Sam’s FA Cup Teaser & What To Watch This Weekend
Sam’s Safe Space For Soccer Stoolies
Hi Haters™,
Welp. The 2018-19 EPL season is now officially in the books – and it was a helluva ride.
City and Liverpool were clearly the two best teams in the league, and quite possibly the world, and h/t to Pep’s People for completing the treble against Watford last weekend (*more on that in a moment*).
Chelsea and Spurs were definitely the next best and deserved to grab the other two Champions League slots. Arsenal and United were poor far too often to avoid Europa. Wolves were DAMN good from start to finish and deserve a lot of credit. Everton, Lester and the Hammies did what was expected of them. Watford punched well above their weight despite stumbling down the stretch. Palace and Bournemouth were exciting here and there. Burnley, Southampton and Brighton survived some scary moments. Cardiff just didn’t do enough. Fulham was the biggest disappointment of the season (non-Jozay Mourinho division). Finally there was Huddersfield, who tried real hard.
Perhaps I’ll run through my preseason predictions in a blog next week so we can all point and laugh. There is after all more soccer to be played this season before we completely close the books on the season.
For now though this post is about two things:
(1) “Weekend at Watford” Preview
(2) This Weekend’s Handy Dandy Soccer-Watching Guide
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WATFORD & FA CUP FINAL
A couple people may have seen some posts on twitter and/or Instagram but, for those not on social media, I headed over to London to get a behind the scenes look as Watford prepared for Saturday’s FA Cup final. Needless to say it was quite a weekend, and not just because hooooooly hell is City every bit as good as advertised… but also because the first-hand look at Watford the club and more importantly the people who live and breathe Hornets “footie” was an incredible experience. I (with help from people who actually know what they are doing) am working on turning it into some worthwhile content that will hopefully provide a new perspective on what it means to support an up-and-coming club like Watford – the Other Little London Club That Could™ – but for the time being here are some random snippets from the trip that I found on my phone:
Walking around the stadium…
Stumbled across a plaque of Watford and USMNT legend Jay DeMerit hanging on the wall…
Then stumbled across Watford and USMNT legend Jay DeMerit himself…
Borrowed Adrian Mariappa’s cleats to play on Vicarage Road? Borrowed Adrian Mariappa’s cleats to play on Vicarage Road.
Wait…… they are really letting me actually play on Vicarage Road? They are really letting me actually play on Vicarage Road!
Ran into Watford’s NYC supporters club while I was galavanting around talking to people before the game:
And the game itself was… well… it was certainly something.
Anyway that’s just a taste. Watford has an interesting story to tell and hopefully I can do them justice with the content to come.
For now, though, let’s take a real quick peek at the games on deck this weekend that would be worth your while to pay attention to….
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LAP AROUND THE WORLD
ENGLAND: The big, big, BIG’N is obviously Monday as Frank Lampard’s Derby County faces off against John Terry and Aston Villa (9am CT on espn+) in the Championship playoff final where the winner gets a golden ticket to all the riches and glory of next season’s EPL whereas the loser finds themselves staring at continued life in the quagmire that is England’s second division. Prior to that though we also got a nice little appetizer as Sunderland and Charlton play on Sunday (9am CT on espn+) in the League One playoff to earn a ticket back to said quagmire.
ITALY – Juve won the Scudetto in mid-November but we got a three-way relegation battle involving Genoa (37 points), Empoli (38) and Fiorentina (40) that will be decided on the final weekend of the season. Best game worth watching then is Genoa visiting Fiorentina on Sunday (1:30pm CT on espn+). There are also technically two Champions League spots up for grabs with three clubs vying for them: Atalanta (66 points, Inter (66) and Milan (65). Atalanta and Milan play clubs with nothing on the line in Sassuolo and SPAL, respectively, but interestingly enough Inter hosts the aforementioned Empoli, which will be fighting for survival. Lots going on in Italy this weekend.
GERMANY – DFB Cup final pits Bayern, who played in and lost in this same game last season, up against a game RB Leipzig side on Saturday (1pm CT on espn3).
SPAIN – Barrrrrrrrrrrrthelona and Balllllllenthia face off in the Copa del Rey final on Saturday (1pm CT on espn3). The Catalans have lifted this trophy not one or two or even three but four years in a row now… and are now going for an incredible five straight. Both clubs are coming off disappointing losses in continental cup semifinals. Time to see who’s got the balls to bounce back.
MLS – No major marquee matchups this weekend but Philly – aka the first place in the East Philadelphia Union – hosting the struggling Portland Timbers on Saturday (6:30pm CT) should be a sneaky good matchup.
U20 World Cup – was thinking about waiting until Monday to do a standalone post on the USMNT U20s but since someone in the comments is itching for a preview here you go: the Adolescent Nats lost their opening group stage game 1-2 to a solid Ukraine squad on Friday. Disappointing but not the end of the world.
The boys put themselves in a tough spot now all but needing some sort of result against a very good Nigeria team on Monday (1:30pm CT on FS1) that is fresh off mauling poor little Qatar 4-0 on Friday. Need guys like Tim Weah, Konrad De La Fuente and Sebastian Soto (if Tab gives him a little more run) to step up.
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There we have it. Big thanks to everybody for following along this season. Hoping to have some intriguing announcements about new things in the works coming shortly. Fingers crossed. Take care my peoples. We still ain’t done yet. Europa League on Wednesday and Champions League on Saturday.
Holler,
Samuel Army