The Premiership

I follow Southampton.
It looks a more open contest this year than it has done for ages.

It's certainly an interesting time. The world is changing, Manchester United are not the force they used to be. Some fear (others hope) they will go the way of Liverpool in the 1990s. Reasonably pleased to see Arsenal doing well, always had a lot of respect for Wenger, doing a lot with a little, certainly compared to Chelsea, Man Utd and Man City.

I was a weak supporter of Ferguson rather than Man Utd in the Premiership, mainly because I like to see the extraordinary flourish.

I do not have a dog in this fight, sadly my hometown team languishes in a division below the Premiership.

Arsenal is only going to get better as the season goes on, I think.

But damn, Suarez is beyond good form right now.

robeiae said:

Arsenal is only going to get better as the season goes on, I think.

But damn, Suarez is beyond good form right now.

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Yeah, but between the racism and the biting, I can't appreciate anything that guy does.

I'll go with Man U all the way.

I'm with you, Zero.

TBH, I used to be mad for the football but in the last few years I've become more and more disillusioned. It started with the World Cup in South Africa and that disgraceful outburst by Rooney and it just got worse since. So now I really don't care. I follow what my two favourite teams are doing but I have no passion for it any more.

zerosystem said:

Yeah, but between the racism and the biting, I can't appreciate anything that guy does.

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I think he should have been kicked out of football, myself, at least for a couple of seasons. The ten-game suspension wasn't nearly enough.

That said, his play has been amazing since he returned. I'm not appreciating it so much as I am just noting it. Because if he keeps it up, Liverpool is gonna make a serious push for the top. Man City and Arsenal have their work cut out for them. They both need to keeping winning just to keep Liverpool at bay.

And speaking of those two, their game was a lot of fun to watch, even though I was pulling for Arsenal. However, I understand now that Aguero was injured and may be out for a month or more.

I'm furious, and believe Brendon Rodgers has proven himself daft.
Liverpool sells Luis Suarez to Barcelona for 80mil.

They'll be rebuilding for another 24 years...

KellyAssauer said:

I'm furious, and believe Brendon Rodgers has proven himself daft.
Liverpool sells Luis Suarez to Barcelona for 80mil.

They'll be rebuilding for another 24 years...

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Mostly with players from Southampton it seems

Liverpool 0, Roma 1 and the only goal came when a Liverpool player kicked the ball into his own goal...

If they survive relegation this season, I'll be shocked.

waylander said:

Mostly with players from Southampton it seems

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True, that.

I think Liverpool will do okay. And remember, Saurez can't train with his team and will miss some games, regardless.

But I'm guessing he'll get through the season without biting anyone. The next season? We'll see how Barcelona deals with him when it happens again...

I thought it interesting Liverpool bought Rickie Lambert. He's a traditional English center forward, kind of like Andy Carroll who was dumped 'cos Rogers said he didn't fit the Liverpool style. Odd purchase.

Lambert does much more than Carroll. His hold-up play is excellent, he is a very intelligent passer of the ball, plus he stays fit longer than Carroll.

<- Huge LFC fan.

Selling Suarez was the right thing to do. He's pretty great, but his form tapered at the end of the season, and defenders were starting to get wise to him. We can survive without him, and will certainly enjoy the lack of negative press he brings. With Lazar, Sturridge, Coutinho, Sterling, Lallana... I'm not overly worried, plus there's probably another striker to come in.

Rickie Lambert was not purchased for the first 11. He's there to throw on when we need to shake things up in the 60th minute, or to provide squad cover for the cup games since we are taking part in 4 contests this year. I think it's actually a pretty smart buy, when you think about the role he will play. Cheap, too.

Man City fan. (I will duck all thrown objects now... ) Got seats for my fam when they played LFC at Yankee Stadium. I really could have lived with the draw.

Then again, my brother seemed more interested in the concessions, so I suppose there's that.

I can't believe the season is almost back around again...

Another Saints fan. Or, as I like to think of it now, another fan of the Premier League's favourite superstore. At least we haven't done quite as badly as Blackpool, who started the Championship season with 9 players yesterday morning, and had to scramble to make up a whole team for their first game of the season!

nkkingston said:

Another Saints fan. Or, as I like to think of it now, another fan of the Premier League's favourite superstore. At least we haven't done quite as badly as Blackpool, who started the Championship season with 9 players yesterday morning, and had to scramble to make up a whole team for their first game of the season!

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I think we'll be OK. I'm reasonably happy with the new players so far and I know there are several more to come. We may not finish as high as 8th, but there will be 3 worse teams than us come May 2015.

Interesting opening day. ManU picked up right where they left off last year: giving away points at home. Leicester City got a great result against Everton, picking up a point with upcoming games against Chelsea and Arsenal.

I think it will be a three horse race for a while: Chelsea, Man City, and Arsenal. But I predict a steady climb from Man U as the season wears on, to the point that they are in the hunt for Champions League at least by the end.

I did terribly in the fantasy football; I don't think anyone was really playing their first team, which is as much a knock on effect of the World Cup as the manic transfer market.

Is anyone else on here in the official fantasy football (not the Sun or Guardian etc)? We could have an AW league!

The game on the premier league site? I am certainly a part of that. And I just made us a league.

2227521-593352 is the join code. AW Fantasy League, step right up...


And anyway, decent start by Liverpool, manic defending at times with goals to the SAS - all as before, it seems. And Man U losing just made my day.

It's good to have football back.

Reasonably happy with Southampton's performance at Anfield. Created some good chances and weren't embarassed. Tadic looks very handy.

I didn't expect ManU's loss, but I found it easier to understand than Sunderland's tie. Other than those two, all the season openers went as I thought they might.

I kinda did expect ManU's loss, or at least a draw from them; it's going to be a tough climb back up from last season and psychologically that journey wasn't going to start on day one.

Since the AW league is still only two of us, it's on http://fantasy.premierleague.com/ If you set up an account now you won't be far behind. I had a terrible first week! Fingers crossed for this week

nkkingston said:

I kinda did expect ManU's loss, or at least a draw from them; it's going to be a tough climb back up from last season and psychologically that journey wasn't going to start on day one.

Since the AW league is still only two of us, it's on http://fantasy.premierleague.com/ If you set up an account now you won't be far behind. I had a terrible first week! Fingers crossed for this week

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Okay, I joined. Looks like fun.

KellyAssauer said:

I didn't expect ManU's loss, but I found it easier to understand than Sunderland's tie. Other than those two, all the season openers went as I thought they might.

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nkkingston said:

I kinda did expect ManU's loss, or at least a draw from them; it's going to be a tough climb back up from last season and psychologically that journey wasn't going to start on day one.

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We were watching along at work. Someone called it "shocking" but that seemed so silly. They had a bad year, and now have Van Gaal, and on. I have no interest in seeing ManU greatly improved, but I'm sure they will be a much better looking team in a few weeks.

At 1-0 late, I was really waiting for City to give up something silly to Newcastle toward the end. I'm glad to be wrong about that one.

Have fun fantasy players!