Anyone give two shakes about the EPL?

[sean]

And why is Chelsea the only team with two wins after two weeks?

Personally, I am just happy that we (see avatar) spanked the pants off of Villa. We needed the confidence booster after loosing three-nil to Man U at Old Trafford.

Anyone else have any thoughts on the EPL?

 

[zimmy71]

Well I am into the EPL and watched the Chelsea match Saturday and they just looked faster, stronger, and better then Wolves. My team is Liverpool and I am pumped for tomorrows match against Man City. I think at the end of this year the top 4 teams are going to be: 1. Man United 2. Chelsea 3. Tottenham 4. Arsenal

 

[iCraig]

Just starting to get into the EPL as a casual fan. My best friends father used to play for a team that merged with Newcastle a while back, so I've been rooting for them.

Chelsea destroyed Wigan on Saturday.. Completely dominate.

 

[Pooh Bore]

I' m here in the home of the epl and I prefer the mans game of rugby union. 80 minutes of contact sport and none of the theatrical nonense. No crash helmets either !

 

[hdroadglide]

while they are great athletes and can do amazing things with their feet, they will never hold a place in usa sports. after watching as much of the cup as i could stand with the acting and taking dives and theatrics...ugh!

 

[iCraig]

while they are great athletes and can do amazing things with their feet, they will never hold a place in usa sports. after watching as much of the cup as i could stand with the acting and taking dives and theatrics...ugh!

In the few matches I've seen played, the EPL seems to be a bit better than the WC in terms of diving and crap. That annoyed me during the WC, but hasn't seemed to be too much of a problem in the EPL in what I've watched so far.

 

[sean]

When you have an American that doesn't watch football, the WC is the last thing they should use as a gauge to determine whether or not they "like" the game... this thread is about English football, not La Liga or Serie A. The theatrics at the WC and in these other leagues is enough to put me of my oats for a while. Thank god the EPL is up and running again.

Howay the Lads! 6-0 against Aston Villa was nothing short of awesome.

PS: Sorry about the Liverpool loss today... looks like city is not so shitty anymore.

 

[sean]

I' m here in the home of the epl and I prefer the mans game of rugby union. 80 minutes of contact sport and none of the theatrical nonense. No crash helmets either !

Theatrical nonsense? And what about this whole fake blood/cut lip business?

 

[TheDudeAbides]

"Anyone give two shakes about the EPL?"
http://www.theonion.com/video/soccer-officially-announces-it-is-gay,17603/

-Dude
(ha)

 

[sean]

"Anyone give two shakes about the EPL?"
http://www.theonion.com/video/soccer-officially-announces-it-is-gay,17603/

-Dude
(ha)

A painfully American response... The US is just butt-hurt because we didn't invent the game, and we would rather just have everyone play the games we invent instead, thus nearly insuring supremacy. This is part of the reason why Hockey is low on the US sports totem-pole.

 

[iCraig]

A painfully American response... The US is just butt-hurt because we didn't invent the game, and we would rather just have everyone play the games we invent instead, thus nearly insuring supremacy. This is part of the reason why Hockey is low on the US sports totem-pole.

Oy. Don't remind me. I had to fight to get playoff NHL games on TV in bars this past year and god forbid my team is playing on a UFC fight night. I'll get a TV in the corner barely within view and away from the droves watching two idiots kick the crap out of each other.

So glad that EPL matches are on when most other sports aren't playing..

 

[zimmy71]

PS: Sorry about the Liverpool loss today... looks like city is not so shitty anymore.

OMG how many superstars can one team have?! Liverpool needs to get this sale complete and build a new stadium asap. We need another striker and winger, to help Gerrard and Torres.

 

[sean]

Oy. Don't remind me. I had to fight to get playoff NHL games on TV in bars this past year and god forbid my team is playing on a UFC fight night. I'll get a TV in the corner barely within view and away from the droves watching two idiots kick the crap out of each other.

So glad that EPL matches are on when most other sports aren't playing..

Dude... I was pumped when the Flyers squeaked into the playoffs, but everytime I tried to put a game in in the bar where I worked, people asked me to "put it back on sports center." Are you f*ckin' kidding?!?!?! SPORTS CENTER?!?!?!?! OVER THE NHL FINALS??!?!?!

OMG how many superstars can one team have?! Liverpool needs to get this sale complete and build a new stadium asap. We need another striker and winger, to help Gerrard and Torres.

Ask Barcelona about the superstar question... but I don't think that moving away from Anfield and bringing in more stars is going to fix anything. Liverpool's problems are much like Newcastle's (and hopefully a year in the Championship League has been enough to rattle their cages): No one is happy to be playing... the good ones are lacking confidence (ie Torres) or are throwing tantrums (ie Mascherano) and it drags down the rest of the team spirit. Ngog is an awesome striker who is starting to come into his own, but needs the proper support from his midfield, which INCLUDES Mascherano (and what is it that he is pissed about anyway?!).

The owners are trying to sell the team on, so they are trimming a lot of the fats to decrease the clubs debts... no one likes having the bells and whistles cut off, and with the loss of Rafa the disillusioned team now has to learn how to get on with their new manager.

 

[zimmy71]

The Reds need a bigger stadium to bring in more revenue. They also need to make up their minds up on Mascherano because he is not happy right now with the way he is being treated. They need to evaluate players better before signing them like: Aquilani bust (Now on loan to Juve), Ivanovic no creativity, and why in the world is Ryan Babel still on the team.

What was the reason the Gareth Barry didnt sign with the Reds a couple years ago?

 

[sean]

But this is what I am saying: don't swap out problems for problems... work with what you got and get THAT gellin'. Babel aside, Liverpool has loads of talent, but the machine is firing properly... stadiums take a while, the transfer window is closing, and no one is going to want to by a week Liverpool team that isn't producing. Roy H has to find a way to wake up Mascherano and get him on board. He needs to help Torres get out of his slump that started last season and stretched thru the WC, he needs to get Joey Cole over the fact that he was Chelsea throw-aways... the players are on the pitch, but your TEAM isn't. They look about as well-connected as Newcastle did in the '08-'09 season that led to our relegation.

 

[TheDudeAbides]

If I want to watch bad acting, and grown-ass men pretending to be hurt for 90 minutes, I'll rent the latest Steven Seagal movie. I prefer my sports to be played by men like Ronnie Lott, and Curt Schilling. Give me amputated toes, and bloody socks over underwear models, and hair product any day.
-Dude
(Painfully American)

 

[sean]

These "men" you are talking about play a pansy 16 week "season." The EPL is a 38-game minimum, which could expand into 50+ depending on how well your team does in various tournaments throughout the season.


And amputated toes? That's nothing.

This man, Petr Cech, got his skull fractured in this play, and lived... still plays.

Cisse here got his leg snapped in two pieces while playing for his national team, and came back to play club football in England the next year.

If you think that David Beckham and Renaldo are what epitomize soccer... well, you not only "painfully American," but painfully ignorant as well and are in no position to make gross generalizations about the real Football (you know, the one we play with our FEET).

 

[iCraig]

Great game between ManU and West Ham this past week. Berbatov's goal was brilliant.

 

[TheDudeAbides]

Let me play lowest common denominatior for a while longer.
Did you really use a player named "Cisse", presumably pronounced "Siss-ay", as one of your examples of the bad-ass-edness of soccer? The jokes write themselves.
I will admit, however, that french fellow with the headbutting skills ranks pretty high in my book.
Listen, don't get your brightly colored team scarf all in a bunch. I completely understand that soccer is by far the most popular sport in the world. Just as McDonald's is the most popular restaurant in the world, and Budweiser is the most popular beer in the world.
My biggest problem with the American soccer fan is the sense of sports superiority that comes along with liking soccer. The sense of superiority that leads to accusations of ignorance towards guys like myself that prefer baseball (our National Pastime), or football (a sport where playing for a tie is unthinkable).
-Dude
(Blissfully informed, yet possibly misunderstood)

 

[sean]

Here are a few fun facts for you, el dudderino...

1) My teams' scarf is Black and White... hardly "brightly colored"

2) Cisse's name is pronounced "SEE-say." The only footballer with a truly unfortunate name is the Brazilian known as "Kaka."

3) The headbutting frenchie you mentioned has been, infact, an underwear model. He was also very overrated, IMHO.

4) I only called you ignorant when you implied that footballers were nothing more than sissy underwear models...

5) This thread was started by myself to find anyone interested in discussing the EPL, not to take flack from fellow 'mericans about the nature of the sport in question.