2007 English Premier League

Akileese · 08-10-2007, 11:41 AM

Anyone gonna watch? Excited? I'll admit, I'm kind of intrigued to see how all this big money spending will work out. It's not just the big four anymore (Arsenal sold a few players and spent very moderately), but every team seemingly that is spending a large amount of money. Liverpool and Man UTD spend huge money and Chelsea seemingly spent it for the sake of spending it.

As an Arsenal fan, I'm pretty excited about the upcoming season, but I think Liverpool will end up winning the league (Chelsea having big injury concerns before the season STARTS is not a good thing).

Thoughts? Predictions?

Algol Devilstar · 08-10-2007, 11:44 AM

I wish I lived somewhere that cared about soccer. I really like it and want to get into the games, but no one here watches. I bought a bunch of Beckham shit now that he went to LA. =/

Bralkan · 08-10-2007, 11:54 AM

how often does espn carry football games?

xelnix · 08-10-2007, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bralkan

how often does espn carry football games?

Very rarely, and you will have to be extremely lucky to catch a Premier league game on ESPN. Think they play em on ESPN 8 THE OCHO! Seriously though, Fox Sports shows lots of games, live on the weekend. ESPN won't usually show any.

Mimirswell · 08-10-2007, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akileese

Thoughts? Predictions?

Manchester United have a lot more attack options. With the inclusion of Tevez (and in about a month, Saha), they no longer have to play 4-3-2-1. Nani and Anderson will be well developed by the end of the season which will be great for resting the midfield or recovering from injuries. The defensive line improved with the inclusion of Evra as a starter but defense is the greatest weakness of Man U and the new signings, aside from Hargreaves, did nothing for it. I have strong doubts if they can win the CL but should win the PL.

Chelsea are in a terrible position to start the season but should recover. Malouda is a great signing and should really strengthen the midfield. When the defense is squared away with the return of Terry and Essien is allowed to attack, Chelsea will be incredibly dangerous. Ben Haim is a solid signing as well and will see a lot of playtime with Terry out.

Arsenal signed Eduardo de Silva, who is a phenomenal goal scorer. Van Persie should have a great year if he can avoid injuries and Fabregas should be able to score a bit more as well (while maintaining or improving upon his assists). Defensively, I don't think Arsenal has improved significantly, which will mean they will rank 4th or 5th in clean sheets.

Liverpool will dramatically improve if (and it's a big if) Torres adjusts to the PL right away and Benitez allows for a more aggressive attacking strategy (which he should with the inclusion of Babel and Benayoun). Otherwise, they have no chance of winning the PL though they will remain in the top 4 regardless.

Tottenham Spurs have Berbatov, Defoe, Bent, and Keane. Bent was on an absolute tear pre-season and if Berbatov maintains last season's performance, you can expect attacking flair similar to Man U demonstrated here. With Lennon injured till September, the midfield will have a hard time keeping up, though Malbranque and Jenas will do admirably. Defensively, the Spurs are nothing to write home about on and seriously injured with King and Lee out. Still, they can expect to finish somewhere between 4-6.

Everton will not improve dramatically upon last year's performance and will suffer early on despite Baines and Jagielka signings. Cahill and Vaughn are out for a good while and Cahill is especially needed. Still, defensively, I think they will be especially strong.

Akileese · 08-10-2007, 07:20 PM

K`Lag · 08-11-2007, 10:19 AM

As a Manchester City supporter I'm absolutely thrilled with our start today, I expected all the new signings to take some time to gel but we played some good football and won comfortably in the end. I'm happy with a top10 finish but if we keep it up I reckon we could push for Top6.

Algol Devilstar · 08-11-2007, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akileese

You are the man!! Thanks!

Akileese · 08-11-2007, 05:41 PM

NP. 7am tomorrow is Arsenal v Fulham, Im PETRIFIED right now. We need to win and get off to a good start. I'd say the shocker was Sunderland beating Spurs, but Spurs has been terrible on the road under Martin Jol so I'm not too shocked. Derby drawing Pompey shocked me a lot more. I think Newcastle are going to be a real threat once they get Michael Owen back.

Someone pointed this out to me and I wanted to find out if anyone knew when the Africans Nation Cup is? I know Chelsea are going to lose Drogba and Essien as a result for about a month (commitment wise as Country will come before club for this period of time and they may miss a few games). Chelsea is not very deep and if they get any type of injuries, they could be in real serious trouble.

Mimirswell · 08-11-2007, 05:53 PM

January 20-February 10, 2008 though qualifiers are still going on until September 20.

Akileese · 08-11-2007, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mimirswell

January 20-February 10, 2008 though qualifiers are still going on until September 20.

So it may be longer with the qualifiers..Thanks for the info. Is it like the world cup where they're actually going to be away from the club for 20 or so days, or will they come back?

Mimirswell · 08-12-2007, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akileese

So it may be longer with the qualifiers..Thanks for the info. Is it like the world cup where they're actually going to be away from the club for 20 or so days, or will they come back?

Traditionally, yes, they don't play for whatever league they are in but I imagine it's up to the National team's management because I have seen exceptions in '04 and '06.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akileese

NP. 7am tomorrow is Arsenal v Fulham, Im PETRIFIED right now. We need to win and get off to a good start.

Holy god, it's halftime right now but Arsenal is down 0-1. Healy scores on an error by Lehmann in the first 51 seconds. Fulham's GK is Warner because Niemi got injures his arm badly ten minutes before the match started during warm up. Warner has gone on to make one 'impossible' save with his left foot after jumping the wrong way and several other absolutely superb saves. Arsenal is attacking constantly and on any other day, they would be up 2-1 or 3-1 right now but I'm having doubts that Arsenal can win this. I do think they will eventually score though, the constant attack should eventually get through. I'm not a huge Arsenal fan (though I enjoy watching Fabregas, RVP, and Eboue play) but this game is very, very exciting. Hopefully the Manchester United game proves this enjoyable.

Akileese · 08-12-2007, 05:46 AM

I don't think that was a penalty, but more of a justification since what happened to Hleb in the first was a CLEAR penalty. Either way, you take what you can get. Just a perfect penalty taken by RVP.

edit: Rofl at Diop take the shot from near midfield.
2nd edit: Poetic fucking justice. They NEED to hold it. Hleb has had a great game, it's nice to see him score it. The funny part is, he wanted it for himself, he had Nikolas and RVP wide open and onside on both sides. Nice to see him get it.

Mimirswell · 08-12-2007, 05:52 AM

What a comeback for Arsenal.

Bendtner is having an excellent sub play.

Edit: Wow, 2-2 for Chelsea-Birmingham. So glad I put Forssell on my Fantasy League team, I had a strong feeling he would score against he old team, especially with Terry injured.

Akileese · 08-12-2007, 06:39 AM

Birmingham is no pushover. I expected them to play the role Reading played last year.

08-10-2007, 11:54 AM	#3 (permalink)
Bralkan Registered User Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Atlanta GA Posts: 2,115	how often does espn carry football games? __________________ We're all idiots. http://nottheparrot.blogspot.com

08-12-2007, 05:52 AM	#14 (permalink)
Mimirswell Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 370	What a comeback for Arsenal. Bendtner is having an excellent sub play. Edit: Wow, 2-2 for Chelsea-Birmingham. So glad I put Forssell on my Fantasy League team, I had a strong feeling he would score against he old team, especially with Terry injured. Last edited by Mimirswell : 08-12-2007 at 06:10 AM.

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08-10-2007, 11:44 AM	#2 (permalink)
Algol Devilstar Banned Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: The NW Posts: 3,497	I wish I lived somewhere that cared about soccer. I really like it and want to get into the games, but no one here watches. I bought a bunch of Beckham shit now that he went to LA. =/

08-11-2007, 10:19 AM	#7 (permalink)
K`Lag Registered User Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: U.K Posts: 433	As a Manchester City supporter I'm absolutely thrilled with our start today, I expected all the new signings to take some time to gel but we played some good football and won comfortably in the end. I'm happy with a top10 finish but if we keep it up I reckon we could push for Top6.

08-11-2007, 05:53 PM	#10 (permalink)
Mimirswell Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 370	January 20-February 10, 2008 though qualifiers are still going on until September 20.