2012-2013 EPL Thread

[M2]

Originally Posted by WMR

Is Dempsey the most accomplished/respected Nat in EPL and/or European history?

Pretty much. He's by far the top field player. After him it's either Dolo or Earnie Stewart. You could also argue for Brian McBride or Roy Wegerle, though Wegerle didn't join the USMNT until the downside of his career. Howard and Friedel are having fairly awesome careers in the net, but keepers are an entirely different animal.

Originally Posted by bucksfan2

As for Dempsey I think what separates him from the better plays in the league is the better players are much better finishers. Dempsey has several chances to put the ball in the net but didn't do so. They were plays that a guy like RVP scores on. Just my novice opinion.

Dempsey's not an out-and-out striker. He scores goals, but his job is to grease the wheels of the overall attack. He hits you from different angles, finds soft spots, plays a good final ball, makes the pass that sets up the final ball. Players like Dempsey actually make more happen than most nominal goalscorers. Dempsey's an important attacking player on a very good Spurs team. He is one of the better players in the league, not elite, but awfully good.

And even great finishers miss most of their chances. RVP's been on a tear for a year-plus, but prior to that he was prone to disappearing on the field and missing sitters. Scoring is tough.

[bucksfan2]

Originally Posted by M2

Dempsey's not an out-and-out striker. He scores goals, but his job is to grease the wheels of the overall attack. He hits you from different angles, finds soft spots, plays a good final ball, makes the pass that sets up the final ball. Players like Dempsey actually make more happen than most nominal goalscorers. Dempsey's an important attacking player on a very good Spurs team. He is one of the better players in the league, not elite, but awfully good.

And even great finishers miss most of their chances. RVP's been on a tear for a year-plus, but prior to that he was prone to disappearing on the field and missing sitters. Scoring is tough.

In the game on Sun I thought Bale did exactly what you described Dempsey doing. He was actually the most impressive player on the pitch for a long part of the game.

I guess my comment on Dempsey was based more upon the Man U game. It seemed like he had many opportunities to score but was unable to do so. Part of it is being in the right place and then the other part is putting the ball in the back of the net.

You said Tottenham is a very good club, where do they rank in regards to the other EPL teams? Below Man U and City? Below Chelsey and Arsenol?

[M2]

Originally Posted by bucksfan2

In the game on Sun I thought Bale did exactly what you described Dempsey doing. He was actually the most impressive player on the pitch for a long part of the game.

I guess my comment on Dempsey was based more upon the Man U game. It seemed like he had many opportunities to score but was unable to do so. Part of it is being in the right place and then the other part is putting the ball in the back of the net.

You said Tottenham is a very good club, where do they rank in regards to the other EPL teams? Below Man U and City? Below Chelsey and Arsenol?

Bale's awesome, arguably the best winger in the EPL and the best player Spurs have got at the moment. He's the latest guy to make England fans regret that Wales plays as its own separate nation rather than as part of the English national team.

Dempsey would have scored earlier in that game, but De Gea robbed him. Yet he also was a key reason why Man U was back on their heels most of the game.

Tottenham's sitting 4th this season and finished 4th last season. It's in the Chelsea-Arsenal tier. Last season it finished essentially even with Arsenal and ahead of Chelsea. Chelsea's done a ton of reloading over the past year - Cahill, Hazard, Oscar, Azpilicueta, Moses, Ba - so it looks like it might have leapfrogged Tottenham a bit (which also did a fair amount of reloading). Yet Arsenal's sagging below both of them at the moment. Obviously there's a lot of season to play still, but right now Tottenham looks like it should win a Champions League slot.

The Manchesters are the class of the league, though I don't think they're that far ahead of everyone else in terms of quality. What really separates Man U is it grinds out results like no one's business. It turns draws into wins, and losses into draws (e.g. should have lost to Tottenham, but salvaged a point out of it, almost stole three).

[NJReds]

Originally Posted by M2

Pretty much. He's by far the top field player. After him it's either Dolo or Earnie Stewart. You could also argue for Brian McBride or Roy Wegerle, though Wegerle didn't join the USMNT until the downside of his career. Howard and Friedel are having fairly awesome careers in the net, but keepers are an entirely different animal.

Caught Roma v. Inter yesterday in Serie A, and I have to say that I'm impressed with the progress of Michael Bradley. He played brilliant midfield and set up numerous scorning chances that Roma's strikers failed to convert.

He seems so much more confident in that playmaking role. I have to admit, I thought he got promoted too quickly to the USMNT because he was the coach's son. But I like the way he's developed his game.

[IslandRed]

Originally Posted by M2

Bale's awesome, arguably the best winger in the EPL and the best player Spurs have got at the moment. He's the latest guy to make England fans regret that Wales plays as its own separate nation rather than as part of the English national team.

Speaking of Wales -- as a relative latecomer to soccer and the EPL, I have to admit that I like Swansea as much as any team right now. The storyline of being the first Welsh team to be promoted to the top tier was cool, but I like the passing game they play, and now that Rodgers has gone to Liverpool I'm finding myself catching their games too. I just like the Barcelona style, I guess, I was rooting for Spain by the end of the 2010 World Cup.

I did make the determination that, since I didn't grow up a fan of any of these teams, I wasn't going to be a front-runner and latch onto the three or four usual suspects. I mean, what would we think of an expat Brit who just discovered baseball and decided he was going to be a fan of the Yankees or Red Sox? Poser, right?

[WMR]

It's much easier to be a fan of a big club (More coverage) so I understand it from that perspective. Since I wasn't "born" with a team, I find myself more floating around to whichever team at the moment has players that I like. Was a big Reading fan for awhile...

Mainly just like to see the amazing highlights and great match ups...

[improbus]

Originally Posted by WMR

It's much easier to be a fan of a big club (More coverage) so I understand it from that perspective. Since I wasn't "born" with a team, I find myself more floating around to whichever team at the moment has players that I like. Was a big Reading fan for awhile...

Mainly just like to see the amazing highlights and great match ups...

I agree. It is nice to have a sport that I can watch without being tethered to one team. It allows me to watch the good games and ignore poor ones.

[M2]

Originally Posted by NJReds

Caught Roma v. Inter yesterday in Serie A, and I have to say that I'm impressed with the progress of Michael Bradley. He played brilliant midfield and set up numerous scorning chances that Roma's strikers failed to convert.

He seems so much more confident in that playmaking role. I have to admit, I thought he got promoted too quickly to the USMNT because he was the coach's son. But I like the way he's developed his game.

Bradley's a heck of a player. He's got a chance to set a new bar. Certainly he's proving that there was a lot more than nepotism to his national team inclusion back when dad was coaching.

Originally Posted by IslandRed

Speaking of Wales -- as a relative latecomer to soccer and the EPL, I have to admit that I like Swansea as much as any team right now.

Swansea is a fun team. They play the game with a lot more flair than most EPL teams. It'll be interesting to see if Michael Laudrup stays around beyond this season. There's rumors he could be up for a job in Spain, where he's revered as a legend.

I highly recommend watching German soccer. It is an action league. Everybody's discovered the Dortmund boy band (aka Color Me BVB), but there's quality teams all over Germany.

Originally Posted by WMR

It's much easier to be a fan of a big club (More coverage) so I understand it from that perspective. Since I wasn't "born" with a team, I find myself more floating around to whichever team at the moment has players that I like. Was a big Reading fan for awhile...

Mainly just like to see the amazing highlights and great match ups...

I tend to be the same way, just want to see a quality game. Though I became fan of the sport back in 1987 when I was in Madrid, so I'm tethered for life to Real Madrid.

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by M2

Bradley's a heck of a player. He's got a chance to set a new bar. Certainly he's proving that there was a lot more than nepotism to his national team inclusion back when dad was coaching.



Swansea is a fun team. They play the game with a lot more flair than most EPL teams. It'll be interesting to see if Michael Laudrup stays around beyond this season. There's rumors he could be up for a job in Spain, where he's revered as a legend.

I highly recommend watching German soccer. It is an action league. Everybody's discovered the Dortmund boy band (aka Color Me BVB), but there's quality teams all over Germany.


I tend to be the same way, just want to see a quality game. Though I became fan of the sport back in 1987 when I was in Madrid, so I'm tethered for life to Real Madrid.

Watching the Bundesliga would be great, if the league actually sold the US tv rights to a network that cable operators actually carried. I find it ridiculous that the Bundesliga is only on GolTV and SerieA, La Liga, and Ligue1 have all gone to Al Jazeera's BeIn Sports. It's like they've all decided to cash in on short-term money by selling to networks nobody gets instead of seeking to get on more sets to promote their brands. Meanwhile, the Barclay's Premier League has been able parlay its exposure on Fox Soccer and ESPN into a bigger deal with NBC Sports. Soccer on TV has become increasingly popular with the 18-35 set, but it seems like the other Big 4 leagues seem content to let the EPL have the US market.

[5TimeWSChamps]

Originally Posted by Yachtzee

Watching the Bundesliga would be great, if the league actually sold the US tv rights to a network that cable operators actually carried. I find it ridiculous that the Bundesliga is only on GolTV and SerieA, La Liga, and Ligue1 have all gone to Al Jazeera's BeIn Sports. It's like they've all decided to cash in on short-term money by selling to networks nobody gets instead of seeking to get on more sets to promote their brands. Meanwhile, the Barclay's Premier League has been able parlay its exposure on Fox Soccer and ESPN into a bigger deal with NBC Sports. Soccer on TV has become increasingly popular with the 18-35 set, but it seems like the other Big 4 leagues seem content to let the EPL have the US market.

It's just a matter of time until BeIN Sport replaces Fox Soccer on all the cable networks sports "tier" or whatever it's called.

Don't forget, it took awhile for Fox Soccer to be this readily available like it is now.

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by 5TimeWSChamps

It's just a matter of time until BeIN Sport replaces Fox Soccer on all the cable networks sports "tier" or whatever it's called.

Don't forget, it took awhile for Fox Soccer to be this readily available like it is now.

Of course, News Corp. was able to get Fox Soccer on a lot of carriers because it owns Fox Sports Regional Networks, Fox News, FX, and maybe a couple of other networks it could use to bundle as a package deal to get Fox Soccer into the main tier, rather than the "pay extra for it" sports tier. I have Fox Soccer in my basic package (I can pay extra if I want their second channel, Fox Soccer Plus). I also have NBCSportsNet in my basic package, probably because NBCUniversal and Comcast have a boatload of networks they can package to entice carriers to put it in the basic tier. What does Al Jazeera offer besides BeIn and Al Jazeera America that will get cable carriers to not only pick it up, but offer it in the main tier rather than sticking it in some premium tier?

[5TimeWSChamps]

Originally Posted by Yachtzee

Of course, News Corp. was able to get Fox Soccer on a lot of carriers because it owns Fox Sports Regional Networks, Fox News, FX, and maybe a couple of other networks it could use to bundle as a package deal to get Fox Soccer into the main tier, rather than the "pay extra for it" sports tier. I have Fox Soccer in my basic package (I can pay extra if I want their second channel, Fox Soccer Plus). I also have NBCSportsNet in my basic package, probably because NBCUniversal and Comcast have a boatload of networks they can package to entice carriers to put it in the basic tier. What does Al Jazeera offer besides BeIn and Al Jazeera America that will get cable carriers to not only pick it up, but offer it in the main tier rather than sticking it in some premium tier?

See, I didn't get Fox Soccer forever because none of the cable I could get offered it (Insight). It also took forever for them to get an HD channel as well.

Per the rumors of Fox turning FSC into an entertainment channel (I've heard they are going to split FX up into FX Comedy and FX Drama, similar to TBS/TNT), I think the price of BeIN Sport will drop so that it comes on your normal sports tier or wherever it is

[reds1869]

Originally Posted by IslandRed

I did make the determination that, since I didn't grow up a fan of any of these teams, I wasn't going to be a front-runner and latch onto the three or four usual suspects. I mean, what would we think of an expat Brit who just discovered baseball and decided he was going to be a fan of the Yankees or Red Sox? Poser, right?

Be careful, that's how I ended up a Bristol City fan while spending time in England. They're going to be a blast to follow in League 1 next year.

[M2]

I get GolTV and am seriously furious at my cable operator for not having BeIN. The competition has it and I'm on the verge of switching as I'm sick of watching Madrid games on spotty pirate feeds.

The exodus to BeIN was a blatant cash grab that screwed over U.S. fans of La Liga and Serie A teams (Ligue 1 too I suppose, though it was tough to find Ligue 1 broadcasts in the U.S.). It's especially tough because the world's most entertaining color man, Ray Hudson, jumped to BeIN as well. Do yourself a favor and subscribe to the LiveRayHudson Twitter feed.

Anyway, as 5TWSC said, BeIN''s going to see the wisdom of cutting its price in order to pick up more U.S. cable operators. The advertising revenue and growth potential. It clearly wants to have a separate soccer channel, perhaps gobble up the Tennis and Golf channels, and then have a worldwide sports channel covering stuff that's hard to find in the U.S. None of that happens if it fails to plant its flagpole in most U.S. markets.

[reds1869]

I think beIn faces an uphill battle due to their ownership. Time Warner has already proven there is at least one major provider who has no interest in Al-Jazeera.