Soccer/Football
Related: About this forumWho is going to win your league of choice this year?
I've got a feeling Wolfsburg will stun Bayern and Dortmund and win the Bundesliga this year, personally.
Ron Obvious
(6,261 posts)It's hard to say much until transfer deadline day.
Arsenal are, I think, better than last year. Manchester United should be under better management but still have a weak squad. Liverpool are definitely weaker without Suarez until we see what they'll spend the transfer money on. Manchester City are most likely to retain the title as Chelsea are still too busy laughing over unloading David Luiz for 50 million to PSG.
Ask me again September 1st.
Aquavit
(488 posts)I'd like to see Arsenal win the EPL. Ya know, Ozil and Mertesacker and what not
Seriously though, I'm fine with any of those teams apart from City (really lame behavior by the team after the friendly in Minneapolis last weekend) and Chelsea (Mourinho's mouth and also Munich 2012) winning. It'd be fun to see Arsenal, Liverpool, and Everton make a game of it next May
Ron Obvious
(6,261 posts)I didn't hear anything about lame behaviour by City in Minneapolis.
Aquavit
(488 posts)But they were a bit classless after losing to Olympiakos. City had 35k-ish usually pretty stoic Minnesotans cheering them on for 90 minutes plus penalties on an extremely hot summer day in Minneapolis, and when they lost they just turned tail and disappeared into their dressing room. Olympiakos, on the other hand, did a lap afterward and likely left Minnesota with a good many more supporters than they had going in.
As a neutral that was leaning a little toward City, it felt a bit like a spit in the eye considering how much we paid to go see the game.
On a different note, as much as I love FC Bayern I am now hoping that they don't finish better than fourth in the Bundesliga this year. After their last couple of seasons, I'd think fourth would get Guardiola sacked. The way he treated Caleb Porter after the MLS All-Star friendly was embarrassing and totally unacceptable for a club like Bayern. This, especially after we've just opened an office in NYC and are hoping to build a name in the States...
BKH70041
(961 posts)Give me another couple of weeks and I'll throw out some predictions. I think I've already proven I'm not afraid to risk guessing what will happen.
T_i_B
(14,800 posts)Which is much less predictable the the Premier League.
In an ideal world it would of course be Sheffield Wednesday winning the Championship but that's not really likely. Far more likely to be somebody like Fulham.
BKH70041
(961 posts)As a West Brom fan I'm acquainted with a team that bounces from one league to another. WBA barely stayed in the EPL this past year. They better get busy opening the purse strings or they'll be in the Championship next season.
T_i_B
(14,800 posts)Our former manager.
Hate to break the news to you but he was not a good manager at Sheffield Wednesday.
Still, at least you can make "Father Ted" jokes!
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Our attack features Wondolowski, remember? The net would have to be 20 feet high!
BKH70041
(961 posts)OK, ready to test my guessing ability again.
Top 5 teams (in no particular order):
Arsenal
Chelsea
Liverpool
Man City
Man U
Teams that will be relegated:
Burnley
WBA (crying in my beer)
Sunderland
Winner: Chelsea
Check back 05/24/2015 for comparison.
Here's to a great season no matter your team or league!!
BKH70041
(961 posts)Got that prediction right.
And I might have predicted 4 of the top 5. Let you know soon.
Ron Obvious
(6,261 posts)WBA will stay up. I think Sunderland might just pull it off because Hull have a murderous remaining 3 games.
QPR and Burnley are essentially down already.
T_i_B
(14,800 posts)Thanks to a late equalizer from Sheffield Wednesday's Atdhe Nuhiu at Watford.
BKH70041
(961 posts)I got 4 of the top 5 right, and picked Chelsea to win it all. Tottenham edged out Liverpool to take 5th place.
Only got one relegation team right. WBA got their act together enough to place 13th, and Sunderland barely avoided going down.
Aston Villa barely made it.
Special mention to Leicester City who decided to get serious after the half-way point and was playing some really good football at the end.
Looks like AFC Bournemouth, Watford, and the Norwich City/Middlesbrough winner will be joining the top flight next year.
Aquavit
(488 posts)If freaking Wolfsburg or BVB could win a game, that would be great at this point!
BKH70041
(961 posts)It's a marathon, not a sprint. I know you know that.
Give it some time.
Aquavit
(488 posts)What a disaster that match with Barca was. Granted we'll probably win 8-0 in Munich next week given how the spring has gone, but that game today was awful.