The final whistle blows. A new World Cup champion is crowned after today. For the last month, sports fanatics in the USA have been exposed to some of the World's best football, and thanks to our own Team USA, the Football Fever kicked into high gear with record breaking ratings and spurred many huge gatherings to watch games all over the country.
For those who follow soccer primarily during the world cup and are maybe interested in learning some more, Zeets and I here are here to tell you there's plenty of life after soccer.
You can go find yourself a club, either local or international.
- MLS is going to be aired weekly on ESPN and Fox Sports.
- NBC just won several awards for their coverage of this past season's Barclay's Premier League coverage. It was the first time US fans were allowed to get EPL coverage wall to wall (ESPN used to air one or two games a week) and it was absolutely fantastic. Very refreshing from the cliche American sports pre-game/post-game/half-time and daily coverage. Generally, NBC airs 3-4 games on a normal Saturday morning (EST here is going to be primetime there local). 7:45am game, a 9:45am game, a 12:45 game and sometimes a 2:30 game. Remember that Saturday's in England, are the equivalent to NFL Sunday's here. And Sunday's in England are sort of like Monday Night here. Sunday's usually have 2 games max but are generally marquee games featuring the topside squads in the league. During the midpoint of the season, the EPL schedule generally starts having games fall on a Tuesday-Thursday-Wednesday etc so some teams can play up to 3 games in a week's span. That's where the men are separated from the boys when the schedule gets brutal.
- Keep in mind there are also 2 other simultaneous single elimination tournaments going on during the EPL season that are independent of the EPL season. You have the FA Cup (Football Association) which comprises of teams from nearly all the leagues in England (the lower tiers which we consider minor leagues). You can see some of the big squads get knocked off by lesser known teams or neighborhood teams. You also have the League Cup which is historically known as the Carling Cup.
Here is a list of the current notable teams in the Premier League:
Manchester United aka Man U, United, Fergies Boys, Biggest Bandwagon in The World - The Cardinals of the BPL.
Zito says: Great team, big spenders, but living under a shadow of a great coach retired. Key players, Wayne Rooney (England), Nani (Portugal), Juan Mata (Spain) oh and they hate being called Man U
SAV says: Cunts, lots of winning in the last two decades and you can’t take that away from them. Alex Ferguson is the most successful manager in premier league history… can be seen as maybe the Phil Jackson of the EPL. Doesn’t disqualify the fact they’re cunts. They play at “Old Trafford”. Same owner as Tampa Bay Bucs.
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Manchester City aka Man City, City, Etihads.-
Zito says: The Dodgers of the BPL. New money has gone wild bringing in big name players with constant big money transfers. Key players Vincent Kompany (Belgium), Sergio Aguero (Argentina), David Silva (Spain) and Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast).
SAV says: The Dodgers. New ownership a few years ago and they’ve been spending and buying championships. They’ve been the best team in Manchester the last few years. They play at the “Etihad Stadium”. They can score at will most of the time.
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Chelsea - Josie's Boys
Zito Says: Yankees of the BPL. Spend big bucks all the time to compete, team you hate unless you love. Notable players, Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Eden Hazard (Belgium), and Oscar (Brazil)
SAV says: Not as big of cunts as Man U, but because Jose Mourinho is their manager, they’re slotted in that category as well. They’ve been big spenders for a decade now when they became relevant in EPL play yearly. They’ve had some notable players over the years, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba… for all you USMNT fans, our buddy Eden Hazard of Belgium plays for them.
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Liverpool aka Pool –
Zeets say: Pirates of the BPL. Used to be a storied Franchise, after years of toiling are seeming finding form. Notable players Luis "The Cannibal" Suarez (Transylvania), Steven Gerrard (England), and Daniel Sturridge (England)
SAV says: Pirates, Notre Dame. All of their glory days happened decades ago. The Cannibal is no longer with them, which is going to make them competing for the title next year a bit more difficult. The image of Suarez on his knees crying after choking a 3-0 lead to Crystal Palace which would’ve been a virtual clinch of the title still makes me giggle.
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Arsenal – The Gunners or native pronunciation of “Gooners”.
Zeets say: Phillies of the BPL. Were great some time ago, now fans hold lofty goals of what to expectNotable players Mesut Ozil (Germany) Jack Wilshere (England) and a cast of former players they were too cheap to retain (that they don't share with the Phillies)
SAV say: The natural team any Atlanta Braves fan should gravitate towards. Have always been fiscally sound since their current manager, Arsene Wenger, took over almost 2 decades ago. Model their organization more on player development and scouting over purchasing power like Man U or Chelsea. Have the ability to sign a great player but can have the reputation for being somewhat cheap. Built a new stadium in 2004, which the debt is almost done being paid off, which will give them even more purchasing power soon. Have always had a reputation for beautiful football on the pitch. Because they’re like the Braves with long-time organization stability and player development, they’ve also admittedly choked a bunch in the clutch… Finally won a trophy for the first time in almost a decade a few months ago. Wenger is the futbol version of our own Bobby Cox. A player’s manager that never badmouths his guys publicly even when they are underperforming. Player loyalty as well, sometimes giving weaker players too much playing time. He probably just signed his last new contract which will hopefully see him ride off into the sunset with some new trophies.
Everton -
Zeets says: A's of the BPL. Team that's seemingly always in the hunt despite comparatively low pay. Notable players, Timmy Howard (USA!) Leighton Baines (England) and Kevin Mirallas (Belgium)
SAV says: I’d agree. Our own Landycakes spent a few tours playing for Everton. Hard to root against them really… just a blue collar team.
Tottenham – aka Totten****, Spurs, Spuds.
Zeets says: Reds of the BPL. Always pretty good. Hovering around the top but never quite getting there. Notable players Hugo Lloris (France) Jan Vertonghen (Belgium), Paulinho (Brazil)
SAV says: This is gilesfan’s favorite team. Is there anything else to say? Oh their biggest rival is Arsenal, and pretty much everyone outside of Tottenham’s fanbase knows who owns North London. I’m trying to come up with an analogous American Pro Sports team to compare them to but all I can think of is feces.
We’ll ignore the rest of the BPL but there are lots of cool little clubs to root for further down the list: Newcastle, Aston Villa, Sunderland (Altidore’s current team), Fulham (Dempsey’s team that just got relegated).
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Other Notable European Clubs
Barcelona [La Liga] - Big spenders with lots of big players. Messi (Argentina) Xavi (Spain) Iniesta (Spain) Neymar (Brazil), Ivan Rakitic (Croatia) and many many more. Just sold Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal, and bought Suarez from Liverpool.
Real Madrid [La Liga] - Biggest spenders. Ronaldo (Portugal), Luka Modric (Croatia), Xabi Alonso (Spain), Karim Benzema (France), Marcelo (Brazil), Gilesfan’s biggest ex-loverboy Gareth Bale, and more.
Paris Saint-Germain [Ligue 1]- The newest big spending team in the world. Notable players Edinson Cavani (Uruguay), David Luiz (Brazil), Thiago Silva (Brazil), and my one non-world cup participant as he's heavily talked about Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)
Bayern Munich [Bundesliga] - Big spending german club. Notable players Robben (Netherlands), Shaqiri (Swiss), Mario Gotze (Germany), Thomas Muller (Germany), Toni Kroos (Germany) and many more Germans.
Borussia Dortmund [Bundesliga] - Been fighting Bayern for top spot for quite some time. Not many players heavily featured in the World Cup. Only ones are Mats hummels (Germany) and Sokratis (Greece)
AC Milan [ Serie A ] - Notable players such as Balotelli, Kaka, etc.
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Originally Posted by zitothebrave
