Tag: Tottenham

Now that you’ve picked a team to root for, how does the Premier League work?

No Playoffs: The league consists of the 20 best teams in English Football. They all play each other at home and away for a total of 38 games. Each game is 90 minutes plus stoppage time and either ends in a win, draw, or loss. A win is worth three points and a draw worth one. At the end of the season, whoever has the most points wins the league. Many Americans don’t understand a lack of playoffs and I was the same way. But what makes it cool is that each game has the importance of the entire season being on the line. Most of the games are on Saturday and Sunday mornings which is great because it gives you something to watch early on weekend mornings and mostly doesn’t interfere with the NFL, college football, or other US sports leagues. The tie breaker for two teams with the same record is goal difference, so teams are incentivized to continue playing hard even in blowout games.

Relegation: The league has many great ways of ensuring teams continue to compete throughout the year. The bottom three teams get relegated to the 2nd highest level of English soccer (the Championship) and three teams from the Championship join the Premier League next year.

Domestic Cups: Throughout the season there are two domestic cups, the FA Cup and the EFL Cup. The tournaments are a one and done format. The FA Cup is absolutely awesome, with SEVEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY NINE teams competing this past year. I had to write out the whole number so I could capitalize it. Why so many teams? It would take super long to explain the English soccer system, but I’ll try to do it quickly. Basically anyone can start an English soccer team. That means you and I could start one and due to the fact that each level of the English soccer pyramid has relegation and promotion (no promotion in the Premier League because it’s the top dog) we could theoretically make our way all the way up to the Premier League. Unlikely, but the fact it’s plausible is still awesome. Basically the top 9 levels of the system all play each other for the FA Cup. It’s the equivalent of every single college football team in the country competing in a one and done, winner takes all tournament. That means the Division Three MIT Engineers football team could take on FBS powerhouse Alabama Crimson Tide. The EFL Cup (also know as the Carabao Cup due to sponsorships) is the same format as the FA Cup, but just consists of the top four levels of English soccer.

European championships and qualification: Another incentive for teams to keep playing hard is qualification for next season’s European championships. The top four teams from the Premier League qualify for the Champions League which decides who’s the best team in all of Europe (and therefore the world). The top leagues from countries all over Europe have teams qualify and they play each other throughout the next season. Below the Champions League, there are other levels of European football teams can qualify for. The 5th place team and the FA Cup champion qualify for the 2nd highest level of European championships, the Europa League. If the FA Cup winner was one of the top 5 teams, the 6th place team gets into Europa League. Finally, the EFL Cup winner qualifies for the third tier of European Championships, the UEFA Europa Conference League. If that team already qualified, then the 6th place team will qualify for the Conference League or the 7th place team if the FA Cup winner led to the 6th place team making the Europa League. Basically, most teams have something to play for other than pride deep into the season.

How to watch as an American: If you want to really follow the Premier League you should get Peacock. They show most of the games and USA and NBC will also show some games.

There’s your primer from an American. If it sounds confusing, it starts to make more sense as you watch more games. There’s also some good YouTube videos and articles online that explain it well. The Premier League season starts up this Friday, August 16. Welcome to being a Premier League fan!

As I mentioned in last week’s article about the Premier League, if you want to get into English soccer and need a team, then pick one of the top 6 teams to follow. These are Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Liverpool. You might feel like a bandwagon, but it makes it a lot easier to get into soccer when the team you’re playing for is actually good. Plenty of us are cursed by being born into fandom of US sports teams that disappoint us and let us down. Don’t hurt yourself anymore by picking a team that will never win the Premier League or even compete. Also, very few American Premier League fans you meet will accuse you of being a bandwagon fan – they’ll just be happy to meet someone else who follows it.

Manchester United: Probably the most prestigious Premier League club, they are the equivalent of the New York Yankees. They have been historically great and won more league titles than any other club. However, they have been less dominant of late and haven’t won the league in over a decade. It’s an especially tough pill to swallow given the newfound success of their main rival who we’ll talk about next. If you like teams with an awesome history they are for you. Also, if you like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Glazer family also owns United.

Manchester City: The new kids on the block. They are basically the Kansas City Chiefs of the Premier League. For years, they were Man United’s little brother, but are now the best soccer team in the entire world. If there’s any team you’ll get shit for, for being a bandwagon fan, it’s probably them. However, if you want your team to dominate and win titles then this is your team. Also, if you like following a team that historically didn’t have a ton of success, but now is dominant, this is also the team for you.

Liverpool: They are similar to Man United in that they have an incredible history. Unlike Man United, they are having much more current success. If you like a team that is currently good and has great success in their past, then they are for you. A word of warning though, their coach just left, which could have a big impact this year. Also, Fenway Sports group owns them, so if you’re a fan of the Red Sox this is an easy team to pick. For any Lebron James fans, he’s a part owner of Fenway Sports Group, so this might also be the team for you.

Chelsea: Chelsea does not have the same long-term success as some other Premier League teams, but recently became one of the best clubs in the league winning 5 of the last 20 league titles. Unfortunately, the past two seasons have been tough, as their new owners have struggled to keep the team competitive. There is hope for the club, as the new owners seem very interested in making sure the team is competitive and have spent over a billion dollars since May 2022 in acquiring players. They currently have many young players with potential too. The other teams they own, the Dodgers and Lakers, have also had recent success, so it’s believable they will make the club successful in short order. If you are a fan of West London or the Dodgers and Lakers, Chelsea’s your team.

Arsenal: Arsenal has an incredible history, though not as prestigious as Liverpool and Man United. They have not won a league title for 20 years, but are one of, if not the most, promising young teams in the league. They are filled with young, exciting players and a young manager. If you want to a follow a club with an exiting history and future or really like North London, they are for you. The owner of the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, and Los Angeles Rams, owns Arsenal so if you like those teams, this could be the team for you.

Tottenham: They are definitely the biggest underdog team of the Top 6. They haven’t won a league title since the early 1960s and are known as under achievers. If you like North London or like an underdog team that’s trying to overcome a harrowed past, this is your team.

Next week, I’ll post a quick guide to the basics of how the Premier League works.

Growing up my whole life, I always thought soccer was such a dumb, boring sport. Going to New England Revolution games and my friends’ high school soccer games never changed my mind on the subject. In addition to that, European soccer always seemed so confusing with a lack of playoffs and all the different competitions these teams played in. Furthermore, I never had a team to root for, which made it even harder to get into.

However, my opinion forever changed in January of 2022, when I got an in depth tour of Stamford Bridge and then went to a Chelsea FC – Tottenham match there later that month. I can honestly admit how wrong I was about soccer, because at that moment I realized I had never witnessed high-level soccer with the best players in the world. Me watching the MLS and concluding soccer was boring is the equivalent of a European going to a UMass football game and deciding football is a boring sport not worth watching.

The atmosphere at pubs around the stadium and during the actual game was like nothing I’d ever experienced. The entire crowd singing the same chants in unison was awesome and the game was super interesting to watch. Easily the most surprising thing was how much more physical English soccer is than I would’ve thought. I never could get why soccer players were always on the ground so much, but getting slid into by a guy going full speed when you’ve played 70 minutes of a soccer match isn’t fun, and it’s obviously going to take you a little bit to get up. Seeing Chelsea win 2-0 was absolutely awesome and I’ve been a Chelsea fan since, even if the last two seasons have been rough.

I know not everyone can get the chance to go to a game in person, but anyone who thinks soccer is boring or soft should give the Premier league a chance. It’s not as entertaining as football or hockey, but it’s defintely worth watching. The games go by much faster than American sports and they tend to play Saturday and Sunday mornings so it doesn’t interfere with watching other sports later in the day.

A word to the wise, pick one of the top 6 teams to follow if you’re going to become a fan. These are Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Liverpool. You might feel like a bandwagon, but it makes it a lot easier to get into soccer when the team you’re playing for is actually good. Plenty of us are cursed by being born into fandom of US sports teams that disappoint us and let us down. Don’t hurt yourself anymore by picking a team that will never win the Premier League or even compete.

The next two weeks, I’ll post a quick guide to those six teams and how the Premier League works.