And they've decided to pay the £30 million demands from Lyon for Essien. Here's hoping he's the next Djemba-Djemba, looks world class in Ligue 1 and the early stages of the CL, but can't cut it in the Premiership.
Baseball ****ing owns. So does soccer. To say either is boring simply indicates a lack of understanding of the sport.
What he said. Also, I'm going to completely base my feelings on the first weekend, because that's not foolish at all. 1) Chelsea will repeat. Too tight at the back, and they just nip points when they need to. And they just bought Essien, which is a nifty bit of business for Lyon. 2) Either United are back, or Everton are in trouble. Or both. 3) I think two of the promoted three will survive this year, at the expense of West Brom and Fulham. I know Fulham is a trendy darkhorse pick to go down - but they aren't that good and they lost a steady keeper and a decent, if not world beating striker - and still might lose Malbranque. And Carlos Bocanegra is a center back, not a left back. 4) Blackburn takes the crown as least likable team from Newcastle, though just barely, with the acquisition of Craig Bellamy. A tough blow - a team featuring Bellamy, Souness, Dyer and Bowyer is unbeatable when it comes to being complete asses. Sadly, It's the only thing Newcastle have been tops in. so, in summation: 1) Chelsea 2) Manchester United 3) Arsenal 4) Liverpool I think the top four will be much closer than they were last year, and the no. 4 to finish closer to no. 3 than no. 5. 5-16) No one will care. 17) Wigan 18-20)West Ham, West Brom and Fulham
Being based in the US, why do you guys follow the English Premier League, and not the Bundesliga? Bundesliga is much better...
The language. I barely speak English so it's easier to find sites covering the EPL that I can read than to find it for other leagues.
No team with MGP can be crowned the least likeable team. He makes up for all the others. I wish Blackburn all the best with MGP on the team.
Or the Dutch league However i think the english league is mor fun to watch then the german because there are more dutch players that i like in the Premier league.(however Makaay rules)
I apologize if I touched a nerve regarding baseball. I have given baseball a chance in the past and have NOT seen anything interesting about it. The only time I have ever seen it somewhat exciting was when the Astros made a run last season, it was great for the city, there was a buzz and excitement in the city that didn’t exist since the Rockets championship years. It was good for the city but I didn’t watch any of the games b/c it was just not interesting to me. I just can’t see how most Americans can honestly bash soccer and say it is boring and then prop up baseball & golf and so-called sports like bass fishing, bowling, nascar, horse racing & even the X-games. All those get far more coverage on sports center or ESPN than the US National team. That is truly pathetic. It used to bother me when soccer got bashed here in the states but now I just feel bad for those who aren’t into because they don’t know what they are missing. NO sporting event in the world can compare to the World Cup (this from a BIG NBA and NFL fan). Anyways, I couldn’t wake up early enough to catch the Man-U game but Ruud’s goal was nice. The last 30 minutes of the Liverpool – Middelsborough game was awesome. Gerrard should have had at least 5 goals. I don’t see Liverpool finishing in the top 3 but we’ll see. Why don’t they play Milan Baros, that guy is very good and really sparked them when he came into the game. The Arsenal – Newcastle game was really good even though Arsenal disappointed until Van Persie and the new guy came in (I forget his name). They will be better once Reyes comes back and the rest of the team get into form. I felt bad for Newcastle cause they battled their asses off til the end when they gave up that questionable penalty. Their effort should give them confidence though for the season. Anyone catch the Barcelona – Real Betis game on Telemundo? Real Betis looked like a high school team out there and Denilson can’t even get into the game on that team? Wow how low can one fall? Man, Ronaldinhio was sick!!! That free kick goal he scored was amazing. Did you see the move he pulled at the end, where he lifted the ball two or three times around the defenders and then held it on his chest for 3-4 seconds, absolutely sick!
Hey, we got Makaay, van der Vaart, Bouylarouz (sp?), and many others. I just can't believe Makaay isn't the no. 1 forward on the Dutch team. He has already scored 5 goals in the 2 first games for Bayern, and 50 goals in his 67 appearances for them. That's an amazing quota, considering that any opposing team will always put their best defender on him.
3 Words: Ruud Van Nistelrooy = 129 goals in 175 appearances for Man-U in a much tougher league (European competition and EPL)! Makaay is really good but Van Nistelrooy just has a nack for the goal, his goals aren't the prettiest but he is just always in the right spot at the right time. From Man-U's website: Ruud netted 36 goals in his debut season, a frightening achievement that was incredibly eclipsed in the 2002/03 season as he scored 44 times to inspire United to the Premiership title. Van Nistelrooy started the 2003/04 season as he had finished the last, scoring twice in his first two league games. He chalked up his 100th and 101st goals for the club against Everton at Goodison Park on 7 February 2004, and eventually ended the season with 28 goals as United surrendered the Premiership title to Arsenal. Despite an injury-ravaged 2004/05 season, Ruud still managed to notch 16 goals in 27 appearances, and even finished as top scorer in the Champions League with eight goals. It was the third time in four seasons at United that Ruud had topped the UEFA charts, and was all the more remarkable as he only made seven appearances in another fruitless European campaign. Van Nistelrooy ended the season in heartbreaking fashion as he missed a hatful of chances to bury Arsenal in the FA Cup Final, only for the Gunners to eventually claim the trophy on penalties.
Uhhhhh... no one is mentioning poor-old MajorLeagueSoccer here... maybe needs to change its name to BoringLeagueSoccer and watch the MEXICAN LEAGUE on TV AZTECA, UNIVISION, and TELEFUTURA! Arriba las águilas del América! How's that for coverage in the United States, RocketFan007?
Mexican football is the worse I've ever seen, there's no contest. As far as you knocking MLS, it has grown a tremendous amount in the last couple of years and is now a highly competitive league with a number of great players. You can see the improvement in the way they played against European powers like Chelsea and Real Madrid, who came away saying great things about the league.
Was he once the most expensive player in the world? I remember after the 1998 World Cup, a Brazilian forward was sold to an European cup at a record breaking price. I think it was him, right?
Dude, I don't care what the friggin' European teams say about the g*dd*mn major league pooper. Like the press is really going to say what they really say if they say anything WRONG about the league... like "Yeah, I played against them and they suck" <- you can bet this won't make it to the news. As long as they don't televise any games on REGULAR TV, they won't get any play from me... WTF, man??? The only thing on TV from MLS was the Friggin' so-called "all-star" game where they played McBride's team and for what??? Until they play them on regular TV, even us Mexicans will watch this sorry ass league... I guaran-freakin'-tee you that a Mexican futbol team will beat any MLS team any given day. I will put my signature anything you want if you're willing to bet this next time an MLS team plays a FEMEX team.
So you don't watch the league, but you know it sucks. Makes perfect sense. And what does the quality of the league have anything to do with it being on "regular" TV? MLS isn't televised on major networks because soccer isn't very popular in America, it has nothing to do with the quality of the league. If you would have watched the matches with Chelsea and Real, you could see that the MLS teams gave both very tough times, even with both playing strong squads. But you didn't watch them, so you're opinion isn't vaild.
No, i never said I haven't seen the games. I wonder where you got that from. I have watched a few games on cable when I am over at my brother's house... the style seems so... how can I say this with a nice word... ah, yes, BAD. Anyway, I know CHIVAS U.S.A. sucks major nutz. I saw a DALLAS BURN game live a few years in the Cotton Bowl, and it wasn't even entertaining... the few I have seen on ESPN suck. So... MLS isn't televised on major networks because soccer isn't very popular? ODD. At least you could agree with me and say: "Yeah, they should televise them on major networks." Why can't you do that? So did the "American" team beat these European teams? I just want to know.
Van Nistelrooy is great, too. I dispute the stuff about the "much tougher league", though. Over the last 20 years, I don't think that EPL teams have done much better than Bundesliga teams in European competition.
Is there any dispute really that the EPL is a better league than the Bundesliga? I know people rate Spain & Italy higher, but it seems that even those clearly put the EPL next. Personally I think the EPL is the most exciting of all the top leagues.
