English Premier League Fans

[Barnacle 9,064]

Who are the Auburn Tigers (football) of the EPL? 

Trying to get into the EPL. I've basically settled that I'm going to follow Sheffield United for the rest of this season. If they miraculously avoid relegation, then I'll continue to follow them. If not, I'll probably be looking for another club to follow. Figure following Sheffield can be a good way for me to get familiar with the other teams in the league. 

Like them because they have a very loyal fanbase, great stadium atmosphere (from what I've read), and seeing what Wilder has done bringing them up from League One to where they are now. Didn't want to bandwagon on a top team, so we'll see how it works out. 

Anyway I'm not a big soccer guy, just have a couple buddies who are and it's something else that would be interesting to follow. 

Who do you guys like, and why? Who would you say is like following Auburn - all things considered, history, success, fans, stadium, etc.?

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

First, are you familiar with the Men in Blazers podcast? If not, make it so.

Second, an EPL team like Auburn... tough to say, as the EPL, which you might already know at this point, has a firmly established Big Six- Man U, Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool (currently the bama of English football), Chelsea and Tottenham- and they are probably even more firmly established at the top than the P5 powers in CFB. There aren't any provisions for parity in world football, so the money clubs win. every. year. (Leicester City was a very, very notable exception a few years ago.) Auburn and Oregon don't make it to the dance in the Premiership. 

THAT SAID, you might take a look at Everton. They are like Auburn pre-Dye. Little brother to Liverpool. Old row top flight club. Never top of the table, but never in the relegation zone. Southampton and West Ham also qualify, although when I think of West Ham, I think of a particularly obnoxious, ornery and perpetually drunk buddy in Atlanta. They'd be like DiNardo era LSU based on the one Hammer I know. I don't know anything about Southampton. 

I pull Arsenal. I know that's almost as bad as being a Cowboys fan who's never been to Texas, but it's at least somewhat organic in my case. (And they've not seriously threatened for the league championship since.) I had a friend in Atlanta who was an Arsenal supporter. She invited me to come watch Arsenal play Man U at Brewhouse in Little Five- at that time, *the* soccer pub in Atlanta- and, man, it was a SCENE. Might as well have been uga-Florida, except way different accents, way less barking, and far better fashion sense. Anyway, my friend's friends were ex-pats and Arsenal supporters, and they couldn't have been cooler humans. Just the most charming, pleasant, laid back dudes you could ever hope to share a pint with. The Man U fans, on the other hand, were pretty obnoxious. This was in their heyday and when they were very much the bama of the Premiership. And they had the obnoxious bandwagon American fans to prove it. So it was very simple. I decided I like Arsenal people and therefore Arsenal football that day. (Arsenal lost the match, btw.) As it turned out, a guy who ended up becoming an A1 day 1 best friend is a long time Arsenal supporter, and my sister-in-law married an exceedingly good dude who is also a hardcore Arsenal supporter. So it just feels very right. And Arsenal has a very rich history with very humble beginnings, although I suspect that's true of most big European clubs. 

Are you a reader? Do you read? Consider Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby (Yep, same dude who wrote High Fidelity.) He's an Arsenal guy, but it's not an Arsenal book, per se. Nor is it even strictly a book about soccer. It's a book for sports fans. 

For a very different soccer book that's also not a soccer book but not about English football at all, read This Love is Not for Cowards.  Literally every American not already familiar with Mexican border towns should read it. It really opened up my understanding of conditions down there. But also sports and especially soccer people. 

Oh, the teams playing the most attractive soccer right now are probably Liverpool and Tottenham. Son and Kane really have it cooking for Tottenham and Liverpool are just pure joy and dominance. Also check out Dortmund and Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, Barcelona in La Liga, and Juventus in Serie A.

And for God's sake, watch the Maradona doc on HBO.

 

So glad I could keep this short for you. 

PS- I'm not half the true soccer fan that a lot of people you encounter are. I played it my whole life and I love the sport more than I love anything except my wife and my children, but I don't actually consume nearly as much of it as I'd like and I'm not good at retaining names and stats and history and such. 

PPSS- Start making plans to make plans to get to some Atlanta and/or Nashville matches next season. @AUDubcan get you fired up about the Birmingham club, too. 

 

[augolf1716 21,109]

11 hours ago, Barnacle said:

Who are the Auburn Tigers (football) of the EPL? 

Trying to get into the EPL. I've basically settled that I'm going to follow Sheffield United for the rest of this season. If they miraculously avoid relegation, then I'll continue to follow them. If not, I'll probably be looking for another club to follow. Figure following Sheffield can be a good way for me to get familiar with the other teams in the league. 

Like them because they have a very loyal fanbase, great stadium atmosphere (from what I've read), and seeing what Wilder has done bringing them up from League One to where they are now. Didn't want to bandwagon on a top team, so we'll see how it works out. 

Anyway I'm not a big soccer guy, just have a couple buddies who are and it's something else that would be interesting to follow. 

Who do you guys like, and why? Who would you say is like following Auburn - all things considered, history, success, fans, stadium, etc.?

 

loof did an excellent write up not much to add but if I were you forget the rest and just go with my 

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

35 minutes ago, augolf1716 said:

loof did an excellent write up not much to add but if I were you forget the rest and just go with my 

 

I've got their schedule synced on my google calendar because PULISIC BABY.  Just need that kid to stay healthy. Starting to worry it will never happen but thank the lord we're starting to see so many other young Americans show out in almost all the big Euro leagues. GOT DANGIT IS IT 2022 YET

[McLoofus 35,182]

Wow. Liverpool v Everton (and one of the Men in Blazers) explained in one tweet:

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

5 hours ago, augolf1716 said:

loof did an excellent write up not much to add but if I were you forget the rest and just go with my 

 

So about your Blues...

[augolf1716 21,109]

50 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

So about your Blues...

Giroud!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 hour ago, augolf1716 said:

Giroud!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That beautiful French bastard. He scored one of the prettiest goals I've ever seen for Arsenal on a scorpion kick a few years ago. I'll always be a fan.

[McLoofus 35,182]

Even the buildup was sexy.

https://www.premierleague.com/video/single/789200

[Barnacle 9,064]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

Even the buildup was sexy.

https://www.premierleague.com/video/single/789200

Absolutely absurd

[AUDub 11,147]

So 'loof probably gave the best answer with regard to the Premier League equivalent to AU. That would most likely be the Toffees of Merseyside, Everton. Decent club with periods of success but overshadowed by a more successful club in the same town in Liverpool FC. 

I've latched onto Leicester since their out of nowhere win a few years back. Find Vardy hilarious. 

Oh, and he's pretty good too. Poor Sheffield.

 

If I'm that keeper, I am giving that center back hell for not fouling and eating the subsequent red card. You have to there. 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

So I've started following Fulham.

1) Oldest club

2) Awesome venue right on the River Thames

3) Long history of having American born players

4) May get relegated.  May not.  But it'll be fun!

Also, did anyone see Seattle v Minnesota in the MLS last night???  That was insane and once again reminds me why I mostly find the Premier League (and most European leagues) incredibly boring.

[McLoofus 35,182]

14 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

So I've started following Fulham.

1) Oldest club

2) Awesome venue right on the River Thames

3) Long history of having American born players

4) May get relegated.  May not.  But it'll be fun!

Also, did anyone see Seattle v Minnesota in the MLS last night???  That was insane and once again reminds me why I mostly find the Premier League (and most European leagues) incredibly boring.

Craven Cottage is so dope! What a venue. Would love to attend a match there. 

Hate that I missed that game last night. I struggle with MLS ball that isn't ATL. It's occasionally good, but man, you see some baaaaaaaad defending much of the time (which makes a lot of the fun stuff possible). And it's particularly bittersweet watching postseason matches when Atlanta didn't make the postseason. But I opened Twitter this morning and was immediately like, damn, I missed out on something tasty last night.

[McLoofus 35,182]

Oh and Clint Dempsey forever. An all timer. Hard to articulate just how audacious this goal, and he, was.

 

[AUDub 11,147]

Anyone else watch the US slaughter El Salvador last night? Basically our D and C teams with the exceptions of Lletget and Arriola, but it was a fun watch.

[McLoofus 35,182]

2 hours ago, AUDub said:

Anyone else watch the US slaughter El Salvador last night? Basically our D and C teams with the exceptions of Lletget and Arriola, but it was a fun watch.

Didn't get to but saw 5-0 at half, lol.

[AUDub 11,147]

10 hours ago, McLoofus said:

Didn't get to but saw 5-0 at half, lol.

All came within a 10ish minute span. Wings on top in the 433 just ran wild, especially Arriola. El Salvador literally had no answer. 

[AUDub 11,147]

Seriously. It was one touch and gone for Arriola in that span. 

El Salvador is just bad at the back outside of the CBs, and they were pretty marginal too.