Most of the blame for this goal lies at his feet.

I was looking for a sharp and positive response from United after going down, but none was forthcoming. It was dismal, really. Tottenham, led by captain and superstar winger Son Heung-min, were dominating United down their attacking left wing. It seemed like they had an extra man on that side every time they brought it forward. When United did break up an attack and get on the ball, they resulted to playing hopeful long passes instead of playing it through midfield. They couldn’t maintain any possession and were giving the ball away needlessly. Winger Antony dos Santos did manage to strike Vicario’s post just after the Spurs goal, but beyond that they looked completely toothless.

Some befuddling decisions from ETH did not help the situation. A triple change was made on 63 minutes, where he brought on winger Jadon Sancho, midfielder Christian Eriksen, and right back Diogo Dalot. Marcus Rashford, ineffective on the day, was kept as the central striker. Bruno was pushed out on to the right wing as well. Whatever the manager’s idea was, it did not work. Sancho had one or two flashes of good play, but beyond him everyone looked rather lost and disinterested in trying to get back into the game.

To add insult to injury, Tottenham got a second goal on 83 minutes, and this was a comically bad goal to concede. No luck for Tottenham this time, just more miscommunication and bad defending from United. A low and diagonal pass was played in to the United box from the left channel, with left back Ben Davies the intended recipient. Davies mishit the ball completely, but it took yet another deflection off Martinez and rolled into the goal with Onana wrong-footed. Just a terrible own-goal to concede in every way. There was no pressure on the ball in the left channel, and the back four were once again asleep at the wheel. United did not offer much of a response to this goal, either. They had more possession as the clock ticked towards 90 minutes, but aside from a few long-range efforts that did not trouble Vicario, they offered nothing. Spurs won 2-0.

Alright, damage report time. ETH deserves most of the criticism for this result. He named a starting 11 that did very little against Wolves. It’s clear after today that winger Alejandro Garnacho is not ready to start, yet. Antony was more wasteful than useful. Rashford was anonymous in the striker role for the second match in a row. Bruno missed a sitter, and then was shoved out to the right wing in the second half, which is not his preferred position. Midfielder Casemiro looked slow and off the pace yet again. Shaw went to sleep at the worst possible moment. Midfielder Mason Mount’s tactical role in the team is totally unclear. Why Sancho and fellow winger Facundo Pellistri are not starting is a complete mystery.

ETH really needs to get his tactics sorted out for the next match, and the team overall needs to play with a lot more urgency and desire. What’s worrying is that passion for the game is difficult to coach – either a player has it on the day or he doesn’t. ETH, club captain Bruno, and the other locker room leaders need to be giving each other a proper bollicking over this dismal match. Along with starts for Sancho and Pellistri, Rashford needs to be moved out to the left wing, where he feels most comfortable. Bruno needs to stay in the middle as an attacking midfielder too. It feels like ETH is trying to force a tactical plan that is not suited to the talents of our attacking players. We can’t win on the wings, we can’t play the ball through the middle, and we are still shit at set pieces. I trust ETH to make some positive changes, but they need to happen soon. Starting Anthony Martial at center forward next week will help, as will the addition of striker Rasmus Højlund once he is fully fit and ready to play. Supporters can’t rely on just Højlund to fix everything though. ETH needs to adjust his lineups and overall tactical plan.

There is still time for additional signings before the transfer window closes, but for various financial reasons, United need to clear out some current players before more can be signed. Center back Harry Maguire’s transfer to West Ham has fallen apart though, while ETH still seems to be trying to be rid of midfielder Scott McTominay. Again though, the overall tactical plan needs to be adjusted. He was exceptional at implementing a plan last season that the players bought into, and now he must do that again. One loss is not the end of the world, but these losses will multiply without changes being made.

Next match is at Old Trafford against Nottingham Forest on August 26th in the Premier League. The Red Devils need to bounce back, and they need to bounce back with passion. As always, Glazers Out!

Euro 2020(1) Quarterfinals – Two Tense Matches on Day 1

A few days off were needed for travel purposes, but the Euro 2020(1) quarterfinals got underway today with the first two games. Next two are tomorrow. All 8 of the remaining teams went in to the weekend knowing they were only three matches away from European glory. Spain took on Switzerland in St. Petersburg, Russia before the heavyweight fight between Italy and Belgium in Munich, Germany.

Spain vs. Switzerland

The Spanish were favorites coming into this match, as they boasted a lot more talent than the Swiss and are in a very rich vein of form. They have scored 10 goals in their past two matches, which is always impressive at a tournament. The Swiss however will not be afraid of anyone, having already slain the Goliath known as France. Importantly however, their captain and best midfielder Granit Xhaka was suspended due to yellow card accumulation. With Xhaka out, I thought the task just might be a tad too tall for the Swiss today.

It was clear from the outset what each team’s strategy was. The Spanish started out with their traditional possession-based game and the Swiss were quite content to let them have the ball a bit. The Swiss pressed on occasion and were trying to force the Spanish into mistakes high-up the pitch. That’s not a bad strategy as Spain can be prone to mistakes at the back, but it all went to hell for the Swiss less than 10 minutes in when Spain left back Jordi Alba fired a shot from a loose ball into the Swiss penalty area. The shot was somewhat hopeful and speculative, but it was effective nonetheless as it was redirected into the Swiss goal past keeper Yann Sommer on accident by defensive midfielder Denis Zakaria. Alba was credited with the goal initially by UEFA but they later changed it to an own-goal from Zakaria, which was probably harsh on Zakaria as Alba’s shot appeared to be on target. In any event, it was unlucky for the Swiss.

The rest of the half passed mostly without incident. Somewhat tepid, to be honest. Switzerland were again unlucky to see starting forward Breel Embolo go off after 20 minutes with a hamstring injury, and Spain were guilty of wasting a good chance that resulted from a free header by left back Cesar Azpilicueta. Aside from that though, not much else happened in the first half.

The second half started in similar fashion to the first, not a lot between the two sides. The Swiss were starting to ask more questions of the Spanish defense though, and Zakaria was again unlucky to see his header go just wide from a corner. The Swiss had an excellent chance come via midfielder Steven Zuber who forced a fine save from a tight angle by Spanish keeper Unai Simon.

The Swiss got their equalizer however just five minutes after that shot across the bow via Xherdan Shaqiri, a man affectionately known as “The Cube” by supporters due to his box-like physique. Two Spanish defenders (Pau Torres and Aymeric Laporte) both went for the same ball and their collision resulted in a loose ball that was pounced on by Swiss midfielder Remo Freuler. Freuler did well to find Shaqiri a few yards to his left, and The Cube made no mistake with a finish along the ground and off the inside of the left-hand post. The Swiss had fought back again, despite not really looking like doing so for good portions of the match.

Freuler found himself in the center of things again a few minutes later, but this time for negative reasons. He went into a tackle with both feet and his feet lifted off the ground, and made some very harsh contact with the Spanish player on the ball. English referee Michael Oliver went straight into his pocket and produced a red card. Upon review it was a rash tackle, and while you don’t always get a red card for such a challenge, it is very risky to try and tackle with both feet. You are inviting danger when you do that, and Freuler was punished for it.

Spain went into the ascendency after that due to the Swiss being down a man, but they could not make the most of their advantage and failed to score another in normal time. Extra time would be needed, which was a significant disadvantage for the tiring Swiss players. Having to play another 30 minutes with 10 men whilst having already played a full 90 is positively exhausting. However, again, Spain could not take advantage, despite some excellent chances falling to striker Gerard Moreno.

Penalties came and it was evident the fatigue being felt by the Swiss players. Spain missed two penalties themselves, but the Swiss could only convert one of them. Simon made two fine saves for sure, but I saw some very tired penalties from the Swiss. They were either hit too soft or blazed over the bar, because when fatigue sets in to the legs it is very difficult to maintain your technique and control when striking the ball. Perhaps if all 11 men had played until the end it would have ended differently, but of course now we’ll never know.

Credit to the Spanish for converting their penalties, but I would be very concerned about the semifinal if I was a Spaniard. The theme of poor finishing and defensive mistakes continued today, and against a more talented side they could have easily lost.

Spain advance to the semifinals at Wembley in midweek, where they await the winner of Belgium and Italy.

Belgium vs. Italy

Loads of talking points for this match, as it probably is the most intriguing fixture of the quarterfinals. Italy have the history of winning basically everything at major tournaments, although up until this tournament started there were questions concerning inexperience among this current batch of Italian players. They’ve done well this tournament, but their previous match against Austria caused some concerns among supporters about their ability to kill of teams effectively.

The Belgians come in with their current “Golden Generation” of players that are absolutely desperate to win the first major trophy for their country of any kind. Center forward Romelu Lukaku was in excellent form, but the major concern for Belgium was the fitness of star players Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard. Both of them are carrying injuries, but De Bruyne in particular is key to Belgian success at this tournament. As I have said before, there are serious arguments for De Bruyne being labelled as the best attacking midfielder in the world. De Bruyne did play in this match but Hazard did not.

Two great managers here too – Roberto Mancini for Italy and Roberto Martinez for Belgium. Interestingly, the last time these two managers faced off it was during an FA Cup final at Wembley, with Martinez’s Wigan Athletic pulling a shock upset over Mancini’s Manchester City.

The match was a little slow to start things off, with neither side really threatening the other in the first 10 minutes. Italy had the ball in the back of the Belgian net on 12 minutes though after a free kick found center back Giorgio Chiellini for a tap in, but after a VAR check the goal was correctly disallowed for offside. Chiellini was about a foot ahead of the ball when it came off his fellow defender Leonardo Bonucci. The tempo of the match did increase after that though, as Belgium knew they were given a let off. Romelu Lukaku did well to force a save from Gianluigi Donnarumma low to his right after good work from De Bruyne on a counter-attack. Gauging how this match would go from that point, it was likely that the team that made the fewest mistakes would go on to win. These teams were simply too evenly matched to call it one way or another. Good for the neutral of course, but nerve-wracking for supporters of the two countries.

You could call this fixture a chess match given all the tactical switching and formation changes by both teams throughout the opening half, but people tend to think of chess matches as boring and this game was anything but. End-to-end play that felt at times more like basketball than footie. The pace and energy from both teams was absolutely relentless.

The Italians broke the deadlock on 31 minutes via midfielder Nicolo Barella after a poor giveaway by Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen. The ball fell to the dangerous playmaker Marco Veratti who played in Barella, and he made no mistake with his finish over the top of Belgian keeper Thibault Courtois. Italy were even more energized by their goal and were able to grab another one from winger Lorenzo Insigne 12 minutes later. The first Italian goal was good, but the second one was a work of art from Insigne. He carried the ball about 50 yards, slaloming past a Belgian defender before shooting from the edge of the box. He got a lot of curl on the ball and the pace of it gave Courtois no chance to save. Truly breathtaking and a candidate for goal of the tournament.

The drama of the first half was not over though, as a penalty was awarded to Belgium just two minutes later in stoppage time. Teenage Belgian winger Jeremy Doku did well to beat his marker with pace in the left channel, and he went down inside the box after a shove in the back. The penalty was probably soft by most standards and the Italians were strenuously complaining, but VAR checked and the penalty stood. It’s a bit rich for Italians to complain about players going down too easily anyway, when they are the ones historically known as egregious divers. Lukaku stepped up to the spot and coolly put the ball past Donnarumma after sending him the wrong way.

The chaos continued in the second half, with both sides fashioning good chances but neither being able to finish them. Both Lukaku and Insigne were on fire and there were times when neither defense could get near those two players. There were more injuries and fouls in the second half as well, which wasn’t surprising given the effort and energy being put in by the players. The stoppages were really just temporary lulls in this hurricane of a match.

But the onus was on the Belgians to find an equalizer, and the Italians made subs that indicated they were going more defensive for the final 15 minutes or so, including switching to a back-5. They battened down the hatches and simply let Belgium come at them. It should be pointed out that as the game went on the Italians were engaging in what I like to call “shithousery”, meaning they were doing everything and anything to slow down the game without being penalized for it. They were taking their time with injuries, fouls, substitutions, and just generally wasting as much time as possible. While these Italians might play more attractive football than in the past, they clearly have not forgotten their traditional methods of gamesmanship mastered by their predecessors. I don’t like it as a tactic, but of course every team does it in matches of great importance.

The Belgians just couldn’t fashion another solid chance against the impregnable Italian back line, and the whistle finally blew. Italy held on to win despite a valiant effort from Belgium.

Italy will play Spain on Tuesday, July 6 at Wembley.

Tomorrow

Czech Republic vs. Denmark (9 am PDT)

England vs. Ukraine (Noon PDT)

I like England’s chances against Ukraine but they are a team with nothing to lose. No side should be taken lightly at this point. If a team makes the quarterfinals of a major tournament, that team is there for a reason.

The New Hand Ball Rule Is Stupid

The Premier League implemented a new version of the hand ball rule that has already had a significant impact on the season despite being barely two weeks into it. They expanded the definition to say (paraphrasing): a goal created or scored through intentional or accidental use of the hand will not count. (I added the bold)

Now obviously, a goal scored intentionally with the hand should not count. Of course. I think it’s also fair to say that a goal accidentally scored with a hand should be disallowed too. But a goal created via accidental use of the hand to be disallowed is incredibly harsh. For me, handball has always been a question of intent. Traditionally, a player has to intend to touch the ball with his/her arm or hand for a foul to be given the other way. Now however, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) has decided to greatly expand the definition of what is considered hand ball. Hypothetically, even if your arm is down by your side or on your leg, if it touches your arm at all and then goes in as a direct or indirect result, the goal is disallowed.

This is exactly what happened with Manchester City today in their match against Tottenham: (the video below is the full highlights, but the no-goal decision is at the end)

Now far be it from me, a supporter of Manchester United, to defend City’s claim that the goal should have stood. A part of me is happy it was disallowed because it sets City back in the title race. However, it’s all fun and games until it happens to your team. I don’t want a harsh decision like this one to go against United somewhere down the line!

By all standards, this was a soft call. Not a lot in it, really. The ball does come off the arm of City center-back Aymeric Laporte and then falls to striker Gabriel Jesus, but Laporte knew nothing about it! The ball came off his head and immediately down onto his arm in less than half a second. He had no time to form the intent necessary to deflect it into the path of Jesus. Never mind the fact that Jesus still had a fair bit of dribbling to do to create the opening for the shot. Referee Michael Oliver didn’t see it, none of the players on either team saw it, and no one in the stadium saw it until the replay on the screen.

Everyone was further upset by VAR catching this on the replay, but I don’t think VAR was really the culprit today. I’m not sure it is needed to review every goal and foul. I think the standard should be clear and obvious error for every situation, not just any error on the part of the ref. The standard of conduct that triggers VAR review seems to move and shift in every match, which is a problem. If all VAR is going to do is second guess the ref, then we should just get rid of human referees all together. It makes no sense to have them if the video is going to do everything. Further, the reviews and calls need to be made quicker. The City fans and players were celebrating their winning goal for 45 seconds to a minute before Oliver signaled that the goal was disallowed. City’s players were furious, and you could see Oliver passing the buck onto VAR by repeatedly pointing to his earpiece.

All VAR did today though was confirm an accurate ruling according to the law. You can’t be mad at VAR for doing what it is supposed to do, at least not in this case. You need to be mad at IFAB for greatly expanding on these rules. Much like the NFL trying to legislate on what a “catch” is and getting it wrong, IFAB has done the same thing with the handball.

A last-second winning goal in football is one of the most cathartic and joyous moments for the scoring team. The rapture and bliss you feel as a fan, player, or manager is second to none. But with the slow VAR rules and the expanded definition of handball, fans in the stadiums and at home will be second-guessing every goal that goes in. Some of that joy and fun has been taken out of the game as a result of IFAB getting in its own way.

Until a better way to officiate this rule is found, we are going to continue to see controversial decisions like this one for the rest of the season.