It's baaaaack!
United vs West Ham kicking off right now on NBCSN to wind up a wild Week 1 in the EPL.
Arsenal with a 4-3 comeback win v Leicester City...Chelsea losing 3-2 to Burnley while having both Cahill and Fabregas sent off...Rooney bagging the game winner with his return to Everton...
Who do you like, Lukaku or Chicarito?
What another amazing goal last night.
The most dominant NYC athlete right now. Yes, including Odell.
Sweet goal by Lewis, too.
Jon in NYC : 11:40 am : link : reply
Lukaku or Chicharito can hold a candle to David Villa right now.
If you are a fan of the MLS, you probably don't want Villa to perpetuate the idea that washed up Europeans can come over and dominate.
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Neither
Jon in NYC : 11:40 am : link : reply
Lukaku or Chicharito can hold a candle to David Villa right now.
If you are a fan of the MLS, you probably don't want Villa to perpetuate the idea that washed up Europeans can come over and dominate.
Villa is proving that he isn't washed. Not by any stretch.
Lampard, Pirlo? Washed up. Villa is on another level.
City is really really good and really deep. They have an unreal starting XI and a bench that would still make the top 4. Gabriel Jesus is special.
Lampard, Pirlo? Washed up. Villa is on another level.
Basically, the view will be that Lukaku can dominate the world's best while Villa can go to America and crush the Little Leagues. Not saying that's true, but it most certainly is the perception.
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Villa is proving that he isn't washed. Not by any stretch.
Lampard, Pirlo? Washed up. Villa is on another level.
Basically, the view will be that Lukaku can dominate the world's best while Villa can go to America and crush the Little Leagues. Not saying that's true, but it most certainly is the perception.
Agreed.
David Villa could play on any team in the world. He's still that good.
Go Terps : 1:10 pm : link : reply
Defoe couldn't hack it in MLS.
Jermain Defoe scored 11 goals in 19 matches in the MLS, so I think he probably could hack it.
Comparing the MLS to the top European leagues is like comparing the CFL to the NFL. Yes some players can make the transition, the the standards are vastly different though.
Man U put in a commanding show today.
Wouldn't sleep on Spurs. They are the most cohesive team of the top 6.
- The defending in England sucks right now and will continue to bite the top teams in the ass. Look at the top teams and tell me if there is an elite center back among them outside of a just past his prime Vincent Kompany. We'll see more scorelines like this all year.
- THAT was a Manchester United team that played today - attack, attack attack. I still think that Jose has his doubts about who plays in big games and still need some more depth, but we'll see.
- As for the David Villa debate, he is on fire and could play in Europe right now, particularly when you consider Fernando Torres is on the bench at Atletico. That being said, the Galaxy team he played last night was awful.
- Harry Kane is going to get himself and his teammates in deep shit with these slide tackles. He pulled the same thing against Roma in the ICC and it nearly started a fight. Today it knocked the Newcastle player out of the game and escalated tensions that later led to the Shelvy stomp (lest we forget Shelvy is a known idiot).
- The defending in England sucks right now and will continue to bite the top teams in the ass. Look at the top teams and tell me if there is an elite center back among them outside of a just past his prime Vincent Kompany. We'll see more scorelines like this all year.
I can name two...Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen. Best GA in the league last season.
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Jermaine Defoe
Go Terps : 1:10 pm : link : reply
Defoe couldn't hack it in MLS.
Jermain Defoe scored 11 goals in 19 matches in the MLS, so I think he probably could hack it.
Comparing the MLS to the top European leagues is like comparing the CFL to the NFL. Yes some players can make the transition, the the standards are vastly different though.
Check mate!
What's that based on? I know it isn't the only metric we have: performance in Europe. In the last 10 years:
Champions League Winners: Spain 6, England 2
Europa League: Spain 5, England 2
In the last 5 years England's performance in the Champions League had been so poor there was talk of them losing that automatic fourth place qualifier. So UEFA is going to change the rules to make sure the English cash cows remain involved:
However, one new feature of the rule is that while the top three teams in each domestic league would earn a place in the group stage, the fourth would be decided on something described as ‘historical merit’, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.
It’s not yet clear what the specifics of this will mean, but the aim is to keep in giants of the game such as Manchester United, Liverpool and AC Milan, all of whom have been in and out of the competition in recent years due to poor showings in the league.
Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/09/champions-league-rule-changes-could-see-automatic-qualification-for-four-premier-league-clubs-every-season-6057734/#ixzz4pjzf1vjr
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The Premier League’s growing purchasing power has coincided with its waning influence at the highest levels of European soccer. United, City, and Chelsea can pay superstars just as much as they get anywhere else, and Liverpool and Arsenal aren’t far behind, but the money hasn’t been enough. With great power has not come a great Premier League team.
The Premier League is probably as unpredictable and exciting as it's ever been. The TV money has created some semblance of parity that likely will not be seen in any of the other top leagues. But as we've seen in the NFL and elsewhere, increased parity does not equal increased quality. It has likely hurt them in European competition as the player quality is now more spread out among PL teams than it was when Chelsea/Liverpool/United were champions league semi final fixtures.
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Consider me extremely concerned about Chelsea though
United seems better put together to my eye, but a lot depends on Pogba and I have a hard time trusting him.
And BBI's resident soccer doofus checks in.
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They have the most depth in the world.
And BBI's resident soccer doofus checks in.
the best part is watch when villa rejoins Spain he will also leave to play in a real league.
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In comment 13559454 Gmen1982 said:
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They have the most depth in the world.
And BBI's resident soccer doofus checks in.
the best part is watch when villa rejoins Spain he will also leave to play in a real league.
What a sad sad viewpoint.
Yeah. They assume because he's playing in MLS he isn't as good as guys like Morata or Costa who are playing in Europe. But as a fan of the Spanish national team I'd want Villa in over those guys in a heartbeat. Villa is the best striker Spain has ever produced, and at 34 he still isn't that far off his peak. He's one of the truly underrated and underappreciated players of this era.
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Yeah. They assume because he's playing in MLS he isn't as good as guys like Morata or Costa who are playing in Europe. But as a fan of the Spanish national team I'd want Villa in over those guys in a heartbeat. Villa is the best striker Spain has ever produced, and at 34 he still isn't that far off his peak. He's one of the truly underrated and underappreciated players of this era.
Come on. They would bring him in if they thought/think he's good enough. I agree they should at least give him a shot without a true striker on the team but they know more than anyone who to bring in. I doubt they wouldn't give him a shot solely based on playing in the MLS.
United seems better put together to my eye, but a lot depends on Pogba and I have a hard time trusting him.
Had a feeling Pogba wouldn't be your type of player. They do seem really well put together though and I think he'll have a much better season than last year. Figured they've got to win it this season before it all blows up for Mourinho in year three per usual.
City's attack is as good as it gets but I do agree, I don't trust any back line that's led by Otamendi and Stones.
I'm not a huge MLS fan myself but Villa is playing great.