Give me some EPL info!

[CerberusIV]

Southampton to go down. Liverpool 4th (well, I would say that ). Chelsea may well win simply because they have more strength in depth in their squad than Man U or Arsenal.

For the 2005-06 season Liverpool will win the Premiership as Benitez will have them playing his way by then.

[Zopperoni]

"The Reds". A bit of a joke these days. Liverpool were the dominant team in England and Europe from the late 70s well into the 80s. Since 1990 the team has ranged from average to useless. Right now they aren't going anywhere.

Except when they won the UEFA Cup

They're not going nowhere. Some good decisions were made actually in getting rid of Houllier and Heskey. The team has potential, much potential, and we'll see if Benitez can exploit it.

[Zopperoni]

Re: Give me some EPL info!

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
if you want to tell me something fun about the Dutch League (Zop ) go right ahead.

From a competitive standpoint, it's boring because Ajax will be superior once again

From a football standpoint, it's not that bad. There's usually a very offensive mentality, quite the opposite of the Italian "work football".

[Imran Siddiqui]

Thanks guys... Aggie, do you think the losing of Viera (which I hear is basically done) to Real will jeopardize Arsenal's 1st rating? Or do you think they can whether it? It seems many publications are picking Abramowich's plaything, Chelsea, as being the top of the board this year.

Oh Zop, all I really know about Dutch football is that Ajax is very good and PSV Eindhoven seems to enjoy being a European elite farm team .

[CerberusIV]

The Viera deal isn't done yet. The rumours that Real are sniffing around after Michael Owen again may mean that the Viera deal could fall through and Real want Owen so they can say they signed another star player this year.

Wenger isn't stupid. If Viera goes he has a plan to deal with that by now. It will make life harder for Arsenal but they are still definitely top three material even if they lose Viera.

[Agathon]

Except when they won the UEFA Cup

Who cares about third rate European trophies, we are talking about the PL. I mean, Newcastle have won that one (when it was the Fairs Cup) so it can't be that great.

[Maquiladora]

As a Spurs supporter I think we might go down this season. Too many second class signings again in the off season (except Robinson, best English GK available IMO).

[Agathon]

As a Spurs supporter...

I KNEW IT!!!!

[Maquiladora]

It does say who i support on the fanatasy premierleague. But you dont sound like you support Newcastle

[Agathon]

It does say who i support on the fanatasy premierleague. But you dont sound like you support Newcastle

I love them, I'm just a realist.

[Maquiladora]

I'm just a realist.

Ah, best way to be. I saw Shearer on tv last week talking them up, sounding like he'll be the manager when Bobby leaves at the end of this season.

[johncmcleod]

It is great to see fellow continentals with an interest in football. And gj Imran, it is about time traditional American sports fans like you starting to take an interest in such a great sport. Hopefully you can tell your friends and spread the word. Watch MLS too. It certainly isn't as good as EPL, but it has improved much in the last few years, and it needs support to get better. I rank it quite highly in level of play, as you will see later in the post. I decided my favorite team was Leeds a few years back because they had that great combination in Kewell and Viduka. I never really started intensely following the sport until last year. I don't get Fox Sports World, so I just read about them on the internet all of the time. I use premierleague.com, bbc.com, uefa.com, and ESPN's soccernet.com. Now Leeds has been relegated, but hopefully they will be back. I am not a frontrunner. All of my favorite teams: 49ers, Mariners, Sonics, Leeds, are all struggling right now.

The problem with EPL is its mix with sports and business. Newly promoted teams always get knocked back to D1 because they don't have the money to compete with teams like Arsenal and ManU. And then billionaires come and take over the teams and get them tons of money. It is really horrible. I'd love it if all countries had to adopt a salary cap.

Anyway, here is my ranking of the leagues. Most people think EPL is the third best league in the world, and I don't know many people that think it is better than the Spanish league, but I do. I think the Spanish league is overrated because the players in it can dribble. The Englishmen don't because it is just not their style of play, so they never learned how. And I put Serie A at the top. I think it is funny how people say it is boring defensive football but it averages more goals per game than La Liga or EPL. But, I digress.

1. Italy (remember these are leagues, not national teams)
2. England
3. Spain
4. Germany
5. France
6. Holland
7. Portugal
8. Argentina
9. Brazil
10. Belgium
11. Scotland
12. Turkey
13. Greece
14. Mexico
15. MLS

Afterwards would probably be the Scandinavian leagues, Eastern European Leagues, and the Colombian league maybe.

And here is how I rank the club teams (as of last season's performance though, for example Porto won't be nearly as good because their good players have been bought, but they were good last year so I ranked them high, in other words I am ranking last seasons teams):

1. AC Milan
2. Arsenal
3. Real Madrid
4. Juventus
5. Chelsea
6. Manchester United
7. Inter Milan
8. Deportivo
9. Roma
10.Barcelona
11.Bayern Munchen
12.Valencia
13.Lyon
14.Bremen
15.Porto
16.Monaco
17.Ajax
18.Liverpool
19.Celtic
20.Anderlecht
21.Parma
22.Stuttgart
23.Leverkusen
24.PSG
25.Galatasaray

And the players:

Top Strikers:

1. Thierry Henry
2. Ronaldo
3. Raul
4. Alessandro Del Piero
5. Ruud van Nistelrooij

Top Midfielders:

1. Zinedine Zidane
2. Ronaldinho
3. Pavel Nedved
4. Luis Figo
5. Frank Lampard

Top Defenders:

1. Roberto Carlos
2. Paolo Maldini
3. Cafu
4. Mikael Silvestre
5. Rio Ferdinand

Top Goalkeepers:

1. Oliver Kahn (though he's getting really old)
2. Gianluigi Buffon
3. Dida
4. Tim Howard
5. Carlo Cudicini

[Imran Siddiqui]

Well I did JUST start to take an interest in soccer . I played it for many years and have been interested in the World Cup for many years. Its just I haven't gotten into the leagues as much, except just a bit from the side. I did keep up with MLS, but when I moved to Atlanta from Jersey, I couldn't really keep up much with the Metrostars as I could up there.

[Maquiladora]

I think the Spanish league is overrated because the players in it can dribble. The Englishmen don't because it is just not their style of play, so they never learned how.

They do learn how, but its rare they make professionals because theyre usually kicked to **** when theyre kids for keeping the ball too long

And I put Serie A at the top. I think it is funny how people say it is boring defensive football but it averages more goals per game than La Liga or EPL. But, I digress.

I would say goals dont make a game exciting. EPL is end to end stuff in most games, even boring teams like Everton v Middlesborough. Watching a lot of serie A on tv on sunday afternoons here, most of the time inbetween the goal scoring was spent strolling around and passing the ball around the back 4 for half an hour.

[Agathon]

Ah, best way to be. I saw Shearer on tv last week talking them up, sounding like he'll be the manager when Bobby leaves at the end of this season.

I agree. I'm torn about Shearer being the manager. I think he will do a good job and will have the fans onside from the start. However, when he gets sacked it will be really bad for the club (the Keegan debacle was bad enough). One only has to look at McFaul to see what happens to former heroes.

It's a pity Joe Harvey is dead.