Guys - came on this board about a year ago to profess my newfound love of the beautiful game. Well, it is still going strong. Much to the shagrin of my wife, I find my weekend mornings glued to the TV watching the EPL. It pisses her off b/c I DVR all the games in case there is one I want to watch later, which kicks her off whatever she is watching. I have not been able to pick a favorite team yet, frankly it's hard since the players tend to move around so much, but here's a few thoughts from a new found fan, mostly surrounding EPL.

1. Allen Pardew (sp?) may be one of the top managers in the game. Last year with New Castle he proved his mettle and this year he has Crystal Palace playing pretty strong. I like this guys style and he could care less.

Jose, Louis and others get a lot of press, but I like Allen.

2. Man U is the Dallas Cowboys of the EPL. They're solid, not great and any expectations of greatness will be met with disappointment. Rooney needs to be replaced with someone bigger, stronger, and faster.

3. Man City is a machine, the most complete team in the league. Strong on D with Komapny and Kolarov, strong in the middle with YaYa and Silva and stong on top with Aguera and Sterling. Does anyone in the league pass better than Silva? The guy is the John Stockton of the EPL. Smooth and smart. With guys like Bony on the bench, these guys are a shoe in to take home the title.

4. Swansea City... someone last year posted a list about choosing your EPL team and listed Swansea as having all the talent and looks but couldn't put it together. I thought with Bony leaving last year they were done. Was I wrong... Gomis (POTY?) and Ayew are studs and Swansea is a tough talented team. I'm not a fan of just having one player up top, but Gomis is maybe a top 3 striker right now and it works for them. They are IMO one to two more talented players away from challenging MC for the title. Impressive and fun team to watch.

5. Tottenham... best Uni's and mascot in the league and Kane is a ballhawk, but god y'all suck.

6. Arsenal - I see you as the Jersey Shore of the EPL. Ripped, tight shirts, and gelled hair. When your main physical threat in the box is french guy you have a problem. Actually Arsenal is fun to watch, but there is something lacking from them winning it all... defense, physicality, I'm not sure, but it's something and they don't have it.

7. Chelsea... what happened?!?!? Well, for starters Diego Costa is not the man he was last year. Secondly, you're backline is falling apart... Terry, Ivanic (sp?), Matic - all look shaky this year. John Stones isn't the answer to all your problems, leadership is. Sit all those guys on the bench and start playing the kids. In the meantime find yourself another good striker, Hazard is great, but Costa needs to go and Falcao isn't the answer either. Maybe you can buy Bony, Alexis, Saku or Lakuku (sp?).

8. Men in Blazers - best sports show ever?

9. Barca v. Real from a few months ago... maybe the best soccer game I've ever watched. That game was played on a whole different level.

10. College Game Day v. EPL start competing against each other next week.... Right now for me EPL wins that contest hands down.