Didn’t see a thread started for the new season so thought I’d kick it off. The transfer window in Europe has closed and Premier League clubs in England have spent a record £2.36bn per the BBC. My club Tottenham Hotspur have been busy in the transfer market. We’ve bought some exciting new players and James Maddison looks great already in the team. Our new manager Ange Postecoglu who is the first Australian manager in the league has a unique career path in Australia, Asia and Scotland before coming to us.
But selling our record top goalscorer Harry Kane for close to £100m to Bayern Munich was disappointing because it marked an end of an era. He was a player who came through the club’s academy which gave his achievement a more special feeling. But at least he is now in Germany and not at a rival club. He left the league with less than 50 goals needed to break the Premier League all time top goalscorer record which means Alan Shearer can breathe a sigh of relief.
Right now there are games going on and Spurs have just gone ahead on the stroke of half time at Burnley. Man City and Fulham are 1-1. I think City will once again be champions.
My predictions:
Champions - Manchester City
Top Four* - Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea
Relegated - Luton Town, Sheffield United and Burnley (all three promoted clubs)
*I want to say Spurs get top four and with only one game a week since for the first time in over a decade we have no European competition we should have a good run. But a few of our best players will all be playing international tournaments in January and I don’t think our strength in depth is as good as the others to cope with their absence.
I’ve been a Spurs fan since 1960/61, when my Dad took me to watch them do the double. (Those were the days. )
Of course the board should have backed Pochettino when he took us to the European Final.
Instead they withheld money and Pochettino left. Then we got defensive managers in Mourinho and Conte.
But now we have ‘Big’ Ange Postecoglou … and although we’ve lost Kane (can’t blame him for going to proven winners Bayern) we have Madison and an attacking frame of mind.
Arsenal beat Man Utd 3-1. Was 1-1 until a corner in the 97th minute. I would say on the balance of the game they were the better team. United have a bad habit of losing away from home in the big games in the last year.
While Chelsea have improved a bit I think it iwll be a bit of a surprise to see them get into the top four. At the start of the season I was thinking Man Utd would get second, I still think they will get top 4 but could lose out to Spurs or Newcastle
Luton are the weakest team and I expect them be bottom. As an Everton fan if pains me to say it but I expect our 70 year run in the top flight will end this year. I will go with Sheffield Utd being the other team to go down but would not be at all surprised if it is Wolves or Bournemouth.
Not a good game from United, but if you consider they played with 4 ( 5 until Hojlund subbed in) of their best 11 out of lineup i think they’ll be fine.
Another great game for you guys today. The recruitment of young talent and how they develop so fast combined with an ability to get something from older players like Welbeck and Lallana is really impressive.
Spurs meanwhile scored in the 97th and 100th minute to turn a 0-1 loss to a 2-1 win!
Crazy situation at the game between Spurs and Liverpool today. A Liverpool goal that was ruled offside on-field looked really close on the VAR check but VAR didn’t overrule. The referee board now say that was a “significant human error”.
As a Spurs fan I love it. They went down to 9 men and it took a 95th minute own goal for us to win. Really bad performance from our players. But 6/7 wins and Man City lost at Wolves earlier. We have no European competition this season so I think we have a decent shot at the title.
Surprised to see no comments on the last two Chelsea games. The utterly insane game vs Spurs and the amazing draw with Citeh. Pochettino is making progress. I was pleased Cucurella is doing better (penalty notwithstanding).
As for Brighton, I am still agog at us beating Ajax 4 - 0 on aggregate. On the downside, injuries mount and Mahoud is now out suspended…
This seems as good a thread as any for my question. I’ll be in London next week and I generally pick up a sports jersey when I travel so I’m looking for suggestions on what to get. I want to avoid the case of going to New York and picking up a Yankees shirt, so something a bit less mainstream would be great.
Of the Premier league teams in London Chelsea is currently in the lead because my wife works in the town of Chelsea just outside Boston. But there’s something appealing about Tottenham Hotspur or West Ham United just because of the name. Should I look at any teams in the lower leagues?
If you want to avoid the “big club” thing - which would include Chelsea and Arsenal for sure, and probably also Spurs - you could consider Fulham, Brentford, or Crystal Palace. West Ham are a good choice too for “likely to remain in the Premier League but not often a top-6 side”.
Fulham in particular has a pretty strong history of having US-based players, if that matters to you. Right now they have Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson on their roster. Their white kit is pretty sharp too, IMO, although I’m not a huge fan of the mismatched stripes on the sleeves this year. Not sure how much aesthetics matters to you on this.
Palace is red and blue stripes, while Brentford is red and white (with black highlights). Brentford has a pretty cool Bees logo if that’s your thing. Crystal Palace’s stadium is what was used as “Nelson Road” in Ted Laso, if that resonates with you at all.
Chelsea is not only a big club, but also a very spend happy club whose biggest successes came from Russian oligarch money (since sold).
Spurs are big, but they’re not incredibly successful. They’re a popular team to follow for new EPL fans that don’t want to be glory hunters, but still have some hope. Fulham, as mentioned, has a couple American players. Used to have a pub named after Brian McBride too.
I like Crystal Palace’s jersey, but mostly because I’m a Barcelona fan and they have the same colors.
Looking at the kits, you really have to be comfortable with the team’s main sponsor. For example I have no idea who “Cinch” is but I like the Crystal Palace colors.
I’m a Tottenham fan, but even so they are very popular this season under a new manager (Ange Postecoglu.)
Here is a fan chant based on Robbie Williams’ ‘Angels’ - and a version by the man himself!
Another possibility is a team in the fourth tier of English football - Wrexham. They were recently bought by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney and have enjoyed much success.
There is a terrific documentary on the recent events:
I ended up with a West Ham retro jersey, with Dr. Martens as the primary sponsor, sometime around 1998. Since I bought a pair of Dr. Martens on this trip it really worked for me. I almost bought a Crystal Palace retro jersey with Fly Virgin to Boston on the front but I didn’t like the collar.
Arsenal currently 1-0 up early in the match versus Liverpool. As a Spurs fan I think we blew an outside chance of the title yesterday but top four is getting interesting if United now pick up their act and Villa stay strong. Pochettino will be sacked if Chelsea lose the League Cup final at the end of the month IMO because their league results still remain abysmal.
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and an attacking frame of mind. 