**OFFICIAL Association Football 2012/2013 Season thread**

[Rageman]

ManU(re) steals two points from my beloved Hammers with a cheap offside goal.

Doesn't matter, WHUFC will avoid relegation and will not contend for a European spot. ManU didn't need the point though.

Thought this was funny

[pieceofme]

ManU(re) steals two points from my beloved Hammers with a cheap offside goal.

Doesn't matter, WHUFC will avoid relegation and will not contend for a European spot. ManU didn't need the point though.

Thought this was funny

You support West Ham and you thought that was funny!

You're weird man.

[Rageman]

Not gonna confirm or deny that accusation!

I didn't fall in love with football until I was 30 during/after a trip to Germany right before France '98 so I don't have the emotional ties to any team other than USA or Germany. As a result of this, I love pretty much all football and don't have this false bravado that I must watch the best in the world or I feel that I'm being cheated. I love watching football from all over the planet from The A-league in Australia to random club matches or internationals in Africa to MLS or USL in North America or the big clubs in Europe

And the EPL isn't the best any more but you still watch it because of an emotional tie to Manchester United. I never had that connection with football as a child so I don't have any heroes or classic teams to reflect back on. I can only do that through someone else's memories and words and that's a bit hollow.

[MickeyG]

I'm not sure the Premier league ever was the best. Maybe the most exciting in terms of the lesser teams giving the big teams a game, but most of the time the league is a 2 horse race each season. Quality wise down the years some of the football has been shite. Some shit footballing teams like Wimbledon.

I hear you on the emotional ties. Before I moved to America I watched a lot of rugby league, and even though I'm from St Helens I wasn't really a fan of Saints and I didn't really care who won. I just liked laughing at the Saints and Wigan fans at work who hated each other just as much as United and Liverpool do. But I really liked watching the sport, and I miss it even though they show it on Fox Soccer plus which I don't get.

[Tenacious_Dio]

When I was a kid, PBS used to air time-edited EPL games, along with the Bundesliga. I never made much of a distinction about which had the better play, but I always preferred the crowds and atmosphere of the EPL. Still do, even though I have no rooting interest.

[Hellsinkey]

As a kid I was an Ipswich fan, back when they were still good. My favourite player was Paul Mariner. First Division games came from national tv until early 80's, after that I think there was a break of not seeing the games for about a decade. After Premier League and Champions League started in the early 90's, the games started showing again. Since then I've followed United.

[MickeyG]

Premier league teams did have a good record for a few years in a row getting a few teams to the CL semi's, and the final. But whether that made the whole league better than Spain, Italy and Germany I'm not sure.

NBC has the rights to PL games from next season (I think!), and are planning to show a ton of games. Most will be on NBC sports network mainly, with some on their other channels too. Fox Soccer will only have the CL as interest for PL fans. I might drop it seeing as I pay extra for it. If they moved rugby league to it, I'd keep it.

[Hellsinkey]

Thanks Spurs. Tomorrow- championship.

[pieceofme]

Thanks Spurs. Tomorrow- championship.

Yep. Shame I will be at work so I won't be able to watch the game.

[Rageman]

Premier league teams did have a good record for a few years in a row getting a few teams to the CL semi's, and the final. But whether that made the whole league better than Spain, Italy and Germany I'm not sure.

NBC has the rights to PL games from next season (I think!), and are planning to show a ton of games. Most will be on NBC sports network mainly, with some on their other channels too. Fox Soccer will only have the CL as interest for PL fans. I might drop it seeing as I pay extra for it. If they moved rugby league to it, I'd keep it.

Fox Soccer was outbid for everything except CL matches so they are being re-branded as an FX2 type of channel. Fox is going to start a new channel called Fox Sports One. This will be their attempt to go with more mainstream sports. There will still be football but Fox Soccer Report and Goals On Sunday and such will most likely disappear. Too bad for Rob Stone. He signed up with FSC after leaving ESPN so he could be their main host for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Not sure what he's gonna do other than studio host for CL matches.


Some of the announcement of NBC's plans of how they'll cover the EPL.

Coverage of the Premier League will kick off Aug. 17 with live matches on NBC, NBC Sports Network, Telemundo, Mun2, Premier League Extra Time, NBC Sports Live Extra and other NBC Universal channels including CNBC and USA. The network also announced that every Premier League match on the final day of the season -- May 11, 2014 -- will air live across a host of NBCU channels, including NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, USA, MSNBC and E!.
As of now, the original programming is as followed:
• Premier League Goal Zone -- A 30-minute program airing after Sunday matches with highlights of every goal scored on Saturday and Sunday.
• Match of the Day -- A two-hour Saturday show on NBC Sports Network modeled after the BBC show of the same name. Match of the Day will re-air Sunday mornings.
• Match of the Day 2 -- A 90-minute program featuring extended highlights with the natural calls of every game Sunday.
• Match of the Week --NBC Sports Network will re-air the best match of the weekend in its entirety Sunday night.
• Premier League 36 -- An original series that follows EPL players for 36 hours leading up to a game.
• Game Cut-Downs -- NBC Sports Network will air a two-hour show Monday nights featuring cut-down versions of Manchester United and Manchester City matches. On Tuesdays the network will feature Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur matches.
• Premier League Download -- A weekly show featuring high-profile celebrity supporters and journalists discussing the Premier League.
• Barclays Premier League World -- A weekly magazine show produced by the Premier League.
• Barclays Premier League Preview -- A weekly show (also produced by the league) previewing the upcoming week's matches.
• Barclays Premier League Review -- A weekly show produced by the league that recaps all the matches from the past week.
• Premier League Countdown -- A preview of the 2013-14 Premier League season.
NBC said its Saturday coverage of the Premier League will start at 7 a.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and continue on that network at 10 a.m. When Saturday coverage airs on NBC, it will air with a start time at 12:30 p.m. The Sunday coverage begins at 8 a.m. on NBC Sports Network and continues at 11 a.m. on that network and Telemundo. Monday coverage will start at 2:30 p.m. on NBC Sports Network.
An NBC Sports spokesperson said there will be some weeks where mid-week Premier League games could appear on CNBC and USA. The network said any game not designated for an NBCU channel will be available on Premier League Extra Time, which is similar to MLB's Extra Innings Package. (There is no charge to customers whose cable systems have NBC Sports Network.) All games will also be streamed live on NBC Sports Live Extra, though most consumers will need to authenticate that service.

[Hellsinkey]

Thanks Spurs. Tomorrow- championship.

Yep. Shame I will be at work so I won't be able to watch the game.

It will be at 10 in the evening here, so it's a good time.

[pieceofme]

Thanks Spurs. Tomorrow- championship.

Yep. Shame I will be at work so I won't be able to watch the game.

It will be at 10 in the evening here, so it's a good time.

Midday for me.

[Hellsinkey]

RVP 20- a hat trick. His second was one of the best of the season. Amazing volley straight from Rooney's long ball.

[MickeyG]

Glad it's done and dusted. Did anyone see that fake severed arm thrown on the pitch and Evra pick it up and pretend to take a bite, ala Suarez?

[jellyheadrobertson]

Glad it's done and dusted. Did anyone see that fake severed arm thrown on the pitch and Evra pick it up and pretend to take a bite, ala Suarez?

Just read about it on the LFC boards. Haven't seen it myself but even the LFC fans (with sense a sense of humour) said it was funny. Anyway Congrats you Manc fans on here.

[Hellsinkey]

Glad it's done and dusted. Did anyone see that fake severed arm thrown on the pitch and Evra pick it up and pretend to take a bite, ala Suarez?

I saw it.

[pieceofme]

Another title

Also, nice one Bayern on thrashing Barcelona.

Hope Dortmund do one over Madrid.

[Rageman]

I can't believe Bayern has Goetze coming in next year with Guardiola.

They are setting themselves up to be the team to beat for the next few years

I still don't count out Barcelona though. If Bayern gets the one road goal then it's over, but I'm not sold yet.

[Hellsinkey]

Barca got owned. Their home game will be interesting. They have to go all out attacking, which leaves room.

[Rageman]

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8655 ... gence.html

Interesting study

Major League Soccer is the seventh best soccer league in the world, according to Sporting Intelligence.

The survey of world leagues takes into account attendance, finances, goals, competitiveness, caliber of players and managers, stadiums and success in continental competitions, according to ProSoccer Talk.

The German Bundesliga is the top league in the world followed closely by the English Premier League, according to the rankings. Spain, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, MLS, Holland and France round out the top 10.

According to tweets by Sporting Intelligence, the English Premier League was severely docked for quality of stadiums, and while MLS has built many new soccer specific stadiums, Sporting Intelligence noted that MLS scored well in competitiveness and other areas.

[Rageman]

[Rageman]

Wow.

German football is looking pretty impressive right now.

Still another match for each to go but it definitely looks like the Germans will be invading Wembley.

[pieceofme]

This week could have not gone better.

United win the title and the two Spanish teams get thumped.

[SebastianLeeDanzig]

I can see Real coming back from that. Barca, not so much. It would be a dream to see fucking Bayern get their perfect season ruined in a final against Dortmund, though. Especially after defeating them thrice this season already and trying to lure away their key players (Götze and Lewandowski). Uli Hoeneß' fat fucking head would probably explode in jail.

[el_nino]

Lewandowski was ridonkulous last night. But Madrid still arent quite out of it yet, with that away goal. Barcelona are I think.

I just hope that, assuming it's an all-German final, the more mongy elements of English football support don't cause trouble. I could see it happening but I hope I am wrong.

[pieceofme]

I can see Real coming back from that. Barca, not so much. It would be a dream to see fucking Bayern get their perfect season ruined in a final against Dortmund, though. Especially after defeating them thrice this season already and trying to lure away their key players (Götze and Lewandowski). Uli Hoeneß' fat fucking head would probably explode in jail.

That sounds ideal to me.

[Hellsinkey]

I just hope that, assuming it's an all-German final, the more mongy elements of English football support don't cause trouble. I could see it happening but I hope I am wrong.

Is it at Wembley?

[el_nino]

Yeah, it is. There's been a fair bit of knuckle-dragging there from Millwall in the last few weeks so you'd like to think security will be high.

[pieceofme]

Yeah, it is. There's been a fair bit of knuckle-dragging there from Millwall in the last few weeks so you'd like to think security will be high.

Especially if two teams from Germany are playing the final!

[Hellsinkey]

Funnily one of the biggest (also in size) party leaders here is a Millwall fan. Status Quo is his favourite band.