Mad City United won by a convincing score of 8-1 today on a gray, rain-soaked morning. The field was actually not in too bad of shape and we managed to pass the ball pretty well (obviously) despite the conditions. I did not play all that well, but did manage to score a goal (the opener and almost the game-winner) and chipped in with two assists.

I’m playing center midfield and that entails a lot of running, tracking back, getting forward, etc. My goal came when I got the ball in acres of space, wound up, and hit a long-range effort. After it left my foot I thought “That’s destined for the top corner,” but it dipped down towards the keeper. He lunged for it and tried to catch it instead of punching it over. It skipped off his hands, hit the post, bounced off his head, hit the crossbar, rebounded off his thigh, hit the post, came off his elbow, and landed on the line, rolling away from him. He dove to swat it away but it had just barely crept over the line. 1-0 on my first league goal, and certainly nothing to write home about.

The team we faced did not track back well, which meant lots of midfield space. This meant you could carry the ball and dish it off as the last defender approached, or hit it wide for crosses. Once the defense was split, it was pretty easy pickings for the strikers.

That’s twelve goals in two games and only two against. Not bad. Alas, we play another top team on Thursday night and it looks like the squad will be pretty depleted due to the 5:45 kickoff. I will be stuck in Milwaukee, but I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that we go 3-0-0 on the season.

Really, I can’t tell you what the hell is going on in England at the moment. Man City now has more money than God and Robinho looked pretty damn handy for the first half against Chelski, but the Russians just had too much quality. You have to think that they’re the odds-on favorite for the title.

It tickles me to no end that Man Ure lost to Liverpool 2-1, but I’m not ready to say that this result, along with the Ars*’s 4-0 clubbing of Blackburn, has drastically changed the title picture in this oh-so-long season. For my money, I’d bet Liverpool will rack up a couple of hapless draws against the likes of Wigan or Fulham and not realistically be in the race by New Year’s. Ars*nal may have found their form over the last two games, but the squad is so thin—even just a few injuries to their starters will be a massive headache.

What can you say about Man Ure? I dunno since I didn’t watch the game, but reports universally claim that Liverpool dominated the last hour of the game and were deserved winners. My suspicion is that Man Ure will be hard to stop once they get rolling, so the big question for me is whether Chelski will slip. Based on the early impact Scolari has had on the team, my guess right now is ‘no.’

The relegation scrap should be interesting too. I thought Stoke and Hull were clear favorites for the drop but it may be trickier than that. It’s way too early to tell, but the squads that came up look just a bit handier than I—or virtually anyone else—gave them credit for.

Things are never dull…

Current Mood: Victorious but Beat |