Tag: Liverpool

  • ODDS and ENDS: I Felt the Earth Move, Tottenham Home Stretch, and the Dog Got a Haircut

    ODDS and ENDS: I Felt the Earth Move, Tottenham Home Stretch, and the Dog Got a Haircut

    (She blinded me with science…)

    NYC and the surrounding area got hit with a 4.8 magnitude earthquake which lasted for about 20 seconds. The epicenter was about 50 miles west of Manhattan. I was at home with the wife when it hit, and for the first few seconds of the quake, I thought it was come from the construction site behind our building. You know, like they were drilling or something. Then I thought that a truck had hit our building. But my wife was the first one to say, or I guess ask, “Is this an earthquake?!” In fact, it was. Thank God for social media, because within three seconds, people were posting. Funny enough, this is the second NYC earthquake I have been through. Back in August of 2011, a 5.8 quake hit northern Virginia, which was felt all the way up here. I was on the 12th floor of a building in midtown at that time, and all I felt was the building swaying, which was a very strange sensation. But in both occurrences, the overwhelming feeling I had was disbelief. You don’t think about NYC having earthquakes.

    We are down to the final nine matches of the season, and I hate to admit it, but it looks like Tottenham is playing for a place in the Champions League next season. Of those nine matches, three of them are against the teams ahead of Spurs on the table (Man City, Arsenal, and Liverpool), then there is Newcastle twice and Chelsea who both are hanging around in the middle, followed by three matches against teams fighting against relegation. The way I see it, Tottenham will walk away with three wins, three draws, and three losses, concluding the season with 69 points. Will that be enough to get past Aston Villa? I don’t think so as Aston does have the easier schedule compared to Spurs. This will be an interesting two months. Interesting in the sense that it will be infuriating, and gut wrenching.

    My dog got groomed yesterday. She’s very happy about it. She looks like a puppy.

  • There Went the Season

    Poor Tottenham. They got bounced out of the Champions League yesterday in the most limp noodle fashion imaginable. In the stretch of eight days, they had two losses and a draw; they got bounced from two tournaments and lost to a middle of the table team in the Premier League. It’s hard to imagine a worse week for the team.

    Sadly, I think things are about to get worse for them. Liverpool and Newcastle are nipping at their heels, fighting for the fourth spot on the table to qualify for the Champions League next season. Though Spurs have a rather friendly schedule coming up with five matches, I don’t think their head is in the game. They’re gun’na blow it.

    That’s what I witnessed from them against Milan yesterday. It wasn’t an inspired or aggressive team. It really did feel like they gave up at half time. Like they decided they weren’t going to win any trophies this year, so why bother.

    I think this is the end of the Antonio Conte era. My guess is that he’ll finish out the season, and they just won’t renew his contract. And then there will be an offseason of speculation of who will come in. Who has the ego to rein in this team, deal with the egos, win trophies? Maybe next year…

    Not that I know anything about football…

  • Premier League Week 3: A Tottenham Win, Brentford’s Heartbreaker, and Leeds

    Tottenham Hotspur took on Wolverhampton this Saturday, and it was a mixed blessing of a match. A win is a win, so I’ll take it – No complaints there. But the start of the match, Wolverhampton looked pretty solid, as they had some good chances that they just couldn’t convert. What I thought the Wolves did great against Spurs was shut Son out of the match, which third match into the season, I have yet to see Son be Son. Either way, Spurs had another slow start, and the first half of the match left me feeling like this is a team that keeps bending to opponents, but not breaking. In the second half, Tottenham came out fighting, and it really felt like it was only a matter of time before that were able to strike. It came in the 64th minute when Harry Kane got a header to score which was all Spurs needed to get the win. This match did feel like another test, and Tottenham proved that they could keep it together to stay undefeated. Yet, this still doesn’t feel like a team that finds ways to win, but a club that refuses to lose.

    Then there was my dark horse team Brentford that lost a heartbreaking nail biter at Fulham. The match started off awful for the Bees who gave up two goals early, one being in the first minute. Brentford hung in there with Norgarrd scoring at the end of the first half, and Toney scorning an equalizer in the 71st minute. But Fulham’s forward Mitrovic was able to put the match away at the 90th minute. Sure, there were four minutes of stoppage time, but Brentford was spent. This was a match of two very scrappy teams fighting it out for respect in the League. Fulham just got promoted last year, and Brentford looking to prove they belong here as well, especially after the drumming the handed Man United last week. I’m telling you, and I know nothing about football, keep your eye on Brentford.

    Hey! Leeds beat Chelsea 3 – 0. That just made me happy, as clearly I’m not a fan of Chelsea. Nor of Arsenal. Or Man City. I’ll throw Liverpool in there as well. But Hey! Leeds looked awesome! No disrespect to Leeds.

    On to Week Four!

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  • Premier League Week 1: Tottenham Won, and some other stuff happened…

    The one advantage I had with being sick this weekend was that I was able to watch the opening matches of the Premier League.

    And I will reiterate yet again, that I know nothing about the Premier League, other than what I have picked up over the past five years of watching, which really isn’t that much, being that I follow Tottenham Hotspur, and don’t pay attention to much else in the league.

    At the conclusion of Week One, Tottenham is sitting on top of the table, and I’m going to enjoy that as much as I can for this week. Yes, Spurs did beat up on Southampton, but I would like to point out that Kane and Son were pretty silent in the match, which isn’t a bad thing, and may have been by design. Kulusevski, on the other hand, looked amazing and completely in control of the pitch – putting the ball where he wanted and setting the pace of the game. Now, Tottenham did have a slow start, and gave up a goal early, but unlike last season’s team, starting out in a hole didn’t seem to dim their aggressiveness at all. In fact, that early set back seemed to have inspired the team to play harder.

    With Chelsea coming up this Sunday, I will bet that Son and Kane will play a much more aggressive role. From what I understand about Conte as a manager, he will want to send a message to the League, and beating Chelsea at home would do that. It’s an early test for them, and could set the attitude for the first half of the season depending on the outcome.

    Other than that…

    Man City seems to have signed an honest to god Viking to play on their team. Erling Haaland is from the land of the ice and snow. Yet again, it does seem unfair that Man City can keep adding these dominate players, year after year, which makes the League feel like a two-team race between them and Liverpool. But, I cannot deny watching Haaland play was impressive.

    My dark horse team of the season will be Brentford again. No real reason, I just like the fact that it’s a scrappy team working their way up. I was a little sad that they lost Eriksen to Man United in the off-season, but I also knew that he had a high value, and little Brentford wasn’t going to be able to pay those prices. My hope is that they will finish in the top ten.

    On to Week Two.

    (By the way, if this blog is enjoyable to you, like a well-worn tweed blazer with elbow patches, then take a moment to like, share, or leave a comment. It will make this anglophile very happy. Chip-chip! Cheerio-o!)

  • ODDS and ENDS: Farmer’s Markets, Premier League Starts, and Summer

    (Don’t jock my style!)

    If you were to ask me how old I feel, I would say 25 even on a bad day. But, there are a few things that do, unfortunately, remind me that I am a middle-aged man. The fact that my hair is gray, that I have enough ear and nose hair that I have to trim it, and I am balding. The other factor that most comes into play is my desire to go to a farmer’s market early on a Saturday morning. Not just a desire to go to one, but an actual level of excitement to be there. I think we’ll hit the one up in Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow one (weather permitting), and I hear there is a pickle vendor there, which makes all the difference. The real honest goal is to get out of the City, but to also get more fruits and vegetables in our diet. The person in our household pushing for this is our daughter. The wife suggested we hit up a farmer’s market as a way to meet the kid’s request, and now I am looking forward to getting a bunch of produce. I guess there are worse things to get excited about in middle age.

    The Premier League starts today with Crystal Palace v Arsenal! Hopefully, and I am biased, Arsenal will go down in flames, as that will fill my Hotspur supporting heart with so much joy! Tottenham’s team has stayed pretty much together in the off season, so I am expecting a solid run from this club, especially with Conte in charge from the get-go. I have read all the predictions, and it seems like the whole world is either picking Man City or Liverpool to win the league, BUT just about everybody has the Spurs down as third or fourth on the table, so to me, that says there is hope, if nothing else, that Tottenham can make a run at it. And let’s not forget that this season there is Champions League play, and that break in the middle for the World Cup. This is going to be a crazy football season, and I am sure I will be writing about all of it.

    Go Away Summer! I’m tired of your shit!

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