Avoiding the Drop

Time to grow up, Jozy. Time to grow up.

Ross County F.C. v. Partick Thistle F.C. (Saturday)

Five wins in a row and another week in first place- not much to complain about if you’re a Staggies supporter! There’s good news on the horizon too- joint top-scorer Steven Craig has this match and one more before his convoluted (and unfair!) red card suspension ends. If I weren’t a County fan I’d be wishing for the best for Partick- this is a club that was once a regular participant in European competitions and that won the Scottish top flight as recently as a decade ago. They also usually have pretty sharp looking kits, which isn’t easy given the club colors! Fun Fact: If things stay as they are now Ross County and their hated local rivals, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, will swap divisions at the end of the season. If that happens I will be 100% insufferable for the foreseeable future.

Newcastle United F.C. v. Everton F.C. (Saturday)

Could Newcastle be for real? In only their second year back in the Premiership and challenging for the championship? I guess you can’t argue with the numbers- trailing second place Manchester United by only a point and the only club other than Manchester City that hasn’t lost a match this season. Oh, and three points ahead of Chelsea just for good measure. How have they managed this? The bulk of the credit goes to three players: Fabrcio Coloccini, Jonás Gutiérrez, and Demba Ba. That being said, unloading Joey Barton was probably a bit of “addition by subtraction.” Don’t be alarmed by Everton’s current spot- 16^th- in the table. They have a match in hand over every other club except Spurs and a win in this match will shoot them right back up into the top half of the table where they should be.

Motherwell F.C. v. Celtic F.C. (Sunday)

This could be the biggest match of the SPL season to date and it only involves one member of the Old Firm- that makes me at least 50% happy! Celtic will still have a match in hand after this weekend, however, a win for Motherwell would still result in them trailing the Steelmen by six points even if they win that match in hand. A Celtic loss would also put them only one point above fourth place. For Motherwell, if they are able to end the season in second place, will equal their best finish since the 1994-1995 season. Fun Fact: If Celtic lose this match how many more weeks will Neil Lennon’s career at Parkhead have left? “Not many” is my guess. Fun Fact 2: Motherwell’s Fir Park Stadium is only three miles down the A271 from my Grandmother’s birthplace on Hamilton Road in Bellshill!

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. v. Wigan Athletic F.C. (Sunday)

I like Wigan manager Roberto Martinez a lot and I think with more talent he could really go places. Unfortunately, he’s not going anywhere with this club. There’s a simple reason that Wigan are dead last in the Premier League: they have a “League One” roster with a few top level players sprinkled into it. I honestly don’t know if any one other than Hugo Rodallega and Gary Caldwell could get a game with any other club. Maybe Franco DiSanto? Wolves may be two points above the drop zone, but the quality of their roster isn’t much better- it’s a “Championship” roster with a few outstanding players mixed into it. Fun Fact: Wigan will never be more than Premier League bottom-feeders as long as James McCarthy is on their roster. Why? Because that is my personal curse upon them.

Alkmaar Zaanstreek v. Haagsche Football Club Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (Sunday)

Jozy, Jozy, Jozy… You finally get yourself into a good situation and then you have to go and mouth off in the press, get the manager angry with you, and he sticks you on the bench. Given that you’re the second leading scorer on your club (and a regular contributor in Europe), you really must have rubbed Gertjan Verbeek the wrong way. Wise up, Josmer!! Oh, and your manager has guided the club to first place and a six point lead- he knows what he’s doing! Besides having one of the longest club names in world football, ADO are also the club of Philippine international Paul Mulders, who transferred from another Dutch team with an inexcusably long club name- Alleen Gezamenlijk Oefenen Voert Verder Apeldoorn. Fun Fact: In 106 seasons ADO have never finished higher than 3^rd place in the top flight.

Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht v. Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging (Sunday)

How long is it going to be before we start seeing a lot more of Sacha Kljestan in the USMNT set-up? For the second season in a row he his doing all that could be asked of him for first place Anderlecht- the best team in Belgium. He has started 11 of the club’s 12 league matches this season (and has chipped in with two goals) as well as all five of his club’s Europa League matches (in which they are undefeated) after starting 20 of 25 matches with the club last year. Cercle Brugge are in second place (six points behind Anderlecht), and while they may not win the league this year, they have all the motivation they could ever need- they haven’t won Belgium’s top flight since the 1929-1930 season. Fun Fact: Brugge’s stadium is named after Jan Breydel- a hero of the Franco-Flemish War (1297-1305).

Houston Dynamo v. Sporting Kansas City (Sunday)

I wanted to see Philadelphia in the semi-finals, but I can’t argue about two of the hottest teams in the league meeting in a this match. As hot as Sporting has been over the past few months, I couldn’t help but be impressed with the way that the Dynamo methodically dismantled a talented Union side. I think K.C. can win this match, but if it goes to overtime… Speaking of that, I hate overtime, and I hate shoot-outs even more. If the match goes into overtime I’m still picking Kansas City. If the match goes to penalty kicks I’m switching my pick to Houston for two reasons. First, I think with their playoff pedigree they are tougher mentally. Second, while Jimmy Nielsen has been a good goalkeeper for K.C., in every match of his I’ve watched he’s “switched off” at least once, and you can’t do that in a shoot-out.

Real Salt Lake v. Los Angeles Galaxy (Sunday)

The Galaxy are clearly the best team in MLS, they play attractive football on both sides of the ball, and I think they are finally getting some respect beyond MLS- so why don’t I like them? It doesn’t even bother me that they outspend most of MLS to get their players- I just don’t like them. Maybe it’s Bruce Arena- has he ever been happy about anything in his life? He’s less likable than Bill Belichick! RSL are a good side, have a great coach (I’d love to see Jason Kreis in charge of the USMNT at some point down the road), and despite winning a championship recently, they probably don’t get the respect they deserve- but I don’t think that’s going to matter. I think in the end that as long as the Galaxy play what is an “average” match for them, they will progress to MLS Cup- they simply have too much talent.