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gregm83

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I would say the league is more balanced and the best its ever been. There are almost no throw away games where teams are expected to win by 3-4 goals like you see in Spain.
 
Jiggafini19Deux

Jiggafini19Deux

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The style of play is pretty bad. Everyone is playing like Stoke City. Including the Champions Elect.

I think there is more balance because of the money the clubs have and the models that Brighton, Bournemouth and Brentford are using. I think Bournemouth and Brentford may have surpassed Brighton in terms of how they do business. It ultimately boils down to tactics, though. Not a lot of joy or soul in the Premier League this season despite the talent and money. Playing for set pieces and slowing everything down.

PSG and Bayern are lot more fun to watch, but they're beyond their respective leagues. Nobody plays like them in England. The top six in Germany are all actually pretty fun to watch.
 
CTIDANDREW

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dublinirish said:
are ya serious?
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I tend to agree with him.
The money currently in the PL absolutely dwarfs any other of the big five leagues right now.

As an example look at the Transfer Market value of the two teams playing in the Europa League final right now.

Aston Villa, who has finished 7th, 4th, 6th, and likely 4th for the last four years of PL. Squad value $344M according to FOTMOB
Freiburg, who has finished 5th, 10th, 5th, and 7th in Bundesliga last four years. Squad value of $98M according to FOTMOB

The money currently in PL is the highest it has ever been.
Just wait until the official number of World Cup squad players come out by next week broken down by league.
My hunch is the PL will have by far the most players, then the next biggest league which my guess would be La Liga.

The quality of play is certainly down, but that doesn't mean the talent is lacking and the parity I agree is the highest its ever been in my fifteen plus years of being a City supporter.

When City first broke onto the scene and won thier first Title of the current era in 2011-2012.
They did it on the final day against QPR with that famous Aguero goal.
That QPR team was terrible, and was full of journeymen players that even this 20th place Wolves team would likely play of the pitch today.
 
Jiggafini19Deux

Jiggafini19Deux

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Unai Emery is the Europa League master.

Honestly, the language barrier is the only reason he failed at Arsenal. He improved his English and look what a job he's done at Aston Villa.
 
Jiggafini19Deux

Jiggafini19Deux

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The Premier League is probably the most physical and profitable league on the planet. Every away game is difficult. I just don't know how many teams really have a legit chance to win the title every August. They have made it difficult for clubs outside of their "big six" to realistically compete. There are different rules when it comes to how certain cubs are allowed to do business.

The style of play has really slowed down. Part of that is due to Arsenal's success in recent seasons and part of it was out of necessity to slow down City and Liverpool teams that were high octane attacking squads. Even last year's Liverpool title winner was a lot more controlled and slowed down with the ball. Those Pochettino Spurs teams weren't great but they were fun at least. Hell, he reached a European Cup Final in 2019.

I'm glad was lucid for the Guardiola-Klopp Era. Those teams were must see TV and when they played each other it was tremendous. You kicked off your match and you felt like you were already 2 points behind City and Liverpool in the table.
 
CTIDANDREW

CTIDANDREW

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Jiggafini19Deux said:
The Premier League is probably the most physical and profitable league on the planet. Every away game is difficult. I just don't know how many teams really have a legit chance to win the title every August. They have made it difficult for clubs outside of their "big six" to realistically compete. There are different rules when it comes to how certain cubs are allowed to do business.

The style of play has really slowed down. Part of that is due to Arsenal's success in recent seasons and part of it was out of necessity to slow down City and Liverpool teams that were high octane attacking squads. Even last year's Liverpool title winner was a lot more controlled and slowed down with the ball. Those Pochettino Spurs teams weren't great but they were fun at least. Hell, he reached a European Cup Final in 2019.

I'm glad was lucid for the Guardiola-Klopp Era. Those teams were must see TV and when they played each other it was tremendous. You kicked off your match and you felt like you were already 2 points behind City and Liverpool in the table.
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It’s better than almost all the other big five leagues though.

How many clubs have won La Liga over the last 15 years.
How many of won the Bundesliga?
How many have won Ligue one?

Serie A has been better over the last decade, but that is because AC Milan and Juventus are broke and everyone else has been able to catch up to them.

The sport has always been about the Haves and Have nots since TV contracts got involved in the 90’s

It is what it is.
At least the PL has 5-6 teams that have a “realistic” shot money wise to compete for the title year in and year out.
Cannot say that about almost any other of the big five leagues currently.
 
DCDomer

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The immense money in the English game has ruined European competition.

The Europa League, and definitely the Conference League, are not made for teams finishing bottom half on their own league spending hundreds of millions of pounds in a transfer window.

These tournaments should be for smaller countries to have a way into the big show. I'd much prefer to be watching say Slavia Prague and Shamrock Rovers than 'effin Palace with a 75m wage bill.

Countries should have a limit on the amount of clubs who can qualify for UEFA competitions in a single season. I yearn for the days when Champions League was reserved for... Champions.
 
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Jiggafini19Deux

Jiggafini19Deux

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CTIDANDREW said:
It’s better than almost all the other big five leagues though.

How many clubs have won La Liga over the last 15 years.
How many of won the Bundesliga?
How many have won Ligue one?

Serie A has been better over the last decade, but that is because AC Milan and Juventus are broke and everyone else has been able to catch up to them.

The sport has always been about the Haves and Have nots since TV contracts got involved in the 90’s

It is what it is.
At least the PL has 5-6 teams that have a “realistic” shot money wise to compete for the title year in and year out.
Cannot say that about almost any other of the big five leagues currently.
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When it comes to style of play, it sucks. The answer to City and Liverpool was get more physical, slow the game down and play for corner kicks.

England is becoming the least fun to watch. Spain and Germany, 3 champions in the last 15 years. France has had five. England has had six and one of them was a flash in the pan that is about to be down in the third tier next year. Chelsea and United are way off it. None of that changes the fact that England is becoming a league of physicality, long throw ins, set pieces and borderline sexual assault on corner kicks. Then there's VAR and the horrible officiating.

A Bundesliga match between anyone 5-14 in the table, this season, is more engaging to a neutral than watching 5-14 in the EPL. 3.4 goals per match scored in the Bundesliga. Their top six was more entertaining on any given weekend due to the style of play.

It is the result of a few moving parts, but it's not great. The product isn't as good regardless of who is winning. It is likely fallout to Arsenal's tactics landing them three straight second place finishes and a title as a result of trying to slow down the City and Liverpool train.
 
Jiggafini19Deux

Jiggafini19Deux

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DCDomer said:
The immense money in the English game has ruined European competition.

The Europa League, and definitely the Conference League, are not made for teams finishing bottom half on their own league spending hundreds of millions of pounds in a transfer window.

These tournaments should be for smaller countries to have a way into the big show. I'd much prefer to be watching say Slavia Prague and Shamrock Rovers than 'effin Palace with a 75m wage bill.

Countries should have a limit on the amount of clubs who can qualify for UEFA competitions in a single season. I yearn for the days when Champions League was reserved for... Champions.
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I just want to see two teams actually playing football and trying to score. Not corner kicks and time wasting.

They expanded all of the European competitions. It's about money. From a competitive equity standpoint, it's just more matches.

The Premier League product was bad this year, and the title race went down to the last week. Regardless of that, the style of play is terrible. It's likely going to get worse next year. I guess if I can get better matches in the European competitions, I'll take it as a neutral.
 
jerseyborn1971

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The USMNT docuseries on HBO is pretty good. I'm learning all about the players leading up to the World Cup.
 
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notredomer23

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Jiggafini19Deux said:
Harry Maguire, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden left out of England World Cup squad.
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Gotta respect (or question depending how it plays out for England) how much Tuchel values form. Hard to imagine telling someone even 6 months ago that Foden and Palmer wouldn't be included in the 26 man roster, meanwhile Ivan Toney is.
 
PolishDomer

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I honestly am indifferent to the team...of course i remember the early 2000s when they had some success...one thing i found out is that one of my neighbors is Brian McBride on the next block over...my immediate neighbor (who played Indiana soccer) golfs with him and is supposed to introduce him to me and the boys...
 
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notredomer23

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On a personal level I am bummed for Diego Luna as he was heavily featured in all the USMNT promotional materials, and he certainly had to have believed he was being selected. I find it absolutely bizarre that Christian Roldan gets selected over him. In terms of actual impact, I am way more bummed that Tessmann apparently isn't gonna be fit enough for the World Cup.

I have no expectations for this team good or bad. The quality is there for them to make it to the round of 16 and then who knows what can happen. They just seem to lack an edge that some of those fun prior US squads had. I really hope the key pieces like Adams and McKennie show out and that Richards gets fit quick.
 
PolishDomer

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notredomer23 said:
On a personal level I am bummed for Diego Luna as he was heavily featured in all the USMNT promotional materials, and he certainly had to have believed he was being selected. I find it absolutely bizarre that Christian Roldan gets selected over him. In terms of actual impact, I am way more bummed that Tessmann apparently isn't gonna be fit enough for the World Cup.

I have no expectations for this team good or bad. The quality is there for them to make it to the round of 16 and then who knows what can happen. They just seem to lack an edge that some of those fun prior US squads had. I really hope the key pieces like Adams and McKennie show out and that Richards gets fit quick.
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100% agree
 
NorthDakota

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CTIDANDREW said:
It’s better than almost all the other big five leagues though.

How many clubs have won La Liga over the last 15 years.
How many of won the Bundesliga?
How many have won Ligue one?

Serie A has been better over the last decade, but that is because AC Milan and Juventus are broke and everyone else has been able to catch up to them.

The sport has always been about the Haves and Have nots since TV contracts got involved in the 90’s

It is what it is.
At least the PL has 5-6 teams that have a “realistic” shot money wise to compete for the title year in and year out.
Cannot say that about almost any other of the big five leagues currently.
Click to expand...

La Liga has 3 winners in 15 years.
Bundesliga has 3.
Ligue 1 has 4.
EPL has had 6.


My shallow understanding is that La Liga is basically built to support the duopoly with how money is distributed? Bundesliga apparently has a pretty fair setup i think? Ligue 1 just sucks with one oil money club and otherwise a fairly money poor league?
 
Jiggafini19Deux

Jiggafini19Deux

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notredomer23 said:
On a personal level I am bummed for Diego Luna as he was heavily featured in all the USMNT promotional materials, and he certainly had to have believed he was being selected. I find it absolutely bizarre that Christian Roldan gets selected over him. In terms of actual impact, I am way more bummed that Tessmann apparently isn't gonna be fit enough for the World Cup.

I have no expectations for this team good or bad. The quality is there for them to make it to the round of 16 and then who knows what can happen. They just seem to lack an edge that some of those fun prior US squads had. I really hope the key pieces like Adams and McKennie show out and that Richards gets fit quick.
Click to expand...
Do you think the lack of edge comes from many of them earning nice wages for European clubs and not having the same sense of urgency for the national team? I feel like for Donovan, Dempsey, Howard, etc. being a member of Team USA was peak for them and that time period, but those guys were not necessarily making big money with big European clubs. Whatever the reason, the generation before this one wore that shirt and would give everything when they did. It all feels kind of stale right now. I think Tyler Adams has some of that passion for it. Unlucky with injuries lately.

I agree about Luna not making it. Absolutely sucks. Just not really feeling vibes about this World Cup. I feel like I should but I'm not at all excited.
 
Jiggafini19Deux

Jiggafini19Deux

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PolishDomer said:
I honestly am indifferent to the team...of course i remember the early 2000s when they had some success...one thing i found out is that one of my neighbors is Brian McBride on the next block over...my immediate neighbor (who played Indiana soccer) golfs with him and is supposed to introduce him to me and the boys...
Click to expand...
We ran into him once at the Cooper's Hawk in Barrington. Everton had lost that day and I made a point of mentioning that. LOL.

His daughter played at Hersey during the 24/25 school year but not this past season.
 
PolishDomer

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Jiggafini19Deux said:
We ran into him once at the Cooper's Hawk in Barrington. Everton had lost that day and I made a point of mentioning that. LOL.

His daughter played at Hersey during the 24/25 school year but not this past season.
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Dont mean to hijack this thread too much but was going to ask him to do some 1 on 1 training with my boys...he is busy managing a USL team in Brooklyn so spending lot of time away from Chicago...heard he was a super nice guy. He did sign some jerseys for me and the boys lol
 
Jiggafini19Deux

Jiggafini19Deux

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PolishDomer said:
Dont mean to hijack this thread too much but was going to ask him to do some 1 on 1 training with my boys...he is busy managing a USL team in Brooklyn so spending lot of time away from Chicago...heard he was a super nice guy. He did sign some jerseys for me and the boys lol
Click to expand...
Yes. He became GM of Brooklyn FC in October.

Very good guy. He's a legend at SLU. Part of the 40/40 club in Men's NCAA soccer.

He made his bones in England at Fulhamerica.
 
Jiggafini19Deux

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Goalkeepers (3): Matt Freese, Matt Turner, Chris Brady.

Center-backs (5): Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Mark McKenzie, Auston Trusty, Miles Robinson.

Full-backs (5): Antonee Robinson, Sergiño Dest, Alex Freeman, Joe Scally, Max Arfsten.

Central midfielders: (4): Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Cristian Roldan, Sebastian Berhalter.

Attacking midfielders/wingers (6): Christian Pulisic, Tim Weah, Malik Tillman, Gio Reyna, Brenden Aaronson, Alejandro Zendejas.

Strikers (3): Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, Haji Wright.

Not verified yet but this is probably it.
 
Fbolt

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Not ready to become indifferent toward this team. I'm in a wait-and-see approach as I have to believe playing in this WC and repping the colors has to be huge for these kids, both personally and, if not that, certainly professionally.
 
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