You Should Use A Cup For That
There are many kinds of cups in this world and usually I only talk about the silver kind that can be hoisted in the air. But, Ramblings Of A Soccer Junkie posted a story that I couldn't pass up involving a very different kind of cup. Warning, this link is about as nauseating as the story I once linked to about the Isaac Romo incident.
Now that everyone male has regained consciousness, I'm going to continue on with talk about the U.S. Open Cup and the UEFA Cup - though no less painful.
The first painful question is, how much is the English FA regretting not denying Everton as spot in the Champions League by sticking Liverpool in as the fourth team from the Premiership at this moment (as the Spanish FA did to set a precedent a few years back)?
Of course that decision wouldn't have made much difference in the Champions League as Everton didn't make much difference in the Champions League, but had Liverpool been knocked down to the UEFA Cup, it's pretty improbable they could have invited the shame on the entire league that Everton did in that competition today.
Everton should have known today just wasn't going to be their day when the first thing that happened on the fallback tournament of their European adventure was a bunch of their fans getting stranded at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
Though besides Bucharest being a lovely city to visit in the autumn as the leaves begin to change - yes Footcer, your one stop source for Americanized EPL and eastern European travel coverage - they really didn't miss much.
Everton fell behind in the 27th minute to Dinamo Bucuresti but a goal by Joseph Yobo tied it up in the 30th. Now a goal by a defender can always be looked at two ways. Either you're so far superior that anyone can score in the match or you're so desperate that your front line players aren't producing that you need you backs to score. I didn't see the match (or hear it since it was a BBC and premiumtv.co.uk blackout) but it would seem from the Romanian onslaught that followed the second reason was probably more applicable.
The final scoreline read a depressing 1-5 loss for Everton. Their is a huge change from their usual Premiership scoreline of 0-1 this season. Perhaps there are a bunch of EPL managers on the line to Bucharest right now looking for advice on how to demolish the Evertonian defense. :)
Ordinarily after a crushing blow like that, the team would admit they were toast in the competition (or at least say, "we'll just have to win at home 5-0," as Celtic almost did in the Champions League though against lesser competition than a pretty solid Romanian side) and that they would concentrate on the Premiership, Carling, and FA Cups from now on. Though Everton is quickly seeing their Premiership dreams (even the dreams of staying up) sailing away.
Everton doesn't really seem to know how to right the ship (sorry had to put a couple of shipping references in for a Liverpool team) as evident by the following quote from manager (but for how long who knows) David Moyes, though I appreciate his candor:
Well, he better find it quickly or the millions of fans waiting to call "fluke" (and that's just supporters of Liverpool) about their fourth place finish last season who are currently licking their chops are going to go into full attack mode and the knives brough out in response from Everton will be chopping Moyes free.
Folks, we've got our new front runner in the manager firing sweepstakes! ;)
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It was, however, a great day for eastern European teams in general in the competition as defending champions CSKA Moscow (who I swear got booted from the Champions League just to defend their title) won 3-1 over FC Midtjylland from Denmark. Krylia Sovetov also of Russia upset AZ Alkmaar of the Eredivisie 5-3 (though on Russian soil). Alkmaar currently sit on top of the Dutch top table with Feyenoord (who themselves could only tie one of the other Bucharest teams, Rapid, 1-1 at home) and RKC so this is huge.
Another Bucharest team, Steaua (I've been to Bucharest as I mentioned and I don't remember nearly that many stadia there to hold all of these teams) who fell from the Champions League, pummeled Valerenga 3-0 in Norway. Lokomotiv Moscow beat SK Brann 2-1.
Also, Dnipro of Ukraine held Hibs to a scoreless draw in Scotland. Slavia Prague beat Cork City of the Eircom League 2-0.
So, to be fair to Everton, they were just following a storyline. If you were from Great Britain or Ireland and you played an eastern European team, you didn't win. Well that's not entirely true since Bolton beat Bulgarian side Lokomotiv Plovdiv 2-1 but they fell behind 0-1 and it took an injury time goal from Jared Borgetti to get the victory!
There were 40 matches played today and I'm not going to cover all of them, but there were quite some interesting results if anyone wants to dig deeper.
---
No, instead I'll switch gears and come back closer to home to spew my thoughts on the finals of the U.S. Open Cup between Los Angeles and FC Dallas. While I'd have loved to have seen both results turn out different yesterday (and Chicago v. Minnesota final would have been a no lose situation as it would have either been my Fire or a USL-1 team (which is always an interesting propostion) hoisting the cup), it's a good final.
Because it's two teams who seem to have chosen to focus on the Cup when the MLS title is beginning to seem out of reach.
Of course with the playoff system in MLS pretty much anyone can win the title despite how horrible the regular season turns out (but that's another can of worms - four playoff spots now!) but obviously these two teams realize that with their current form, this is the silverware they can hoist.
It's good to see the teams be less narrow minded than the league about the Cup. Everton could even learn from the pain of these two MLS teams and try not to get eliminated in the FA and Carling Cups in the first round they enter too. :)
Now that everyone male has regained consciousness, I'm going to continue on with talk about the U.S. Open Cup and the UEFA Cup - though no less painful.
The first painful question is, how much is the English FA regretting not denying Everton as spot in the Champions League by sticking Liverpool in as the fourth team from the Premiership at this moment (as the Spanish FA did to set a precedent a few years back)?
Of course that decision wouldn't have made much difference in the Champions League as Everton didn't make much difference in the Champions League, but had Liverpool been knocked down to the UEFA Cup, it's pretty improbable they could have invited the shame on the entire league that Everton did in that competition today.
Everton should have known today just wasn't going to be their day when the first thing that happened on the fallback tournament of their European adventure was a bunch of their fans getting stranded at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
Though besides Bucharest being a lovely city to visit in the autumn as the leaves begin to change - yes Footcer, your one stop source for Americanized EPL and eastern European travel coverage - they really didn't miss much.
Everton fell behind in the 27th minute to Dinamo Bucuresti but a goal by Joseph Yobo tied it up in the 30th. Now a goal by a defender can always be looked at two ways. Either you're so far superior that anyone can score in the match or you're so desperate that your front line players aren't producing that you need you backs to score. I didn't see the match (or hear it since it was a BBC and premiumtv.co.uk blackout) but it would seem from the Romanian onslaught that followed the second reason was probably more applicable.
The final scoreline read a depressing 1-5 loss for Everton. Their is a huge change from their usual Premiership scoreline of 0-1 this season. Perhaps there are a bunch of EPL managers on the line to Bucharest right now looking for advice on how to demolish the Evertonian defense. :)
Ordinarily after a crushing blow like that, the team would admit they were toast in the competition (or at least say, "we'll just have to win at home 5-0," as Celtic almost did in the Champions League though against lesser competition than a pretty solid Romanian side) and that they would concentrate on the Premiership, Carling, and FA Cups from now on. Though Everton is quickly seeing their Premiership dreams (even the dreams of staying up) sailing away.
Everton doesn't really seem to know how to right the ship (sorry had to put a couple of shipping references in for a Liverpool team) as evident by the following quote from manager (but for how long who knows) David Moyes, though I appreciate his candor:
"I'll look to make some changes and see if I can find a winning formula because, at the moment, we've not got one."
Well, he better find it quickly or the millions of fans waiting to call "fluke" (and that's just supporters of Liverpool) about their fourth place finish last season who are currently licking their chops are going to go into full attack mode and the knives brough out in response from Everton will be chopping Moyes free.
Folks, we've got our new front runner in the manager firing sweepstakes! ;)
---
It was, however, a great day for eastern European teams in general in the competition as defending champions CSKA Moscow (who I swear got booted from the Champions League just to defend their title) won 3-1 over FC Midtjylland from Denmark. Krylia Sovetov also of Russia upset AZ Alkmaar of the Eredivisie 5-3 (though on Russian soil). Alkmaar currently sit on top of the Dutch top table with Feyenoord (who themselves could only tie one of the other Bucharest teams, Rapid, 1-1 at home) and RKC so this is huge.
Another Bucharest team, Steaua (I've been to Bucharest as I mentioned and I don't remember nearly that many stadia there to hold all of these teams) who fell from the Champions League, pummeled Valerenga 3-0 in Norway. Lokomotiv Moscow beat SK Brann 2-1.
Also, Dnipro of Ukraine held Hibs to a scoreless draw in Scotland. Slavia Prague beat Cork City of the Eircom League 2-0.
So, to be fair to Everton, they were just following a storyline. If you were from Great Britain or Ireland and you played an eastern European team, you didn't win. Well that's not entirely true since Bolton beat Bulgarian side Lokomotiv Plovdiv 2-1 but they fell behind 0-1 and it took an injury time goal from Jared Borgetti to get the victory!
There were 40 matches played today and I'm not going to cover all of them, but there were quite some interesting results if anyone wants to dig deeper.
---
No, instead I'll switch gears and come back closer to home to spew my thoughts on the finals of the U.S. Open Cup between Los Angeles and FC Dallas. While I'd have loved to have seen both results turn out different yesterday (and Chicago v. Minnesota final would have been a no lose situation as it would have either been my Fire or a USL-1 team (which is always an interesting propostion) hoisting the cup), it's a good final.
Because it's two teams who seem to have chosen to focus on the Cup when the MLS title is beginning to seem out of reach.
Of course with the playoff system in MLS pretty much anyone can win the title despite how horrible the regular season turns out (but that's another can of worms - four playoff spots now!) but obviously these two teams realize that with their current form, this is the silverware they can hoist.
It's good to see the teams be less narrow minded than the league about the Cup. Everton could even learn from the pain of these two MLS teams and try not to get eliminated in the FA and Carling Cups in the first round they enter too. :)
posted by incendiarymind at 9:22 PM
4 Comments:
As an Everton fan I'm disappointed, although not surprised, by the result. It just appears that Thomas Gravensen was far more important to the team than anyone (myself included) gave him credit for.
Ack, nobody wanted Everton to lose there, sad sad result
Tim. I think that Everton's problem goes deeper than one player. It's a critical mass of injuries all striking at once. Now, I do have to say that I have a bet with a co-worker (who's one of you guys, Everton supporter) that Everton will finish outside of the European positions. Once that's accomplished, I only wish your team the best of luck. And I wouldn't panick. Everton could be this year's Bolton still.
Nice blog..I like your blog..Keep posting such type of informative and descriptive article.
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