Not long ago, Aston Villa Chairman Dr. Tony Xia tweeted that he thinks Villa can be a top club in Europe and have the "highest number of fans all over the world."
Well, that's certainly a bold goal, but maybe it isn't as far-fetched as we think. After all, maybe this Dr. Tony guy really knows what he's doing, and maybe we should all just try to be optimistic and—
We've already covered many of the terrible things that have gone on before and during the Olympics, but here's a refresher: the Zika virus, deadly bacteria in the water, the police and fire departments can't protect anybody, everything is dirty, the diving pool turned green, it's really hot, a camera fell on some people, the Olympic Village is unfit for human habitation and the Sweden Women's National Team is making soccer unwatchable.
Good news for all the Chelsea haters out there: you are still permitted to hate them.
The bad news is that Chelsea are still eminently hateable because they keep winning in that eminently hateable Chelsea style of theirs. Based on Monday's 2-1 win against West Ham, Antonio Conte's side won't finish 10th again this season.
The first Chelsea goal of the Antonio Conte era came via an Eden Hazard penalty, which seemed inevitable after Chelsea players kept running into the area then falling down, writhing and shrieking. Oscar is particularly adept at this.
What Claudio Ranieri and his guys did last season was something for the history books. It seemed impossible at the time, and it’s still hard to believe someone could pull another league upset like Leicester City did. And yet, we’ve seen lightning strike the same place twice before when it comes to soccer. So, here is the team that could surprise and come out on top when the curtains close: Middlesbrough.
The Premier League mercifully came back this Saturday. Players ran around and played in games that actually mattered and it was glorious. You know what else will be glorious? When all 18 of our bold Premier League predictions come true.
The Olympics are officially underway and the US is expected to win medals in several events, but there are two teams representing the US that may be disappointed with anything short of gold. The US Women's National Soccer Team and the US Men's Basketball Team are both ranked number one in their respective events and are the overall favorites to win, but which does one have more pressure to bring home gold than the other?
People always try to learn something from pre-season, even though there really isn't anything to learn. Gauging how successful a team will be in the regular season based on pre-season results is like determining how good a steak will be based on how the cow interacts with other cows. You can guess all you want and say things that sound smart and write articles with titles like "5 Takeaways From Liverpool's Win Against AC Milan" or "5 Things We Learned From Watchng Bossie The Cow Chew Her Cud For 90 Minutes", but in the end you'll probably be wrong.
Could this be the season someone in France knocks PSG off their perch? The Parisiens have dominated Ligue 1 in recent years, but, after losing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, PSG might be ripe for the picking. Maybe they'll falter and allow someone to challenge or even beat the team that won Ligue 1 by 24 points last season.
Lol nope.
Why do we watch pre-season friendlies? Llverpool have played an estimated 985 friendlies so far this pre-season, and I haven't learned anything. I don't know any more about the team. I haven't the slightest idea how they'll line up in games that matter, nor do I have any idea how certain players will perform in games that really matter.
Barcelona have been linked with just about every half-decent striker in Europe this transfer window: Nolito, Mario Mandzukic, Carlos Bacca, Mario Gomez, Kevin Gameiro and Luciano Vietto have all been run through the rumor mill. They've also looked to the other side of the pond, being linked with Andre-Pierre Gignac, Gabriel Jesus and Luan Vieira.