English Premier League

[Oosala]

On ‎3‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 9:23 AM, proserpina65 said:

At this point, I don't care whether or not Arsenal gets that CL spot.  I'm just thrilled to go around saying "We beat Man United!".

Love it.  My son was freaking out.  And then that nob end rushed the pitch and Arsenal are fined.  What a dick.

[Oosala]

City beat United and I'm THRILLED.  If Liverpool and City each win the rest of their matches, City will win the Premiere League for 2 years in a row (I don't think that's common).  Then it's on to the FA Cup Finals to complete the trifecta. 

And, ONCE AGAIN, De Bruyne is injured.  That guy can't BUY a break.

[ganesh]

I think United and Chelsea is this weekend for the 4th spot. 

[Oosala]

11 hours ago, ganesh said:

I think United and Chelsea is this weekend for the 4th spot. 

Looks like a United win would ace out Arsenal.  I hate Chelsea and my son and I like Arsenal.  It's all so exciting.  I love it.

I like Tottenham but I don't like Son.  Son + Pogba = Divers.

[proserpina65]

Jeez, Arsenal, Spurs gives you multiple losses on a platter, and what do you do?  Why, lose, of course.

[Oosala]

Can someone tell me why all of tomorrow's matches are on at the same time?  Is that normal?  My DVR can only handle 2 recordings at a time and I can't watch anything live while they are recording.  Shit.

[ganesh]

I venture to guess it's because everything is on the line, kind of like how the final 2 group matches in the World Cup are played at the same time. 

[Oosala]

Yay City!!  B2B League Champions!  The best part was when they showed Noel Gallagher and his two little boys and when KDB subbed in for D. Silva.  Happy Mother's Day to me!

[Popples]

On 5/11/2019 at 3:04 PM, Oosala said:

Can someone tell me why all of tomorrow's matches are on at the same time?  Is that normal?  My DVR can only handle 2 recordings at a time and I can't watch anything live while they are recording.  Shit.

That happens every year, it's known as Survival Sunday or Relegation Sunday. In the past, I had to write down all the matches with the channel number beside them to keep it straight.

[Oosala]

Just a few weeks now until the new campaign gets started.  I can hardly wait.  My son and I want Arsenal to pick up Zaha.  I know he's a diver and kind of a dick but I really like him for some reason.  My Dad always said that you can be a showoff, as long as you can back it up.  I guess that's my thinking on Zaha.

[Oosala]

Just heard about the MC Rodri signing.  He's a midfielder, like my favorite player de Bruyne, and Pep is hot about Rodri.  Now I suppose Kevin's going to be riding the fucking bench all year.  Never mind.  I just read up on the facts.  Rodri (age 22) is slated to eventually replace Fernandinho (age 34).  Well played, Pep.

Edited July 28, 2019 by Oosala

[Oosala]

Fuck, fuck, fuck.  My Cityzen heart is broken.  I guess we can look for a lot of handballs from defenders as passes are made to the strikers.  Fuck you, FIFA.

[DoctorAtomic]

I'm not a fan of replay in any sport because I think it invariably affects how the actual people call the game. 

Really, the shooter had all day to take the shot. 

On the other hand, the forward has to pick up the sub coming on the field for a corner, and the keeper needs to be in position properly for a left footed shooter. Take care of business and don't leave it up to VAR. 

[DoctorAtomic]

Thriller in Norwich! 

[AimingforYoko]

4 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Thriller in Norwich! 

Any Given Sunday! (Sorry, wrong football)

Seriously, if Miami beats New England tomorrow, it will not be as big an upset.

[DoctorAtomic]

I actually thought they were going to choke the 3rd goal when the guy passed it. It looked like he could have easily fired into the near post and didn't drag the keeper out enough.

[proserpina65]

So Pochettino is out at Spurs and Mourinho is in.  Wow, that is SO going to be a trainwreck.  My Gooner heart bleeds.  (In actuality, I just thrilled Mou is somewhere other than Arsenal.)

[Eulipian 5k]

Pep never appreciated him, but Man City really needs someone patrolling the back since Kompany left. Where is his Van Dykk?

[ketchuplover]

World chess champ Magnus Carlsen is 33 in an EPL (or some soccer) fantasy league

[AimingforYoko]

Giddy John Oliver's annual appearance on Men in Blazers:

 

[AimingforYoko]

The gap between first and second place is greater than the gap between second and fourteenth. I'd say you can start driving that trophy Liverpool way.

[AimingforYoko]

Liverpool's unbeaten streak comes to an unlikely end at the hands of Watford, of all clubs. At the end of the season, Liverpool will be carrying the trophy and Watford will likely be headed to the Championship, but at least they'll have this.

[DoctorAtomic]

Watford is up on goal differential so they might have a fighting chance. They took it right to Liverpool today. The second goal was preh-tay. 

[xaxat]

Arsenal's Mikel Arteta tests positive for coronavirus

Premier League to hold emergency meeting on Friday morning regarding fixtures

[proserpina65]

19 hours ago, xaxat said:

Arsenal's Mikel Arteta tests positive for coronavirus

Premier League to hold emergency meeting on Friday morning regarding fixtures

They've suspended the season.  As they should.

Man, I hope Arteta recovers quickly.  And anyone else who has the coronavirus, within football, and without.

[DoctorAtomic]

Obviously, this should be taken seriously, but a professional soccer player probably has strong odds of pulling through as long as they follow their doctor's guidance. 

[Popples]

Manchester City conduct investigation over Kyle Walker's alleged party with sex workers during coronavirus lock down. (Warning: video autoplay)

[wanderingstar]

Premier League restarts in two days. I may or may not be watching since I am working from home.

[Popples]

It's official; Congratulations Liverpool.

 

[AimingforYoko]

1 hour ago, Popples said:

It's official; Congratulations Liverpool.

 

How drunk is John Oliver getting tonight? 😉 (Honestly, I'll be disappointed if he doesn't lead the show with this.)

[Popples]

41 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

How drunk is John Oliver getting tonight? 😉 (Honestly, I'll be disappointed if he doesn't lead the show with this.)

I need video of him sobbing with joy so very badly.

[DoctorAtomic]

Chelsea got a nice win to stay in the top 4 too. 

[AimingforYoko]

Roger Bennett from MiB(From Home) interviews John Oliver and they talk about Liverpool's win and the inherent goodness of Jurgen Klopp ("The Teutonic Care Bear").

 

[AimingforYoko]

Messi in the EPL?

 

[DoctorAtomic]

No way. EPL is way too competitive. 

[AimingforYoko]

Mo Salah tests positive for coronavirus.

[Popples]

 

[wanderingstar]

Ordinarily, Mourihno's latest sacking would be the top story. But the ESL news has overshadowed everything else.

[wanderingstar]

European Super League collapsing as all six English clubs withdraw

Despite this development, I don't think this is the end of the Super League idea. 

[emmawoodhouse]

I do. Bayern and PSG have both come out against it. You need those teams in the absence of the EPL teams.

[Fukui San]

The breakaway owners went about this all wrong. The best way to get England to do  something stupid is to hold a binding national referendum. 

[Danny Franks]

17 hours ago, Fukui San said:

The breakaway owners went about this all wrong. The best way to get England to do  something stupid is to hold a binding national referendum. 

I'm not sure, most English football fans care way more about their teams than they do about petty little things like national prosperity, security and personal freedom.

It's staggering, how amateurishly the supposed elite clubs went about this thing. Perez and his tone deaf interview, disparate statements of intent without any real justification or presentation as to how this would be a good thing for football. But then, it wasn't a good thing for football, it was just a good thing for these club owning oligarchs.

[cambridgeguy]

Fans still seem a little peeved

Americans complain about certain sports owners all the time but I don't remember them getting mad enough to actually storm a field and protest.

[emmawoodhouse]

There were protests a couple of weeks ago against the Super League. Now, these clowns are protesting because they wanted Man U to stay in it, and their owner was supposedly going to be a Super League bigwig. 

Can't please anyone. 

[isalicat]

3 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

There were protests a couple of weeks ago against the Super League. Now, these clowns are protesting because they wanted Man U to stay in it, and their owner was supposedly going to be a Super League bigwig. 

Can't please anyone. 

That is not correct. The protest was basically an attempt to force the Glazers, the Americans who bought ManU in 2005, to sell up....the Glazers wanted the team to be part of the ESL and had to cave (with the other five PL teams that had indicated they were going to join too), but more importantly seem entirely uninterested in any real involvement with the team. There is an undercurrent now in the PL that teams should be owned by people who actually care about British footie - seems reasonable. As an Arsenal fan, even from my U.S. perspective I would prefer an owner who wants to really invest in the club and who would show up to big games, etc.

[Danny Franks]

12 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

There were protests a couple of weeks ago against the Super League. Now, these clowns are protesting because they wanted Man U to stay in it, and their owner was supposedly going to be a Super League bigwig. 

Can't please anyone. 

They aren't protesting to stay in the super league. They're protesting the ownership of the Glazers, who were the main drivers of the super league project, and who have sucked over £1billion out of Manchester United - either into their own pockets or to service the debt that they lumbered the club with - since they bought* the club in 2005.

When the Glazers bought the team, a section of fans were so disgusted that they actually broke away and formed their own club FC United, who now play in the seventh tier of English football. 

The super league is just the latest insult to fans who feel ever more disenfranchised and devalued by the clubs they have supported all their lives, and consider to be part of their identity. These teams that were founded by railway workers or miners or factory workers, now owned by foreign oligarchs who care nothing for the people they've branded "legacy fans" because they have this paternalistic view that the young, as well as Asian and African markets don't care about anything other than big name players in big name shirts.

English football, and football in Europe, has been due a reckoning for a long time now, and I hope that this is the start of that. The money in the game is absurd - transfer fees, player wages, agent fees - and clearly unsustainable, given the financial straits that so many clubs are in. One of the drivers of this current super league plan was the fact that Real Madrid and Barcelona are drowning in debt, and the Italian clubs are little better off. The game cannot continue on the path it's on, but creating a private club to share all the money is not the answer.

*actually, they took out a loan to buy the club, because they couldn't afford it, and leveraged the debt against the value of the club. Essentially using the value of United to buy United.

[emmawoodhouse]

Thanks for the in-depth explanations. I obviously misread the article. 😶

[proserpina65]

On 5/2/2021 at 4:55 PM, isalicat said:

As an Arsenal fan, even from my U.S. perspective I would prefer an owner who wants to really invest in the club and who would show up to big games, etc.

If only Kroenke would sell up . . . 

[bosawks]

Did anyone tell Arsenal the season started yet?

[xaxat]

Does anyone know where Premier League games be shown when NBCSports shuts down? Are they going to dump most of them on  Peacock's subscription level?

Edited August 14, 2021 by xaxat