The Fields

Arsenal, Therapy, and Ultimate Team

So, after a few days of diligently editing the audio for this pod, Audacity corrupted the file over the weekend so this week, we have a special unedited episode of The Fields. On this week's episode, Emilio is joined by friend of the pod Mike, who is more commonly known as @povertygru on Twitter [https://twitter.com/povertygru] for his involvement in rap twitter circles, FIFA Ultimate Team meta, and his masochistic Arsenal fandom. The two attempt to unravel the fantastic fashion in which Arsenal have crashed and burned in the years following Arsene Wenger's departure and also ponder what their future looks like with Mikel Arteta and their current crop of players. Mike treats us to rambling on FIFA Ultimate Team and its, err, "character building" in his younger years, as well as letting us know what he's listening to and finally, someone on the podcast (that doesn't support Manchester City) predicts that Manchester City will win this season's Champions League. Don't forget to follow, subscribe to, and rate the podcast on your preferred platform for listening to podcasts. It will help out a bunch with the growth of the podcast and your love and support is greatly appreciated! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thefieldspod if you would like to stay updated with us on other social media platforms. Thanks for listening! You can submit your listener questions to us via Twitter or via email at thefieldspod@gmail.com.

Fandom, Analytics, and "Being Washed" with Anis Bazza

Back and better than ever, we go international this week as Emilio sits down with Anis Bazza, British-Libyan football writer and Manchester City supporter. The two sit down to quickly vent about the Manchester Derby but also to expound on how we digest soccer in a modern age. They talk about how growing up in English and American environments have affected how they view soccer, ponder the increasing popularity of advanced analytics in soccer discourse, and also wonder when the era of pressing and work rate in Europe's biggest leagues will end. Lastly, they answer some listener questions and serve up some hot, fresh takes. Also, yes, we changed the music again. Don't forget to follow, subscribe to, and rate the podcast on your preferred platform for listening to podcasts. It will help out a bunch with the growth of the podcast and your love and support is greatly appreciated! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thefieldspod if you would like to stay updated with us on other social media platforms. Thanks for listening! You can submit your listener questions to us via Twitter or via email at thefieldspod@gmail.com.

Making Calls in the Premier League Stock Market

We're halfway through one of the most bizarre and competitive Premier League seasons in the competition's history, so we felt it fitting to tackle it in weird and unorthodox fashion. Joined by Josh of the Counter Press podcast, Emilio take stock of the teams in the top half of the Premier League -- with the exception of Arsenal, sorry Gooners. We make calls on who we're buying and who we're selling; which teams will finish higher than where they are now? Which teams will fall? We ponder which teams will finish in the top six, whether or not Frank Lampard will have a job by the end of spring, and whether John Stones is half Jamaican. Don't forget to follow or subscribe to the podcast on your preferred platform for listening to podcasts AND to give us five stars. It will help out a bunch with the growth of the podcast and your love and support is greatly appreciated! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thefieldspod if you would like to stay updated with us on other social media platforms. Thanks for listening! You can submit your listener questions to us via Twitter or via email at thefieldspod@gmail.com.

Premier League Midseason Awards and Young Player Stock Market

Back from our holiday break, Emilio goes solo and gives his midseason awards for the Premier League ranging from player of the season to biggest disappointment. He also makes his predictions for who will finish in the wide open top four race and the dreaded bottom three. In our listener question section, we're asked to turn a new leaf: we talk about trading cards. We're going blind into the world of card trading and helping one of our listeners out by looking at young players across Europe whose cards are already valuable and may yet become more valuable and also look to pick out some sleeper picks who haven't yet flooded the market who it may prove valuable to be an early investor. Transfermarkt page for Orkun Kokcu, midfielder for Feyenoord: https://www.transfermarkt.com/orkun-kokcu/profil/spieler/454567 Transfermarkt page for Mitchell van Bergen, winger for Heerenveen: https://www.transfermarkt.com/mitchell-van-bergen/profil/spieler/393239 Transfermarkt page for Charles de Ketelaere, attacker for Club Brugge: https://www.transfermarkt.com/charles-de-ketelaere/profil/spieler/435772 Don't forget to follow or subscribe to the podcast on your preferred platform for listening to podcasts AND to give us five stars. It will help out a bunch with the growth of the podcast and your love and support is greatly appreciated! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thefieldspod if you would like to stay updated with us on other social media platforms. Thanks for listening! You can submit your listener questions to us via Twitter or via email at thefieldspod@gmail.com.

Unraveling Barcelona with Vijay Vemu

On this edition of The Fields, we welcome Vijay Vemu to the show to discuss what's happened to Barcelona in 2020 and the fallout of a tumultuous year. VJ is a basketball writer who talks about the Chicago Bulls for Blog A Bull, the Big East on SB Nation's Big East Coast Bias, and analytics in basketball at Fansided's Nylon Calculus. Most importantly, he is a Barcelona supporter, so today we brought him on to talk about what has led to the decline of the Catalonian side following the Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique years, what the Josep Bartomeu presidency and departure from the role means, how Ronald Koeman is attempting to keep a fractured squad together, and if there is any hope for Barcelona supporters in the near future.  Don't forget to follow or subscribe to the podcast on your preferred platform for listening to podcasts AND to give us five stars. It will help out a bunch with the growth of the podcast and your love and support is greatly appreciated! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thefieldspod if you would like to stay updated with us on other social media platforms. Thanks for listening! You can submit your listener questions to us via Twitter or via email at thefieldspod@gmail.com.