Nil-nil for every guess would be worth at least three or four points every week.
[Soccer] English Premier League Discussion Thread
- Thread starter Dave
- Start date
I think tegid may want a word with you...I take solace in knowing that, on a points-per-match-valuated basis, I'm second behind Bhamv only
foreigners don't count
NaaaaaaahForeigners relative to what?Oh, that's the joke, isn't it?
And hey, I think Belgium's doing pretty good these days in soccer
Heh, I took Everton to win there, didn't think it'd be by 3 goals though. Arsenal have been fucking dire away from home against the other 4 teams in the top 5, it's pretty much why they're not title contenders.
I figured they'd lose against the other big 4 teams, I didn't know teams like Everton would get in the act too.
Everton are going great right now, I like their chances of beating Arsenal to the last CL spot.
I'll just stick this here so as to avoid creating a second thread about soccer.
I may or may not have predicted a loss for Manchester City.
I just kinda want Liverpool to win the title, is all.
Well with MC dispatching AV today, & with the goal differential so far in City's favor, there is really only one scenario for which Liverpool can win the championship. (Hint: it includes a MC loss vs West Ham). I just happened to be awake & watching the Liverpool game the other day when they fell apart vs Crystal Palace. How the game shifted from Liverpool in a flurry to run up the score, to scratching just to save a point, was just amazing.
On that note, the way the EPL handles the last day of the season is so exciting. All 10 games taking place at once so no one has a competitive advantage is brilliant. Two years ago when City scored those two late goals to win the championship was wonderful. If you could guarantee me that kind of excitement I would watch soccer all the time.
Not to mention the entire concept of relegation. Imagine if the Cleveland Browns were forced out of the NFL because they suck so bad
On that note, the way the EPL handles the last day of the season is so exciting. All 10 games taking place at once so no one has a competitive advantage is brilliant. Two years ago when City scored those two late goals to win the championship was wonderful. If you could guarantee me that kind of excitement I would watch soccer all the time.
Not to mention the entire concept of relegation. Imagine if the Cleveland Browns were forced out of the NFL because they suck so bad
Realistically speaking, Manchester City aren't going to lose against West Ham. Not when the title is on the line, and not when they've got so many proven winners in the squad.Well with MC dispatching AV today, & with the goal differential so far in City's favor, there is really only one scenario for which Liverpool can win the championship. (Hint: it includes a MC loss vs West Ham). I just happened to be awake & watching the Liverpool game the other day when they fell apart vs Crystal Palace. How the game shifted from Liverpool in a flurry to run up the score, to scratching just to save a point, was just amazing.
On that note, the way the EPL handles the last day of the season is so exciting. All 10 games taking place at once so no one has a competitive advantage is brilliant. Two years ago when City scored those two late goals to win the championship was wonderful. If you could guarantee me that kind of excitement I would watch soccer all the time.
Not to mention the entire concept of relegation. Imagine if the Cleveland Browns were forced out of the NFL because they suck so bad
However, if West Ham do manage to pull off the upset, and Liverpool win to win the title, then this will be a final day to rival last year's in drama and excitement.
LET'S GO HAMMERS!
Not looking good for Liverpool. City up 2 with 20m to play.
Well at least it seems that the draw with CP didn't really make a difference to Liverpool as they would have lost on differential anyways.
I love that a league that plays many games, does not have a play off. I wished Basketball and Baseball would do the same.
I have to honestly say it was entirely down to luck.
Now where's my prize @Dave?
EDIT: Just in case anyone can't tell, the joke is that I don't deserve a prize because it was down to luck. I don't wanna sound crass or ungrateful or entitled or dickish.
It is somewhat unique yes. Makes for some good drama like a couple of seasons ago. But it can also somewhat lead to the opposite, like last year. The EPL is just the perfect size, as is the UK & travel distance, for there to be a balanced & meaningful season with no need for a season ending tourney. The relegation aspect also helps keep things somewhat interesting for the awful teams, as well as serving to bring some fresh talent into the league every year.
Baseball OTOH, with the nature & pace of the game, allows for a lot of games to be played in short amounts of time. The size of the country & travel schedules makes it somewhat necessary to split into 2 separate leagues. In the old days of baseball there were no playoffs, just a 7 game series between the two league champions at the end of the season. A World Series championship meant something back then. But over the years, in order to keep more fans interested later in the season, they kept adding playoff slots.
Basketball, yeah... too many playoff teams. I think NBA & NHL both have more teams that MAKE the playoffs than don't. Don't see it as much in basketball, but giving a team that barely had a winning record a second chance in playoffs - all they need is a hot goaltender & they can make something of it.
The NFL would be best suited for a situation like the EPL. But the physicality of the game won't allow for much more than the current 16 games schedule. I suppose they could eliminate inter-conference play & just play each other team in their conference once, but then there's some disparity in home/away games. Using the EPL model, they would have to play 30 regular season games to allow for 15 home & home games. Then I guess either have the Super Bowl as-is or they could switch to a 2 game series. Since the SB is usually a neutral site game, they could get away with just the one game. I suppose if they stretched the season out like the EPL (i.e. play over 30 -32 weeks instead of the current 17). Start beginning of September, regular season ends end of April - with the Super Bowl at the beginning of May. That leaves 3 months of offseason, which ain't happening because of how brutal that game is. Not to mention the cow that would be birthed by the NFLPA. They're having enough of a hissy fit over talk of expanding to 18 games.
If my experience in Football Manager 2013 is any indication, a Premiership team can win up to 6 trophies a season. (Super Cup, Community Shield, the EPL, FA Cup, League Cup, and Champions League/Europa League)
Of course, this does involve winning a lot of stuff the season before, too.
That is a good point. The best teams have opportunities to play in things like the Champion's League, which in essence allows for more money making home games. And what is the Champion's league but an extended "playoff" tournament of league champions & runner-ups?
Also, what makes Futbol even more unique is that there exist a number of leagues throughout the world which have nearly equal skill levels. EPL, Serie A, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, La Liga, Eredivisie - that's just europe. Throw in the Campeonato in Brazil and there's planty of opportunity for the best players in the world. There's no need for so called "minor leagues" because there's so many teams across the world. Sure there are a few teams that monopolize the best talent - ManU, Real Madrid, Barca, Bayern, Ajax etc. But eventually the talent level starts to level off.
OTOH - leagues in the US like the NBA, MLB & NHL are far & away the best & most lucrative opportunities for players of the highest skill level. Japanese baseball is getting close, but they're pretty restrictive to foreigners. There are a couple of european basketball leagues that are getting pretty good, and the KHL is pretty good as well. But the US leagues all provide the best opportunity, with all the others taking the leftovers. A dig at a lot of college basketball players these days is to say "He'll do pretty well in Europe"
The NBA and NHL have 16 of their 30 teams make the playoffs. Thing is, the NHL plays best-of-seven series all the way to the Cup finals - which means (potentially) an extra 28 games maximum for a team to play in a single playoff season.
MLB has only 10 of its 30 make the playoffs - and realistically only 8 of those play any significant number of games (the one-game wild-card "play in" is a joke, IMNSHO).
20 of the NFL's 32 teams do not make the post-season, though Goodell is trying to change that so 14 teams do make it.
I don't think relegation would go over well in the US, though there are times when I wonder if it should be done.
MLB has only 10 of its 30 make the playoffs - and realistically only 8 of those play any significant number of games (the one-game wild-card "play in" is a joke, IMNSHO).
20 of the NFL's 32 teams do not make the post-season, though Goodell is trying to change that so 14 teams do make it.
I don't think relegation would go over well in the US, though there are times when I wonder if it should be done.
NBA now plays 7 games all the way thru the playoffs now as well. The toll here is that in winning a championship, players extend their season by 2 months, thus leaving them a shorter offseason for recovery - not even counting seasons with Olympics during the summer shortening the offseason even more.
The more teams that make the playoffs, the better chance to keep the fans interested in the regular season. The NFL's "short" season (and thus, ticket "scarcity") pretty much guarantees that every game will be a sellout, or at least close, usually before the season even begins. Even the shitty teams. Look at the Browns. They just sold 3K season tickets based on a draft pick. Hockey & Basketball have smaller arenas, so its a little easier to sell out the larger number of games. Baseball is trending toward smaller, more intimate baseball-only parks. Teams are learning that even if you present a shitty product, if the ballpark experience is enjoyable - people will go (see: Chicago Cubs)
Relegation will never happen in the US due to the amateur draft system & things like baseball's minor league system. Minor league teams are filled with prospects that have contracts with major league teams. If they're good enough, they eventually get called up to the bigs. In the UK there are lots of very good club teams in the next tier leagues that are ready to compete in the EPL given the chance. This would be comparable to bringing the entire Louisville Bats team (Cincinnati's AAA affiliate) up to the major leagues for a season. Problem is, those players are all under contract with the Reds.
It *could* be a good thing however. We just spent the last couple of months discussing whether or not the 76ers were "tanking" the end of the season to get the best chance at the #1 pick in the draft. Maybe if they had to play to stay *in* the league they wouldn't have to worry about tanking.
This came up on some sports shows at the beginning of the season. If they knew going in that they weren't going to make the playoffs, teams were going to shoot for the lottery picks instead.