English Premier League 2016/17 season official thread

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Don't know how many on here are particularly interested in English "soccer", but I know of one or two who follow it.

This season will be fantastic. Leicester City, who previously were relegation favorites, pulled off the shock of the century by winning the Premier League by some distance (a trophy won only by five clubs in its 20+ year history) and will be looking to defend it against a whole host of clubs.

My club, Manchester United, have been in poor form since Sir Alex Ferguson retired back in 2013. Seasons under David Moyes (henceforth referred to as "the fraud" or "piss teeth") and Louis van Gaal have been relatively fruitless with the exception of the rise of young Marcus Rashford and an FA Cup win last year. But now we have arguably the best manager in the world under Jose Mourinho and a host of new players including Zlatan Ibrohimovic and it's looking a bit tasty this season

[SirArtemis]

As a Chelsea fan, I feel like Mourihno will be hit or miss for you but with the inclusion of Ibra and Pogba, we'll see if he can do anything.

I'm interested to see what Conti can do at Chelsea, and now with kante from leicester in the midfield to help hold it down it might be interesting but they still need to deliver offensively.

I'm excited for this weekend and the kickoff of the season.

[Fez_The_Kid]

Will definitely be keeping an eye on Stoke City after Ramadan Soubhi's move, with El-Neny and El-Muhammady in their respective teams. Should be fun watching those three. Also, Chelsea have been keeping an eye on Mahrez; if it does happen, it will be a pretty hefty hit to Leicester's chances.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Not sure about Mahrez. Quality player but Leicester have made it clear he isn't for sale. Can't see him acting up to try and force a move either, doesn't seem the type.

[SirArtemis]

It was Arsenal scoping Mahrez, not Chelsea. Still, he's not moving and he wouldn't make a big impact at Chelsea. My concern with Chelsea is how defensively they've played over the years and their struggle with scoring goals and relying too heavily on the midfield to do that. I think Conti want's to play 4-1-4-1 instead of 4-2-3-1 but I'm not sure if that's in full effect just yet.

[Atzar]

Conti want's to play 4-1-4-1 instead of 4-2-3-1

Alright, I have a request for you people.

In American football and basketball, I understand language like this - if you talk about a 4-3 alignment in football or a zone defense in basketball, I know exactly what you're talking about. In soccer, I don't have any sort of understanding of tactics (beyond the obvious "make ball go in net") and I think that limits my ability to enjoy it.

So I'm looking for a quick crash course in the more common formations. I feel like I'd like soccer if I didn't feel so much like a cat watching a laser pointer on the wall.

[SirArtemis]

@Atzar,

Basically it speaks to how you shape your players on the field. It starts from the back and moves forward. For example, the traditional 4-4-2 means 4 defenders, 4 midfielders, and 2 strikers up front. The traditional chelsea setup that has been commonly used of late is the 4-2-3-1, which spreads your midfield a bit more leading to 4 defenders, 2 defensively-minded "holding" midfielders (their job is to assist the defenders and to control the pace of the game) and three offensive midfielders (whose job it is to orchestrate offensive moves for the striker as well as score themselves), with the sole striker up front.

Here's a crash course with photos.

http://www.soccer-training-guide.com...l#.V6ou6_krKHs


EDIT: The wiki page isn't bad either

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Format...tion_football)

[Fez_The_Kid]

Actually, Mahrez met with Conte.

[SirArtemis]

Actually, Mahrez met with Conte.

It isn't going to happen. They are too heavy in the midfield already. Unless they sell Oscar and pick him up, which to me is very unlikely.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Well. Saturday could have been better. Still, that clown Claudio Bravo will get a few teams ripping him apart