ADVERTISEMENT

**** EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga 2020-21 Thread ****

JRHawk2003

HR King
Jul 9, 2003
54,277
27,553
113
Montrose
European Preview 20-21

Hard to bet against Manchester City. Will this be the year Dortmund overtakes Bayern?

First EPL games 09/12, First Bundesliga 09/18

Liverpool opening against newly promoted Leeds United. Manchester City gets Aston Villa and Fulham makes its EPL return against Arsenal.
 
Fulham looks like they will go right back down again. 3-0 Arsenal.

I wouldn’t judge a possible relegation for them based on that game alone. That was a tough match for them and they knew it. Probably expected to lose. Parker summed it up well saying there are just some matches they’re gonna lose but they just can’t let it get to them to the point where they’ve essentially resigned themselves to losing regularly.
 
Tottenham waiting for the last 10 minutes to beat a pub team playing with 9 men with in the qualify round of the Europa League. Great start Spurs!
 
Last edited:
Tottenham waiting for the last 10 minutes to beat a pub team playing with 9 men with in the qualify round of the Europa League. Great start Spurs!
Tottenham are playing Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Europa Qualifying Round. In case you don’t know who they are, Tottenham are a small club from North London. :p😂
 
I am really disappointed to see that Bundesliga is on ESPN+ now. *Sigh*

I just refuse to add another subscription service. Looks like I will just get the games they show on ESPN or ESPN News.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sober_teacher
Holy Hell! Bayern beats Schalke 8-0 to open the season.

So Bayern is totally dominant or Schalke is headed to relegation? or both?
 
I'm just looking forward to seeing the USMNT with all of these young guys on it. It's looking like we have the best team in a long time... at least talent, maybe not a team once all on the field together. That said, how can you not be excited about guys like Pulisic, McKinnie, Adams, Steffen, Weah, Reyna, Sargent, Dest, Richards, De La Fuente, Llanez, Hernandez-Foster, Sanogo and more.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LesClaypool
Yep, and we'll see if Konrad de la Fuente gets some playing time for Barca and if Dest ends up with a bigger club.
Totally forgot about Konrad, and I just watched his Barca highlights the other day. I’ve heard Barca or Bayern for Dest.
 
Steffen starting for Man City in Carabao Cup today. Really hoping he can catch on there. Tough as a prospected #1 US keeper if he's not getting regular time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LesClaypool
I'm just looking forward to seeing the USMNT with all of these young guys on it. It's looking like we have the best team in a long time... at least talent, maybe not a team once all on the field together. That said, how can you not be excited about guys like Pulisic, McKinnie, Adams, Steffen, Weah, Reyna, Sargent, Dest, Richards, De La Fuente, Llanez, Hernandez-Foster, Sanogo and more.

I just follow Chelsea and Pulisic was given the #10 shirt by Lampard but he took an injury in the FA Cup final and has yet to appear this season. He is a 1st choice starter when healthy though.

I don't know how much those other players are actually playing though. Are they starters?
 
Jamie Vardy with the hat trick on Manchester City. 4-1 Leicester. Big game for the foxes.

I enjoy their counter attack fast break style.
 
Unbelievable where Americans are playing regularly now: Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Chelsea, Bayern, Juventus, and soon Manchester City. Golden generation?
Mckinnie really had himself a fine game last week. With Juventus' aging midfield, perhaps Westin has a chance to continue starting and playing the full 90. His effort is tremendous. I'm excited to see him on the pitch for the US.
 
Last edited:
I just follow Chelsea and Pulisic was given the #10 shirt by Lampard but he took an injury in the FA Cup final and has yet to appear this season. He is a 1st choice starter when healthy though.

I don't know how much those other players are actually playing though. Are they starters?
Many of them are starters and performing well. Dest just got transferred to Barca, so with only part of a season as a starter he's moved up to one of the best clubs in the world.
 
Many of them are starters and performing well. Dest just got transferred to Barca, so with only part of a season as a starter he's moved up to one of the best clubs in the world.
From what I've read, he's still pretty raw. Barca will most likely loan him to someone this year for experience, if I had to guess.
 
From what I've read, he's still pretty raw. Barca will most likely loan him to someone this year for experience, if I had to guess.
It’s possible. But he’s coming from being a regular at Ajax Amsterdam. Not exactly a cupcake themselves.
 
Steffen starting for Man City in Carabao Cup today. Really hoping he can catch on there. Tough as a prospected #1 US keeper if he's not getting regular time.

After his mistakes in the match against Lyon and recent performances generally, I don't think Ederson's spot is very safe right now. It's hard to put too much of the 5 goals on Ederson considering there were 3 penalties, but still...The fact that Steffan was chosen in the League Cup matches suggests he's the leader in the clubhouse and probably has more starts in the very near future as things get busy. By far the best move for Steffan is being at City where they're going to be playing loads of matches against world class teams, and training with this club.

Still, it's amazing to think that in addition to Steffan, you have Americans on the top squad of UCL clubs (Chelsea, Man City, Juventus, Barca, Dortmund, Leipzig). This is a huge step up from just four years ago. It's unheard of for us to have fully half our starting XI at clubs of this caliber. MLS will always play a role in filling out the USMNT, but just the fact that more guys are able to get there and having to fight their way into the lineup on a weekly basis represents a huge cultural shift. All the non-European national teams are going to be showing a lot of disjointedness when they start playing together again next year, but they'll have LOTS of time together to figure it out. With 10 WCQ games taking place between June and November, I forsee the Gold Cup as being very much a "B" team tournament.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sober_teacher
After his mistakes in the match against Lyon and recent performances generally, I don't think Ederson's spot is very safe right now. It's hard to put too much of the 5 goals on Ederson considering there were 3 penalties, but still...The fact that Steffan was chosen in the League Cup matches suggests he's the leader in the clubhouse and probably has more starts in the very near future as things get busy. By far the best move for Steffan is being at City where they're going to be playing loads of matches against world class teams, and training with this club.

Still, it's amazing to think that in addition to Steffan, you have Americans on the top squad of UCL clubs (Chelsea, Man City, Juventus, Barca, Dortmund, Leipzig). This is a huge step up from just four years ago. It's unheard of for us to have fully half our starting XI at clubs of this caliber. MLS will always play a role in filling out the USMNT, but just the fact that more guys are able to get there and having to fight their way into the lineup on a weekly basis represents a huge cultural shift. All the non-European national teams are going to be showing a lot of disjointedness when they start playing together again next year, but they'll have LOTS of time together to figure it out. With 10 WCQ games taking place between June and November, I forsee the Gold Cup as being very much a "B" team tournament.

As much crap as Jurgen got - much of it rightfully so, I did think he had a point when he wasn't happy that the top US players were coming back to MLS instead of trying to compete in the tougher Euro Leagues. MLS has done an incredible job developing the league the past 25 years, but our top guys just aren't pushed to develop and stay hungry the way they are in the top Euro Leagues.

Still good for fleshing out the depth chart and finding hidden gems, but for the foreseeable future top US players need to go abroad to become the best versions of themselves.
 
ADVERTISEMENT