I’m going to bet that I am older than you are, making your first point moot. There are fans that never go to games for a multitude of reasons. Some can’t afford it, some just like to complain from a distance, but they still support and will enjoy the victories you will consider bought. It’s just how it is.
And yet it's exalted as some supremely entertaining league blah blah blah. The top 6 is always the same. The bottom three are rarely surprising. So we're watching a 20-team league to see where positions 7-17 fall? Snore.
So I am not Chelsea fan but for this one time agree with them. I think the ref had a bet on draw for that one.
I have no clue when your interest in the game started. I have met few hardcore Chelsea fans in the US who have heard of Dennis Wise or John Clarke. I'm guessing a majority of City fans who had season tickets when the team was in the third tier have been priced out and I've met a few personally. Newcastle may go on to win titles and what not but the fanbase will look different in a decade and I'm not sure that's a good thing. I know it's a business but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
It's amazingly entertaining. The skill level in EPL top to bottom is better than any other league even if the final standings aren't in doubt. I understand your pain. I'm a Hull City fan and don't want us to get promoted. I would rather be competitive 38 games a season than be a sacrifice for 20 games which would happen if we moved up.
If one of the EPL teams won every year.... The issue with the Bundesliga is that the last time a team other than Bayern won was 12 seasons ago. Twelve. That's a bit different than the EPL where there hasn't been a team winning it 4 years running and only twice has a team won it three times in a row. That is, at least, a bit more competitive than the BL.
If we know who the top two teams are gonna be every season, that’s kinda lame. English fans slammed La Liga with that for years, now there is no difference.
We don't know. Man City looks to be the top again this year but Chelsea and Liverpool have dropped points early. Team BoneSaw will be making a splash in the coming years. West Ham is on the rise. Spurs might be able to ride Conte to a top 4 before he wears out his welcome. The EPL is by far the deepest of the european leagues.
We're saying that we don't know that who will be top two because Liverpool dropped points early, a half breath before claiming a West Ham that was blanked before Nottingham Forest is on the rise. Interesting. The EPL is the richest league, by far. Even teams in the bottom half of the table have the capability to buy near finished products from Italian, Spanish, French, and Portuguese Leagues at prices that would eliminate near all teams from those leagues to even consider these holding onto or bidding for these players. Does that make the league deep? Probably. Does that make the league very exciting in terms of eventual outcomes? Not really. Over the course of 38 games Liverpool will make up these early dropped points. Man City will remain near top. West Ham will hover around top 6 - 8. Arsenal, Spurs, and Chelsea will do what they do. There is great soccer being played their, but the outcomes are essentially already determined. And to the extent which a top 4 or UCL qualifying place actually means something in other European Leagues due to prize money, it means less in the EPL due actual tv dollars and revenue for the league. The EPL has purchased many of the best players in the world, and has many of the best teams in the world. Several of the teams even play a really attractive brand of football. But the primary entertainment value of the EPL is watching American fans who latched onto bandwagon clubs absolutely lose their shit when they aren't given the results they feel entitled to. Given the amount of those fans, it's the worlds deepest league for schadenfreude.
While Hang can certainly turn a phrase, his points are often lost in the flowery prose, and are also often wrong. The entertainment value in the EPL is watching the highest level of soccer played anywhere in the world on a daily basis. That's why they have the TV money and the ability to buy the top players.
Would you rather watch Bayern win 5-0? Or PSG? I would watch a random EPL game over any of the other leagues. I am sure Hang will wax poetic about his Roma and their third or fourth tier European trophy from last year, and I did give them a try last year to watch Tammy Abraham, but it just wasn't interesting to me. YMMV.
Get Wolves name out of your mouth! Lifelong Wolves fans like myself love the Portugal to Wolverhapton Jorge Mendes Pipeline.
Yeeeeesh. You know things are going poorly when after a an early summer of mocking a third tier trophy, to little success, you attempt to knock it down yet another tier. To think in just five short years we defeated Real Madrid to win The Mabel Green Cup, and then a third or fourth tier European Trophy. There is a joy earned, free of entitlement. I'm blessed to be a Roma supporter. What a city. What a club.
He was actually in Columbus a few weeks back for the 0-0 match against New England. Sent me pics and everything.
One thing I find endlessly entertaining is how some die hard fans of clubs (in all leagues) will be the first to slag off rivals, "Arsenal sucks! Tottenham is a shit club. Milan are always gifted by the refs! Lazio are fascists!" While the latter is undeniably true, some of these fans will be the first to back up their league if anyone attacks it. It's a very weird provincial mindset, similar to say how some cheer for the Big 10 or SEC come bowl or March Madness season. Thing is, there are so, so many poor games in every league every weekend. So many teams with very good players play mind numbingly dull affairs. It's the narrative of the season and the players involved that keep fans tuned in. And to be frank the EPL has a huge advantage in that sense from the narrative the league has been able to sell to a primarily English speaking world. It's a deep league, but that doesn't mean I enjoy watching Manchester United play down to the level of Southhampton, or in Italy seeing Inter playing down to the level of Lecce. More often than not, these aren't examples of a deep league, no matter what people are telling you. Usually it's just bad soccer. But, for me, because I'm more invested in Serie A emotionally, I've enjoyed more than my share of terrible matches involving Roma, Fiorentina, Sassuolo, Udinese, or Sampdoria, because I care about the narrative arc of those clubs and what they mean more than a Newcastle, West Ham, Arsenal, or another billion dollar underachieving EPL club. Like what you like. Unless you like Lazio or FC Porto. If so, then seek help.
I'm kinda like you but from a Bundesliga perspective. But I did note that Cremonese had jerseys Buckeye fans would like....
What an absolute calamity from the Cremonese keeper at the end. The East Coast Elite Group Chat was in shock.