Every week I try to post something about fundraising and
share my thoughts on some topics that I had been thinking about the past week,
but this week I am going to focus on only a personal item, the English Premier
League!
 |
| Dignified with the Corsage Knot |
Tomorrow, English Football launches the 2015-2016
season. Every team has set their goals
for the year. While every team would
like to win the title, the honestly reality is that only five teams (probably
only 2 or 3) really have a chance to win the title. The other 15 teams set other achievable
goals, from finishing in the top four to quality for the UEFA Champions League,
the most prestigious club soccer competition that puts the best teams from all
over Europe against each other regardless of their home country. Others have a goal of finishing in the top seven
to qualify for UEFA Europa League (the second tier tournament of the best clubs
in Europe). Still for others, it is a
top half finish and for a few, it is just to remain in the Premier League. One of the things I like (or hate when my
team is relegated) is that there are multiple tiers of competition in British
Soccer. The top 2 teams from the second
tier (The Championship) automatically move up to the Premier League and then
there is a mini-tournament between the 3rd - 6th place teams for the final
promotion spot. The bottom three teams
in the Premier League are relegated to the Championship.
My team is West Ham United, probably their fans are best
known as the inspiration for the movie the "Green Street Hooligans"
or that they are the team that won the bid to play in the London 2012 Olympic
Stadium as their future home, are poised to make a nice run this year. My hope is a top seven finish, but I would be
happy with a top 10 result. Big Sam
Allardyce and his snoozer style football are gone from Upton Park as he was
relieved of his managerial duties and in comes Slaven Bilic, who is charged
with adding excitement to West Ham's style and more impressive results. His
impact was felt right away with the signing of Dmitri Payet, a midfielder who
was playing in France. Last year, Payet
was one of the most active assist men in the world creating over 150 chances for
his team (making great passes to put teammates in position to score goals). West Ham also brought in Angelo Ogbonna who
will be a strong central defender, replacing the aging and unfortunately injury
prone James Collins. In addition to
these two high potential players, they also brought in midfielders Manuel
Lanzini and Pedro Obiang. These
additions have me very excited for West Ham's potential this year.
At the beginning of the year, everyone makes predictions
about what the starting eleven should look like. Mark Noble is the captain and has been a
fixture for West Ham for as long as I can remember, but personally, I am not a
fan. He is definitely a great clubhouse
leader, but his impact does not translate to the pitch. In addition, Kevin Nolan who has been solid
in the past, just does not have the talent to maintain his role with these new
young guns who joined the team.
My preferred starting eleven is as follows:
Goalkeeper: Adrian
Defenders: Jenkinson -RB, Reid - CB (c), Ogbonna - CB,
Cresswell - LB
Midfielders: Kouyate - CDM, Amalfitano - R, Lanzini -L, Payet - CAM and Obiang - CAM
Striker - Sakho
If they were healthy, I would put Andy Carroll or Enner
Valencia up top with Sakho, but neither is at the moment, so instead Obiang
gets the start in the midfield.
"Come on You Irons"
No comments:
Post a Comment