Fulham FC and DC United on July 26 at Everbank

[Gamblor]

It wasn't our first MLS game -- Philadelphia Union agreed to a 3-year friendly deal in JAX. The first match was last year against Montreal Impact.

Since you mention it, I remember when the Union signed that deal. I skipped the Montreal game so that is probably where I got confused.

You get the Chelsea-Fulham thing a lot in West London (at least in Fulham proper, Putney, Brompton, parts of Wandsworth, etc.)  among the over-30/35 set. We're old enough to remember Chelsea being ify and Fulham being in the lower division. The Chelsea first- Fulham second is the most common permutation as most CFC fans don't think of FFC as a real rival. That's changed since FFC were promoted -- and managed to stay up -- and there's a more intense West London derby/rivalry now.

This makes a lot of since to me since I'm in that age group and remember Chelsea being ify. I talk about it almost every time I run into American Chelsea fans 

[CityLife]

Certainly for the exhibition it means a very different squad for FFC. Is their academy any good? I don't get that impression, but don't really know. It always seemed over the last few years that their strategy was to seek value among players just past their prime.

The slog back to Premiership is going to be a lot tougher than most stateside FFC fans I've encountered seem to think. What this certainly hurts for Khan is the ability to cross-promote FFC to Jags fans and leverage his FFC supporters in London to support the Jags. FFC is already the ONLY club in England not to be the most supported side in any UK postcode (thanks to being less than a mile away from and sharing the SW6 postcode with Chelsea), so its following was already small before relegation. The lack of availability of all league Championship games on US TV and legal streaming services means that Khan will lose a ton of exposure for FFC stateside. If anything, that means Khan will be more likely to pay attention to the Jags and their brand, whilst treating FFC as a sideshow.

Great post, and, I think you are probably right. This may cause him to lose interest in FFC and put more of his time and efforts behind the Jags.

[bencrix]

Oh slag off our clubs and don't say what club you support. Lovely. From the sound of it, is it Spurs?

Correct, COYS! (with the caveat that I am an American dilettante w/ no actual tie to the club other than what I've gleaned from following EPL for several years).

As someone raised in the Duke-Carolina rivalry, I probably acknowledge more respect for Arsenal than I suspect is customary. What Arsene has pulled of during these "lean" stadium-financing years is remarkable.

Spurs have had some rotten luck the last couple of seasons (part of a broader tradition, as I understand it), highlighted by Chel$ki inexplicably winning the UCL. That said, this season was really poor w/ nearly unwatchable football.

I'm looking forward to Spurs returning to their attractive attacking ways under someone like Frank de Boer. It will still be a tall order to break into the top 4, but Spurs seem to have a nice core to build on.

[bencrix]

FFC has a well-respected academy. Their youth side recently lost to Chelsea in the youth FA final.

This bodes well. Both a source of revenue and relatively inexpensive new talent.

Really this could be good for the club to move more to a swansea, west brom business model though, what are your thoughts on that?

Could Southampton be the model, then?

[Gamblor]

Oh slag off our clubs and don't say what club you support. Lovely. From the sound of it, is it Spurs?

Correct, COYS! (with the caveat that I am an American dilettante w/ no actual tie to the club other than what I've gleaned from following EPL for several years).

As someone raised in the Duke-Carolina rivalry, I probably acknowledge more respect for Arsenal than I suspect is customary. What Arsene has pulled of during these "lean" stadium-financing years is remarkable.

Spurs have had some rotten luck the last couple of seasons (part of a broader tradition, as I understand it), highlighted by Chel$ki inexplicably winning the UCL. That said, this season was really poor w/ nearly unwatchable football.

I'm looking forward to Spurs returning to their attractive attacking ways under someone like Frank de Boer. It will still be a tall order to break into the top 4, but Spurs seem to have a nice core to build on.

Sorry lad but you won't break into the top 4. Europa league for you.... if you're lucky

[JaxByDefault]

I'd love to see a Swansea or a Southampton-style revival of FFC. I'll consider it absolutely amazing work if we're back to playing low-table, relegation worry-free football in the Premiership within 5 years.

As for the American fan base, it's been on the slow dwindle since Dempsey left. I found it staggering how many people here swapped their FFC kits for Tottenham ones as soon as that transfer went through. (On a related note, I never wished to crush the dreams of a player or a team more than I did Dempsey/Tottenham's run for a spot in the CL that season. The only person at Spurs I remotely felt sorry for when Chelsea won Champions League and denied Spurs the CL spot was poor Brad Friedel who was covering the CL final for US TV. :-) )

Sorry lad but you won't break into the top 4. Europa league for you.... if you're lucky

"Thursday Nights, Channel 5" as the chant goes.

[bencrix]

Dempsey/Tottenham's run

More like Bale's run. I never thought the Dempsey transfer made much sense for Tottenham, though he played reasonably well and Spurs got good value for him from the Sounders. Great goal against United. So in the end: good business, I guess.

[bencrix]

Sorry lad but you won't break into the top 4.

It has happened before and will happen again. I believe I've fairly acknowledged the difficulty.

[JaxByDefault]

Never a fan of Bale. Watching him flounder for a while at Madrid was relatively enjoyable. Can't say I'm terribly impressed with what Spurs did with the money from that sale. Bit of pot-kettle to send up Chelsea on spending in a year when Spurs spent £117 million in one transfer window and couldn't make the CL with it even with the added bonus of a down season for MUFC.
I'm fairly certain that only Arsenal and Everton can legitimately claim insufferable spending righteousness now.

[bencrix]

Sadly, Bale is truly magnificent. I think it is settled even in Madrid now.

The £117 spend is "clean," since it was earned from scouting, developing and marketing talent, not oil. But that's cold comfort. More proof that you can't "buy" glory.

[Gamblor]

Sorry lad but you won't break into the top 4.

It has happened before and will happen again. I believe I've fairly acknowledged the difficulty.

Well I wager Arsenal will win the league in your stadium again before that happens...

I'd love to see a Swansea or a Southampton-style revival of FFC. I'll consider it absolutely amazing work if we're back to playing low-table, relegation worry-free football in the Premiership within 5 years.

Ya Southhampton's academy I think is the model for developing talent, but personally in terms of finances i think Swansea is. If they were able to find a way to merge the two, they'd be solid for a long, long time.

Arsenal can legitimately claim insufferable spending righteousness now.

Oh what I would give for us to open the big wallet (by the sound of things we are finally going to this summer). I mean whats the point of having all our money and not spending some on the field?! And ya, I know, I know, I know. We bought Ozil but that was cause Spuds sold Bale and we just had to remind them how we cash in on their mistakes.

http://www.youtube.com/v/e0iO1T33Cik

Oh and ByDefault, I'm enjoying this nice calm between us. I feel like its going to break when our teams fight it out for Diego Costa...

[JaxByDefault]

Oh, Spurs fans.
Can't have it both ways: "you can't buy glory" but then turn around and say that Chelsea and MCFC do just that. Chelsea had both struggles and trophies before the Abramovich era. #WeAintGotNoHistory is a great chant, but it isn't precisely true. Even vile City had titles in the black & white days (I begrudgingly admit). Sporting memories are surprisingly short. I'm amused when supporters claim to love like "small clubs" like Everton or Villa with no idea that those clubs had significant time in the sun a "big clubs."

Ozil is every bit a quality player. Always thought his contributions were unvalued by the Mad...er, Special...One at Madrid.

As for Costa: What Abramovich wants... 

[Gamblor]

As for Costa: What Abramovich wants... 

Man i hope we swoop in on your deal for Costa like a certain team did on ours for Eden Hazard....

[Gamblor]

Ozil is every bit a quality player. Always thought his contributions were unvalued by the Mad...er, Special...One at Madrid.

Ozil is a great player. The rough nature of the BPL in terms of the winter schedule and how rapid fire games are was tough for Mesut to get a handle on, but I'm sure next year his talents will be even more on display, especially after he gets a great striker like Costa to work with

[CityLife]

I'd love to see a Swansea or a Southampton-style revival of FFC. I'll consider it absolutely amazing work if we're back to playing low-table, relegation worry-free football in the Premiership within 5 years.

Easier said than done. Swansea got lucky by having two of the best managers in Britain in Martinez and Rodgers. Now that Rodgers is gone, they may just become another lower table side (set to finish somewhere between 12th and 16th this season). Southampton has a ridiculous academy that is the envy of every side in England. They've produced a crazy amount of talent like Bale, Oxlade-Chamberlin, Luke Shaw, Lallana, and Theo Walcott in recent years...and have James Ward Prowse, Callum Chambers, and Sam Gallagher as up and coming players already playing well in the senior side.

Fulham do have some good youth talent though. Perhaps the Championship will be a good way to get that young talent some experience that can be built upon in the future. They will probably go from one of the oldest teams in England this year to one of the youngest next year.