Recently I've found myself watching more English soccer ( never thought I would say that) and I have a lot of questions. Anyone follow premier league closely want to try and explain things. Also use this topic as a general discussion of the season so far and to come.
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Go for it... I've been watching for a long time, I can try to answer some questions. First of all, come on you Gunners!
May not be the best source. I'm a United fan, and as such, it's hard to remember what soccer is supposed to look like.
man, loss to southhampton at home is rough. dreadful to see such an iconic franchise play so stagnantly. fire van gaal, giggsy at interim hc, bring in the special one?
Van Gaal has got to go. And yes, let Giggs get some experience as top dog before bringing in Pep for the next 3 seasons.
nah i think pep is going to city. but diego simeone from athletico madrid would be a tremendous coach for any epl team
He almost definitely is, but United did supposedly meet with him this week (though they deny it). At this point, as long as the next guy brings in a return to form, and aren't named Jose Mourihno, I'll be happy.
Simeone needs to learn English first
We can easily swipe Pep from City. The funds are there, Pep would definitely manage United, but Glazers and Woodward are doing everything they can to drive the club into the ground.
jesus that liverpool game today
That was absolutely awesome
Should have put that stipulation in Suarez's transfer that he had to come back for games against Norwich. Seriously though, when Bassong scored, you pretty much saw it coming with the way this year has gone. Just hope they can hold on Tuesday and make it to Wembley.
1st how do I pick a club to support? 2nd how do I pick a team that isn't full of bandwagon fans or likely to be relegated soon 3rd how does relegation work? 4th what are best rivarly games to watch throughout the year? 5th can teams from Premier and Champions league play each other if they are rivals? 6th in seeing stuff about Europe and other things what's that in relation to Premier?
How's that for a start?
1. Several ways to do this. One, find a player you like, and support their club. That's partly how I became a United fan. Ryan Giggs was the shit. Another, listen through some of the clubs songs and chants online, root for whoever is funniest. Third option is pick a team based on who your friends like, whether that means liking the same team, or picking the rival just make things fun. Finally, you could just pick the one with the crest/colors/jersey you like best.
2. Chelsea, United, Man City, Arsenal, and Liverpool are gonna be the teams with the most bandwagoners because they're the more successful teams in the league. If you wanna stay safe of being accused of bandwagoning, Tottenham wouldn't be a bad choice. For teams in danger of relegation, just check the table: http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/matchday/league-table.html.
3. The bottom three clubs in the standings at the end of year are relegated to the Football League Championship, and three top teams from that division are promoted for the next year. It seems to be the same few clubs on that merry go round from year to year.
4. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/picturegalleries/11197636/The-...
5. The Champions League is totally separate, and run by UEFA, so yes some draws feature rivalries of sorts.
6. UEFA is the European governing body for football. They run the Champions and Europa Leagues, which run concurrently with regular home leagues. It's a way to see matchups between teams from different leagues. The Premier League has been slipping in recent years in competition against Champions League opponents. The Europa League features teams of a slightly lesser quality than the Champions League, but is still fun to watch.
5.
I feel like Tottenham has been that way for so long that they are now actually a bandwagon team as well, just for that reason.
They also have this:
i picked up spurs around 2010 right before brad freidel got there. didnt want a top four team but wanted a team that wouldnt get relegated. in 2012 another american, clint dempsey, got there which was cool. Under Armour, an american company, now makes there kits (uniforms). all of that adds up to tottnum being IMO the "most american" team now. also this video is incredibly quoteable
I think I'll go with best chants, fan songs etc. that's what draws me to watch. I love the fan and announcers. I honestly never played soccer and couldn't tell you what happens 50% of the time, outside of athletic plays near the goal a lot of the the field stuff is boring, but the fans in the stands make it fun to watch.
http://www.stretford-end.com/chants/
I picked Arsenal several years ago because I wanted to pick a team that was consistently on American TV. At the time that meant either United, City, Chelsea, or Arsenal and Arsenal seemed the least bandwagony to me at the time.
This is less of a concern now that NBC has the rights because their Live Extra app carries all of the games.
I picked United in middle school because of Giggs, Beckham, and Keane. Got to go to Old Trafford during the Olympics to see a match, it was awesome (though without the environment of an actual United match). I agree with not bandwagon-ing if there's not a reason to fall in love with one team in particular. When I moved to Spain last year I picked Sevilla just not to be part of the Madrid/Barca/Atletico power group, and they were the closest La Liga team. It's paid off: Watched them beat Barcelona in person, went to see them play City in the Champions League. The City fans never shut up, but that's why English football is such a great environment.
1) This one's easy. Watch a lot of games, (maybe the rest of this season, maybe even more) and pick a team that you enjoy. I picked Arsenal because I love their style of play and because they're run financially responsibly. Also their logo is a freakin cannon. But there are good reasons to root for any team.
2) Bandwagoners are gonna happen for any team that's near the top of the table, but I wouldn't let that deter you. If you enjoy the team, that's all that matters. Relegation is a pretty hard thing to predict but there is a definite correlation between a team's wage bill and what place they typically finish in the league every year. Pick a team with a top 10-12 wage bill and they probably will be safe for the near future.
3) Each season, the bottom 3 finishers in the EPL are sent down to the next English league (called the Championship) and the 3 top from the Championship are promoted up. Well, there's a playoff for the 3rd promotion spot but that's the gist of it. That's really all there is to it. There's movement in all of the English leagues each season.
4) Any local rivalries are usually the biggest games. The Manchester teams, Liverpool/Everton, Arsenal/Tottenham, etc. But also, anytime a big team squares off with another big team, always a big game. But you'll also want to watch the games near the end of the season when the bottom teams are fighting to stay in the league. Those are always some of the very best.
5) The Champions League contains the best of most European leagues every year. 4 English teams get a berth annually so there are scenarios where a local rivalry could play out in the Champions League, however I think they eliminate that possibility until later on in the tournament. I think this may also answer your 6th question kinda but I wasn't really sure what the question is there.
Obligatory add-on to my response to 1)
1. Just pick any team; I would say watch some games and see who has a playing style that you like or players that you like to watch. I chose to support Manchester United in 1999 because it seemed like every time I saw them play they would score a game winning goal right at the end of the game.
2. This is a tough one, as there are only really maybe 8-10 teams who are always in the top league, and if you are a fan of most any of them, someone will call you a bandwagon fan. Teams like Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City, and Chelsea will all most definitely get you called a bandwagon fan, but they are the only teams that really have a chance to win the league.
3. Relegation is a way of keeping all parts of the league table (standings) interesting. Basically, the teams ending the season with the worst three records is dropped from the Premier League in the the Championship (like AAA in baseball, kind of), and three teams come up from the Championship to the Premier League each year.
4. Some of the best rivalry games are between those top teams, or of teams that are close in proximity. Liverpool and Manchester United is a huge rivalry due to both being top clubs and their proximity. Liverpool vs. Everton, Manchester United vs. Man City, Chelsea vs. Arsenal etc. are all great rivalries. The biggest rivalry in European soccer is Real Madrid vs, Barcelona (called El Superclassico), but that is the Spanish League.
5. Yes, but you seem to have the way it works a little confused. Champions League is a tournament that is played by the top teams from all of the leagues in Europe. Finishing in the top four spots in the bigger leagues (think Spain, England, Italy etc.) gets you a spot in next year's Champions League. Other leagues get less teams in the Champions League. It is a separate competition from the Premier League, and usually features some of the best games all year due to it all being top teams and the clash of styles between the regional leagues.
6. I think I partially answered this above, but there are other tournaments that teams can be qualified for that are separate competitions from the Premier League as well. The FA cup is a knock-out tournament for English teams, as is the Carling cup. Most other leagues have some form of these type of knock-out tournaments as well. The European Championship (the Euros) is like the world cup but only for Europe, and happens every four years, but staggered so there is two years between it and the world cup. The Europa League is like the Champions League, but for the second tier of teams in the European Leagues, and for those who get knocked out of the group stage of the Champions League.
I hope this helps, I played the game all of my life and watch it all the time, ask anything else and I will try to answer it.
1. Arsenal
2. You have no ties to any community in England, nor do most fans you run into here, so we're all technically bandwagon in some way, shape, or form. (Arsenal have never been relegated)
3. bottom 3 of the Premier League go down to the Championship, Top 2 and a 3rd playoff winner (3rd-6th place 4 team playoff) in the Championship move up to the Premier League every year
4. Any of the Derbys, many of which will be scheduled on the same weekend (ManUre v Liverpool is probably the one with the most significant history, but Arsenal v Spuds, Liverpool v Everton, and any of the other cross-town matchups)
5. Champions League gets 4 clubs from England every year. English clubs cannot be drawn into the same group nor can they play one another in the round of 16, but from the quarterfinals on, it is an open draw, so there is a chance any English teams left could play one another.
6. The 2 European competitions pull the top clubs from each country annually (Champions League gets the top clubs, Europa gets the next rung and also the 3rd place group finishers from the champions league). essentially, one club can be playing in as many as 4 competitions simultaneously, their domestic league, 2 domestic cup competitions and a european competition. all the non-domestic league competitions are set up as tournaments.
Ok friends buckle in. bout to drop a bunch of premier league knowledge and (try to) answer all the questions.
1. it's more fun to pick a team that usually doesnt get relegated (obviously).
2. Manchester United (man u), man city, arsenal, and (except this year) chelsea all usually rotate winning the league. they're the "big four". teams like tottenham, everton, southhampton and west ham are usually all fighting to break into the top four or finish 4-8. These teams compete but usually never win or get relegated.
3.teams usually 10-15 is a giant cluster, and the crap teams fall down to 18, 19 and 20. this is the relegation zone. the second tier of english football is known as the championship. its like AAA baseball or AHL hockey. EXCEPT the top three teams at the end of the season are promoted into the premier league and the bottom three teams are sent down. This has huge financial implications due to tv money that is spread basically equally thoughout the premier league. Teams that are relegated usually cant hang onto their stars because of this tv $$ they lose.
i could go on and on about how great relegation is and how even though i love it, it probably wont ever be adopted in the USA. but its basically like swapping the top 3 AAA/AHL teams for the worst 3 MLB/NHL teams based on total points accumulated in a season. (3 for a win, 1 for tie, 0 for loss. (1st tiebreaker is goal differential)).
4. Derby's (pronounced dar-bees) are city rivalries that reach back decades. Manchester derby between city and united, mersyside derby between everton and liverpool, london derbys (theres usually at least 4 london based teams in the premier league.) are all very heated, intense, and close games to watch.
5. Premier league has 20 teams, 19 opponents. you play home and away for a total of 38 games and add up all the points (3 = w, 1 = t 0 = L) to get the winner. **** Here's where the finishing order is important. The top 4 qualify automatically for the Champions League (barring crazy exception) which brings in mega tons of money $$$. finishing 5-7 usually get the Europa League, which is like the NIT compared to the NCAA touney. Still get some money, but its like the JV tournament. in the group stage they dont pair up teams from the same country, but they could meet in knockout rounds/
6. premier league is the deepest, most competitive league bar none. hands down. La Liga (spain) doesnt allocate tv money equally, so Barca, Real Madrid, Athletico madrid all stay rich and buy the best players. The bundesliga (germany) is IMO better team wise than La Liga, but not as deep as the EPL. Teams like Bayern Munich and borussia dortmund are always winning, but sometimes smaller teams (in comparision) like Wolfsburg, Schalke 04, or Borussia Mochengladbach compete in the top spots. League 1 (france) is basically Paris St. Germain (zlatan ibrahimovich's team) killing it every year and then the rest. Serie A (italy) is actually pretty good and competitive but the teams arent as stacked as the EPL. usually teams like juventus, ac milan (not this year) fiorentina, inter, roma and others all compete like its the ACC coastal.
I could go on and on but please feel free to ask more questions!!! esp. if i didnt clarify anything that well.
The 4th place team has a playoff (home and home) to qualify for the Champions League. 5th place automatically gets into Europa. 6th and 7th aren't guaranteed because the winner of the FA Cup and League Cup can get in unless they are already qualified based on how they finish on their table.
with english teams poor recent performances in the european competitions, they might lose that 4th qualification spot for the CL, it's been talked about recently. I think germany will then get a 4th team in
I don't see why the Bundesliga deserves it anymore than the EPL. Money talks though and the EPL is the most televised of all major leagues.
Germany, Spain and England already have 4 spots each, Italy is the threat to take the 4th spot from England, but it's still a couple years out if it happens at all. England has time to tighten their grip on the 4th spot.
Does relegation keep going all the way down to local clubs? So theoretically a no name local club could advance up to premier?
Yeah, theoretically that's how it goes.
it's not theoretical, that's exactly what happens
the tiered structure is 1. Premier League 2. Championship 3. League 1 4. League 2 5. Conference
the top 4 divisions are fully professional and the conference is semi-professional; every year, the bottom 3 teams in the Prem go down to the Championship and the top two in the championship go up to the EPL, then 3-6 in the Championship enter a playoff where 3 plays 6 and 4 plays 5 and the winners of those ties play a one-game playoff in wembley. Similarly for championship to league 1 and league 1 and league 2 (although 4 teams are relegated from league 1 and 4 teams get promoted to league 1. The bottom two in league 2 get relegated and the top two from the conference go up, so there's a very real possibility your team could be in the EPL and then be playing semi-professional football in 5 years (this almost happened to Portsmouth recently).
It's really not that complicated and it ensures that each league is never the same from one year to the next, and if you had a poor season you get punished, instead of being rewarded with the #1 draft pick.
there's also no such thing as a draft, clubs fill their rosters with youth team setups and purchasing world-class players (in the case of the EPL as it's the most watched, and therefore richest, league in the world).
as far as picking a club, Everton seem a fashionable choice for americans since Tim Howard is their goalkeeper (though rumors are swirling this will be his last season there).
most americans are not familiar with each clubs history but the most successful clubs in england are ManUre, Liverpool, Arsenal and Everton. Man City is a johnny-come-lately as is Chelsea, in the 80s they were both in the lower leagues (actually, Man City was in the lower reaches of League 1 as recently as the late 90s), as hard as that is to believe now. They were bought by wealthy foreigners and basically buy their trophies, their youth setups seriously lag behind an Arsenal or Everton (partly because they have so much money they can just buy whoever they want). If their rich benefactors sell their clubs, they'll surely fold back into obscrurity. Hope that helps.
theoretically yes! below the championship there are two more professional leagues. One of tottenham's players, Dele Alli (who scored a cracking turning volley today) was playing in the third league down last year. Bournemouth (who just got promoted) came up three leagues in five years or something like that.
Oh there's far more than that! haha.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_football_league_system
yes, but as the clubs move up, and make more money, they expand stadiums and improve infrastructure, etc. no one makes a meteoric rise in a short time, so clubs are generally prepared for the next level (up through the championship). a lot of clubs are never truly ready for the premier league, which is why so many go back down the year after they move up. the money the more established clubs have is just too wide a gap to make up. you have 8-10 clubs who seem relatively immune to relegation in the modern premier league, then you have 18-20 clubs who just take turns moving up and down for the most part.
except leicester city, who was last at christmas 2014 and is now leading the league
i still have my doubts they can finish top 4, but what they have done has been very impressive. Vardy and Mahrez have been amazing this year.
EDIT: Preparing a delicious dish of crow for May at this point. They are playing out of their minds right now.
I'm predicting they'll finish 3rd/4th.
So they have gone above and beyond at this point.
definitely dont think they'll win it all, but a top four finish is reasonable with no europa or fa cup matches for them. it'd be great for the league too.
Basically, yes.
Looks like other responses have answered questions 2 to 6 but here's how I chose my favorite team. A few years ago, my wife and I went took a vacation to London and I wanted to go to an EPL match. I've been playing and watching soccer my whole life but didn't have a favorite EPL team until this trip. We could have gone to see either Arsenal or Chelsea but tickets were $250+ each and my wife isn't too interested in soccer so we didn't want to spend that much on tickets. So we went to see West Ham vs. Aston Villa instead since tickets were only $40. We had a great time at the bar singing with other fans before the game and then had a great time at the game. I've been supporting the Hammers ever since and my wife is slowly becoming a bigger fan of soccer.
Pulling hard for the Hammers right now. Tied 1-1 with Man City at the half.
2-1!
1. About two or three years ago I was in the same position as you and wanted to try to find a team to root for. I had always followed the mens national team and so was a big fan of Tim Howard. Therefore I decided to root for Everton because of Tim Howard and also because they were a team didn't have too many bandwagoners.
caveat to Man City. they were not always the choice team it is now. they used to suck giant donkey D. that's when I became a fan of them which was a result of me picking against my youth soccer coach who loved Man U. i stuck with them and they came up once they got bought out.
so if u follow my example pick a team that is impressively bad and stick with them for 20 years until they get bought out by oil money.
if you are enjoying the English coverage on NBC, you should also check out the Bundesliga (Germany) on Fox. NBC has by far better production, but sometimes i find the Bundesliga product on the field more entertaining to watch. outside of a handful of teams in England, the game can get brutally physical at times which bogs it down, the bundesliga tends to be more free flowing. There are also some young Americans tied in with budnesliga clubs we might see in the coming years (in addition to Fabian Johnson and Aron Johansson who are on their senior clubs already).
Werder Bremen, where Johansson plays, is my favorite club, but they are in a relegation fight due to his and others' injuries. they haven't been able to find the back of the net this year. There's still time!
I like Leverkusen. Upset that Son went to Spuds this past summer.
Bundesliga is my 2nd favorite league, it's just even more predictable at the top than the EPL. It'll be Bayern at the top, almost always. Otherwise I like their games.
Edit: I take that back, I actually watch more MLS than Bundesliga which probably means it's my 2nd league (Columbus got so close this year!). Bundesliga is still really fun though.
yeah, the Bundesliga is like the EPL in many ways for spots 2-18, but Bayern rule the roost. i tend to not watch many Bayern matches for that reason, but the rest of the league is very competitive and entertaining. it's better than Spain where 2.5 teams will dominate the league (i'm counting Atleti as a .5 for their recent successes) and the rest of the league is borderline unwatchable. i will check out Valencia and Sevilla from time to time if they are on.
i guess another good lesson for the OP: clubs like Bayern, Barca and Real Madrid tend to focus more on Champions League because they don't have much domestic competition. There is no English club who has such a luxury, which may be why English clubs as a whole have not seen much success in Champions League in the past decade or so. When Chelsea won it, they didn't even finish in the top 4 in England because they chose to shift their full focus to Europe. It's hard to win multiple competitions for English clubs.
The EPL clubs are complaining because the EPL will not schedule games around Champions League either. SO Chelsea may play a Monday night game, then have a Champions League game 2 nights later in Germany, then a EPL game Saturday. Apparently the other leagues will schedule around the CL games.
i think the bigger issue is that while English clubs play as many as 10 matches between Christmas and European play resuming in Feb because of a loaded League schedule as well as FA Cup and League Cup for the few clubs left in that while German and Spanish clubs (and Italian?) take winter breaks from League play and only play 1 or 2 domestic cup matches and ~2 league matches over that same period. so when the round of 16 comes up in Europe in Feb, the English clubs are exhausted and worn down with injuries while clubs from the other big countries are well rested after their winter break and only 3 or 4 matches compared to the 10 or so matches English clubs play over that same period leading up to Champions and Europa League picking back up.
(my numbers could be a little off as i'm going off memory, but i'm sure i'm close, the gap in games played between Christmas and February is huge when you compare english clubs to the rest of Europe)
i've had this discussion with my dad and find it to be total nonsense. Back in the 80s (and every decade before that) there were 24 teams in the First Division (as it was called then) so you actually had to play 8 more league games than you do now in the EPL (where there are 20 teams). Additionally, Cup games could conceivably have an infinite number of replays so back then, though the game wasn't as physically demanding, each club actually had to play more games than they do today. not to mention rosters are bigger now so you can rotate your squad more than you could in the past. There are definitely more European games, but that only applies to the top 5-6 clubs.
this is a great point! fox carrying the bundesliga is good for everyone. 100% agree nbc sports' production is better, i honestly think its the best sports coverage of any sport by any network on tv right now
Pros: Most free-flowing, goal scoring, and interesting styles. Leverkuesen averages a shot within 7 seconds of receiving the ball or something ridiculous like that. There's also a lot of great youth academies (looking at you schalke). Plus you get to watch some of America's best players.
Cons: Bayern rules all and the production isn't the same. It's hard to jump in and find a team when only 2 are shown a week.
here is the best example of an up and coming American in the Bundesliga...i think we'll see him getting minutes starting in the coming weeks and possibly even a start at some point before the end of the season. He also has a Croatian Passport, and they have been actively pursuing him to flip from the US for international play. The good news is (for now) he seems intent on staying with the US, but Jurgen may want to look at opportunities to get him into the 1st team at some point to lock him in.
http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2016/01/21/christian-pulisic-usa-borussi...
i seriously love how much love soccer / football gets on TKP
I just looked at the standing, I though Aston Villa was a top notch team with lots of money?
Aston Villa is one of those teams that typically will finish inside the top ten, sometimes will sniff at the top five, and won't get relegated, but isn't likely to win the league either.
Umm won't they get relegated this year?
Yep, they've been mismanaged and unfortunate the past couple years and will probably go down this year. They'll be back though.
The championship has several teams with English and European history. It's not easy staying in the Premier League when there are 30 or so clubs who consider themselves traditionally top flight English Clubs and there are only 20 spots for them.
This is obviously an odd situation for Villa though. I don't think they'll be gone for too long.
when you sign away two of your best players (benteke and delph) and are on your third manager in a year, its hard to win.
agreed, they'll bounce back. it's also odd there may not be a single club from Northeast England in the Premier League next year. seeing both Sunderland and Newcastle go down together will be sad if it happens.
Aston Villa has won more European Cups (now it's called the UEFA Champions League) with 2 than all but Liverpool and ManUre. Arsenal have never won it, neither have Man City or Everton or Tottenham.
Ever since Randy Lerner (the guy that owns or used to own the Browns) bought them they've been on an uninterrupted downward trajectory. I think it's been a LONG time since they were relegated, but they look favorites for the drop right now.
Also-which English team has been in the top division the longest? Arsenal. Not many people know that one. I think Everton has the second longest tenure.
Wow I just looked and I didn't realize that they were doing that poorly this year. There are still a lot of games to be played though (16 for Villa) and they are only three wins from being safe from relegation so anything could still happen, but yeah it's not looking good at this point.
they were many moons ago. the club has great history, but nearly were relegated last year. it'd be astonishing if they survived this year
As a long(er) time Villa supporter (I remember when Gabby Agbonlahor was a local Brummie just breaking into the first team and people thought he'd be, ya know, good one day) I can tell you this season has been a long time coming. Villa has flirted with relegation for the last five years, and it seems every decision takes them from bad to worse, with only temporary reprieve. My best analogy:
Oh no! My finger is bleeding! Well, I'll just cut it off to solve that problem. Oh no, the stump is bleeding! Better cut off my hand. Oh no! Now I need to cut off my arm!
Every decision has been to survive short term with no thought to the long term consequences, which have invariably been terrible. Need a goal scorer to survive? Pay 20M for an older guy who has a season or two left and you'll NEVER be able to sell on for anything close to that. Oh, and pay him an extortionist salary. Then, once he saves you, make him train with the kids when he starts slowing down to make selling him even harder. Cha ching!
You could argue that the raft of young players they brought in over the summer was a longer term plan, but it was mixed with the leftover also rans from what was frankly a BAD team last year and a bunch of over priced rejects or wash outs from better teams that they thought they could salvage. If I had my druthers, they'd hold on to the Jordans, Gana, Adama, Grealish, Baker, MAYBE Gestede, Bacuna and Clark, and put the rest of the squad up for sale or out to pasture. It might take longer to get back to the Prem, but they need to clean out the losers and build again. This team exceeds even our worst basketball seasons at the level of terrible play and incompetent leadership and then acts like they're getting PR advice from the Pharma Bro at every turn.
If you want a project team that you won't be able to watch on tv for at least next year and probably longer, you can find the comic side of ineptitude and you're up for the very risky potential pay off of long term averageness, I welcome you to join the thinning ranks of Villan supporters. If you are looking for happiness, winning and/or entertaining soccer, look elsewhere.
This is what I like about Sevilla in Spain. They buy players on the cheap (guys like Bacca who have underperformed elsewhere) show some confidence in them and they play well. Then they sell them the following season. This allows them to invest in their youth program and build a base that will become increasingly competitive. Now if they can just win a freakin' road game that'd be great.
since i'm not much of a soccer fan.....ill just leave this here......
Scott Sterling
once you get into the EPL, i would also recommend the Men in Blazers show. its on NBCSN on monday nights and is a 30 minute highlight of the weekend chock full of british humor.
I watched it after they did the running of the bulls highlight show.
I have watched that over my kids shoulder before. Agree with recommendation.
And if you can't watch the show, their podcast is also very good
We are Liverpool tra la la la la
KLOPP IS THE GOAT.
Hard to argue with that, but I'll throw
Mr.Dr. Invincible in the ring!Shanks is the GOAT, my man.
I love Klopp & think he'll pull us Reds back, and I love Shankly & Paisley, but the dominance that Fergie sustained for so long in an era where it should have been impossible is nothing short of astounding. I was so glad to see him walk away.
Unless you were born in a specific part of England/Wales and support your local team, you're a bandwagoner. So don't worry about it, you can't win there.
Ok a lot more EPL fans than I thought. Anyone recommend good website or three to read about clubs, their history, their fans, English soccer leagues in general and for some reason relegation really interests me.
Wikipedia.
That's the rabbit hole I'm down right now.
SB Nation has decent coverage of the EPL as every team has their own blog. I started out watching when the campus cable had the Fox soccer channel and watched enough games that I fell in love with Liverpool. So TKP and TLO are the main sites I visit on a daily basis.
http://liverpooloffside.sbnation.com/
I find that a lot of humor from there is similar to TKP and they do a good job of moderating. They occasionally do history pieces of the upcoming teams and provide decent matchday coverage.
http://www.thisisanfield.com/
They have more tactical stuff, but the comments section isn't as great and sometimes just has clickbait style post.
Relegation is cool because teams are incentivized to do well rather than lose for a good draft pick. Also no draft picks. The sites I use are bbc football and skysports. Good videos/commentary there.
Yea that's my next line of questions I'm reading about "loaning" players?? How do players get signed? Etc etc
To sign a player you need to pay: 1) The club you're buying from 2) The player's wages 3) The agent fees
This can add up to be A LOT of money. Some clubs make their fortunes selling top talent.
Loaning is a nice way to give your non-starters some playing time. Also clubs will often take on the player's wages (or partially) to lower the costs of the loaning club.
But how do you sign them to start? If they don't have a draft?
Football academies. Clubs get them really young and train them.
European clubs are not franchises of a larger league as we are accustomed to in US sports. they are all independent clubs who at some point in their history have asked to join a league and then worked their way up through the ranks. being independent, no league tells them how they can or cannot manage their rosters. there is no draft, they develop kids in house through their own youth academies and add players by buying them from other clubs or signing unsigned players. The only roster rules in place are generally about minimum domestic or homegrown players which varies by country except for the european competitions.
as for loaning, a club may have a player who isn't ready or they can't sell for what they think he's worth, so they will loan him out to a club where he can play to either get better or hopefully increase his market value to sell. players don't do anyone any good if they are not playing, so loans are a way to keep as many of your players actually playing as possible. Chelsea, as an example, might have north of 50 players signed to senior team contracts, but they can only have a 28 man roster themselves, so they loan players out all over Europe to play while they retain the rights to those players.
So clubs can sign someone at any age?
In 2011, Belgian club VVV-Venlo signed an 18 month old.
now that's what I call an early signing period
"sign" is tricky. they can offer scholarships to their academies for younger players, but i think 16 is the minimum age a player can sign a professional contract. but yes, clubs will pay for moving expenses and family relocations and more for younger kids they really want in their academy. also, if a foreign player comes up through your academy, they will count as a homegrown player by European standards when you sign them to your senior team. so a Spanish kid who moves to England to join Arsenal's academy at 14 or 15 will count as and English homegown player if he remains in England through his first senior club appearance.
If they grow up in a teams training academy are they required to sign with that club?
no, but another club would have to buy their rights from that club. it gets too complicated for me, but every time a player is bought/sold throughout their career, their youth academy gets a cut of the transfer fees. This has actually been an area of contention in the US where MLS operates as a single entity with franchised clubs. MLS collects this "finders" fee from many American players' transfers abroad and never trickle that money down to the academies who actually developed the player. Yedlin has been the latest high profile case, but there are many others.
So you have to be careful when signing that first youth academy agreement. What about players who never go to an academy, they are all just free agents for that first team?
yes, a player without a contract after age 16 is a free agent who can sign with any club. Clubs will often use higher wages to lure players in this situation because they don't have to pay the sometimes massive transfer fees to another club.
because of this, you will often hear of players in academies signing their first professional contract right at age 16. The players a club may be concerned about being lured away to another club anyway.
Another issue that comes into play is work permits. In England, for instance, a player without a European Passport cannot get a work permit unless they have demonstrated that they are a legitimate international soccer player by having a minimum number of Caps (appearances) for their respective National Team (1st team, not youth/development teams).
this impacts American and African teens who want to play in Europe for the most part. They often have to have dual nationality via their parents or it's simply a non-starter.
No wonder soccer stars from the US don't seem to be "growing" seems like it hurts US soccer overall.
yeah, most American players have to establish themselves as a national team player before they can get a work permit to sign a professional contract with a European club. the exceptions are often military children who have one parent in the US Military who married a European.
i should add, most clubs won't hold a player captive. if a player wants out, they will find a willing buyer. no one wants a player who doesn't want to be there. also, most contracts have triggers or clauses where if a minimum amount is offered to buy the player, the club has to sell him.
Am I reading this right that Leicester City was relegated in the not so distance past and might win this year?
yeah pretty much. promoted two years ago, barely hung on to avoid being relegated back down last year, and have somehow magically turned it on and are killing it. theyre even competing with and beating the big clubs.
Tottenham is really the only big club they've beaten this season. Well and Chelsea but everyone has been beating them this year.
They have Liverpool, Arsenal, and Man City next so maybe some coming up.
ok so arsenal and liverpool? draws against man u and man city, beating tottenham and chelsea, at the very least theyre punching way above their weight. especially considering their finish last year.
They were 3rd level only a few years ago too right? These guys might be my team.
just beware, they may be a selling club this summer. Their 2 biggest stars this year (Vardy and Mahrez) will be on the radar of top clubs all over Europe once the transfer window opens in June. Without those 2 players, they could suddenly be fighting to stay up again. They're a club at a crossroads, and no one really knows which way they will go from here. this has been a magical season for them for sure.
Hoping they make Champions league. That would give them a fighting chance to hang on to V&M. Maybe even add a player or two in weak areas. I often think the French league has guys who are undervalued.
See Giroud who is at Arsenal now.
Are you a Carolina Panthers fan? Some of the Panthers and Leicester City players have been supporting each other and sent jerseys to each other recently. Thought this might help you decide if LC will be your favorite EPL team.Link
I'm sticking with LC, love the fact they were so far down and have done so well. Scrappy team with good traditions. Also liked Crystal Palace, having the eagle and cheerleaders makes them very unique.
Should be a confusing day for you then.
No, I want to see a team go from 3rd division to top of the heap champion in 8 years.
I just meant it might be tough since they played Crystal Palace, who you also said you liked a bit.
I watched. I just meant I wanted LC to win today.
Gotcha. I'd love to see them win the league, and it gets more and more likely every week.
Yes, they're having a very good season. I wouldn't look for them to win the championship though. Finishing top 3 would be huge for them though.
I'm late to the party here, but Bill Simmons went through this a few (many?) years ago. Some of the info here is outdated, but can be generally useful: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060719
I just started watching last year and I have a good friend I was deployed with who is a big fan so I ask him.
Here goes what I have learned or think I have learned
Top 3 teams at the end of the year qualify for the Champions League in Europe which is the big soccer tournament over there. I believe the number 4 team also gets into the tournament but I think there is some sort of play in.
Bottom 3 teams get relegated to the next level below the Premier League and the top 3 from that league move up. Think of baseball if the bottom 3 MLB teams went to AAA and the top 3 AAA moved into to MLB.
There are no playoffs for the championship. They play a double round robin format (each play a home and home). A win earns a team 3 points, a draw earns 1 point and a loss is 0 points. The team with the most points at the end of the season wins the BPL championship and as I said earlier the top 3 auto bid to the Champions League and the 4th play in of some sort. There are a couple more that go to the Europa League as well. Bottom 3 move down.
Teams are also allowed to loan out players, so if Man U wants to send a player to Everton to play they can. Usually with the caveat that the loaned player doesn't play against the team he really belongs to.
I believe revenues are split based on TV appearances (s the rich clubs get richer so to speak). You have some power teams like Man U (owned by an American) , Man City (owned by a prince from Dubai), Arsenal and Liverpool (owned by an American) (though their mid pack this year) and Chelsea (won the EPL last year but was in danger of relegation this year). Then you have mid level teams like Everton (has an American goalkeeper) and the like.
Thats about my knowledge and some is probably a little off.
This is how I became a fan of the Leicester City Foxes:
A Song for Yann Kermorgant
Sorry late to it.
I pick by Americans on the team and playing. This is not an emotionally sound strategy. I would love to repay the revolutionary war love to my English compatriots for the way they treat our boys when they go over there to play ball. Yes, Brian McBride and Donovan had a love affair with at team that got relegated and Bolton loved Stuart, as we all still should. But Tottenham after they had UA money, an influx from selling Bale for $100M, went on a bender and purchased a whole lotta nothing. It was a catastrophe and ended up sending Dempsey to Seattle, where he was playing out of position until hopefully next season. So I scratched off my Tottenham tatts and regularly encourage anyone I know at UA to do the same. Then they got a decent manager from Southampton, and he began to make chicken scratch from chicken sh**. Then they brought in the young kid from Seattle after his world cup and I said, f*** me how my gonna resurrect those tatts? Then they decide the kid is far too unprincipled for the league and sell him to Sunderland. Sunderland. Where Jose Altidore's career went to die. He started there for a bit but now doesn't see the field that often. Thankfully he went from starter to bench in the blink of an eye so I still got to return my Sunderland kit for full price excepting S&H.
But I still hang in there with Everton and Mr. Everything TIm Howard. He's been there for as long as I can remember. But this year they are having a falling out. The fans can't see Martinez the manager can't coach defense, and are blaming it all on poor old Timmy. Well f*** me. Who am I gonna cheer for next year?
So there was a post about getting in to the German league. I am increasingly doing just that. Its between the EPL and the Spanish league in terms of style of play for me. But it has lots more American players working their way up and being rewarded for their hard work.
I also follow players. You have to if you want to understand why they call this the beautiful game. These "beautiful game players" are best found in the Spanish league. Love me some overbite. Suarez is the best striker in the game for me. Love watching him work his creativity with Barca. Neymar is increasingly getting in on the creative aspect of the game. Now watching them I always think I am one play away from something absolutely amazing. And there is Messi there as well. Also like Bale ... amazing how he has progressed since Tottenham. At some point others are going to see that he has become a powerful athlete with deft touch and skills. I'd like to see him get together with a creative guy like Suarez, but thats too much to ask for.
Lastly their is a Spanish coach from Germany about to take over in the EPL. Whatever team he goes to is going to elevate quickly to the top. Could be Arsenal, but most think its Man City. I think Arsenal is closer ... Man City I think he's gonna have to make some pretty major personnel moves. If its Man City I think I'm gonna have to root against them. I like the way they will play under him, but I have never really enjoyed ManCity for some reason. Lastly is SOU... the little club that could. Teach players a system. These guys aren't as physically talented and they tend to sell them off to make money for their development system. But they've got a plan and I think they will push for EUROPE, CHAMPS over the next few years. I hope they do. Love seeing some kids overachieve with skill despite an evident lack of physical ability. Usually after a year or two of EPL I think physically most of these kids you can' t even tell they were over matched at first.
Sorry but I'm still not totally sold on pep. I think he was blessed with the greatest barca team of our generation with players that a coach half a decade later is still using to great (honestly greater than pep) success. Then he proceeded to go to bayern to win a few league titles in one of the most lopsided leagues in the world.
If he's successful in England I'll be more than happy to eat my words I'm just not completely sold on him being GOAT. In fact I'm more impressed with what klopp did at mainz and dortmund.
As for greatest striker in the world you've gotta give a healthy aguero serious consideration too the dude is unstoppable. Lewandowski is disgustingly good to. His 4 goal game against real will forever be etched into my memory. That performance was simply unreal
I think Pep looks to take over Arsenal. Closest to his playing style. A little bit of money and I think they get over the "self imposed" hump that was AW.
Damn thing about some guys (like Pep)... they are so good about taking their next steps GOAT is almost pre-ordained.
Man-U turnaround and I'd say he is the man. Man City I'd have to give him props for as well. Loads of talent on that team but it doesn't play to its potential. Arsenal I think is too easy. Wenger has done a pretty good job there. Not quite as easy as Bayern, but close. I do have to say I've seen Bayern play some football (only about 20-40 mins of it) that I thought was absolutely unstoppably dominant... against Real Madrid... of course they went on to lose that game, but when they click like that they give some credit to Pep.
I do like Aguero but he is oft injured. He does have a creative side that when mixed with the physical and skills makes him have beautiful game moves. RL I haven't seen enough. I do think he is perhaps the best "paid to score" guy around. He gets into position really well and finishes. A very hard thing to do consistently.
One really good tip: never ever believe anything you read in English Media regarding transfers unless it comes from Sky Sports or ESPNFC because 99.7% of the time it's just rumors typed up to get some page clicks. I would bet Lionel Messi's weekly wages that every article that says he is set to transfer will be made up. Same with Ronaldo. Although I do think Ronaldo is likelier to leave, and even the Man United bids for Neymar are true.
I have been an Arsenal fan since Henry first came. They remind me a lot of the Hokies the last few years. Tons of talent. Inconsistent results. But they do just enough each year to finish in the top 4 and make the Champions League. Todays match with Chelsea will tell a lot. I can't stand Diego Costa. Always entertaining to watch Aresenal v Chelsea the last few years and it will be televised.
I've been supporting the Spurs for about 5 years now. Picked them since they are good but not a regular top 4 - but they can be. Mostly I picked them because they have a long history with American players. Basically Tottenham is the best team in the world that Americans can play for. Too bad Real Madrid keeps taking our players. Hope to keep Kane and Ali.
Once we get our new staduim built and we get the NFL revenue on top of that I think we can really be a legit top club in the world.
I also read that we get first shot at Bale if he leaves Madrid. If we can get him back lookout!
yeah real madrid is definitely tottenhams "parent company". even though we could match bids for bale i dont think we should. i trust the youth pochettino has developed thru the academy. let them develop. we spurs have i think the youngest starting XI by age in the prem. league.
but if they do put the eventual NFL team at the new stadium and we get that revenue, i'm all for signing him. he'll be back in the prem. league soon i think.
I hate Diego Costa.
I hate how Arsenal s***s the bed anytime Chelsea is involved. It's getting old.
COME ON CITY!
Youre going to be a bandwagon fan no matter what, really. Swansea, at 3,833 miles from Murrells Inlet, edges out Liverpool by 13 miles to be the closest to you, but you're a world away from any team. Try to find a local bar with a good PL viewership and go for a few game days, see how local fans of different teams are. I've been a Liverpool fan since they won the greatest damn game ever played in the 2005 Champion's League. At the time, soccer outside of the World Cup was hard to watch in the US, it was a visible tournament, they weren't ManU, and I drew several parallels between them & my first love in Blacksburg (knowledgeable & passionate fan base, though in hindsight that applies to most English clubs, that team had tons of heart, and now great personal tragedies that while tragic showed the heart of the communities). Liverpool also has the largest real fan support here in Charlotte (United would probably lead if you polled the population, but the percentage of their "fans" that don't follow anything is staggering) so there are always Liverpool fans to watch with, but the small percentage of every fan base that are complete asshats is also more evident because of the greater population and being around some of that group might have deterred my fandom in its infancy. If you can find a good watering hole with some fan diversity you'll enjoy it a lot more.
Why are there no EPL games this weekend?
FA cup games are going on this weekend
Fox Sports has the TV rights for the FA cup so the NBCSN app won't work this weekend.
I just usually watch it on, NBC, USA and 10 different NBC sports channels.
And I hope they keep the rights for as long as possible. The difference between the NBCSN and affiliates broadcast quality and anything to do with Fox Sports is amazing.
Any Newcastle fans on here I can share my misery with? Hopefully Shelvey and Townsend can keep us in the league.
So any of you rabid fans want to tell me the odds of Leicester City actually winning the whole thing?
Sky says 11/4 right now with Arsenal at 6/4 and Tottenham at 9/4. Arsenal beat Leicester last week to narrow the gap to two points. Leicester have already played Arsenal, Tottenham, and City in the second half so the only other team that could give them trouble are Man United, and we've been total shit lately and I dont see that changing, and Southhampton. If they can continue to get results then they will certainly content in May.
Personally, like Tottenham's chances. They have Arsenal at home. Arsenal and Tottenham's title chances could hurt if they continue a deep run into European play, whereas Leicester have no european or domestic cup play left so they can focus entire on the league.
Should be fun. Wish my Red Devils were in this fracas, but we're hellbent on driving the club into Liverpool level mediocrity.
I'd say better than they're being given credit for. Take a look at their schedule the rest of the year, and it's entirely conceivable that they pull it off.
They will finish top 4 but I don't think they can hold Aresenal, City, or Tottenham. Either way they have had a sensational year. Question is will the build off of it or fall next season? Also you have to consider that they aren't playing as many games as other top tier teams who are rolling through FA Cup, Champions League or Europa.
Why aren't they?
You qualify for Champions League or Europa depending on how you finish in a tip tier European League. I think they are still in FA Cup which is only played between the English divisions so it doesn't way as heavily on a team prep/travel wise like European competition. Example Aresnal played FA Cup against Hull Saturday, then play Barcelona (1 of the best club teams in the World) Tuesday in Champions League, then play Man United Sunday. Leicester played the 14th and don't play again till the 27th.
So based on last years finish?
Yes. It can create funny situations where teams are in Champions League while within a few places of relegation (like Chelsea was earlier this year, Manchester United in 13/14).
If you lose early enough in Champions League you move to Europa League also.
With my luck Chelsea will win the champions league and Spurs will finish 4th on the table only to lose their champions league spot to Chelsea.
Don't want to see history repeat itself.
Don't you put that evil on us! Losing in the fa cup sucks, but better than a draw and another replay. Time to beat fiorentina, then finish the league season strong.
I still think Tottenham win the league this year. They have their shit together and are totally focused. The team runs like a well oiled machine. That being said Leicester have done something remarkable this year. I keep waiting for them to fall off and they just dont. I'm kinda pulling for them
Thank God man U has totally underachiever and liverpool are learning a new system. City have been so inconsistent this year it baffles me. Injuries have a huge part to do with it, but I mean comon this team has a TON of depth, it shouldn't be an issue. And what bothers me most is the day we start our youngsters and essentially field a U21 team with a few veterns mixed in the players that absolutely look out of theor league are the veterans. The youth players looked FANTASTIC today and we're totally let down by a mediocre cabarello and demicheles effort, thrown in with a really average Fernando effort. I'm so excited for Pep to clean out some of the deadwood on the roster next year and hopefully give some youth players regular time
I mentioned earlier I'm not totally sold on pep but he does know how to build a roster and promote youth, that's half the game. I'm really excited for the future of some of these players.
But back to the original point. I completely expect Tottenham and Leicester to be our top 2. Arsenal is to inconsistent and mentally fragile and city....jesus if you can tell me the issue I'm all ears
The North London Derby has become and wonderful match, anyone else watching?
Woke up early to cheer Arsenal on. Not sure why Coquelin is ever on the field since he goes to the ground way to often. Have to say though I was glad we got 1 point but would have been 3 if Wenger would put the right group on the field.
I'm a United fan, so I was delighted with Arsenal's last two results (especially Sunday's). I turned on the match right when Tottenham took a shot and Ospina saved it on the line and it went to the goal line decision. That was unbelievable. Kane had a hell of strike as well.
Nonetheless, how short is Wenger's leash right now? I know Arsenal fans don't like when it's put this way, but they should be winning the league in such a down year. Is this his final straw?
City is creeping up on ya. As is west ham for that matter! Although we won this week which means the next game will be an embarrassing loss
That was fun to watch. As was Wolfsburg-Borussia M'gladbach. Glad Arsenal tied it though. Now Leicester needs to put Watford away to go 5 points clear.
http://www.espnfc.com/blog/the-toe-poke/65/post/2822000/leicester-fan-wh...
These guys believed and now will cash in.
I'm watching a match on NBC, Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal FC, but according to the tab,e these two teams are not actually playing today? Do they air old games? Also why are three matches supposed to be today "postponed"?
That match was played last week, so it's a re-air. Three are postponed because the teams involved are playing FA cup matches. Everton, Chelsea, Watford, Arsenal, Man United, West Ham, and Crystal Palace are playing FA cup ties so their EPL matches are postponed.
Still trying to get used to that.
Everton v. Chelsea has been a really enjoyable match. Lots of attacking play despite the lack of goals.
tremendously entertaining second half! lukaku went beast mode
such a physical game
Just watched a cool feature on NBCSN called Premier League Download they talked about Crystal Palace. They go through a teams history, players, coaches (managers??), unique things about that team for Crystal Palace it's a bald eagle and cheerleaders. Very cool hour to learn about an English Football Club.
Why don't teams have their team name on their kits?
some do, most in order to keep up with the big boys in the league put advertisements on em (thats how they earn a good chunk of their spending money)
TKP weatherman why no report on possible snow?
Sorry just got engaged. Other priorities haha I really don't think it's going to be that big of a storm mostly just rain. Not cold enough
Congrats and get ready for the biggest storm you will ever face, your wife.
Hahaha weather puns
Sup, City?
Yeah well see what happens when demicheles old ass isn't on the roster anymore. The dude single handedly lost us the game and our keeper.
While I enjoyed the season of intramural Soccer I played, I feel obligated to post this:
Foxes never quiteThis is going to be an historic premiership.
I hope they can keep some momentum next year. This has been a really crazy year to watch and I hope it's drawing more viewership globallu
Watched the second half of Leicester-Southampton this morning and I forgot how enjoyable it can be to watch soccer. Which just makes me more mad at the clogged toilet that is Aston Villa, since I don't have a lot of free time and loyalty has been causing me to tune in to their torture sessions. Almost glad they won't be on tv next year.
Also, unbelievably excited at the possibility of "Marc Albrighton, Premier League Champion" being an actual thing. Love him, couldn't have happened to a better kid.
Watched Spurs/Liverpool yesterday. First time I've really been able to sit down and enjoy a match. Great game...everything about it is why England is the best league in the world for the neutral fan.
And, to the Villa faithful, you'll miss them on TV. When Fulham got relegated, I thought it'd be fine not having to watch them be destroyed...but now opening up an app and seeing them struggle week in and out is much, much worse. Huge win yesterday over MK Dons to keep us out of League One danger for another week...words I'd never thought I'd say.
Would have been even better if Sturridge actually finishes off his 1v1 chance. Leicester/Spurs was great but the MU/Toffees match was a bit of a snorer. I was hoping Lukaku would score a couple.
Manu has been a snoozer since lvg took over
As a United fan, there is nothing more painful than watching them pass around the outside of the box and never put a decent pass in, they either turn it over or send a hail mary cross into the box that gets cleared out immediately. Not that I look forward to a Mourinho team with the bus firmly parked at Stretford End (for a half).
I'm actually going to Europe for 3 weeks for work this month. Planning to take a weekend trip to London for the Chelsea-Man City game. Should be pretty fun. An EPL game is something that has always been on my bucket list.
I envy the hell out of you. That should be a great game
That West Ham comeback was awesome.
Someone who understands this better explain to me how teams have players with "Free" next to their name when comparing starting salaries of teams?
I don't think that refers to salaries. That most likely refers to their transfer fee. When a player is "free" it means that the previous team did not extend their contract, so they were essentially a free agent. Any team could offer a contract without having to negotiate a transfer fee. Typically, if a team wants a new player, they will have to pay the player's current team to get the player to transfer over. The teams will negotiate and agree on the transfer fee of the player.
They were comparing Manchesters salaries to Leicester salaries.
Ok, well if they're comparing salaries, the "free" will still mean that Leicester never paid a transfer fee for those players. The salaries will be much lower for Leicester than Man City, too.
Lots of great advice up here and it's easy to narrow it down to only a few teams. However it's a little harder to actually commit to a team. I'm trying to choose between Tottenham, Everton, Liverpool, and West Ham. Does anyone have strong opinions on any of these teams, that might help decide who to support?
Don't be ridiculous. I root for Accrington Stanley. And you can buy a share of the team too.
Right along those lines, you may want to check out Bristol Rovers. Who, you ask? Well, they're supposedly the sixth (!) richest club in England after being bought by a Jordanian millionaire (billionaire?), so if you want a deep cut, pick them. However, they're in the lowest professional tier (League 2) but should get promoted. The quickest they can get to the EPL is three years, but at least you can say "I was a fan before it was cool". Patience.
So the next potential LC.
Up the Gas! Spending next season at the heady heights of League One! And they've got a couple of young Welsh players, Emil Harrison and Tom Lockyer, to pull for. Hell, they might make it to the PL before Villa make it back, sad face...
I support Tottenham because they've had a few Americans on their team (Clint Dempsey and currently have Yedlin though he's on loan) and right now they're young and exciting to watch. Also I'm a glutton for punishment in sports fandom (DC sports fan)
I started following them in 2012-2013 when Gareth Bale had a dominating year...right before he got sold to Real Madrid
edit: I'll add that Everton is also exciting to watch, though their defense leaves something to be desired, and West Ham are a team performing better than most expected with some younger players. Liverpool has a lot of tradition, they hired their coach midseason and a lot of people fancy them to be better/more exciting next year
Anyone but Liverpool. But seriously, Everton are likely looking for a new manager after this season. Tottenham are a really good team with a really great albeit young coach. I like Tottenham. They beat my Red Devils ass Sunday. West Ham seemed to have turned a corner under Slaven Bilic, but I can't imagine them keeping Payet very long. They'll be looking to cash in. I'd go with Tottenham. They are the peoples club haha.
So between those 4.
Liverpool is the old power thats fallen off recently but still has spectacular fan support and constantly tells themselves "theyre one piece away". Side note I love their coach. Theyre going to be a fun team to watch if klopp has his way. Also their ownership group may be the worst set of talent evaluators ive ever seen.
Tottenham. Always the bridesmaid never the bride is what I always say. That poor team has gotten screwed so many times but this is finally their year to be in the champions league. Lets see if they can do it consistently moving forward. Greedy owner who milks every penny out of a player (see gareth bale transfer)
Everton mostly known by most americans for tim howard holding a long standing spot. For now they play very attractive attacking soccer. Defense is an absolute sieve right now though. Really struggle to hold onto their big name players they usually go elsewhere as the owners dont have oodles of cash. See wayne rooney jack rodwell (he didnt pan out) soon to be john stones lukaku and ross Barkley. Team as a whole used to be blue collar now more technical.
Finally west ham. Theyre in a very interesting spot this season. Their main goal was to survive this season as they just got a new stadium which should really open up their profits allowing them to spend more moving forward. Should they find a europa league or champions league spot this year they could be a contender moving forward with some savy buys. If not they could fall into mediocrity. They are in a great market in london however and have a spectacular coach and one of the best free kick takers ive seen in my life in payet.
yes, we've fallen off but we're still the most successful English team ever. did you catch that Europa League match yesterday? we're nothing if not exciting! and it's not the ownership that's bad at talent evaluation, it's Ian Ayre who has consistently signed expensive chumps for years now. Fortunately, he's gone after this year (or is it next?).
Spurs were in the CL 3 or 4 years ago. They're hardly ever in the hunt for the title, once every 15 years seems about their limit, though they are trending in the right direction.
Everton are in turmoil and are always short of funds even though they sell their best players yearly for astronomical fees.
West Ham is keenly interested in buying Liverpool's flops, so I hope they give us $35m for Benteke who's a very expensive paper weight. They used to be the academy of football, what happened?
I think west ham just knows how to use your pieces. You cant sit here nd tell me theyrs not doing well this year.
As for that first statement my point exactly you guys used to be THE EUROPEAN TEAM. Youre still really good and I think youre trending the right way but definitely not even near what you used to be. But I still dont have any faith in fenway sports group. They havent learned the game yet and them not firing ayre for years doesnt make them look any better
If you need a team to support.. watch this and get back.
WE ARE LIVERPOOL!!!!!
Just when I thought I was getting to understand soccer the LC vs WH match today confused the hell out of me. I know the contact with Vardy didn't sent him falling down that hard but why did he get sent off and cost him a match next week? Every match I've watched I've seen players go down clutching at legs or arms from soft contact.
Because you can see he kicks his leg into the defender to make it look like he was tripped. In an effort to cut down on diving, obvious things like that are a yellow card. Just happens to be that he had a stupid yellow earlier in the game.
I mean come on it wasn't a complete dive the defender made some contact, it's horrible that a tic tacky call like that cost him a game and a half.
Completely agree hence why the media is calling it controversal. That being said kudos to LC for getting a point out of the game in spite of that
Plan on doing a weather report for the spring game? Have to start packing now for three kids and a pregnant wife.
I might be able to swing that today. Sorry this semester has been miserable. Good news is after this im almost strictly focusing on research
I just don't see how that is ticky tac. If that was Suarez, people would be calling for his head. Vardy saw the defender and knew what he was doing. As far as it costing him a game and half, yeah that why I think it was dumb of him to go in like that when he knows he is on a yellow. He has the pace to have kept going without needing to go into the defender like he did. Considering they have Swansea next, I don't think it will hurt them and I hope they win the league.
As someone who has never played soccer and just started watching non FIFA/Olympic soccer it seems ticky tackey.
I think the reason a lot of people are pissed off is because it didnt warrant a yellow, he didnt attempt to stop the game after the foul. Play the advantage and let it go especially in such a big game. The ref was totally in over his head. Vardy's first yellow was awful as well. As far as the Suarez comment, thats totally wrong. Case and point watch the champions cup quarters. Over two legs that guy should've been sent off at least twice. Suarez bites and throws elbows and still gets off without any mentioning. Guarantee you before his infamous world cup chomp nobody knew he bit someone while he was at Ajax once too
Yes, I said that much. But that doesn't take away from the fact that it was an absolute dive. I don't see how it doesn't warrant a yellow, considering that is what they are trying to implement to prevent diving. To me, it is just a plain and simple stupid move on his part, when he could have just got to the ball.
Must not have watched a lot of his last season at Liverpool then. As much as a I loved watching him at Liverpool, I hated the way he dived and people constantly lambasted him.
Actually that's why I mentioned Suarez, because he'll forever be a villain because of the bites. They were stupid and inexcusable, but hopefully that is behind him (most likely not because he is a little bit crazy). As far as elbows, I did watch the champions league quarters and really the worst I saw was the one where he lead with the elbow a bit trying for a head near the goal. Players get away with that all the time unfortunately. I've seen even worse go uncalled and unpunished this season. Just look at the cheap shot from Fellaini on Can in the Europa League.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rmu2p4SS6U
he got in absolutely NO trouble for this, suarez is in a class of his own and deserves the crap he gets
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3526070/Luis-Suarez-fa...
never compare a player to luis suarez, the dudes a nut job and should not be playing in Europe if he cant control his damn emotions. As far as the fellaini foul goes, yes he deserved a straight red for it and probably a ban. Fact of the matter is though that hes not a repeat offender like Suarez.
As far as Suarez's last year at liverpool trust me I watched, the reason it became such an issue is because media diva Jose Mourinho brought it into the limelight. People never hated Suarez for flopping people hated him for his blatant handball in the world cup, his cannibalism, and last but not least his attempts to take cheap shots at players whenever he possibly can. I think the only reason it got any media coverage was because he was such a controversial figure to start with and a really good striker at that. They're trying to phase flopping out and I think by condemning Suarez's actions (such a prominent and talented goal scorer) they would make it seem like they were taking some sort of a stand.
As far as Vardy goes after rewatching it a few times it totally was a dive, that being said from a full speed judgement call like that with such an impactful call and game I would have given him one last warning. The problem I have with the officiating of the entire game is the complete inconsistency on both sides. Whenever you're having multiple penalties and a red card being thrown out in a single game you're having an issue. Moss completely lost control of that game
Huth (sp) was mugged on a play and the ref just watched.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUqlsY9U_Ss
And Fellaini went unpunished for that deliberate elbow and he has had multiple issues in the past with deliberate elbows. Teams have the one annoying person that if they are on your team they are great, but if they are on the other team they are the worst thing ever. Diego Costa is another one; no denying he can score goals, but I can't stand him.
http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/10984370/portrait-serial-winn...
I know Suarez is a bit of a nut job, but he is also pretty interesting.
even if suarez came to city i would still find him deplorable he is on another level of either costa or fellaini. Costa is bad yes I will agree but name any other player in the world that has bitten someone else on THREE separate occasions, or deliberately cheated in a world cup, or has taken more cheap shots on players that Luis Suarez has. That guy is really talented but is an absolute jerk on the field.
I'm not viewing it through how the media portrays him or anything else because i pay 0 attention to espnfc or goal.com or any english media. I watch the game and make judgement myself and the guy is a nutjob, and theres no painting around it or trying to make him seem like some sort of media creation. I dont understand how you can possibly defend or claim someone is vilifying Luis Suarez.
I'm not a Chelsea or Man U supporter but Suarez is hands down the worst of em
I'm not defending him, I just think he is an interesting person. The joy he has for the game and the stupidity he has for some of the actions he's done, I'm sure would be a psychiatrist dream come true to analyze. Maybe it is because I am a Liverpool fan that I have a soft spot for him, but don't take that as me condoning or defending his actions.
The only reason I brought him up in the first place is he is the first one that I could think of that would be an extreme example of a player who people hate who people would have no problem with the way the ref handle the situation. There is no doubt in my mind, that had that been Suarez, Costa, (insert whatever player you hate here) that people would have no issue of it being a yellow card. I was watching the Liverpool game, so I didn't see it in real time, but I watched the replay a handful of times just to make sure what I saw. Vardy isn't a dirty player and Leicester are in a title race so the general consensus is no yellow, bad call. But as an unbiased fan and solely looking at the leg kick I can't help but think that is one of the few calls the ref got right.
Vardy's in hot water for the reaction to the second yellow and hence red. Looks like he might get an extra suspension of a game for conduct detrimental to the game (or whatever they call it). I must admit his reaction was over the top, pointing the finger at the ref and carrying on, etc. Justified completely (second yellow), in my opinion. On the balance of play, a draw was a deserved result, so no complaints.
And I sincerely do hope Leicester become champions, but from observing Vardy's antics over the course of a season, he's turned me off a bit. Great story, however.
And yes, about the Suarez debate. His antics turn a lot of opposing fans off, but people really hate him because of how good he is. As a Liverpool fan of nearly 40 years, I can honestly say he was the most important player for the club we've ever had, not necessarily our best, but his desire to win and his ability to make everyone around him better is the best at our club I've ever seen.
And don't me going on sideshow bob (Fellaini), one of the dirtiest players I've ever seen and seems to get away with it every time. He's just as dirty as Suarez, but with minimal skill.
sorry but i still dont agree with you guys on suarez.
People hate Joey Barton too and I wouldnt call him good. I respect how great of a player he is but the whole you're just a hater arguement doesnt apply to me with suarez. I love to watch beautiful and good play and Suarez's play is hands down top 2 striker in the world (i love me some lewandowski too) but my god his antics make him unbearably hard to root for despite being such a great player. Lewandowski is guilty of being a bit of a dick too and im willing to overlook it because its a little more reserved. Suarez is just totally over the top
I guess the best comparison I can make is Michael Vick is VT's Suarez. Absolutely brilliant player (who, in my opinion, is our greatest ever) who's had his troubles. Now, granted, Vick's demeanor on the field is nowhere near as bad as Suarez's but people still hate Vick despite him serving his debt to society. Similar to Suarez, I hold Vick in great esteem for his talent, warts and all.
And lay off Joey Barton, when he punched Morten Gamst Pedersen years ago (who might be the most inoffensive player every to play in Enland), I thought it was hilarious...don't know why to be honest. I guess I have issues. Barton's from Liverpool, by the way.
haha barton has done more than just that one punch. The dude picks fights everywhere hes at.
I'd venture to say luis suarez is more like a mix of both of the vick brothers. No doubt absurdly talented and is as electrifying as michael, but has the brain farts and tantrums of Marcus
agree to disagree, I see your point now, and definitely think its justified. But frankly I think flops should go through a review process and bans after games. Just to ensure they get it right. its such a fickle sport that moves so quickly and penaltys are such a huge momentum swinger. I think thats what bothers me the most
as far as vardy goes, hes actually one of the most popular players in the league right now outside of arsenal fans. He looks like a better striker on the national front than rooney ever did (aside from one european tournament)
United win that tie if Fellaini is sent off for that. He's a piss poor excuse for a footballer and is a liability on the pitch for so many reasons. The best thing to happen to Liverpool in that tie was him starting.
I wouldnt go that far but yeah the dude is slow abd positionally inept. Not a good combination for a midfielder.
He has like five bad games in a row, and I mean atrocious. Just the worst football I've seen. Then he scores and plays decent and LVG sticks with him. Then again the entire team has been like that this season. Woof.
Looking like Vardy will miss two games. Not looking great for LC to win the trophy.
I think the suspension will make things more exciting, but they're still 5 points up with 4 to play. It's still unlikely they'd drop enough points, unfortunately i think they'll finish a point ahead even if tottenham wins out.
swansea is not good, MUFC are hit or miss, and i think everton's style plays right into LCFC's hands, so if they win two of those and draw one it'd be pretty shocking for them to lose the title (Tottenham would have to win out and LCFC loses on the last day).
Just seems like one of those movie finishes that in real life comes crashing back to reality.
Think they become even more motivated to win the title without Vardy. Had a gut feeling that someone was gonna come in and nip it on the last day, and Tottenham is making quite the charge and would love to see them win (best mate is an Arsenal supporter), but I think the Foxes do it. Amazing season. Great run in this has been.
Mathematically they just need to win two and draw two. I think they can do that even with Vardy suspended for two games just looking at the schedule. (Win against Swansea and Everton;Draw Man U and Chelsea). Spurs schedule is considerably easier, but Spurs could just as easily drop points against West Brom, Chelsea or even Newcastle if they are not relegated by that last game.
Those relegation battling teams are pests this late in the season. I have a feeling this relegation race will come down to the last matchday.
These last few weeks are going to be exciting with the relegation battle and the battle to win the league. Much better than last year when Chelsea won the title with a few games to spare.
Chelsea have looked incredibly lathargic the laat few weeks. Wouldnt be surprised if leicester handed it to them
Of the teams promoted this season, I was hoping Norwich would stay up. Never really thought Bournemouth and Watford would do as well as they have. It's looking more and more like Sunderland are going to do their annual Hoodini act to avoid relegation. They could easily draw one or more of their games whereas I don't really see a winnable game for Norwich. Newcastle get Villa, but the rest seem difficult and if they are all tied Sunderland look like they will have the best goal differential.
I got my money on Sunderland staying up over norwich I just trust sam allerdyce more than newcastle who are a big ole mess (although currently are tied with mcfc) and norwich who frankly havent looked the part of an epl team most of the year
Sam Allardyce has never experienced relegation from the EPL, which is something coz he always seems to manage relegation-threatened teams. Take that for what it's worth.
The way United and Chelsea have played this year, I wouldn't be surprised to see Leicester win all 4.
PS--- so about that EPIC LIVERPOOL COMEBACK.
i understand "Boom!" in German is "magic". still hoarse after that one-shades of istanbul
Had to watch it a second time and watch the highlights a couple times just to make sure it was real life.
I figured you all would appreciate this on this thread... I just recently moved to London for work and I knew I wanted to check out Premier League games. I have never been into the Premier League (mainly because I never had a dog in the fight), but I knew as soon as I found out where I was living in London, I would find the closest team, and adopt them as "my team"... That team is Arsenal. As soon as I got here, I became a member and I have gone to two games (going to my 3rd tonight).... It has been an awesome experience, although I dont think its as good as Bundesliga (I went to a Bayern game in October, going back next week to see them play again in Munich)... Bayern fans are wild, the atmosphere is so much better (now I dont know if this is a Bundesliga > Premier League in terms of atmosphere or if its just an Arsenal thing)... Anyways, its been great so far. *Side note, anyone living in London by any chance? I am a 25 year old Hokie and dont know a soul (yet)..*
Attached is a picture of the first game I went to... Midfield row 10.. 2nd game I was 2nd row... Tonight I am 2nd row.. Will post another picture after tonights game.. Go Gooners
Poor atmosphere is an Arsenal thing, I've been to a few games at Highbury (their old ground, which is near the Emirates and you should go check out if you get a chance as two sides are declared historic buildings and thus can't be torn down). My brother's an Arsenal fan and continually laments the library-like feel of the place (actually, he's never been inside the Emirates but I think it's even worse with 20,000 gooners than before).
Best atmosphere in London is probably Crystal Palace in south London-should be easy to get a seat the rest of this season as their survival in the EPL is basically assured, think they have two home games left.
Chelsea at Stamford Bridge has a great atmosphere.
Awesome seats, even if its a gooners match. If you get a chance, check out Fulham and Craven Cottage. I've always heard it's a delightful little venue.
I think in terms of EPL vs. Bundesliga environments, generally speaking the bundesliga more exciting. That's the vibe I get when watching matches. Those Germans never shut up haha.
Also Wolfsburg plays Sandman a lot. That's a plus.
So much Arsenal hate. Glad you got to see a good one today! Alexis was straight fire.
Edit: I want to amend this so that it's more clear that the Arsenal hate isn't entirely unfounded. Things need to get better there before they stop being a library. It's got nothing to do with the quality of fans because we STILL have the best away support in England. But people are a little fed up at the moment. Rightly so.
Haha, yea, one of my buddies back in the states gave me shit (he is a Tottenham fan) for choosing Arsenal.. Like I told him and up top, I simply chose them cause its like a 5 minute uber ride out of London where I live to the Emirates... I have had some great times at the 3 games. I am hoping to check out a different EPL venue before the season is up... here is a picture I took from last nights game.. Right after Alexis scored from his free kick right in front of me...
This is amazing. I'm super jealous.
Leicester clearly didn't miss Vardy today. That 4-0 win means that only Tottenham can catch them in the table. What a time to be alive.
I think the EPL is all but over this year, Leicester has this one in the bag. Anyone who thought losing Vardy would absolutely sink them hasnt been watching them all season long
Tottenham losing tomorrow would certainly help decide things earlier. But there's still a chance for an exciting last few weeks.
A Leicester win Sunday at Old Trafford wins the title. As a United fan, I'm horrified. We all know how this ends. Giant headlines LEICESTER WINS TITLE AT THEATRE OF DREAMS.
Oh well. Good for them.
Even without vardy I gotta say I think LC is gonna win this one. They look like theyre on a mission! If they dont this week they will next. Manu and Everton's possession style strategy plays right into the hands of Leicester
If Leicester blow this, it'll be a collapse of epic proportions. on the order of the 2006 Chick-Fil-A bowl against UGa, except if we were up 21-3 with 5 minutes left...and still multiple the horror of that by a hundred. Then multiply all of that by another 100.
that said, if the bookies offered me 5000-1 that spurs would win the title, i'd put 20 on it
As an Arsenal fan, I'm super happy to have been wrong about Leicester. I didn't think they could maintain it, but I'm glad that they're likely to win it since Arsenal has imploded.
I'm really surprised that the LC MU game is on NBCsports and not USA or NBC. Seems like a missed opportunity.
Not so sure about that. By now, most know that NBCSN is the place for those Sunday morning games. Can't put it on NBC cause of the Sunday morning programs. Interesting concept to throw it on USA. Those matches have been down to their NBCSN counterparts. Obviously, they are usually the fifth or sixth best game of the weekend in the USA slot, but eyeballs are lower. There's probably more potential eyeballs on USA than NBCSN, but NBCSN has firmly established itself as the home of the EPL. Of course there's a match or two elsewhere, but the majority are on NBCSN. Makes total sense as far as their branding is concerned to have the title tilt on NBCSN. For the day, I think USA may have garnered more eyeballs, but long term, I think the NBCSN move is right.
Well crisis averted for United fans. Hope Tottenham can win tomorrow and Leicester can clinch in front of their fans against Everton.
But damn what the hell happened to Liverpool?
Brendan Rodgers happened. You can tell by the lineup that the rest of the PL season is going to be early preseason. Too many players are hurt right now, so the focus is on the Europa League. Honestly, I think this is a great approach because now these youngsters are getting game time and figuring out what they need to do to get to the next level. At the same time, it gives Klopp the chance to evaluate who is worth hanging on to and who is getting shown the door this summer.
Leicester! What a run.
To go back and drop a 100 on them.
well thatll do it in the EPL for the championship, what a year. huge game for manu and west ham next week that will see the loser (or perhaps even a draw) out of UCL contention
Both are pretty much out already. ESPN SPI gives United an 8% chance to get in. Would take huge City collapse and United miraculously winning against West Ham.
agreed but as a city fan we love to make things difficult...
As an Arsenal fan, this season has left me jaded. However, huge props have to be given to Leicester for pulling through when I (and many others) didn't believe they could maintain their pace.
I do, however, think this was an unusually weak year in the EPL. I'm super glad that Leicester was the one to capitalize, rather than the Manchesters or Chelsea. Disappointed my guys couldn't do the same.
But for any Arsenal fans out there, Iwobi is a boss and we should be excited about him, if nothing else!
Admit it, at the start of the season, you totally thought this would happen:
Who decides TV channels for matches? Leicester being on CNBC is a travesty.
I think you're too worried about it. The biggest story of the weekend is United and City race for fourth. The championship has been won, relegation decided, nothing left to watch except fourth.
Yes and United and City get NBC and NBCSN. But the team who came from nowhere to win the premiereship and gain thousands of new fans should get a better channel than CNBC. I've read multiple articles from BBC, SUN etc where Leicester viewers in the US has gone up dramatically because of their story.
I truly believe that if Leicester finish in the top 4 next season, it'll be an even bigger accomplishment than winning the league this year. They'll be hard-pressed to keep their best players and they'll have draining mid-week UCL games in the first couple of months of the season, this is a daunting challenge.
Probably can't get 5000-1 odds on them again next season. Hopefully Brighton get promoted via the playoffs, they could get those types of odds.
Hope either Brighton or Wednesday go up. Don't want to see Hull/Derby again. Shaping up to be a Wednesday/Hull final, one of the best one-off games in all of sport. Love the League playoffs, especially in the lower league. Immense drama.
Fun Fact: the first american to ever play in the EPL was John Harkes for Wednesday
Wednesdays are setting up for the upset. Would love to see them get promotion. Have an away goal to cling to as well.
And now there's no excitement for fourth. City gets it by default because United had to cancel due to suspect package at Old Trafford.
I think they'll play it midweek, which sucks too because United are on short rest for FA Cup while Palace get the whole week.
I saw they delayed start not it's canceled? Won't they reschedule that's a big difference in money, prestige etc from 4th to 5th.
There's also an outside chance they finish 7th with a loss in this game needing to win the FA Cup to even make the Europa League....
They have to make this game up.
The game must be played. Aside from ManUre having to beat Bournemouth by at least 19 goals to finish 4th (and thus grab the last UCL spot allotted to England), all teams must play the same amount of games so that prize money can be fairly awarded (each league position is worth about $1m so it's not an insignificant amount of money)
Well $1m is significant for smaller teams like Bournemouth, Watford, and Liverpool. For big clubs like United, pocket change.
;)
Oh when the wheels come falling off....#SoSoSpursy
So we are keeping Arsene it seems. Not sure how I feel about this although fans forget about how hard the injury bug has hit Arsenal this season. We have a to of young talent too
Its the same excuse every year with arsenal though. If your team is that thin that an injury to ramsay completely derails your season you gotta add depth
Ramsey, Cazorla, Rosicky, Koscielny, Welbeck, Walcot. Most seasons I would agree. Arsene has been frustrating with how frugal he is with not buying big names. This goes beyond just him though. He added depth this year with El Neny and Wyobi. If we can keep Sanchez and Ozil this is going to be a dangerous team in EPL and Champions League next season.
Iwobi was added by coming up from the youth teams. This is how Arsenal attempts to grow but the past several season the youth squads just haven't produced. They made a concerted effort to build numbers there a couple seasons ago and we're just starting to see the benefits.
It was a lot more than Ramsey... but yes the same story crops up every season and I think we need to have a serious study done on Arsenal's medical staff.
But aside from that, sing it with me Gooners so all the Spuds can hear: "It's happened again! It's happened again!" Well you know the rest.
It's all about who you get. Say what you want to about Arsene, he is an elite manager. You saw it with United, after you replace a world class manager, even with someone you think can do a job, it's difficult. United still isn't there. But let's be honest, this was Arsenal's season to lose. They bottled it.
http://m.bbc.com/sport/football/36297390
Well this is not a good look for that company.