Premier League Saturday, Gameweek 1: Open Thread
Whether you call it soccer or football, the season starts today with 7 Premier League matches in store on this glorious Saturday.
There’s no early kick-off, so we have 6 matches kicking off at the traditional time of 10am ET/3pm BST, followed by the match of the day between Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur at 12:30pm ET/5:30pm BST (on FOX Soccer). Joyous is probably the most apt word to describe my emotions, and hopefully yours.
The opening day of the Premier League season is often a strange one. On the opening day of the season last year, QPR lost 4-0 at home against Bolton Wanderers. But it was the Trotters who were eventually relegated at the end of the season. And who can’t forget Wolverhampton Wanderers’ fine start to the Premier League season last year? And they too ended up getting relegated. So while the results on the opening day of the season are important, I wouldn’t read too much into them quite yet.
Some of the things I’m looking forward to watching today: To see how Arsenal’s attacking threat looks like without Robin van Persie, how Liverpool will play their football against former LFC assistant Steve Clarke who is now manager at West Brom, how Michu will do in his Swansea competitive debut, whether Pavel Pogrebnyak can get a goal for Reading against Stoke, how Big Sam’s men will do against Paul Lambert’s new-look Villa, and what Fulham will look like sans Clint Dempsey. Newcastle against Spurs is the one that I’m really the most excited about, though.
Before, during and after today’s matches, post your rants, raves, questions and observations in the comments section.
109 Responses to Premier League Saturday, Gameweek 1: Open Thread
this is like christmas day!!! Except living in the States, 99.9% don’t even know it.
Consider it a bizarre religious day which most mainstream Americans don’t celebrate — except for those of us who are devout followers
Cheers,
The Gaffer
could not agree with you more never thought Saturday would ever get here.Congrats on the Swans scoring the first goal of the season.
Nice to see Chelsea footballer Mario Melchiot on FOX Soccer’s Match Day program. Adds instant credibility to the show.
So far, the show is very watchable — 10 times better than previous incarnations.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Gaffer does this mean no more Keith costigan?
I know I am fired up for the start of the season. I’ll have the tv, IPAD, and computer streaming a match.
Talksport radio in the UK is offering live radio streams of all EPL games to international audiences.
Sign up and you can pick the game you want to listen to.
http://www.talksport.com/
Good opening by ESPN for their Arsenal-Sunderland match.
While FOX Soccer’s approach is talking heads, ESPN goes for feet-on-the-street with the combo of Ian Darke and Steve McManaman at the stadium. Having a presence at the ground will always win, in my opinion — makes it more relevant, and makes it more real.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
My god Ian Darke is a hack. Always pandering to the US audience. I don’t give a damn about Clint Dempsey or the national team, this has nothing to do with the match.
He’s doing what he’s supposed to be doing — speaking to an American audience. Not everyone watching the ESPN match is an Arsenal supporter.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Ian Darke is pure quality.
Hmm.. did FOX Soccer start the WBA vs Liverpool game without a delay?
They’re a couple minutes ahead of ESPN and FS2Go.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Breaking news: Scott Sinclair left out of Swansea City starting 11, fueling rumors that Manchester City transfer is imminent.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Real nice young player but I hate to see the Swans take another big loss. I think some of the glut up front (Roque, Adebayor, maybe Dzeko) may be on the way out imminently so I can see why City would want him.
I heard Tottenham for Sinclair but it seems as if all the big UK outlets are linking him strongly to City now.
Sinclair who?
Looks like Swansea isn’t missing him today.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Every radio feed on the talkSPORT page is the WBA v LIV match …
… I was hoping to listen to QPR v SWA … go Swans!
I think they are having technical difficulties. I also suspect that the one game that is on is being called off a TV monitor. Makes me wish BBC radio coverage wasn’t geo-blocked.
It seems like it is fixed for the second half!
Get the three points Swans … I could really use a goal from Graham for FPL …
Pretty poor stuff at Upton Park in the first half but at least a good result so far. I like seeing the Hammers back up, as that is usually a pretty good atmosphere at matches there.
Did anybody else see that scorcher by Gera?!?!
Anyone tried to listen to a specific match on TalkSPORT via their mobile app? Can’t seem to figure it out. Nothing on their site explains how to do it.
Tried to listen on a PC and my experiences were much like what was described above.
Thank God it’s free.
Petric will be a solid signing for Fulham, nothing spectacular in his play but he will be able to score at least 10 goals for them.
the fan candy camera is in top form for espn WOW!
Fulham showing that Dempsey isn’t needed. 3-0. Big mistake by Dempsey refusing to play, shame he has turned into a diva, could have cemented a legacy.
Fulham look very good, Jol knows what he is doing.
I lost a lot of respect for Dempsey this week.
Dempsey could have gone out a Fulham legend but had to go and pull this.
Dempsey tripped over his member could not have went worse for him.your under contract play until a deal is done don’t be a jackass oh i forgot your from Texas enough said.
Dempsey hasn’t done anything wrong by Fulham or anybody else. Criticizing him comes across as asinine to me.
how do you figure if he is under contract and he said he would not play. honor your contract and there is no problem.
He has a right to go and make more money or go and play Champions League football or whatever he wants to do. He has said nothing bad about Fulham. He hasn’t said he won’t honor his contract. He’s just sitting out in the hopes of moving on to another club for more pay or better play. That’s football. That’s the business. He’s done plenty for Fulham and no idiot fans can take that away, ever.
Get a clue about how things go in this business man. Anyone with hurt feelings about this is someone made up of a weak constitution.
LOL@liverpool, they look terrible
Is it proper yet to call them a mid-table squad?
It’s early but based off today….bottom 4 squad is more realistic.
Never thought I would see that day but with their current management I bet you’re way closer to right than wrong.
That penalty was so poor! WoW
LMAO
Liverpool back 4 = the clampits
Was kind of surprised this week when every preview I read seemed to name Norwich to go down. They damn sure look it today…
That’s one of the clubs where the manager was pretty much the whole program. Losing Lambert may be hard to withstand.
Swansea…wow…great start to the season. Fully deserved…gaffer must be ecstatic! Fulham WOW… Dempsey look alike a clown holding out. Be a professional….play!
How soon before Rodgers “walks alone”.
the one chance to be on top of the table is gone for LFC they look awful and that is being nice.
Laudrup v. Rodgers, think Swansea got the better of it.
Remember when Rodgers proclaimed he wasnt taking the chelsea job because it was a “career killer”? So he takes the one job worse than that.
Today been surprising…this is why I love football, aside from the arsenal 0-0 so far who would have predicted the score lines of today?
I’m sure eating crow QPR Nil Swansea 5
Does foxsoccer 2 go let you view ondemand matches on the ipad yet?
Yes
Thanks mate.
It is way too early to tell anything about where teams will fair this season, but it is good to see who’s head is in the game and focused. A team. Winning 5 or4 nothing is a great start but doesn’t mean they will stay up. Just a great start and great viewing.
Who would ever thing Fulham and Swansea would be top of table with a +5 wow the Gaffer will roar today and tonight.hope you have plenty of your beverage of choice to celebrate.
think not thing
Boy, Richardson has had quite a game back there for Sunderland. Now C’mon Hammers! Hang on in extra time here!
Guess I was wrong it’s not liverpools year. Next 4 games for Liverpool are city, arsenal, Sunderland and utd. Said it before suarez is useless they need a poacher who can put the ball in the net.
Canaries squashed on opening day. Maybe they’ll go out and try to steal Martin Jol from Fulham after this.
Good start to the Premier League today — an average of 2.66 goals so far (not including Newcastle match). Shame Arsenal or Sunderland couldn’t find the back of the net.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Giroud had a setter did not even hit the target
At least Arsenal kept a clean sheet. Giroud needs to finish that.
Best thing I can say for Aston Villa is that their away kits look nowhere near as hideous on the field as they did in the leaked images. Good job Hammers! And great job for Swans, FFC, and the Baggies!
Hey for you SPL fans out there (or just even football fans in general) that are up early in the US, check out Dundee-Dundee United tomorrow live in the AM on Fox Soccer 2Go.
I still can’t believe that Shane Long missed that penalty for West Brom. What is it with footballers and their apathetic penalty attempts lately?
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Well, not a bad day for Liverpool. A couple of teams lost by 5, so “We are staying up” is a legitimate possibility come week 38.
I am a fan of Luis and all, but he missed 3 sitters…he works, he creates, he just can’t score.
Allen and Lucas got overpowered in midfield. Gerrard looks tired, old and disinterested.
Borini…we’ll see. A couple of smart plays and moves; we’ll see if he is physical enough for this league.
Lucacu looked impressive coming on and he exploited the open space left by 10 men-Liverpool.
Bring on Newcastle/Tottenham.
Why don’t fox soccer show all the goals? Skipping goals so they can show arsenal miss chances.
Predictions for the spurs v newcastle game?
now for the main course this should be the match of the week Newcastle 3 Tottenham 1.
If Lukaku can get fit…..
Anyone have any luck using the updated iPad foxsoccer2go via AirPlay? I had audio only until I went to the app via Playon. Wasn’t quite HD but looked pretty good blown up to 50 inches.
It seems the new version of the FoxSoccer2Go iPad app has broken AirPlay video steaming to my AppleTV, only allows audio streaming now. Hopefully I can restore back to the earlier version.
Lets go Toon!
Fox soccer put up a 4-4-2 formation….lol thats not it… It’s 4-2-3-1
What’s up with Van der Vaart? Why isn’t he starting for Spurs? Is he injured?
He is not fully fit yet, he may get 30 mins at most today
Studio team for fox are clueless
Spurs fans in good voice as usual! COYS!
Despite all of Arsenal’s struggles and bad press right now, Wenger has weathered storms before and got the best out of his squads. I still feel they are still very capable of finishing third and competing for the FA Cup.
Dont really care what the press says. They’ve always had their favorites.
Referee inconsistent, Sandra gets a yellow for a challenge stopping ben afer going past, ben after pulls backa spirs player stopping him going forward and no card.
Terrible start for the officials
Spurs much brighter then Toon.
I didn’t hear jan or caulker wear injured, why play galas ?
*were
Ahhhhhh
Should be 1-0 spurs
Aside from not finishing the 3 chances, a good performance so far from spurs. All important half time adjustments for spurs
What does everyone think of FOX Soccer’s pre-match, half-time and post-match discussion and analysis so far today on their Match Day program?
I’m curious to hear your opinions — good or bad.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
just read at Bobby McMahon’s blog he is doing the first 4 shows from Toronto and then he will have a studio in Winnipeg so the travel won’t kill him.
super strike from Ba
Poor defending, spurs come out to slow
wow first match of season ahead 1 nil and you shove the linesman might want to back off on the prematch coffee.
Livermore didn’t touch Jonas, he pulled his hamstring is all. This team of officials are Terrible.
Lol fox soccer opening day hiccups, apparently ade did sign for spurs and just replaced sig lol
I really don think Newcastle was the better team today. Tottenham played a hell of a game, especially in the first half. Newcastle had the one excellent shot and was able to take advantage of the rare defensive mistake that the Spurs had in this game.
Tottenham had more quality chances at goal, they just need to sort out the striker situation. I don’t think Defoe needs to be replaced, just someone to complement him.
All-in-all, Newcastle earned the win today, but it because they outplayed the Spurs.
EDIT
*but not because they outplayed the Spurs.
Im really gobsmacked at the tottenham apologism here? Draw more deserved? Hatem Ben Arfa made the defense look like kiddie corps, penalty was spot on and absolutely deserved. Extracted with precision by Ben Arfa’s pace.
Tottenham really needed Modric. This will be the theme for the seaspn.
What? Not at all, 2 attacking players made the gaff for the pen, spurs didn’t miss modric, they missa striker with finishing. They had 12 atempts on goal krull was way more busy than
Ben affer had that one key run against Lennon and rafa. Modric wasn’t missed at all
*More busy than freidal.
A pretty even match between Spuds and Newcastle but 3 points to the Toon.
I agree, but I don’t think they outplayed the Spurs. Once they get the forwards fixed, I think the finishing will improve.
Nice win by the lads…not perfect as the M gives the ball away way way too much. More work to be done but NUFC can be a top 6 team again. Hands off the refs boss.
Tough loss, poor defending for the penalty, Benny was awful, jan will replace, gallas to old, caulker will replace.
Disappointed, but last season we lost the first 2 and played worse in those games, the sooner modric goes the better. Spend the cash on striker. If we had taken those chances in the first half would have made a difference. Second half Bale was quiet and under utilized.
Result not deserved a draw more appropriate, that’s football.
Just glad it’s back.
Pardew will get banned, that wasn’t an accident.
I enjoyed FOX Soccer’s pre-match, half-time and post-match discussion and analysis very much. I thought the addition of Mario Melchiot is a great move by them. Eric Wynalda could be replaced for a better person but he isn’t that bad. I think the breakdown of the game and todays news was good also. Just wish they could show all the major highlights that happened during the games instead of just one goal etc.
Poor Keith Costigan.
Maybe he can go to beIN lol.
C’mon Wigan! C’mon Southampton! C’mon Everton!
The day belongs to Swansea for winning big away. They definitely bought wisely. They could end up in the top half this season.
Worst possible start for Liverpool and little has changed even with a new manager. Rodgers is Kenny II with his ridiculous post-match comments. What is it about Liverpool managers and not being able to say truthfully that their team was awful instead of saying they controlled the game and poor decisions cost them. Liverpool are now truly a midtable team, not that they weren’t the last couple of seasons, and their new players aren’t any better than the ones already there. Long season for them.
Fulham deserve praise for the way they went about their business at home. Terrific start to the season.
Newcastle continued their rise to the top and showed that last season was no fluke.
Spurs weren’t bad and losing away to a team that will be competing with them in the league shouldn’t be that worrying. If they can use the money from the Modric sales wisely they will be fine.
I disagree with your comments on Rodgers. He has every right to complain. Phil Dowd was shocking. Agger barely touched Long, who flung himself to the ground. The penalty on Skrtel should definitely not have been given. He was playing the ball and Long stepped in front of him as he was kicking at the ball. Clever by Long, but I don’t think the right call. It’s a bad loss for them for sure, but I also think that Liverpool will get much better as the season goes on and the players adapt to Rodgers. Gerrard was terrible today, though.
I wouldn’t make any conclusions about teams based on today. It’s a long season.
Whole heartedly agree. Gera’s goal was an absolute cracker. Then both penalties were flat out wretched. Agger’s “shove” was debatably even in the Area for one, and not to mention Long could’ve easily gotten booked for his exceptional acting job.
Skrtel’s was straight silly. He didn’t play well (he fell on the first penalty to Long) but I can’t blame him for the second penalty.
Lucas needs to get back to fitness still. Suarez needs to finish. This team still needs a poacher or someone like Dempsey/Sahin. I’m not worried, but today still wasn’t encouraging.
Wow.. You Sp*rs fans are insufferable haha… Christ.
Id really rather have Costigan than Wynalda. Wynalda’s mugging for the camera was insufferable.