2014-2015 Barclays Premier League Discussion Thread

[schriznoeder]

Only 5 more days until kickoff! Thoughts on who will finish in the top four? I'm thinking the final standings will look something like this...

 

1. Chelsea

2. Arsenal

3. Manchester City

4. Liverpool

[zoogs]

I've never followed club soccer before but I'll try to catch a few Arsenal games this year. I've become quite a fan of Mesut Ozil and the German national team (most of the rest of whom seem to play on Bayern).

 

Does NBC stream EPL games online, or do you need a cable subscription for that?

[GM_Tood]

1. Man City

2. Chelsea

3. Man Unt.

4. Arsenal

[default_28]

I've never followed club soccer before but I'll try to catch a few Arsenal games this year. I've become quite a fan of Mesut Ozil and the German national team (most of the rest of whom seem to play on Bayern).Does NBC stream EPL games online, or do you need a cable subscription for that?

They stream them on their NBC Sports Live Extra app. But you have to prove you have a cable or satellite subscription to watch.

[schriznoeder]

I've never followed club soccer before but I'll try to catch a few Arsenal games this year. I've become quite a fan of Mesut Ozil and the German national team (most of the rest of whom seem to play on Bayern).

 

Does NBC stream EPL games online, or do you need a cable subscription for that?

 

I'm a huge Özil fan myself. So when he joined my favorite club team last summer, I was super stoked. His performance during the EPL season and the WC were both pretty meh. But when he's "on" he's amazing to watch. I'll chalk up his so-so debut with Arsenal to not being prepared for the physicality of the EPL, and his play during the WC to being lost in the shuffle of amazing German midfield talent (Schweinsteiger, Kroos, Götze, Müller, Khedira, Schürrle, etc.). I'm expecting much bigger things for him this season, which is why I picked Arsenal to finish second. Go Gunners!

[schriznoeder]

Arsenal won and Man United lost. Great way to start the season.

[VectorVictor]

Sorry, didn't see until after the first week.

 

Liverpool

Manchester City

Arsenal

Everton

 

---

 

Going one step further, here's who I think will taste relegation:

 

Burnley FC

West Brom

West Ham

 

Really am excited to see how Leicester City does--they kept their team intact from last season, with only a small addition. It's a great litmus test of team play focus vs. star player focus IMO.

[mrandyk]

Never watched a Premier League game in my life until a couple days ago. I'll be pulling for Everton, just so I can watch Tim Howard play.

[schriznoeder]

Sorry, didn't see until after the first week.

 

Liverpool

Manchester City

Arsenal

Everton

 

---

 

Going one step further, here's who I think will taste relegation:

 

Burnley FC

West Brom

West Ham

 

Really am excited to see how Leicester City does--they kept their team intact from last season, with only a small addition. It's a great litmus test of team play focus vs. star player focus IMO.

 

Good choices for relegation. And I'm excited to see how Leicester City does as well. Based on how well they play together, I'm thinking a top-ten finish is definitely a possibility.

[GM_Tood]

 

U.S. Record 3.3. Million Viewers Tune Into NBC Sports Group's Opening Weekend of Premier League Coverage

 

[EbylHusker]

Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool are my top 4, in that order. I don't believe Arsenal has enough attacking threat to take the 2nd spot by the end of the season. Man City could give Chelsea a run for their money, I think it'll be close between those two through the entire season - quite possibly decided by the head to head games.

 

Relegation...f#*k, who knows. That's always a pure crapshoot, especially with how volatile the BPL is.

 

As a side note, Arsenal is 0-0 with Besiktas in the UEFA Champion's League playoff (first leg), and Arsenal is currently down to 10 men.

[schriznoeder]

U.S. Record 3.3. Million Viewers Tune Into NBC Sports Group's Opening Weekend of Premier League Coverage

 

It's been a long climb, but the BPL is finally catching on in the U.S.

[schriznoeder]

Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool are my top 4, in that order. I don't believe Arsenal has enough attacking threat to take the 2nd spot by the end of the season. Man City could give Chelsea a run for their money, I think it'll be close between those two through the entire season - quite possibly decided by the head to head games.

 

Relegation...f#*k, who knows. That's always a pure crapshoot, especially with how volatile the BPL is.

 

As a side note, Arsenal is 0-0 with Besiktas in the UEFA Champion's League playoff (first leg), and Arsenal is currently down to 10 men.

 

You're probably right about Man City finishing ahead of Arsenal. I picked the Gunners to finish second mostly because I'm high on the new transfers (especially if they can still get Sami Khedira), and I really think they're going to play with a chip on their shoulder after last season's mid-season collapse.

 

Sounds like Arsenal was lucky to hang on for a tie. Now they just need a win at home to advance to the group stage.

[zoogs]

So the champions league playoffs are going on concurrently to the EPL season? How's that work?

[EbylHusker]

You qualify for the Champions League (or Europa League, the one just below it) that takes place during the next season. So because of Arsenal's finish in the BPL last season, they are playing in the Champion's League this season (specifically the playoff to get into the Champion's League proper, which starts with the Group Stage later on, since they finished 4th in the BPL). It's a strange mechanic for those used to other sports, since this year's teams will be playing in the Champions and Europa leagues even though it was last years teams that qualified (though admittedly very often not that much changes).

 

It's one thing a lot of people don't take into consideration with soccer, especially the good teams that make deep runs into these non-league commitments. Real Madrid last season, for instance, played their league games, all of the Champions League games (since they won it), and their own internal league cup. Good teams from other leagues go through the same thing - it's way, way more games than just the league games, at least for the top teams in the world.

 

So a lot of strategy comes into play regarding when you can rest players on the easier games so they can be fresh for the big ones, etc. The best managers walk a very thin line with which players to play and when. It's also why the really, really good teams require so much money - their rosters are essentially packed with top players, a lot of them often sitting the bench as "super subs." So when a team like Real Madrid subs in players for a game to rest them, their enormous financial resources allow those subs to actually be good enough to start on most other club teams. That allows the top, top teams to be competitive across multple commitments outside their leagues, which lesser teams simply can't do.

 

And of course, you also have players with international team commitments, too, which only adds to their workload on occasion.