Essential The Official Football (Soccer) Thread - We are SO back, the Premier League returns!

[Liu Kang]

The real crime here is referring as Bayern as BM and Dortmund as BD. I wasnt sure before but now I know SL is trash for real.

 

[Sukairain]

My man, are you playing devil's advocate ? Because the SL will make this even worse.

And Perez is an hypocrite. Him and all the big clubs lobbied for that boredom so they could secure their place in the KO stages and their TV revenue : the pot system, the "can't have 2 teams from the same country in the same group" rule, the club pairing rule to prevent tems from the same country to play on same day. I cant believe Perez has me defending UEFA

A breh said it already but the real fix for the CL is simple IMO : KO stage only with a seeding system like in tennis. 7 rounds like we currently have.

Seed system would allow some safety for the bigs but there should be some cracking games by round of 32 or even 64 in some cases.

But we already know the bigs would not want that. Some of them would get knocked out by the likes of Ajax, Porto, Zenit or Galatasaray by round of 32

I actually like the no two teams from the same country in the same group rule. It's European football, we're supposed to see as much as possible the best teams from each respective league compete against each other. I always felt the only time it was acceptable for a European tie to be played by two teams from the same league would be in the knockout stages, where it would have been a result of that particular league having a really strong period like Serie A through the 90s and early 00s, England through the mid and late 00s and late 10s, and Spain through the 10s

That aside, seeding and pots and all that was always a load of shyt. It should have been the only rule for the group stage

 

[Liu Kang]

I actually like the no two teams from the same country in the same group rule. It's European football, we're supposed to see as much as possible the best teams from each respective league compete against each other. I always felt the only time it was acceptable for a European tie to be played by two teams from the same league would be in the knockout stages, where it would have been a result of that particular league having a really strong period like Serie A through the 90s and early 00s, England through the mid and late 00s and late 10s, and Spain through the 10s

I was not saying that was bad, just that it's a way to maximize TV revenue for the bigs.

 

[Sukairain]

That would be a seriously good goal if someone did the equivalent in football. Those fake passes the guy used on the defenders were so smooth

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

I actually like the no two teams from the same country in the same group rule. It's European football, we're supposed to see as much as possible the best teams from each respective league compete against each other. I always felt the only time it was acceptable for a European tie to be played by two teams from the same league would be in the knockout stages, where it would have been a result of that particular league having a really strong period like Serie A through the 90s and early 00s, England through the mid and late 00s and late 10s, and Spain through the 10s

That aside, seeding and pots and all that was always a load of shyt. It should have been the only rule for the group stage

Spain was stronger from 96-04. 5 different teams winning the league. Valencia x 2 Atletico Depor Real and Barca. Post 04 when Real and Barca were allowed a10 year run of negotiating their own TV deals which effectively destroyed La Liga. Atletico only come about with a high risk strategy of over spending just to try and keep up. Atletico borrowed a lot of money to make it to those 2 CL finals and win the title.

 

[ThrobbingHood]

I've just realised its the Super League and not the European Super League.

That's a very important distinction because these guys could literally add any franchise they want round the world.

True. But I don’t think that would’ve stopped them. The Eurovision contest has Israel, Australia, and Armenia competing, which betrays the “integrity” of its name.

I think it’s more to do with marketing to avoid confusion. Won’t be long before you see MLS in this league. Worst crossover since Alien Vs Predator.

 

[TobiOT]

UEFA bottled it.

 

[Yippee Ki Yay]

UEFA bottled it.

Does that mean no one is getting kicked out of this season competition?
Have they back down on everything they said ?

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

True. But I don’t think that would’ve stopped them. The Eurovision contest has Israel, Australia, and Armenia competing, which betrays the “integrity” of its name.

I think it’s more to do with marketing to avoid confusion. Won’t be long before you see MLS in this league. Worst crossover since Alien Vs Predator.

I thought Eurovision was that the song writer had to be from the country. Regardless of the performer.

Ireland was the best one. They hated winning it as they couldn't afford to host it especially the social and economic problems of the 80's and 90's. So they use to entry the worst possible song and they would still end up winning.

 

[Sukairain]

Spain was stronger from 96-04. 5 different teams winning the league. Valencia x 2 Atletico Depor Real and Barca. Post 04 when Real and Barca were allowed a10 year run of negotiating their own TV deals which effectively destroyed La Liga. Atletico only come about with a high risk strategy of over spending just to try and keep up. Atletico borrowed a lot of money to make it to those 2 CL finals and win the title.

Fair shout, Serie A wasn't more dominant than La Liga in that period. They were about equal I think.
Remember the Old Trafford final (well I'd rather I didn't, what a stinker of a game it was) between Milan and Juventus. If I remember right Milan beat Inter in the semi final as well to get to the final. La Liga had Real Madrid winning 3 between 98 and 02, with Valencia making a couple of finals as well. I can't recall Deportivo or Barcelona doing too well, I think they only made one semi final between them in those years. And Atletico were down in the dumps

 

[TobiOT]

Does that mean no is getting kicked out of this season competition?
Have they back down on everything they said ?

There's rumours that the semi finals will go ahead next week.

Don't be surprised when that happens.

 

[TobiOT]

Non-ESL clubs having fun now.

 

[nyknick]

Woodward also moved to London

 

[The axe murderer]

There's rumours that the semi finals will go ahead next week.

Don't be surprised when that happens.

Esl looking like scrooge mcduck right now

 

[nyknick]

They really should've tried to sneak Arsenal and Tottenham through the back door, 10+2 type of press release

Gosens 'shocked' by Super League

"This is a huge disaster for football. I am shocked that it is coming true now," Gosens told Kicker.

"The fact that a little underdog can prevail has always been the basis of football," he added.

"If there is now a Super League in which Arsenal or Tottenham qualify forever without any sporting achievement, then football will be stripped of its foundations. Everyone must be aware that football will change forever and never be the same again.

"People are still dying all over the world. There is a lack of money at the front and the back. These twelve clubs set up their own league and can get €100 or €150m shoved up their a***s.

"You have to question the ethics of that. The sad thing is that it's all about money, money, money. The damage would be so big that many fans will hopefully oppose it and I would take part in such protests," he concluded.

"The cut would be so big that hopefully many fans will oppose it, and I would take part in such protests.

Everyone's initial reaction seems to be "Tottenham "