where-abôuts, and more Premier League

So I haven't had the time to write for a while - been caught up in some wicked work traveling and moving around.
But here goes a quick update since my previous post --

Aug 12 - I was there at the Emirates for Arsenal x Fulham as reported.

Aug 18 - Went to Craven Cottage to witness yet another 1-2 loss by Fulham, this time by an interesting Middlesbrough side. My buddy Martin got us third row seats - I could have spat in Stewart Downing if I wanted to. (I surely did want to, but the huge steward in front of me would probably not think it was such a good idea.)

Aug 19 - Flew to Toronto.

I'd been to Canada before, but not in summer. Pretty interesting. Amazed at the politeness of Canadians, at the number of beggars on the streets, and at some distinctive traits of Canadian accent - words such as "abôut", "any-ow" and so on.

Aug 23 - Flew to Montreal.

Aug 24 - Back to Toronto.

This past weekend I could also watch two full EPL games on TV (god bless it's not ppv anymore) - two hard-fought 1-0 wins, Arsenal beating Man City and Man United beating Spurs.

Anyway, just as an update, and before I forget, some notes on what I've seen so far of Premiership:

Positively impressed me:

- Man City is awesome to watch. Elano is playing as a creative attacking midfielder just like Diego used to be in his old Santos of 2002. Micah Richards is the future of English defence. Schmeichel junior is a lot like his dad. Uefa Cup for them is a concrete possibility.

- Wigan is not so bad as I first thought. Valencia-Landzaat-Scharner-Koumas is actually a pretty balanced line of four - the latter, especially, is impressive.

Confirmed my expectations:

- Chelsea looks even more cohesive this year. SWP-Lampard-Essien-Malouda, yet another outstanding line of four. Can't see where Ballack will fit. Makelele is already second reserve (behind Mikel)

- Liverpool are title contenders for sure. Torres is 10x better than Morientes, Voronin is 10x better than Fowler. Just not sure we have enough cover for centre-back if Carra is out for a while and Paletta was sold.

- Everton and Blackburn continue to be strong, well-led squads.

Disappointed me:

- Sunderland is well-organized but have no quality whatsoever. I mean, Dwight Yorke is the central midfielder for Christ's sake.

- Fulham is an absolute blunder. Watched them twice at the stadium - wouldn't put money on their staying up. What is odd is that the line-up doesn't look that bad - Smertin, Davis, Healy, Kamara, McBride.... but, well, they suck.

- Arsenal hasn't solved their front-of-goal problems. They pass and pass and pass but still take too much time to shoot. Both games I watched from them could've been 6-0 if not for their chronic procrastination.

First weekend of action!!!!

An addict on English football like me can only rejoice at the chance of being in the UK for the opening day of the season. I have practically drowned on TV specials, newspaper and maazine reviews, and countless snapshot conversations all over the tube, the taxis, the bars, and so on. Plus I can watch Match of the day at BBC - a personal favorite, with all the goals and best chances of all matches.

Even better, I could join my buddy Martin to a match - we went to the majestic Emirates Stadium to watch Arsenal x Fulham. An absolutely amazing venue, and a fitting match.

Fulham took a shock lead after a mishap from Lehmann, but it was always clear that Arsenal would eventually turn the game around. Rosicky and Hleb were especially entertaining, with good bal control and also creating effective chances - but Arsenal still lacked a proper finisher. Van Persie was a bit complacent and offside many times.

I was yearning to see Nicklas Bendtner in action - he's probably going to be a source of goals for them in the season - but he only got in at mid-second half. By then, Arsenal dominated thoroughly, but were taking a lot of time to kill off Fulham. Still the goal t seemed like a matter of time, and it came through a penalty and a good interplay by Hleb.

Next weekend there is Liverpool x Chelsea at Anfield, and expectations are high, given both clubs's showings this weekend. Both played fresh 4-4-2, with true wingers and an attacking stance in the lines of four (Pennant-Gerrard-Alonso-Riise and WrightPhilips-Essien-Lampard-Malouda). Let's see if neither comes back to the stifling midfield battles from last year.

In other teams - really excited about Man City`s prospects. Apparently Elano had a fantastic match - I`ve seen the highlights and he bursted forward at will, as Santos fans are accustomed. Will this be Sven`s revenge year? Let's see.

Anyway, for a warm-up it was an awesome weekend. I wonder why people still find it strange I`d reather follow the EPL rather than the Brazilian Championship.

My team of the round (to compare with Garth Crooks's team tomorrow at BBC):

Hahnemann (Reading)

Corluka (Man City)
McShane (Sunderland)
Toure (Arsenal)
Onuoha (Man City)

Elano (Man City)
Gerrard (Liverpool)
Rosicky (Arsenal)
Malouda (Chelsea)

Pizarro (Chelsea)
Martins (Newcastle)

My very first 07-08 Premiership amateur punditry

Oh there it comes. Another Premiership season ahead. A season that comes with an aura of excitement after some hectic transfer market action, which brought massive changes to team lineups and perspectives.

I could write and write on the topic, but I found out that as much as I would like to delve endlessly into every single team's perpectives, I'd rather keep it simple and then just justify my predictions.

First thing I'd like is to split the teams into some distinguishable groups.

Title challengers
Man United
Chelsea
Liverpool

Uefa Cup sure, CL possible: good squads + great managers = nice football, but no title challenge
Tottenham
Arsenal

Uefa Cup contenders: good end of last season, cohesive squad under competent coach, may have good runs in FA/Carling Cup too
Everton
West Ham
Aston Villa
Portsmouth
Blackburn
Sunderland

Uefa Cup hopefuls: question mark coaches, question mark player gel, whatever can happen
Man City
Newcastle
Bolton

Relegation fighters: look depleted from last season
Reading
Middlesbrough
Fulham
Wigan

New boys in town: might scrape their stay, but will probably go down
Birmingham
Derby


My personal guess for the end of the championship - with some of bias of course.

1. Liverpool
2. Man United
3. Chelsea
4. Tottenham
5. Arsenal
6. Sunderland
7. Newcastle
8. Aston Villa
9. Everton
10. Blackburn
11. Man City
12. West Ham
13. Portsmouth
14. Bolton
15. Reading
16. Middlesbrough
17. Birmingham
18. Fulham
19. Derby
20. Wigan

FA Cup final: Man United x Sunderland

Carling Cup final: Arsenal x Tottenham

Uefa Champions League: Man United

Uefa Cup: Bayern Munich