Geezer's weekend review

 So, where to start?

The Premier League is back, Manchester United are going about their business despite David Moyes' complaints about the fixture list (he's sounding like old red nose Taggart already!).

Chelsea and the 'Understated One' did their job. Spurs followed suit, with straight forward wins for Liverpool and West Ham. A few surprise results for Fulham, Everton and Southampton, but I expect teams in the so-called 'middle league' (I am coining that phrase, even if it doesn't catch on) to all take points from each other all season - so nothing is really a surprise.

Arsenal are trying to sign everyone on Monday - a little late, but i think Arsene Wenger has finally realized that it's not 2004, he can't get Henry on loan again, and his team is distinctly average. Laughing at Arsenal is easy (and I hope we continue to do so), but I did respect how they did business and tried to build a team. Unfortunately for them, the game has become so rich that they have to dig deep and buy. They were very poor on Saturday, and despite the second penalty being a terrible decision, they weren't unlucky.

***

What to say about La Liga that hasn't been said? Barcelona won 7-0, Messi was great, Neymar got an easy debut - but seriously, the Geezer could get 20+ as a striker in that team. Even Fernando Torres might get into double figures.

Real Madrid made hard work of Real Betis on Carlo Ancelotti's first game as coach. Isco looked a great signing, but he should be for almost $40 million.

***

And amongst other things.... Falcao supposedly wants out despite Monaco winning their first two games. Ibra and Laurent Blanc are struggling so far, with PSG drawing their first two games (he's off to the Premier League, trust me!). There are 5 teams in the Bundesliga who have won their first two games - no prizes for guessing that Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are two of them.

***

But regardless of my negativity about everything being predictable, it was still a great weekend. far too many games were watched, NBC made a solid start in the US and my team won - so more than a few beverages were consumed, a rendition of 'We are top of the league' was sung and everyone in the Geezer household was happy - at least until next weekend!  

Robbie Earle, Kebabs and a Geezer

Gus Johnson makes Mark Lawrenson sound like a genius

NBC coverage of soccerball could be a disaster

Augustus Cornelius "Gus" Johnson, Jr. hasn't endeared himself to football fans, although part of it may be that he's working with Ian Wright. Analysis, a very loose term, is given by Warren Barton and Brian McBride (of  Blue Steel fame). 

But Fox Soccer is not covering the Premier League this season. Starting tomorrow, it's down to NBC to unleash it's own expert analysis. I'm interested to hear what Graeme Le Saux has to say, but not so much Lee Dixon.

Gary Lineker will be contributing, but I'm most looking forward to hearing Robbie Earle. Having bumped into him outside a nightclub, he could barely stand and looked like he needed help. A quick beer and a kebab with the Geezer and he was all good. Let's hope he brings the same dedication to commentating as he did to drinking.

Here's the full list of the new NBC team.

It's only just begun

This weekend sees the start of football in Germany, the Charity/Community shield, Argentine soccer, Championship filth and other such events.

There is so much football on TV these days, it makes it really hard to even contemplate working. This article from Sports Illustrated outlines how much is on TV in America - can't see even a quarter of this amount live in the UK. It doesn't beat going to the games, but it's the next best thing.

Who will escape the Championship?

Forest are my pick, but QPR could go the way of Wolves

Season starts this weekend as teams vie to get into the Premier League

Picking a winner of the Championship is a little like picking a needle out of a haystack (something I can't imagine anyone has ever done, and if they did, it must have been a really slow week).

The season starts Saturday, and runs until May 3, 2014. It's a brutal 46 game slog, and is a really tough test to get into the Premier League.

The teams that went down (QPR, Wigan and Reading) all have a good chance of going back up, but who knows what players Harry Redknapp will have at QPR, and how long his patience will last. He always says he's not a wheeler-dealer, but he'll have to be to get Rangers to bounce straight back - or I could see them going the way of Portsmouth.

Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday, Derby, Bolton, Blackburn and Birmingham are all reminders of how easy it is not only to fall into England's second tier, but how hard it is to get out. Look at Wolves, they are now in the third tier after successive relegations, and Portsmouth are realizing that just finding players is harder than discovering   

My pick is for Nottingham Forest to contend this year. They seem a little more stable than they were, and have made a couple of good signings for the Championship level. 

But then I know about as much as Tony Fernandes about football. He will fit in perfectly with fans of the Championship, as none of them have any idea if their team will be top or bottom.