When I was in England I was 100% following Chelsea and the Rhinos. TBH with the time that they consumed I cannot really see why you'd even bother to even follow other sports.

But it's your choice to follow other sports, even though you have English clubs who you support.

But what if you didn't have English sides. Don't you think that if the British Govt outlawed English sports but allowed access to foreign sports your level of support for teams in other countries would grow?

For me, watching sport is pretty much pointless unless I'm passionately rooting for one side. That's what you want their sporting experience to be like. I'm with them on this. If they're going to support an English side, then they should do so fully.

I have more respect for a genuine Asian football supporter than I do for your following.

I just think that people have vastly different upbringings. As a working class boy, football and RL were a massive part of my life growing up. Those sports are part of me. An English middle class kid might not be brought up to like sports. But that doesn't mean that they should be excluded from the sport because they got interested in the 20's rather than when they were young kids.

I'm all for genuine support, however it comes about. There will be people born in the shadow of Anfield who merely follow Liverpool FC, they won't feel it in their bones. But there will be kids in Mumbai and Shanghai who do feel total support for LFC. I'd much rather watch a game with the passionate supporter from Shanghai than I would be the follower from Liverpool.

Two great posts LGJM. Supporting a club is entirely subjective. In some instances it is neither practical nor possible to attend sporting matches of, say, a baseball team for most UK citizens. I might get a bigger thrill from seeing Saints win but that doesn't mean I don't get similar levels of joy when supporting City or the Cincinnati Reds (more so the latter because after RL, baseball is my favourite sport to watch). When I fell in love with baseball the Reds were the first team I went to see live and whilst I could never claim to be the greatest Reds fan around I have had moments of euphoria watching Reds games on MLB TV.

I enjoy having somebody to cheer for and after making that choice, if I have what I feel is a strong connection for that team, it's relatively easy to get excited or enjoy their games. If you don't get that same feeling it's just how you are. It doesn't mean others can't experience it because many do and often for different reasons.

A sport we don't have over here is a different story though.

If LGJM's friends went watching the MLS then maybe the league would grow and become better rather than watching Chelsea in a pub which ups TV deals, player wages, ticket prices and stops real Chelsea fans from going.

I'm not saying they can't support Liverpool in Asia, (granted I don't understand it) but maybe they should support a side in their league and watch them with the same passion to improve the game in said Country.

Goodbye Tevez, you'll be sorely missed. One less munich related song for City to sing.

A nice sentiment.

It’s a shame he is going but I am glad in a way as the whole ‘soap opera’ was becoming tiresome. I doubt he will say anything positive about Mancini but IMO he has helped to make Tevez the player he is. Tevez is a better player now than when he was at United.

TBH I have thought for a while now that his desire to move was related to the fact that he wanted to be closer to his family. Those who have children will be able to understand why. Some Blues appear to be bitter about it. My opinion is that if a player wants to leave, they should not have to justify it. Although requesting a transfer just before the January transfer was not ideal.

I expect his economic rights to be purchased by Kia J just before a final big move to Europe in a couple of years. Kia J has found gambling to be a particularly expensive hobby.


Maybe the signing of Aguero and Sneidjer (or Nasri - who is my preferred option) will help to ease the pain.

I think losing one of the leagues best players is a bit of a shame. It's funny cause it's City, but the past few years we've seen players like Ronaldo, Alonso, Mascherano and Albert Riera leave and I think the premier league needs more world stars.

Are City trying to rival Spurs for the largest number of midfielders in a squad?

Nice sarcasm at the end there...

I think Liverpool have that title sorted. Bus tour booked for Tuesday apparently.

I'll always have a soft spot for Tevez, regardless of what the fact he left United for city. His autobiography will be interesting, may explain Gary Neville's reaction when Tevez got stick on his return to OT with his new team...

I think it would be weird to see Tevez go, and, oddly, I don't think we ever seen the best of him. I was reading a quote a few weeks back (I can't remember who by) which was basically saying England has ruined Tevez, which I sort of agreed with. He works harder than he really should, he probably doesn't show as much ability as he has and I think the emphasis on work rate over here can have a negative effect on players. I remember Tevez at United where it seemed he was played mostly for his work rate, although he had a successful season there, he probably never shown them what he was truly capable of. Similarly at City, he's worked his nuts off when playing, but the player that left South America has changed massively, and I'm not too sure if I really like it.

Another player that you could say this about is Torres. When he came to England, he worked hard, but he was a massive threat with the ball at his feet for such a powerful player. Since then, it felt more like Torres was running after the ball instead of with it, which I feel has changed his game negatively. If you look at Torres in the national side, he looks out of place because he isn't as comfortable on the ball as the others, but he wasn't always like that, not IMO anyway, it was never 'his game', but at the same time, I feel he became more limited in his time here, and relied more on chasing down defenders instead of beating them.

I dunno, it's an interesting way to look at things, but I even think Rooney changed for worse during the years before last. The emphasis was always on his work rate, but he had a lot more than that. He still does, no doubt, but I think some of his 'natural game' has been taken away/sacrificed to emphasise on his work rate. Less so since he was played behind Hernandez, where it seemed he was able to play a more natural game, but for long spells areas of his game weren't utilised. The opposite of this example could probably be Dimitar Berbatov who, if he worked harder/shown a bit more aggression, would probably be amongst the top 5 forwards in the world.

I'm intrigued to see how a player like Luis Suarez develops in his time here. There's no doubting he works hard, but will this side of his game continually be pushed at the sacrifice of his ability? I hope not.

It's the English way, a good pair of lungs over a good pair of feet any day of the week.

If a player isn't capable of putting his foot in and grafting to get the ball back for the team he doesn't get picked - hence Phil Neville having more England caps than Glenn Hoddle.

If you want another example from closer to home, take a look at some of the performances by a young Joe Cole in his West Ham days. Given a free role and just allowed to drift around influencing the game with the ball at his feet, he had all the ability to be a truly world class player.

There doesn't seem to be a balance between the two, though. The Spanish seem to have it mastered of late. Immensely gifted players with the engines and desire to run all game. OK, so they don't tackle hard and they don't rough you up, but they are majorly effective at getting the ball back.

As I said, Tevez has always worked hard, but it seems in England it's been 'preferred' that he'd run after it rather than with it. Players like Torres and Tevez arrived here with perfect attitudes, they worked hard and they had ability. Since then, they seem to have been pushed to work harder, but probably aren't as good.

All fair points them but I wouldn't be watching MLB over here unless it was of that quality. As much as I love RL if Super League went under I'd be watching the NRL and not the amateur game because the quality isn't there. Some people can watch any level of their favourite sport and whilst that can be enjoyable, in my personal experience if you aren't born to follow a particular club due to where you were born you gravitate to the upper echelons of the sport because that's where there's more excitement and entertainment. Who watches world title fights but then tunes in to watch A N Other v A N Other Journeyman? You might watch a good fight after its happened but most of us know that the likelihood of you seeing an acceptable level of quality entertainment is less frequent the further you get away from the pinnacles of the sport. Sport has always been about entertainment and still is.

Why don't I support St Helens Town? If Wigoon Ath weren't in the football league there wouldn't be many RL season tickets holders who went to watch them. Why someone does or should support a particular team can't always be decided by where you were born. I have known several people who have gone out of their way to not support a local team for various reasons e.g. an act of non-conformity. Supporting is entirely subjective and you can't apply a logical reasoning for it because people can be incredibly illogical when it comes to feelings and emotions, of which following a sports teams leans heavily on.

Quite amusing to see a city fan write this considering how much they go on about their apparent local support compared to MUFC.