Help Me Pick a Premier League Team

Import78

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So, I've always enjoyed watching a bit of footie, I played through high school, but I never had the ability to follow any of them.

Until now. My wife signed us up for Peacock and I've been watching a match here and there. I don't really have a strong rooting interest though. I've got lots of family in England and I was born in Cambridge, but Cambridge United has never torn it up to say the least. I was able to watch Arsenal at the Emirates cup about 10 years ago, but that was probably my last real contact with the Premier League.

So, who should I start to follow?
 

SoxFanInCali

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Guess we haven't had one of these threads in a while.

Just spend a few weeks watching games and highlights. Eventually something will catch your attention and draw you to that team.

Unless that team is Manchester United, because fuck them.
 

DJnVa

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Dec 16, 2010
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Do you like sadness? Do you think it's the hope that kills you?

Then do I have a team for you.
 

Cellar-Door

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Aug 1, 2006
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West Ham.
Longstanding PL team, but not one of the big money clubs (probably bottom 3 richest ownership groups), playing well now, in Europa league.
Leeds is fun too, a great, exciting and crazy manager, club has a history but languished in the lower leagues for years until recently.

I think the key ones to avoid are any team in the "top 6 (Man U, Spurs, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool", basically the upside of those is that they have a lot of fans and attention, the downside is they're basically all variants of Cowboys/Yankees/Lakers, with the side that the people who run them range from "just money sucking parasites trying to ruin the sport for profit" to "actual horrific human rights abusers and/or criminals using their club to launder money and their reputation"
 

teddykgb

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I have trouble with advising people to pick a team that isn’t competitive because there no longer is much of a path to becoming competitive. For some people that is the right choice but it can be frustrating following a team with little actual hope.

One thing I always recommend to people from here is to maybe focus on London clubs. If you do really catch the fever it’s far more cost effective to travel to and from London than many of the other areas of England. I’ve made a fair number of trips to Manchester and that’s a fairly accessible City but there are more flights and logistics involved so if you’re just kind of rolling the dice it’s probably better to have an easier option to attend
 

Kremlin Watcher

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You could do what I did and pick a team that yo-yos between the first division and the Premiership (Fulham for me). They make following English football very interesting. Kind of like watching the Sox when I was a kid.
 

Zososoxfan

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West Ham.
Longstanding PL team, but not one of the big money clubs (probably bottom 3 richest ownership groups), playing well now, in Europa league.
Leeds is fun too, a great, exciting and crazy manager, club has a history but languished in the lower leagues for years until recently.

I think the key ones to avoid are any team in the "top 6 (Man U, Spurs, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool", basically the upside of those is that they have a lot of fans and attention, the downside is they're basically all variants of Cowboys/Yankees/Lakers, with the side that the people who run them range from "just money sucking parasites trying to ruin the sport for profit" to "actual horrific human rights abusers and/or criminals using their club to launder money and their reputation"
This is generally good advice, but with one caveat I can think of. If you're the kind of person that would go to your club's local bar to watch the match, that will be harder for less popular clubs. Even in a smaller city like Tampa, there's a dedicated bar for Liverpool and Spurs. A number of clubs "claim" Macdintons, but it will always be a United bar to me.

Edit: Also, don't pick Arsenal.
 

ninjacornelius

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Find a player you absolutely love to watch, pick that team, develop a deep affection for the club as a whole, then wait for your favorite player to get sold for a stack of cash while you're stuck cheering for a team called the fucking Toffees as they finish between 8th and 12th every year. Who knows? If you're lucky, that favorite player may come back to your team after a decade and be much, much worse.

Or, you know, just pick Man City and spare yourself the ulcers.
 

Import78

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I'm very much enjoying the replies here.

I've watched most of the world cup matches (men and women) so I know the big name players, but not being able to watch/follow outside of the WC means if they aren't an international star I probably don't know them.

I don't mind following a team outside the top 6 (I've been a sox fan since the mid 80's) as long as they are fun to watch, as for travel when I go to England I spend a lot of time with family scattered in the southern half of the country and a bit in Wales, but it's unlikely I'll be going to a game in person any time. That isn't a deal breaker for me though.
 

Time to Mo Vaughn

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One thing I always recommend to people from here is to maybe focus on London clubs. If you do really catch the fever it’s far more cost effective to travel to and from London than many of the other areas of England. I’ve made a fair number of trips to Manchester and that’s a fairly accessible City but there are more flights and logistics involved so if you’re just kind of rolling the dice it’s probably better to have an easier option to attend
This is a recommendation I make as well. If you are super excited and want to actually go to the match, no one wants to go all the way to a shithole like Manchester or Liverpool just to see their team play.
 

Kliq

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Spurs fan here. Personally, I like the idea where a team doing well (making the CL, winning the FA Cup, even winning the league) should be viewed as a major, major accomplishment and not the expectation. At the same time, you maybe want a team with a fighting chance and not someone who is constantly in a relegation battle (although that brings its own style of joy and heartbreak).

I think at the moment, West Ham, Everton Leicester, Spurs or Arsenal would be good choices. Good sized clubs, some have been in better states than others, but they will generally spend some money and try to win, but they also don't come with entitled drama from the largest clubs.
 

dirtynine

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Is it important that they’re definitely in the mix for trophies at the highest level? That would point towards a small handful of clubs. But there are many ways to enjoy (or suffer with) a team that doesn’t have those aspirations. In some ways it’s healthier.

There are really 4 groupings:

1. high expectations, results are likely to match (ex: Man City, Chelsea)
2. high expectations, results are unlikely to match (ex: Spurs, Arsenal, lately Man Utd)
3. low/mid expectations, results are likely to match (ex: Palace, Brighton, West Ham)
4. limited expectations, let’s just enjoy ourselves (ex: Brentford, Norwich)

There are some tweeners like Leicester that change groups season-to-season. Other changes are longer term - like Man U and Arsenal falling from 1 to 2, or Liverpool from 2 to 1 during the Henry era.

I’d avoid group 2-type clubs. Constant frustration.
 

candylandriots

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I’m taking what I wrote the last time and amending it based on the new manager:


I'll put out my lonely request for Crystal Palace, again. I've probably told the story, but I went to London to see the 49ers play, and decided to go see an EPL game while there. I wanted to see a "big" club. The only way I could get tickets was to become a member of Crystal Palace, who were playing Arsenal at home. I went in there thinking, I'll become an Arsenal fan today ("Fever Pitch", though I've never seen the dumb movie). It was their first year back in the PL. I thought they outplayed Arsenal, even though they lost 0-2. I've hardly missed a match since. It's a working class team, but still in London, so not too hard to get to. Principal owner is a lifelong fan of the team.They have some very exciting players, and their new manager has changed their approach in a competitive way that is also fun to watch. The stadium environment is second to none in the league (possible exception of Craven Cottage, now back in the Championship) -- small and old stadium with passionate fans throughout. People who care a lot more about the game than about wining. It's probably the most multi-cultural team/fanbase/neighborhood in London, if not the EPL. There is a lot to like, except the consistently mediocre results. But aside from Brighton, and probably Watford fans, nobody else is going to hate you, and probably most will respect you for being a Palace fan.

After a typically Palace protracted search for a manager, they ended up with Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira. He’s has them playing a very exciting style that is a stark contrast to the very conservative approach that has mostly characterized their most recent spell in the league. They recently beat Spurs 3-0 in possibly the best-played game I’ve ever seen from them, and despite losing to Liverpool by the same score last week (a score that did not represent the game’s competitiveness), they very much looked like they belong and compete with any team in the league. They have brought in a lot of young, exciting players this past offseason, turning over what was an old roster. I think most people would agree that they had one of, if not the best, transfer windows this summer (certainly when adjusted for finances). They are in their 9th consecutive season in the league. That's not to say they have not flirted with relegation at all (they have), but at least it hasn't been a yo-yo since I've been a fan.

And it would be nice to have some company here.

P.S. There is a five-part series on Amazon Prime, “When Eagles Dare”, chronicling the team’s turnaround from near-administration to returning to the Premier League in just a few years. It’s a fun look at the team and will give you some idea what the experience is like.
 

Soxy

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Just spend a few weeks watching games and highlights. Eventually something will catch your attention and draw you to that team.
This always seems like the best answer to me. That's also more or less how I did it about 15 years ago, after getting into soccer during the 2006 World Cup. I eventually landed on Liverpool and never looked back. Can't really pinpoint why. Just ended up drawn to them, I suppose.

If I'm being honest, I highly doubt I'd land on Liverpool if I were doing the same thing now. I'd probably be more likely to land on one of the fun, scrappy underdog clubs. Maybe Leeds or Brentford. Someone along those lines.

Either way, just start watching a bunch of EPL matches and see which clubs tickle your fancy, go from there.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Pasting my response from the last thread on this topic, only replace description of Carlo Ancelotti with “former manager” and “ethically and tactically challenged backstabbing has-been”

As suggested back in the origin of this thread six years ago, Everton. Deep roots, passionate fans, a culture as "The People's Club," old, bear-pit stadium that's probably the closest thing to Fenway in the PL (it's the oldest football-only stadium in the world, a shiny new stadium has just been approved), habitually just outside of the Big Six (one pundit refers to the battle for the seventh-place spot as the "Everton Cup), so good enough to challenge, not completely futile, but a propensity for shooting themselves in the foot that adds that pre-2004 Sox-ish touch of masochism to the fan experience, managed by Carlo Ancelotti, one of the game's all-time greats and just a great guy to root for, history of American players, exciting young talent, historic rivalry (albeit one sided lately) with Liverpool, whose stadium is about 1000 feet away, etc.

Here's some receipts.


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/02/sports/everton-liverpool-merseyside-derby.html


https://www.evertonfc.com/news/2111866/statement-from-the-board


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIZ6yDR2qZU


View: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=507385323228882


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP1Xk0FyVdo&t=14s


https://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-england-liverpool-soccer-20170401-story.html
 

BernieRicoBoomer

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Find a player you absolutely love to watch, pick that team, develop a deep affection for the club as a whole, then wait for your favorite player to get sold for a stack of cash while you're stuck cheering for a team called the fucking Toffees as they finish between 8th and 12th every year. Who knows? If you're lucky, that favorite player may come back to your team after a decade and be much, much worse.

Or, you know, just pick Man City and spare yourself the ulcers.
It's almost like I read this post 6 years ago...
 

Titans Bastard

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Front-running glory-hunters are all supporting the New England Revolution these days.