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Greetings,
Watching EPL on NBC Sports Live right now, and it made me wonder if anyone here cared about the EPL (or other Soccer leagues... Series A (Italian), La Liga (Spanish), Bundesliga (German), etc...
Leading up to the last World Cup, I promised myself that I'd stop trashing the other "futbol" and at least give it a shot. I decided that I'd pick an EPL team to follow and try to stick with them for at least a year. I didn't want to take a shot on a trendy team that was hyper popular, but I wanted to give it a legit shot and pick a team I could stomach admiring. As an avid fan of the US Men's National Team, I wanted to follow an EPL team that had US Soccer players in important positions. So, that pretty much left me with Aston Villa (Brad Guzan) and Everton (Tim Howard). Needless to say, I chose Everton since he was the USMNT starter.
After following Everton for a year, I learned to appreciate their style of play, their young players, their history and even their culture. If you don't know anything about Everton, I'll tell you a bit about them...
1) They were great in the 80s & early 90s (like an NFL team you know well)
2) Sylvester Stallone loves Everton and tried to buy them.
3) They are nicknamed "The Toffees" because right around their stadium (Goodison Park) is an old and retired Toffee factory that was important to the local community.
4) They are one of the oldest Premier League clubs, founded in 1892...
5) They are in Liverpool (Merseyside), and whenever they play Liverpool FC (stadiums separated by a few miles) it is called the "Merseyside Derby".
6) Their patch has the latin quote: nil satis nisi optimum. That means "Nothing but the best is good enough..."
7) Their best and most notable players:
a. John Stones - A young, English defender who is coveted by Chelsea... Chelsea offered Everton nearly $40M in the fall for John Stones, but Everton declined this. John Stones is probably going to leave Everton, so I imagine they'll sell him for $50M to either Chelsea or Barcelona...
b. Romelo Lukaku - 21 year old striker who already has 51 goals in the EPL. He is a Belgian and was an important part of the team that dismantled the US in the World Cup.
c. Ross Barkley - Another young Englishman... He is an attacking midfielder and has been coveted by Manchester City.
d. Gerard Deulofeu - 21 year old Spaniard... He is a right midfielder and can play right forward. He is an attacking player and quite good. Evertonians call him "Geri" and "The Magic Man"... It's Magic, you know?
e. Tim Howard - US Goalie... You know him well.
f. Seamus Coleman - The Irishman is very good and Manchester United sought him. He is a quality right back who is good at moving forward and creating opportunities.
g. Leighton Baines - Baines is a veteran LB who has been a member of the English National team for years. He is good, but he has been injured for most of the last year.
Anyway, I've watched every Everton game this year (NBC Sports Live makes it easy) and I really like it. Even though Everton is really good and disappoints me often (just like an NFL team you know well), I think I'm good sticking with Everton. Come On You Blues! BTW, they are playing Crystal Palace right now.
Got this post in during halftime.
That's a small taste... I could say more... However, the purpose here is also to assess the folks here who might be interested in International Soccer and hear about your favorite teams and how you picked them... I also check in with the other International Leagues, but EPL is most accessible to me.
Watching EPL on NBC Sports Live right now, and it made me wonder if anyone here cared about the EPL (or other Soccer leagues... Series A (Italian), La Liga (Spanish), Bundesliga (German), etc...
Leading up to the last World Cup, I promised myself that I'd stop trashing the other "futbol" and at least give it a shot. I decided that I'd pick an EPL team to follow and try to stick with them for at least a year. I didn't want to take a shot on a trendy team that was hyper popular, but I wanted to give it a legit shot and pick a team I could stomach admiring. As an avid fan of the US Men's National Team, I wanted to follow an EPL team that had US Soccer players in important positions. So, that pretty much left me with Aston Villa (Brad Guzan) and Everton (Tim Howard). Needless to say, I chose Everton since he was the USMNT starter.
After following Everton for a year, I learned to appreciate their style of play, their young players, their history and even their culture. If you don't know anything about Everton, I'll tell you a bit about them...
1) They were great in the 80s & early 90s (like an NFL team you know well)
2) Sylvester Stallone loves Everton and tried to buy them.
3) They are nicknamed "The Toffees" because right around their stadium (Goodison Park) is an old and retired Toffee factory that was important to the local community.
4) They are one of the oldest Premier League clubs, founded in 1892...
5) They are in Liverpool (Merseyside), and whenever they play Liverpool FC (stadiums separated by a few miles) it is called the "Merseyside Derby".
6) Their patch has the latin quote: nil satis nisi optimum. That means "Nothing but the best is good enough..."
7) Their best and most notable players:
a. John Stones - A young, English defender who is coveted by Chelsea... Chelsea offered Everton nearly $40M in the fall for John Stones, but Everton declined this. John Stones is probably going to leave Everton, so I imagine they'll sell him for $50M to either Chelsea or Barcelona...
b. Romelo Lukaku - 21 year old striker who already has 51 goals in the EPL. He is a Belgian and was an important part of the team that dismantled the US in the World Cup.
c. Ross Barkley - Another young Englishman... He is an attacking midfielder and has been coveted by Manchester City.
d. Gerard Deulofeu - 21 year old Spaniard... He is a right midfielder and can play right forward. He is an attacking player and quite good. Evertonians call him "Geri" and "The Magic Man"... It's Magic, you know?
e. Tim Howard - US Goalie... You know him well.
f. Seamus Coleman - The Irishman is very good and Manchester United sought him. He is a quality right back who is good at moving forward and creating opportunities.
g. Leighton Baines - Baines is a veteran LB who has been a member of the English National team for years. He is good, but he has been injured for most of the last year.
Anyway, I've watched every Everton game this year (NBC Sports Live makes it easy) and I really like it. Even though Everton is really good and disappoints me often (just like an NFL team you know well), I think I'm good sticking with Everton. Come On You Blues! BTW, they are playing Crystal Palace right now.
Got this post in during halftime.That's a small taste... I could say more... However, the purpose here is also to assess the folks here who might be interested in International Soccer and hear about your favorite teams and how you picked them... I also check in with the other International Leagues, but EPL is most accessible to me.
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