DISQUS

It certainly seems as though both English and American football are getting together and sharing the worst possible aspects of each other's coverage.


I could see doing the interviews if they were going to get anything useful from it. Like I would love to hear Sir Alex and Wenger speak during the match, but they aren't going to discuss anything remotely useful.

Yeah, it would be nice if they actually showed some ambition and played the A squad at Copa America instead of the Gold Cup which no one cares about.

Terrible. Terrible. Terrible.

I don't know if I would go so far as to say that it is the "best that could happen to the club right now." I would say that that would probably be Arsene signing an extension or Arsene pulling a rabbit out of his hat and signing Carlos Tevez.


I think they probably do need a striker, though I'm not exactly quivering about the prospect of the incredible sulk making his return. Their major problem last year was getting practically nothing in terms of goals from the midfield. If that gets rectified, they should have enough up front. RVP was on his way to a 20 goal season before he was injured last year. Adebayor, Walcott, and Bendtner are not a bad supporting cast.



If they aren't going to get in the sweepstakes for Tevez, I would really love to see them pick Obafemi Martins. He's a finisher with power and pace who can stretch the back four and create space for everyone else.

I think that England are refusing to take part, because they don't want to risk the embarrassment of losing. If the lose it is a disaster. If they win, they are supposed to win and it doesn't really matter.

I particularly enjoy the comments section. I love how they speak of us in generic overarching terms as though we are objects of study and as though they have an objective viewpoint. What a particularly British trait.


They are right about the quality not being there in MLS. But, in some ways because of that, it is quite entertaining.

It looks like someone snuck in a yellow sock when they were washing them. I liked their white kits last year a lot better.

I sense a Prince situation arising. Next year its going to be the League formerly known as the English Premier League. I am hoping they just eventually switch to an abstract symbol. That would be brilliant.

I still don't see anything happening over it. Yeah, it was mishandled, but the entire Premier League agreed to the method of handling it. I still think it is a leap to jump from that to saying that that is responsible for W. Ham being relegated.

I think that the pub atmosphere is definitely something that is missing from watching the Premiership in the States. There is a je ne sais crois about having the match on in the evening and the communal aspect. All of us sitting at home by ourselves on a Saturday morning with a cup of coffee is a bit depressing.

Well, I wont be playing any dirges yet. The League Cup is dead. But, I think if one of the big four get a favorable draw into the later rounds they will still take the FA Cup seriously. Unless there is a four way title race coming into march and april and all of them are still alive in Europe, I can't see none of them going for it.


Wenger blusters about not fielding a full strength side, but if they are out of the title race and out of Europe again is he really going to not try to win the FA Cup?



It also might make things a bit more exciting to have some of the lesser teams.



If they want to assure teams taking it seriously, they should get rid of replays.h

I kinda like it. Baby Blue is a difficult color to work with. But, it is relatively simple and a supporter could actually wear it in public without looking like a jackass.

I think that there are arguments to be made for Ferguson being a bit batty (see goal celebrations). However, I don't think traveling to watch the other Champions League Match was one of them.


I think most other managers do the same or similar. Jose Mourinho traveled to Eastern Europe at a midweek to check out a stadium where Chelsea would be playing a CL match. Arsene Wenger goes to everything...even Brazil friendlies. A Monday match in the Premiership will usually have quite a few other managers at it. So I don't think that it is necessarily out of the ordinary.



Even if he is a bit crazy, it is hard to argue with the results he puts up.

I have to agree with you about the stripes on the side as well. It looks like Dunga's daughter snuck in and got a hold of it.

I think one of the first things that Cynical Sam will do upon taking over is to clear Barton out. He's a decent player, but a bad egg. They had the worst scoring output at home in the history of English league football. No one on that club is untouchable.

HD would be nice

Spurs fans are so funny. I don't know what is better, them pretending that they wouldn't be ecstatic if Mourinho went to Spurs or them considering it a tangible possibility.


Mourinho would be the right man for Spurs, but I think that it would be a step backwards for him, and can't see that as a possibility. He has already done about all he can in England. I think that the only steps forward he can make are to go to one of the big clubs in Europe (AC Milan, Inter, Juventus, Real Madrid, Barca) or to become the manager of one of the elite National squads when he feels like he needs a break.

I don't think that he is necessarily mad. He is not running the club as a business, he is running it for his own enjoyment. He has broken the piggy bank and spent hundreds of millions to bring in a world-class player at every position. Yet, they still play an annoying and cynical brand of football.


You can't argue with The Special One's results, but I think he is expecting a team to play exciting and riveting football and beat teams 3-4 nil every time out instead of grinding out mid-table Premiership sides 2-1 on last-minute goals.

They weren't the worst group nominated. They were better than Fox's postseason baseball coverage. That's not saying that much though...

Does any of this mean they won't try to milk as much cash as possible by putting the England and "best" FA Cup ties on Pay Per View? Probably not.

I don't blame the Premier League, because I don't think that a dearth of English talent is the major issue. The 2006 squad obviously had some talent to be a few PKs away from the Semifinals despite playing woefully.


1. They have to hire a decent manager.



2. They need to actually take the U-21s seriously. Hire a full time coach. It would be far more beneficial for Micah Richards to be getting international matches under his belt rather than being thrust immediately to set on the bench of the senior team.



3. Deregulate the academy system. Big Clubs would place far more emphasis on it if they were allowed to scout nationwide and bring in the best talent, rather than being maligned to whatever they can scrounge up within 90 miles.