The Official English Premier League Thread, 2017-18

[pgardn]

sons did you see Lazio vs Juventus? Lazio was playing some level AAA thugball

Nope does not surprise me.

Wasnt it Lazio that had the president of Italy to ask the Lazio Ultra leader to let a game go on that was interrupted? I remember the guy sitting on top of the fence during the game like a king while some Italian big wig was pleading to him? Lazio is full of thugs, as bad as the English outside the stadiums.

[lefty]

I watched the whole boring thing.

Hazard was lone up front. Conte finally brought on a true forward to hold the ball up
Giroud, and then he subbed Hazard for Morata both incredibly late, past the 80th minute. MC controlled the game and Chelsea let them. Chelsea had maybe 3 shots on goal. Conte sees a superior team and just tried to steal a draw.

Conte sat down most of the game, had almost none of his usual histrionics.

Tell me exactly where I am wrong and what you saw?

In fact tell me if you were watching cause I got some specifics to test you.

I was talking about watching Serie A

[pgardn]

I was talking about watching Serie A

Oh.

sorry ole boy.

You did not make that entirely clear. All I can say since I stopped watching is, 1-0.

In me you got a guy who loves American college "football", basketball, others And....

Appreciates the game of "soccer" played at a hig level. I have been asked to play in leagues, got my "FIFA" knockoff card, and then found out how difficult and great the game is. I was basically asked to play because I can run for 45 minutes, and then do it again after a 10 minute break.

Take away from soccer: The skill level required is off the charts. And add to that, running in a way that can only be compared to basketball without time outs or FThrows. These are the fittest athletes in the world, and at the same time have to have the touch and power that a golfer must have except you gotta remain good while exhausted. The stopping starting, short sprints, longer dedicated runs to fill a gap, and then touching, passing, shooting in 3-d is extraordinaryly difficult. Unlike football, you can't be a huge strong individual and then have a coach find, you make you mean, teach you, and you play one position. I can't see how anyone can start actually playing for the first time with a ball at 16 years old, become good enough to play at the highest levels. (Too much early skill muscle memory involved) Plenty of Americans get this, but give it up at an "early" age to play some other sport. I first kicked a soccer ball at 21 in a league in Austin then San Antonio. No way I could really contribute except on defense, and then I had to go through a learning curve on a different stance than basketball "after nutmegging" and not not being able to use the hands. The easiest thing to learn was heading the ball.
I did become useful in that the fields were gigantic and we played in the summer ((very hot) Guys that grew up with the game were not in the type of shape I was. Few could last a full half with having significant walk time. So I ended up playing entire games. Which aided my running shape and I got to use new muscles. I learned where to be to fill obvious gaps and to harass the opponents best midfielder into giving up the ball. Make him run. Last 15 minutes of each half I could actually do something crude offensively against dead legged opponents.

-Autobiography terminated.

[lefty]

Long post tbh

Serie A has been one of the highest scoring leagues amongst the top 5 Euro leagues over the last few years.

I think they were even highest scoring league last season or 2 seasons ago.

Napoli is fun to watch.
Fiorentina can play some entertaining football as well.
(RIP Astori by the way)

[dfens]

Long post tbh

Serie A has been one of the highest scoring leagues amongst the top 5 Euro leagues over the last few years.

I think they were even highest scoring league last season or 2 seasons ago.

Napoli is fun to watch.
Fiorentina can play some entertaining football as well.
(RIP Astori by the way)

crazy to die in your sleep at 31 as a pro footballer smh ...

[dfens]

Nope does not surprise me.

Wasnt it Lazio that had the president of Italy to ask the Lazio Ultra leader to let a game go on that was interrupted? I remember the guy sitting on top of the fence during the game like a king while some Italian big wig was pleading to him? Lazio is full of thugs, as bad as the English outside the stadiums.

yes son, lazio is know for being faaaar right.

[lefty]

crazy to die in your sleep at 31 as a pro footballer smh ...

Yup, really scary tbh

Unless the Mafia was involved

[pgardn]

crazy to die in your sleep at 31 as a pro footballer smh ...

Yup, really scary tbh

Unless the Mafia was involved

autopsy?
Anything?

Really want to know what happened to the poor guy.
It's not a bad way to go, but at 31... Daughter and wife...

[pgardn]

yes son, lazio is know for being faaaar right.

They beat up a bunch of Tottenham fans in a bar... Europa cup game about 3-4 years ago. But I don't know who started things. Tottenham fans are usually a bit more mild mannered. If it was Chelsea/ West Ham fans, anything goes.

[dfens]

They beat up a bunch of Tottenham fans in a bar... Europa cup game about 3-4 years ago. But I don't know who started things. Tottenham fans are usually a bit more mild mannered. If it was Chelsea/ West Ham fans, anything goes.

son these s in rome have constant fights with the celerini (riot police) because they enjoy it .. so, don;t know how england is these days but rome is ugly.

[lefty]

Funny thing is that for years Lazio had a black player named Onazi.

You can't make that stuff up.

[dfens]

Funny thing is that for years Lazio had a black player named Onazi.

You can't make that stuff up.

didn't pick that up smh, and I've get to constantly watch lazio/roma since I got business in rome pretty often.

[Canyonero]

Funny thing is that for years Lazio had a black player named Onazi.

You can't make that stuff up.

Jew are kidding

[dfens]

Jew are kidding

classy tbh

[pgardn]

Klopp is a perfect fit for Liverpool football.

He knows eventually they must win something, but in the meantime, they MUST play open football. Their fans demand it. Liverpol lost to MU with the Mourinho system in full display today, but they went down fully attacking. Liverpool must have had ~ 15 corners. Liverpool has a huge presence in China and basically around the world. If Klopp actually wins something with this group, he will be there eternally.

Manchester United. One thing. Just win. If the Mourinho system gets them an EPL le, they are good. Which is daunting for him because he finds himself up against Pep again. They would take a CL championship, but they fully expect to be dominate in the EPL ala the Alex Ferguson manner. I see a long period of disappointment for MU.

[lefty]

Mane was e.
Salah was meh

What an assist by Mahrez tbh

[pgardn]

Kane reinjured his ankle.

Could be out of the WC.
Scans coming.

Luckily for Tottenham the International break might give him time to recover if it's not horrible.
Dont know when the final date for the WC roster is. He is out for upcoming International games most likely.

Tottenham beats Bournemouth 4-1 but showed why Juventus pounced on them. Some utterly horrible play at the back. Toby Aldeweireld injury looks huge now.

MU with a big win. Showed me what it's like to have wings with speed. Young & Valencia (the old guys) are light speed ahead of Davies &Trippier. Shame.

[lefty]

Kane has the same injury he sustained last season

[pgardn]

Kane has the same injury he sustained last season

I don't have the scan but this.... Looks bad.

[lefty]

Yikes

[dfens]

Kane reinjured his ankle.

Could be out of the WC.
Scans coming.

Luckily for Tottenham the International break might give him time to recover if it's not horrible.
Dont know when the final date for the WC roster is. He is out for upcoming International games most likely.

Tottenham beats Bournemouth 4-1 but showed why Juventus pounced on them. Some utterly horrible play at the back. Toby Aldeweireld injury looks huge now.

MU with a big win. Showed me what it's like to have wings with speed. Young & Valencia (the old guys) are light speed ahead of Davies &Trippier. Shame.

son it showed you that mourinho is a top class coach (and asshole) who knows how to adapt his team for various tactical situations.

[dfens]

I don't have the scan but this.... Looks bad.

son, that's ugly.

[pgardn]

son it showed you that mourinho is a top class coach (and asshole) who knows how to adapt his team for various tactical situations.

Son...

You gotta have the quality to put quality in the right place. Pooch would play Valencia and Young over Trippier and Davies every day, no brainer. MU can keep or buy who they want, Totttenham can't. So I root for a team that can't buy top players. And if players become too good, you are forced to sell them. You get injured on MC, and your job could be gone because your backup is better than most of the 1st teamers on the vast majority of the league.

And so it goes. This is not unique to the EPL either. Do you have a prediction on what year Bayern will fail to win a Bundesliga le? There are certain aspects of true "compe ion" you have to accept when rooting for a team that has little history (and 6th place in their own league in financial ability) Just finish top 4 every year before the next move up is remotely possible. (Pull a LC when the league is incredibly bad.)

[dfens]

Son...

You gotta have the quality to put quality in the right place. Pooch would play Valencia and Young over Trippier and Davies every day, no brainer. MU can keep or buy who they want, Totttenham can't. So I root for a team that can't buy top players. And if players become too good, you are forced to sell them. You get injured on MC, and your job could be gone because your backup is better than most of the 1st teamers on the vast majority of the league.

And so it goes. This is not unique to the EPL either. Do you have a prediction on what year Bayern will fail to win a Bundesliga le? There are certain aspects of true "compe ion" you have to accept when rooting for a team that has little history (and 6th place in their own league in financial ability) Just finish top 4 every year before the next move up is remotely possible. (Pull a LC when the league is incredibly bad.)

son I feel your pain tbh but valencia and young wouldn't be perfect for all situations.

Also, @ bayern losing stuff, I have always wondered why no big moneybags in germany would invest in a berlin team ... they'd get absolutely monstrous fans/$$$ in marketing/etc while easily tapping the international market from the very undeutsch Berlin. Tbh bayern is the typical bandwagon team in germany and most knowledgeable fans outside of lower bavaria don't really like them. For now red bull is interesting for the future, they might give them trouble with some luck.

[Hoops Czar]

son it showed you that mourinho is a top class coach (and asshole) who knows how to adapt his team for various tactical situations.

Top class coaches don't get their pushed in at home by an average run of the mill La Liga team.