Marka Ragnos

Very sad last year to see the Egyptian Football Association dissolved due to violence. I don't think the authorities had much choice, but you have to feel for the young Egyptians who dream of the pitch. Now, with the country seemingly on the verge of civil war, it seems that Egyptian football may be gone for many years to come. I saw this story recently, and it makes you realize how much the game is loved in this incredibly populous nation (84 million souls), despite its many political problems. Anyone have any thoughts on Egyptian football?

Apart from Villa, I love so many clubs, very hard to choose ... AS Livorno Calcio PSG Atalanta I'm Anglo-American, but have never been able to warm up to US soccer. Dunno why, just haven't.

Would be friggin amazing. Please o please o please.

I hope the OP is right, but only time will tell. What struck me most yesterday (vs. Arsenal) was the less the skill than the pace, coordination, and pure kinetic energy of our offense. Our counter-attacks looked like 50m sprints, with a line of men -- you could almost draw a perfectly straight line across the pitch to visualise this -- scampering at blinding speed towards Arsenal's defense the very moment the counter-attack started. I kept thinking, "Young guys who can run fast. Cool." Of course, I'm a thick American when it comes to "soccer," so perhaps this is fairly typical counter-attacking tactic? But I don't feel like I've seen it much with other teams recently.

Used to love Baggies, can't stand 'em now. Ironically, about the time I fell out of love with them, my dog literally ate my Albion jersey -- totally destroyed it, and extruded it as poo. True story. The dog has more brains than I, clearly.

Safe to say the "rise and rise" is well over.

Pretty sure this is right lol ... I don't see Chelsea performing quite as well as everyone else thinks. I also think the Baggies are going to be in serious trouble this season. And I honestly think Villa will challenge for fourth place, though it won't be easy. So it's a bit optimistic, but not deluded as far as I'm concerned. 1. Man Utd 2. Man City 3. Chelsea 4. Aston Villa 5. Arsenal 6. Spurs 7. Liverpool 8. Swansea 9. Newcastle 10. Everton 11. West Ham 12. Norwich 13. Southampton 14. Stoke 15. Cardiff 16. Sunderland 17. Fulham 18. Hull 19. West Brom 20. Palace

Truly frightening. Very, very dangerous angle of landing. You forget sometimes that football can be a perilous as well as beautiful game.

Great gift for Villa supporters today. It's been a long time since this kind of unadulterated pure happiness has been available. It was one thing to avoid relegation last spring. Oh joy. It's another to come to north London on the first game of the season and take down the Goons. Onward!

Without that great American goalkeeper, it would have been 1-1. :-D

Crying tears of joy. Pathetic, I know, but it's really good to see this young team get some revenge and come into its own. Now we see why Benteke stayed lol.

Damn, I am just so proud of us. Young team flowering. Lovely thing to see.

Come on, Villa, don't **** this up. Please o please o please, football gods, please smile on us today lol.

I wish Guzan wasn't having to be so awesome.

Don't care what anyone says, the current score is a fair, accurate reflection of respective team performances. Yeah, **** ref, but with better ref I think score would be the same. We deserve to be winning because we're fighting our arses off. I know we're sloppy, but there's no lack of hunger.

Now will you moaners stop? Hahaha.

+1 It's been a frustrating second half, but we're holding our own. If anything, we're underachieving at the moment.

This has been a frustrating half, that's for sure.

Can't see that, not at all. This isn't last year. To echo Heraclitus, you can't step into the same stadium twice because both the stadium and the team will have changed.

I see us bringing a lot of pressure to bear and working a powerful, fast Arsenal team hard. If we can keep our energy levels up and not get out-run, we could definitely get at least a point.

We are kicking butt. This Arsenal squad is vibrant and powerful, and I believe they'll end up in 3rd this season. Remember, a very similar team beat Bayern 0-2 in the knock-out stage last March.

Proud of Villa so far ...

Very grim. Wow. It's hard to believe we're reduced to such a limited option, but I guess that's business. Been there, done that. It's not ideal, but will used if push comes to shove ... Is there also an online service you can sign up for directly from Aston Villa?

Hello all, Need some help, American Villans! Does anyone know what various options will be available for watching Villa in the USA for 2013-14? First of all, I don't have cable. I only watch TV through Apple TV or online. Up through the 2012-13 PL season, I semi-happily used Fox's terrible "Soccer2Go" or whatever it was called service to watch most PL games either live or recorded. It cost $20 a month, and served its purpose. You could watch this service on your computer, and if if you had an iPad, you could also push it onto your Apple TV-running telly screen. As you know, Fox lost its PL deal, and that's gone to NBC. Soccer2Go is pretty much over, and I have let my account die. Thanks in advance, all!

To me, the yellow chest begins to look like a bib -- or the smocks worn by kindergarten teachers. Too infantalising.