ON THE PITCH
Weekly soccer report: Kane finishes as 2017 top scorer, Premier League drama kicks off World Cup Year
Jan 2, 2018, 12:29 pm
Club America fans were in high spirits as they witnessed their team win 4-0 over Liga MX rival Toluca on Saturday, December 30, 2017 at BBVA Compass Stadium. Jorge Clara/Deporte Total USA
Soccer fans worldwide are rejoicing as 2018 - a World Cup year - is finally here with the most important tournament in the sport taking place in less then six months. As for the holiday season, the Premier League took much of the attention this week with action from Boxing Day opening the new year with high drama. This was the week in soccer:
Premier League
Boxing Day action got under way with a historic accomplishment as Harry Kane bagged a hat-trick against Southampton to bring his 2017 tally to 39 - breaking Alan Shearer’s 1995 record of 36 Premier League goals in a calendar year. The accomplishment also grabbed headlines because it made Kane Europe’s top scorer for the year, and the first player not named Leo Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to do so this decade.
On the manager’s end, Arsenal’s Arsène Wenger broke a record of his own as he surpassed the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson for most matches managed in the Premier League. Wenger’s tenure at Arsenal has been a topic of discussion for a few seasons as supporters have grown frustrated not seeing their team win the league since 2004 and failing to qualify for the Champions League this last season.
Liverpool stood out most this week with 5-nil thrashing of Swansea on Boxing Day, a 2-1 win over Leicester on Saturday and a 2-1 win on New Year’s Day thanks to a stoppage time winner by Ragnar Klavan. Chelsea easily won two straight while Manchester City had a 1-0 win over Newcastle and a ni-nil draw against Crystal Palace.
Manchester United were - of the top clubs - under the most scrutiny after being eliminated from the Football League Cup by Bristol City and the scrutiny heightened with two league draws to end the year. United bounced back on New Year's Day as Paul Pogba led the Reds to a 2-0 win at Everton.
Honorable mention goes to Burnley, who despite their last minute loss to Liverpool on New Year’s, held Manchester United and Huddersfield to draws and are quietly in seventh place behind the top teams in the Prem. Leicester City began the year with a 3-0 win over Hudderfield and are in eighth place, a great turnaround considering their start to the season.
Top 5: Manchester City (59), Manchester United (47), Chelsea (45), Liverpool (44), Arsenal (38)
La Liga
No action in Spain over the weekend as clubs took a holiday break. The league returns this weekend as clubs begin the second half of the season. Before then, 12 La Liga teams will take part in the Copa del Rey round of 16 first leg matches on Wednesday and Thursday.
The 5: Barcelona (45), Atlético Madrid (36), Valencia (34), Real Madrid (31), Sevilla (29)
Bundesliga
Still another week of winter break in the Bundesliga before clubs even return for domestic cup action.
Top 5: Bayern Munich (41), Schalke 04 (30), Dortmund (28), Bayer Leverkusen (28), RB Leipzig (28)
Ligue 1
No league play in France this weekend but many Ligue 1 clubs will take part in the domestic cup as the Coupe de France round of 64 takes place. Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, Lyon and Nantes will all be on the road as they look to advance to the next round.
Top 5: Paris Saint-Germain (50), Monaco (41), Lyon (41), Marseille (38), Nantes (33)
Serie A
Four draws this weekend in Italy’s top flight and wins by the top two combine to make it look as if Italy is turning into a two-horse race. Given what has happened this season in Italy, it would be hard to discount Inter Milan and Roma but it does look like Napoli and Juventus have hit their stride after early bumps in the road. Inter Milan and Lazio battled to a scoreless draw in the only match between top teams this weekend. Inter were eliminated from the Coppa Italia midweek by rivals A.C. Milan, who did not translate their cup win over to league play. The once great Milan are winless in seven of their last nine league games and sit 11th in the standings.
The top 5: Napoli (48), Juventus (47), Inter Milan (41), Roma (39), Lazio (37)
Liga MX
Houston was host to a Liga MX preseason bout as Club America defeated Toluca 4-0 at BBVA Compass Stadium. Oribe Peralta - who will most likely be a part of Mexico’s World Cup squad this summer in Russia - scored twice as Silvio Romero and new signing Henry Martin scored the other two. Joe Corona, who won the CONCACAF Gold Cup with the U.S. men’s national team last summer, also got some playing time with his new club.
The second half of the Liga MX calendar kicks off this weekend with the Clausura 2018 season. Among the matches to watch will be a rematch of last month’s playoffs between Monterrey and Monarcas Morelia. Defending champions Tigres will go on the road, after a short preseason, to take on Puebla. Pachuca-Pumas UNAM, Toluca-Guadalajara and Queretaro-America will also be matches to keep an eye on. Portuguese manager Pedro Caixinha - who won the Clausura 2015 title with Santos Laguna - will debut as the new manager of Cruz Azul as he returns to Mexico following a stints in the Qatari and Scottish first divisions.
Dynamo duo in Charity Match
Hondurans Alberth Elis and Romell Quioto, both forwards who recently finished their first year with the Houston Dynamo, were in their native country taking part in a charity match to raise funds for a friend with health issues. The all-star game of sorts was co-hosted by the Dynamo duo alongside former Premier League midfielder Wilson Palacios at Palacios' sports complex in the northern city of La Ceiba. Elis and Quioto led a young squad composed of teammates from the 2015 FIFA U20 World Cup Honduras team to a 4-2 win over Team Palacios. The cost of admission was 50 Lempiras (USD $2.11).
Elis was named the club's 2017 Player's Player of the Year after helping the Dynamo to their first MLS Cup Playoffs since 2013. Elis scored 10 goals in the regular season and an extra time winner in the knockout round of the playoffs against Sporting Kansas City. Quioto had seven goals off his own, including three in the first three games of the season. Both will be back with the team when the Dynamo begin preseason at the end of this month.
Upcoming Matches (All Times CT):
Tuesday, Jan. 2:
1:45 p.m. - [Premier League] Swansea vs. Tottenham (NBC Sports)
1:45 p.m. - [Coppa Italia] Napoli vs. Atalanta (GolTV)
Wednesday, Jan. 3:
1:45 p.m. - [Premier League] Arsenal vs. Chelsea (NBC Sports)
1:45 p.m. - [Coppa Italia] Juventus vs. Torino (GolTV)
Thurday, Jan. 4:
12 p.m. - [Copa del Rey] Celta Vigo vs. Barcelona (beIN Sports)
2 p.m. - [Copa del Rey] Numancia vs. Real Madrid (beIN Sports)
2 p.m. - [Premier League] Tottenham vs. West Ham (NBC Sports)
Friday, Jan. 5:
11 a.m. - [Serie A] Chievo vs. Udinese (beIN Sports)
1:45 p.m. - [Serie A] Fiorentina vs. Inter Milan (beIN Sports)
1:55 p.m. - [FA Cup] Liverpool vs. Everton (FS1)
1:55 p.m. - [FA Cup] Manchester United vs. Derby County (FS2)
7 p.m. - [Liga MX] Puebla vs. Tigres UANL (Univision Deportes)
9 p.m. - [Liga MX] Atlas vs. Leon (Univision Deportes)
Saturday, Jan. 6:
6:45 a.m. - [FA Cup] Fleetwood vs. Leicester City (FS1)
9 a.m. - [FA Cup] Manchester City vs. Burnley (FS1)
9 a.m. - [Serie A] AC Milan vs. Crotone (beIN Sports)
12:30 p.m. - [FA Cup] Norwich City vs. Chelsea (FS1)
1:45 p.m. - [Serie A] Cagliari vs. Juventus (beIN Sports)
5 p.m. - [Liga MX] Cruz Azul vs. Tijuana (Univision Deportes)
7 p.m. - [Liga MX] Pachuca vs. Pumas UNAM (Univision Deportes)
Sunday, Jan. 7:
8 a.m. - [FA Cup] Schrewsbury vs. West Ham (FS1)
10 a.m. - [FA Cup] Notthingham Forrest vs. Arsenal (FS1)
10 a.m. - [La Liga] Barcelona vs. Levante (beIN Sports)
12 p.m. - [Liga MX] Toluca vs. Guadalajara (Univision Deportes)
1:45 p.m. - [La Liga] Celta Vigo vs. Real Madrid (beIN Sports)
1:45 p.m. - [Coupe de France] Rennes vs. Paris Saint-Germain (beIN Sports Connect)
5 p.m. - [Liga MX] Queretaro vs. Club America (Univision Deportes)
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The Astros have already been swept in four series this season. They were swept in four series all of last season. As Mexico City says bienvenidos to the Astros this weekend, there are certainly more than a few folks fretting that the Astros are already close to saying adios to playoff hopes. The Astros are not at the point of no return, though one can see it out there on the horizon. It wouldn’t take another month of their garbage level 7-19 performance for the season to be essentially down the drain.
If the Astros were in the American League East, they’d already be ten games out of second place. But they’re not! If in the AL Central they’d be eleven and a half games back of Cleveland. But they’re not! Dozens of teams have rebounded to win divisions from larger deficits much later in the season than the Astros face presently. The Seattle Mariners lead the thus far weak AL West at 13-12. The Astros being six and a half games in arrears of the M’s and six back of the Texas Rangers in late April is far from optimal but nowhere near devastating.
Multiple media outlets have noted how few teams historically have started a season in as stumblebum a fashion as the 2024 Astros and wound up making the playoffs. What every outlet I have seen noting that failed to include: this is just the third season since Major League Baseball added a third Wild Card to each league’s postseason field. So, while 7-19 out of the gate is indisputably awful, it is not the death knell to the extent it has been over generations of MLB.
The issue isn’t where the Astros sit in the standings, it’s that they have played atrocious baseball and aren’t providing reason for optimism that a stark turnaround is imminent. The starting rotation is the best hope. Justin Verlander has made two starts. Framber Valdez rejoins the rotation Sunday. Cristian Javier should be a week or so away. Obviously, Ronel Blanco isn’t going to continue pitching as well as he has through his first four starts. But if he is a good number four starter, that’s fine if the top three coming into the season pitch to reasonably hoped for form.
Hunter Brown simply is not a good big league pitcher. Maybe he someday fulfills his potential, but the data at this point are clear. What can Brown do for you? Not much. Spencer Arrighetti needs better command to be a good big league starter. J.P. France was a revelation over his first 17 starts last season, but since has looked like the guy who posted underwhelming numbers when in the minor leagues. If the Astros wind up with 50-plus starts from Brown/Arrighetti/France their goose will probably be cooked.
The only MLB teams with worse staff earned run averages than the Astros’ horrific 5.07 are the Chicago White Sox (Wait! They have Martin Maldonado!) and Colorado Rockies. At 3-22 the White Sox are on an early pace to post the worst record in the history of Major League Baseball. The Rockies never have a chance to post good pitching stats because of the mile high offensive freak show environment in Denver.
Way to go, Joe
Props to Joe Espada for his conviction in making what he believed to be the right call in pulling Verlander after four and a third innings Thursday at Wrigley Field. Verlander allowed no runs but had reached 95 pitches in just the second outing of the injury-delayed start to his season. Not easy for a rookie manager skippering what has been a Titanic journey thus far to pull a surefire Hall of Famer who was two outs away from qualifying for a win. Many were no doubt poised to destroy Espada had Rafael Montero given up the lead in the fifth. Verlander was angry at being pulled from any chance at his 259th career win. Understood, but the manager’s job is to make the decisions he thinks are in the ballclub’s overall best interest. That Montero and Bryan Abreu combined to blow the lead in the sixth is immaterial.
Then there's the offense…
Six runs total the last four games. Scored more than four runs in just one of the last nine games. Timely hitting largely non-existent.
At last check Alex Bregman still hawks that “Breggy Bomb” salsa. At the plate, he’s been mostly stuck in “Breggy Bum” mode, including zero bombs (home runs). 23 games played without a homer is Bregman’s longest drought since 2017 when he had separate 35 and 27 game stretches between dingers. Bregman has a history of slow first months of the season, but never anything as inept as he’s posted thus far. A litany of lazy fly balls, infield pops, and routine grounders add up to a .216 batting average and feeble .566 OPS. Reference point: Martin Maldonado’s worst OPS season with the Astros was .573. If Bregman was a young guy handed a starting job coming out of spring training, if a viable alternative were available, there’s a chance he’d be a Sugar Land Space Cowboy right now. Bregman’s track record makes it a decent bet that he winds up with decent numbers, but nothing special. Certainly nothing remotely worth the 10 years 300 million dollars or whatever Bregman and agent Scott Boras intend(ed) to seek on the free agent market this coming offseason. Two hits Thursday did get Bregman to the 1000 hit plateau for his career.
Despite arriving south of the border with his batting average at .346, even Jose Altuve has his warts. With runners in scoring position, Altuve has one hit this season. One. In 16 at bats. Small sample size, but it counts. That’s .063. Yordan Alvarez has been no great shakes either, five for 24 (.208) with RISP.
One wonders what would happen if the Astros got a hold of and “lost” Jose Abreu’s passport/visa this weekend in Mexico City and Abreu couldn’t get back into the U.S. after the two-game set with the Rockies.
Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.