Everything Soccer

[gregm83]

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]

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.

 

[dublinirish]

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.

are ya serious?

 

[CTIDANDREW]

are ya serious?

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]

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]

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]

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.

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]

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.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

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.

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]

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.

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.