European Football thread....from an American??!!

I'm gonna have more than a few questions throughout the season, whether they're about the actual sport or how the premiere league works.

We'll start with that one. How does the premiere league work, and when does the season start?

MK wrote:I'm gonna have more than a few questions throughout the season, whether they're about the actual sport or how the premiere league works.

We'll start with that one. How does the premiere league work, and when does the season start?

Starts half way through August, ends half way through May.

20 teams, all teams play each other twice. Once at home and once away.

A win gets you 3 points, a draw gives you 1 and a loss gives none.

The three teams that finish last will all be relegated to the championship, a league that is a division lower. And subsequently the top three teams from the championship will be promoted to the Premier League. Usually the teams that are promoted go straight back down and the teams that are relegated come back up the following year.

The top four teams will get a spot in the all important Champions League, and this is the goal that most teams hope to attain, as being a Champions League teams puts you in the elite section.

There are also a number of cups such as the FA cup and the Carling Cup but these are seperate from the league, as is the Champions League tournament.

Yea. Are these other cups just for bragging rights, then? And what are the big tournaments? Is UEFA every year?

MK wrote:We'll start with that one. How does the premiere league work, and when does the season start?

The season starts on 15th August.

There are 20 teams in the premier league and they have to face eachother 2 times (Home and Away). A win is 3 points, a draw is 1 point.
The team with the most points after the 38 games played in the season wins the title.
The bottom 3 teams with the least points are relegated to the 2nd division.

You'll be asking how it works when two or more teams have the same ammount of points, well that's where the goal difference kicks in.

Example:

Position	Team	Games Played	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals Homes	Goals Away	Goal Difference	Points
1.	Man Utd	38	30	5	3	100	30	+70	95
2.	Chelsea	38	30	5	3	80	50	+30	95

Man Utd win the title because they have the better goal difference. If the championship can't be decided in this way then there are other tiebreakers which are in a specific order to determine a champion.

IIRC the title has never been decided this way since the premiership was designed in 1992.
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And there goes Outlaw to steal my spotlight.
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The FA Cup is the main cup for teams from all English leagues and the league cup is the "2nd" cup, also played between teams from the english leagues. It works in a K.O system and it's for the cup and some prize money is also up for grabs. The winner also gets a spot in the UEFA Cup (Renamed the Europe League this year and onwards).

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The Champions league is the place where the top teams from Europe play eachother and it's contested every year.

The Europe League is also contested and it contains in what we say in wrestling the upper-carders from Europe.

So which cup/tourney was it that Barcelona just beat Man U in?

That was the Champions League. The final is always contested at a neutral ground.

Shaun2J wrote:That was the Champions League. The final is always contested at a neutral ground.

So that's the one where the top 4 teams from the premiere league go to, correct?

MK wrote:

Shaun2J wrote:That was the Champions League. The final is always contested at a neutral ground.

So that's the one where the top 4 teams from the premiere league go to, correct?

Yes, the teams that landed 5th-7th place qualify for the the UEFA Europa League. The upper-card cup.

So what is the World Series or the Super Bowl of European football? I mean, you could win the Champions League. You could win the Premiere League. You could win the FA Cup. Is there one that is the ultimate championship?

MK wrote:So what is the World Series or the Super Bowl of European football? I mean, you could win the Champions League. You could win the Premiere League. You could win the FA Cup. Is there one that is the ultimate championship?

The Johnstone's Paint Cup, didn't you read my post?

Champions league would be the highest in Europe.

There is a competition that is played in December. The last competitions were played in Asia.
It's called the FIFA Club World championship. The teams that win their continent cup (In Europes case the UEFA Champions League) play eachother.
Barcelona being the winners of the champions league will be playing in that tournement.

I wouldn't concentrate on that competition at this time being.

Cool. Things are making a lot more sense now. I'm sure I will have more questions as things progress.

MK wrote:So what is the World Series or the Super Bowl of European football? I mean, you could win the Champions League. You could win the Premiere League. You could win the FA Cup. Is there one that is the ultimate championship?

Winning the Champions League is best trophy a football club can win. Technically the Club world championship makes you the best in the World, but the best teams in the world are all in Europe therefore making the CL far more important.

Outlaw2x4 wrote:

MK wrote:So what is the World Series or the Super Bowl of European football? I mean, you could win the Champions League. You could win the Premiere League. You could win the FA Cup. Is there one that is the ultimate championship?

Winning the Champions League is best trophy a football club can win. Technically the Club world championship makes you the best in the World, but the best teams in the world are all in Europe therefore making the CL far more important.

Why do you keep lying to him?

The Johnstone Paints cup is the best trophy a club can will, followed by the FA Vase.

Chelsea currently playing the Seattle Sounders in a friendly in Seattle. Over 65,000 showed up to the game. Glad to see soccer starting to maybe pick up interest in the states.

One thing that was missed was the European Super Cup. That's between the winners of one season's Champions league and UEFAcup/Europa league at the start of the next. Whilst it's not necessarily high profile, it does give bragging rights as it is not always the main eventers of the CL that win.

You may also find mention of the Community shield. This is a game st the start of the season between the Premier League winners and the FA Cup winners (seen, btw, as the most prestigious club cup competition in the world) as an exhibition match. Apart form a token trophy, there is no significance to the match and it gives no advantage for the coming season barring more bragging rights.

Anyone care to give me a rundown on the playing styles of the Premiere clubs? I'm currently watching a Chelsea/Inter Milan friendly, and maybe this is just because I haven't watched enough football yet, but I have a hard time noticing a distinct difference in styles. Hopefully this will help me maybe pick out a team to follow.

Also, Lampard plays like a real prick.

The team styles is directed by which manager they have, Chelsea have a new one again again again... so it's still early days with them. You notice a big difference between the leagues, the English league is played at a lot faster pace than the Italian and the Spanish probably has a bit more flair. WOOOOOOO! Keep an eye on Charlton this season.

Nice edit with George Lampard, his name is Frank after his dad.

MK wrote:Anyone care to give me a rundown on the playing styles of the Premiere clubs? I'm currently watching a Chelsea/Inter Milan friendly, and maybe this is just because I haven't watched enough football yet, but I have a hard time noticing a distinct difference in styles. Hopefully this will help me maybe pick out a team to follow.

Also, Lampard plays like a real prick.

Its like showstealer said, every team plays a style according to their manager and formation.

For example, Chelsea play 4-3-3, meaning, 4 at the back, 3 in the middle, 2 attacking wide players a one striker. They usually play a very defensive game, usually trying to score once or twice and then sitting on the lead.

On the other hand, Arsenal play a passing game. They thrive om constantly passing the ball all over the pitch, and utilise a strong counter attack system.

Man United play an all out agressive attack, they constantly push forward, making them a horrible team to defend against.

In the PL the pace is very fast, probably the fastest in world, whereas in Italy its a much slower technical sided game, while the Spanish league is more graceful.

And yes Lampard can be a prick, but he's also a world class talent. But he's one of the more decent players at Chelsea.

ShowStealer wrote:

Outlaw2x4 wrote:

MK wrote:So what is the World Series or the Super Bowl of European football? I mean, you could win the Champions League. You could win the Premiere League. You could win the FA Cup. Is there one that is the ultimate championship?

Winning the Champions League is best trophy a football club can win. Technically the Club world championship makes you the best in the World, but the best teams in the world are all in Europe therefore making the CL far more important.

Why do you keep lying to him?

The Johnstone Paints cup is the best trophy a club can will, followed by the FA Vase.

Showstealer is almost right the Johnstone Paints Cup was THE premier tournament in world football for many years following the sad demise of the Tennennts Soccer Sixes but it has been usurped by The Masters Tournament.

As the name suggests, the tournament is by invite only and these invitations are given to the greatest players ever to play for their clubs to meet each year in front of packed ice-rink arenas. Guys like Liverpool's Bob Boulder and Rangers' Andy Dibble compete in a non-stop Macarena of football. On a sunday tea-time. Before Songs of Praise.

God save us the enivitable 'Battle of Britain' crap for the thrid qualifying scrap between Arsenal and Celtic.

On paper the 'tic will get absolutely creamed but as we all know they have a nasty habit of beating the big teams at home...

I take it Everton will be quaking in their boots at having to take on the crack Czech team that did for Aberdeen as well in the Europa League...

Nice to see that Arsenal managed to score one legit goal at least

Seriously, Eduardo - no need to dive like that.

Oh and Gary Caldewell is a bampot. Nuff said.

Inno wrote:Nice to see that Arsenal managed to score one legit goal at least

Seriously, Eduardo - no need to dive like that.

Oh and Gary Caldewell is a bampot. Nuff said.

The penalty was a well stone-waller! No but seriously was the referee Craig Thompson?

So, a few weeks in...have you made any decision on which team you think suits you?

Garibaldi wrote:So, a few weeks in...have you made any decision on which team you think suits you?

Seems like Arsenal is the front-runner. I know it's a trendy team to support, but from what I've watched, I really enjoy their style of play. Though at the same time, it's hard for me to just pick a sports team to support. I grew up supporting the teams that I support now, so it's hard to just pick one and feel really strongly about it. We'll see how things go.

I was also leaning towards the Spurs.

Just watched an MLS game between Seattle and Chivas. I just wish that the Minneapolis/St. Paul area had an MLS team, because the atmosphere at that game was unbelievable. I'm starting to see a trend here in the states where soccer is becoming more prevalent. ESPN and ESPN2 are showing Premiership and La Liga matches for the first time ever. There were those friendlies earlier this summer where the big teams like Inter, Chelsea, Barca, and Milan came over to the states, and each game sold at least 30,000 tickets.

If the US National Team does well in the World Cup next year, I could see soccer becoming a much bigger sport here in the states, which I can only hope for. I mean, I'm proof of the soccer movement in the states. Barca/Man U got me jumpstarted, and now I'm always watching Fox Soccer Channel.

HUZZAH!

MK wrote:

Garibaldi wrote:So, a few weeks in...have you made any decision on which team you think suits you?

Seems like Arsenal is the front-runner. I know it's a trendy team to support, but from what I've watched, I really enjoy their style of play. Though at the same time, it's hard for me to just pick a sports team to support. I grew up supporting the teams that I support now, so it's hard to just pick one and feel really strongly about it. We'll see how things go.

I was also leaning towards the Spurs.

Sorry, hadn't seen this before... Good call on the second

As far as "Style of play" goes, the traditional Arsenal style has always been defensive and solid - It's only their time under Wenger which changed that. At one point they had the majority of the defensive positions in the England side covered.

Traditionaly, their flowing, atacking style of play has been associated with their main two London rivals - Spurs and Chelsea. Both teams have been so iffy at the back at times over the yeas that they both revere their legendary defensive midfielders and centre backs from the 60s and 70s like Dave Mackay. Remember guys, both these teams picked Jason Cundy as a first choice player!

I weas in the same position trying to choose a baseball team - I really did combine what I liked the look of with anything else that helped me know some of the people or history involved. In my case...

1. Not the Yankees
2. Nomar in Two Guys and a girl
3. Sam in Cheers (just meant I knew the redsox name)
4. Not the yankees
5. The Curse of the Bambino caught my interest as I was also trying to get into some of the history.
6. Not the Yankees...

Garibaldi wrote:

MK wrote:

Garibaldi wrote:So, a few weeks in...have you made any decision on which team you think suits you?

Seems like Arsenal is the front-runner. I know it's a trendy team to support, but from what I've watched, I really enjoy their style of play. Though at the same time, it's hard for me to just pick a sports team to support. I grew up supporting the teams that I support now, so it's hard to just pick one and feel really strongly about it. We'll see how things go.

I was also leaning towards the Spurs.

Sorry, hadn't seen this before... Good call on the second

As far as "Style of play" goes, the traditional Arsenal style has always been defensive and solid - It's only their time under Wenger which changed that. At one point they had the majority of the defensive positions in the England side covered.

Traditionaly, their flowing, atacking style of play has been associated with their main two London rivals - Spurs and Chelsea. Both teams have been so iffy at the back at times over the yeas that they both revere their legendary defensive midfielders and centre backs from the 60s and 70s like Dave Mackay. Remember guys, both these teams picked Jason Cundy as a first choice player!

I weas in the same position trying to choose a baseball team - I really did combine what I liked the look of with anything else that helped me know some of the people or history involved. In my case...

1. Not the Yankees
2. Nomar in Two Guys and a girl
3. Sam in Cheers (just meant I knew the redsox name)
4. Not the yankees
5. The Curse of the Bambino caught my interest as I was also trying to get into some of the history.
6. Not the Yankees...

First things first, go with the Twins. They're the underdog team every year, they play the game the right way (EVERYONE agrees with that), and they're always in it. Case in point, this year. We just lost Justin Morneau for the season, and we're only 2 games back of Detroit with an amazing come-from-behind win today. Go for the Twins =)

As for going for Arsenal, I'm not so sure anymore. I still actually haven't found a team that I am really attached to. I thought about Arsenal, but I think Skrtel is the biggest douche-nugget in the world. That turned me off. I know I want to support a Premiere League team, but I still haven't found the right one. Here's what I'm looking for:

-A team with at least one forward who is just real fucking exciting to watch. I was watching West Ham today, and Hines was that style of player I'm looking for. A guy who can change a game just like that.
-A contender. I'm sorry, but I don't care how great Portsmouth plays, I'm not supporting them. I don't want to support a team like Chelsea, Man U, Liverpool (the trendy teams), but I would at least like to support a team that has a CHANCE.
-A team that plays the right way (ala the Twins) Great team chemistry, nobody like Ade who thinks he's above his team.

So....any suggestions that fit the mold?

Skrtl is a Liverpool [layer, not an Arsenal one, and he's not as big a cheating fouling douche as Vidic

Leaving out the four teams you mentioned, for the players who can change a game going forwards, your best bets are players like:

Ashley Young - Aston Villa
Andrei Asharvin - Arsenal
Yakubu - Everton
Carlos Tevez - Man City
Robinho - Man City
Kenwyne Jones - Sunderland
Aaron Lennon - Tottenham Hotspur

For the "right way", Everton and Villa have managers who have always been seen as building good teams from the ground up, who temnd to play fair and try to play good football. For putting entertainment, flair and style ahead of the result, that traditionally has been the purview of Spurs - look for footage of Ginola, Hoddle, Gascoigne and Sheringham to see what I mean. Of the other real contenders for the big 4, Arsenal have a continental style (and arrogance) about them now, but haven't won a trophy in 4 years and when Wenger goes (which could be in the summer) that may not continue, and Man City are a mixed bag - I don't think anyone knows what to make of them, but Hughes was always arrogant as a player, so managing a team of tossers like Adebayor is no shock.

MK wrote:

As for going for Arsenal, I'm not so sure anymore. I still actually haven't found a team that I am really attached to. I thought about Arsenal, but I think Skrtel is the biggest douche-nugget in the world. That turned me off. I know I want to support a Premiere League team, but I still haven't found the right one. Here's what I'm looking for:

-A team with at least one forward who is just real fucking exciting to watch. I was watching West Ham today, and Hines was that style of player I'm looking for. A guy who can change a game just like that.
-A contender. I'm sorry, but I don't care how great Portsmouth plays, I'm not supporting them. I don't want to support a team like Chelsea, Man U, Liverpool (the trendy teams), but I would at least like to support a team that has a CHANCE.
-A team that plays the right way (ala the Twins) Great team chemistry, nobody like Ade who thinks he's above his team.

So....any suggestions that fit the mold?

Yeah Skrtel plays for Liverpool, not Arsenal.

As a team suggestion as per your request, I still think either Arsenal or Liverpool would suit you best.

Both teams have a chance of winning the league or Champions League, maybe not as strong a chance as United or chelsea, but they are considered part of the big 4 for a reason. They are both definatly contenders. With all due to respect to Gari, Spurs are not contenders to win the year, this is just a very good start for them, they always come up short.

As for an exciting forward, Arshavin for Arsenal and Torres for Liverpool.

And as for teams playing the right way, then its United, Arsenal, Spurs or Villa.

Now I am somewhat biased because I'm an Arsenal fan, so take that for what its worth. But trust me do not take the current table as a major indication as to how the league will finish. Two seasons ago Arsenal were on top from august till March, and still lost. Last year Villa were in 4th all year and only finished 6th. Spurs were in relegation zone till Christmas last year and ended up in the top 10.