DISQUS

Well, commercial like that is plain dumb and unnecessary. Ergo, I am never buying another SONY product again. And will make sure my friends know about the situation. Very dumn move on the part of SONY.

NFL has absolutely no impact on my football watching habits. On a Sunday late afternoon, I sit back and enjoy a Primera game on Gol TV, usually Barca or Real(the Numancia 4:3 game was a beauty). And, honestly, this past weekend was one of the best Premier League weeks in a while, certainly the best so far this season. NFL? You're kidding, right?
ps: Let us write to FSC and make them start the Chelsea-United game LIVE this time, and by LIVE I mean 11:00am sharp, and not with the extremely annoying 4-5 minute delay!!!

Good move for FSC. Now, maybe, just maybe, they will start showing their live games LIVE, instead of with a 4 minute delay!!!

Getting rid of promotion/relegation in the Premier League(or any other league in Europe, for that matter) will not happen within our lifetime. And as somebody already mentioned, let us hope that the professional leagues in the US borrow the promotion/relegation model some (Garber, are you listening?Don't tell me it isn't "feasible" at the moment).

Let us wait before going nuts about Boro. They had a very good game yesterday, but it is just 1 out of 38. They play at Anfield next week against a very unconvincing Pool team. If they get out and play there, then we can talk.
Arsenal were not impressive yesterday. Granted, Fabregas didn't play but I can't see them win it this season.
Chelsea this morning were scary. Everyone knew that Deco will be a hit: he is a class of his own.
Dolan yesterday lashed out on Dawson from Tottenham, and had every right to. Dawson is one big misunderstanding. Tottenham need Ledley King back, and they need him quickly. Modric disappointed, but it was always going to be difficult in his first game.
Liverpool were pathetic, thank God for Torres. Didn't Rafa know that Torres and Keane are one and the same player, they have overlapping styles and pairing them together is highly unlikely to work(early days, but...)I hope Alonso stays.
Everton will struggle, they need 2/3 players at least to maintain a top 8 finish. Very little creativity there. Without Arteta and Cahill(still injured) they become a relegation-threatened team.

Dolan is quality. Barton did OK for his first time, I thought.
But I was talking to my friend from Sweden during the L'pool game and he told me Torres had scored a minute before I saw it "live" on FSC. Can anybody tell FSC to stop delaying the broadcast. Gaffer, do they have an excuse for it? I think not!
It bugs the be-Jeeesus out of me.
Setanta's programming is a class of its own(never mind the rugby) FSC is a joke in comparison.They are learning, maybe in another decade or so...
Dear FSC: stop delaying the broadcast! stop delaying the broadcast! stop delaying the broadcast!!!

Interesting articles, Gaffer.
I know that FSC and Setanta aren't on the Nielsen ratings scale(as subjective s an indicator Nielsen is), but I am dying to find out how many people in the United States will get up tomorrow morning, and spend a good 6 hours or more watching the games, from the early kick-off, Arse-WBA, all the way with Sunderland-Pool, and the replays after that.
Does anybody have an educated guess?

Berba's coming to town. I dislike United( to put it mildly) but buying the Bulgarian is their best purchase since Ronaldo. Yes, Berba is that good("top 3 strikers in the world" good)

Wow. Everyone predicting Chelsea to win it. Me too, actually. Spurs, as someone already pointed out, still have a bad defense. Will finish 5th-7th. I can see L'pool edgeing Arsenal for third, and Villa is probably the only team that can challenge the big four at the moment.
West Brom will stay up, Blackburn will have a difficult year, Man City are in peril due to recent developments with their scumbag of an owner. It's easy to say that both Hull and Stoke are going down.
Should be another fantastic season, a lot to look forward to. I would have loved to see how 2/3 of the top Russian players fare in the Premier League, but nothing so far.

Depth is a big issue for them. What if Cahill (like last year) or Arteta get injured? And now they sold AJ. Won't be surprised if they end up after 10th spot this year, or if Moyes quits over lack of $ to spend. I think that with the available resources, he has taken this team as far as they can go.

Very balanced analysis. If, as you said, they start well, the early momentum can see them finish as high as 8th. Bottom line, they will be somewhere in the middle-between 8th and 13th place.

New coach, without Bentley and Friedel, Rovers will struggle this year. Can see them as low as 15th at the end of the season.

Yet another one lamenting the "good'ole days", when the grass was green, the light was bright, and we were all friends. I personally dislike Manchester United(a euphimism), but did you by any chance see last season United's goal(goal of the season for me)with the interplay between Rooney and Tevez, the backheel pass and killer shot? How is this "Americanized", and ugly?
I for one cannot wait for the season to start. And I do sympathize with Wigan, but I can't wait for the season to start not because of them, but because of Torres, Deco, Tevez, Ronaldo, Berbatov, and all the other magicians on the field. I am not getting excited about Titus Bramble and Michael Brown(although the latter is not a bad player).
Face it: it is the best football money can buy, and in less than 2 weeks millions will tune in. The spectacle and global phenomenon called the Premier League dwarfs any "Major" leagues in the US.

Why wasn't Emilio picked is beyond me. The guy has been a top 3 player in the league 2 seasons running(and a top goalscorer).
I will be watching tonight. Last week, I saw the 3:3 Columbus/ KC game and that guy, Baros Schelotto is absolutely amazing, even at 36/37. The way he reads the game, dictates the tempo, and his ability to change the outcome with one pass is still very rare in the league. Too bad he didn't come here like, 6 years ago. No wander he is a legend at Boca. He is that good.
That said, I am expecting a show tonight.

Agreed, Gaffer. If ESPN wants to, it can make soccer mainstream, and if there is a will, there is a way. Same thing applies for promotion and increased influx of $ in the MLS, and getting rid of the salary cap and the single entity structure within the next decade or so, but that is a whole different topic.
Slowly but surely, soccer is getting there, waaaay better than a decade ago.

God,
please don't let the Germans win. If they do, they will contest the "worst Euro champion" title with Greece'04 and Germany'96.
Today, the Germans were outplayed by Turkey's third-string team...
I am lighting a candle on Saturday for Spain or Russia. If "team lumberjack" wins on Sunday, they may as well cancel football.

The guy blogging these predictions has gotten each and every one wrong so far! Mr. Bestall, the teams should pray from now that you don't pick them to win: it has been like a death sentence.
That being said, every time the Nazis win a football game, a little baby dies. The referee should be strangled somewhere: Ballack's goal was a faul you could see from the Moon! Shame for football that the lumberjacks are going through. Germans are the most technically-challenged footballing nation in the history of the game. I shudder by the thought of them going to the final!UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

She says "offsides": it isn't plural, it is an "offside", lady! Gullit hitting on her after the Holland's game was hilarious.
But, yes, she is clueless about the game, compared to others. Hey, again, ESPN has done fantastic so far, and I am not going to badmouth them for picking her to sit in the studio.
Remember the dark days when you had to pay $200 for the whole tourney? And the days of a 2 hour Premier League highlights show on your local Fox Sports station in the middle of the night. Or, even more recently, the days of Wynalda, O'Brian, and Balboa in the studio?
Come on, life is good nowadays!!!

They should have a decree against Germany and Austria playing football: those two teams made the ball cry today. Germany's 3rd place finish 2 years ago under Klinsy was obviously a fluke on the wings of hosting the tournament. They have consistently being horrendous for the last decade or so. I know they are through and can be dangerous, but they were horrendous: not just today, but in all three games(Come on, they were "brilliant " against an amateur Poland team: give me a break).
Anti-football today. Hope Portugal not just beats them, but humilates them.

ESPN has done superb covering the event. Just imagine the combination of Dave O'Brian, Eric Wynalda, Bruce Arena, and Judy Foudy. God save us all from all these mistakes of nature. No way around the fact that Foudy is absolutely clueless about the game and sounds like a 10 year old next to Andy Gray and Mr. Smythe. The Gary/Healey pairing is top notch. Overall, well done, ESPN. Do not, under no circumstances, bring back mistakes of nature such as O'Brian and Wynalda, and other clueless cronies. Andy Gray has been brilliant!!!

Seconded, Gaffer. Gray went berserk in a typical fashion when Turkey tied the game with "when people ask me why millions love this game, play them this match and ask them to not get excited". Priceless!!!
Gray disagrees with a lot of the yellow cards and the foul calls so far. Not sure if I agree with him all the time, but there is no question that Rae and Gray make fantastic pair behind the mic and enhance the viewing pleasure.

What Turkey did was superb: they deserved it! Monster of a game! No other sport can offer this !EVER!!!
Credit to Turkiye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The referee has mental issues: I wouldn't let him smell the field again! Criminal! Shame since Volcan is a great goalie. That is why teams such as England can never win a big tournament: with all the talent, they have the wrong, loser mentality. Maybe Capello can change this. And, yeah: England not being at this tournament is the best thing to happen to Euro'08.

I mean, Croatia, not Germany.

Come on, this is 101 mistake: winner of Turkey-Czech will play not Croatia, not Germany.
Game just kicked off: and the Turks are going to win.

Hmm, Euro v. Copa '07?
Copa last year had boatload of goals, crazy scores and very offensive display. And Brazil winning yet again without their top two/three players.
This Euro has had 3/4 really boring games, and several superb ones(all the "group of death" except Romania-France), Croatia-Germany, Portugal's games, Spain's games.
And 4-5-1 is definitely not the death of football. I know defense wins tourneys(Greece, Italy in previous two big tourneys), but it seems that offense will win this time around: look at the potential champions: Portugal, Spain, Holland, why not Croatia.
Bottom line, while the European teams are much more disciplined than South Americans in terms of tacics and emphasis on defense, entertainment in this tournament is not lacking. There are plenty of thrills, even with "safety first" approach. Yet, 2/3 of the goals scored so far have been on counter-attacks...tells you where football is going.
My $ is on Turkey today: they are the better side, but we'll see.