Compelling Soccer

So the soccer world is abuzz with Liverpool's controversial draw against Birmingham City. The reason it's being talked about? David Ngog drew a penalty after a "tackle" by Lee Carsley. It has been almost universally hailed as a dive and Ngog is being blasted by Carsley and the media as a result.

It was a dive, though not an egregious one. People are whining because it's Liverpool and because it was the biggest game on a Monday. But the reality was the tackle was bad. He slid, impeded his progress to the goal and never got the ball. If Ngog doesn't jump, he trips over him and it's a penalty. You can say he intended to go down but that's irrelevant (and also probably impossible to tell). The bottom line is if you go to the ground and don't get the ball, you're asking for trouble. If it happened at midfield, no one would complain. It certainly isn't the worst dive ever, nor does it prove Ngog is a cheat. It is unfortunate this happened, because the goal he scored earlier was quite the finish.

You can decide for yourself. Video through here.

I couldn't watch most of the game however. Obviously the return of Stevie G was huge and the fact he was able to finish after coming on at the end of the first half was huge. But when you are drawing against the likes of Birmingham City at home, then things aren't looking good no matter who is back from injury. There are positive signs; we still may see what the ideal side would look like with Fernando Torres, Gerrard and Alberto Aquilani in the midfield yet. But right now things are absolutely falling apart at Anfield. By the way Yossi Benayoun is potentially out now. Controversial penalty or not, the Reds are screwed with a capital "S" right now. Now it's just a question of whether Rafa survives.

-We do know if Liverpool was run by Peterborough's board, he'd have been gone weeks ago. A co-worker brought to my attention that Sir Alex's son Darren Ferguson was sacked by the squad. Why is it so shocking? Because two years ago, Peterborough was in League Two. That's right, they got promoted to League 1 and then to the Championship in successive seasons. They sit at the bottom of the table now, but come on, what did you expect? They rose to prominence quickly and weren't ready for the new level of competition they'd be facing. Plus they apparently gave Ferguson little money to spend. I'm not sure what else the board expected. Things will probably work out for junior Fergie though; his bloodline and his track record will land him a better job in the near future.

-I've been putting off writing about it, but I did watch the Houston v. Seattle game Sunday. Houston won 1-0 in extra time which disappointed me. It also stung even more as Brian Ching scored the goal on a very nice volley.

Seattle was thoroughly outplayed in this one though and deserved their fate, sort of. I say sort of because had the game last week been the one that went to extra time, (the second leg of the aggregate is the one that does) Seattle would have won. Playing well enough for 90 to preserve the draw was something Houston could do. Seattle equaled them, but they had to hold the Dynamo for another half hour after. But those are the rules.

In the end it's sad to see them go out because the Sounders play the best looking soccer in MLS. It was partially their undoing as their players looked out of step Sunday. I also suspect that style plays less effectively on the smaller field that Houston employs, which gives less space and leads to more of a physical, scrum atmosphere. That of course, is the way Houston plays.

Now of course this leaves me in unenviable position of rooting for a team David Beckham plays for which is something I've always managed to avoid.