As with every sport or league it is always more fun to have a team to pull for. College Football, NFL, MLS, USL-1, NASCAR, I've have been able to easily identify with a particular team and let the cheering begin. However, I seem to have run into a wall when it comes to the EPL. So the question is what should you base a favorite team on. Here are a few thought / methods on how to pick a favorite team:
1) Player Based - Having a favorite player on your team just increases your level of support, but should I pick a team based on one player? Beckham (my favorite all time player) use to play for Manchester United, but has no connection to the current team. Clint Demsey (Fulham) & Tim Howard (Everton) have both been staples on their EPL teams for the past few years and are US National Team starters - go with them based on national team allegiance? Jozy Altidore has been a favorite player of mine since his MLS days, but now on his one year loan to Hull City, seems short sited to pick them. Lets try another method.
2) Collective Team / Style of Play - Some squads understand how to play the 'beautiful game'. After two weeks of matches a few teams of stood out to me. Arsenal - great passing game, loads of young talent, and several future stars of the game. Not to mention they scored 10 goals in their first 2 games. Manchester City - they are becoming the Real Madrid of the EPL. Several members of their bench would be in the starting 11 for most other teams. From midfield forward Man City is loaded with play makers who can dribble, pass and score at a moments notice. While the insanely rich owner makes me shy away from them slightly, I still enjoy watching how this experiment is going to work out.
3) Contender - No one enjoys pulling for a losing team, so why start off by jumping on board with a relegation squad? However, true contenders would limit me to say 7 or 8 teams - Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City, Everton, Fulham, Aston Villa. But at the same time if you start with a championship contender it's hard to really feel that reward when 'your' team wins the title.
4) Misc Reasons - Then there are the random paths like with Wolverhampton - awesome name (nickname is the Wolves) & I enjoyed playing as them in FIFA 09.
So where does this leave me? I can't say I've 100% picked a team yet, but I will say in these first few weeks I've narrowed the list down. I will not pick a team based on just one player, they are sold far too often (unless Jozy gets picked up for a long term contract). I will not pick a team based on a video game, but the Wolves have a great name. I will not pick a team based on them having better odds of winning, nor will I not choose them just because they happen to have been successful recently. I think the best way to choose a team is to watch them play and eventually you'll spot something that will help you make up your mind. As of this moment I'm going with one of the following teams - in no particular order (Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham, or Manchester United). I am convinced I will have selected a favorite team by the end of the season. Let's see what catches my eye.
What are your thoughts on how to pick a favorite team? How did you decide?
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We had some issues with the commenting feature, so I had this one sent in via Facebook from Chris Wiley
ReplyDeleteNathan,
I love the blog man, so much that I decided to throw my own two cents in.
1) Player based. There are just some players that you love to watch. Just from personal experience, I've spent a lot of time watching AC Milan and a few of the national teams (Germany, England, Brazil) during my travels outside the country. As such, I've developed a lot of respect for players like Kaka, Alexandre Pato, Gianluigi Buffon, Michael Owen, Michael Ballack, etc. As such, I've had to pick a new team since I've been over here in England, and because of Ballack (and also the former AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti moving to Chelsea), I've decided to put my loyalties to the Blues. And as I've been watching a couple games, I can easily support Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba. You're right, having a favorite player is important.
2) Style of play. Only semi-agree here. Of course, it's always more fun to watch the flashy teams or the teams that love to run down the wing. Try watching a few games in the Serie A sometime, though. The emphasis on tactics in that league is very different than watching the Premier League or La Liga. Learning from Serie A and now watching much more Premiership, it really does open your eyes to appreciate both.
3) Contender. No arguement. If you're going to back anyone in the Premier League, it needs to be Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool (I'm sure I'm forgetting one or two). I like Tim Howard, but as his team is sitting at the bottom of the table, I can't cheer for them at the moment.
4) Misc Reasons. I'm glad I'm not the only one that's playing Fifa 09. Right now I'm in my 3rd or 4th season with the Chicago Fire. I started on the easiest difficulty level and each season move up in game setting difficulty mode. I'm finally losing a couple games this season. This doesn't mean I'm cheering for the Fire, but it is interesting to see actual players play after you've gotten into the game (the few players I've kept on my roster, that is).
Have a good one, sir. Good luck picking a team!
I enjoyed Bill Simmons post on this topic
ReplyDeletehttp://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060719
I'm also trying to pick a team. I totally agree with you on Man City. I also would like to pull to Hull City because of Jozy but agree with you about the duration problem. I'm leaning against Chelsea, Man U, Liverpool and Arsenal.
Mainly i'm just happy they're playing so many games on ESPN. Watching Liverpool - Aston Villa right now.
Jeff