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[Kimchi Papi]

Pep ain't going no where for now. He's too invested into Bayern. He's just now starting the shape the Bavarian club the way he wants them to play.

Plus I think he wants to try for another treble or at least another CL title (or 2 or 3).

I think things would have to really sour between Pep & Karl Hopfner for Pep to leave.

I can see Steady Raheem leaving for Los Blancos now though...

 

[eiddyfouw]

Watching Everton vs Lille...

Would City go after Roberto?

Ouuuuu, nice one. I think City are dirty enough to go after anyone. They could go after Peps.


Gareth Bale's been dreaming of playing for Real Madrid since he was a child tho, he's not Latin. He's a bold piece of British white bread

If their was ever a player the EPL needed more for star quality and marketing purposes it's Gareth Bale. He was literally becoming the face of the league then said "na, I'll go join Real Madrid and play 2nd or 3rd fiddle". That means a lot Eiddy, you can't tell me it doesn't. He could have gone where he wanted.

Bale leaving to Madrid does not mean it's a better league. It means that..."Gareth Bale's been dreaming of playing for Real Madrid since he was a child".

 

[Coupé It]

Bale leaving to Madrid does not mean it's a better league. It means that..."Gareth Bale's been dreaming of playing for Real Madrid since he was a child".

Yea of course, I agree with that. But the "top league" in the world can't continue to lose their "best players" man, nots not good business. Regardless if the player is latin, if he wants to go to Spain, if he's been wanting to play since he was a child, etc. It should happen much less, but it's been happening more often. It's a legitimate concern, to me at least. Wouldn't surprise me if Hazard & Sturridge leave in the near future (although I really want them to stay).

It's cool tho eiddy, I can't change your mind. I've tried, psk has tried before. The operation has failed I hope we've at least broadened the perspective tho.

 

[eiddyfouw]

Bale leaving to Madrid does not mean it's a better league. It means that..."Gareth Bale's been dreaming of playing for Real Madrid since he was a child".

Yea of course, I agree with that. But the "top league" in the world can't continue to lose their "best players" man, nots not good business. Regardless if the player is latin, if he wants to go to Spain, if he's been wanting to play since he was a child, etc. It should happen much less, but it's been happening more often. It's a legitimate concern, to me at least. Wouldn't surprise me if Hazard & Sturridge leave in the near future (although I really want them to stay).

It's cool tho eiddy, I can't change your mind. I've tried, psk has tried before. The operation has failed I hope we've at least broadened the perspective tho.

Hazard I believe will goto PSG, along with Pogba and be the rulers of France.

Sturridge leaving EPL will be just cause he wants to get out of Merseyside can't say I blame him.

You've got some valid points, but it's still enough to sway me away from believing that the entire EPL package as a whole is a better package than La Liga.




I think someone mentioned why is it more billionaires don't buy La Liga clubs, I just remembered, if I'm right, the taxation structure and regulations in Spain isn't as friendly as in England for football clubs.

I do expect a few more clubs to be sold and invested in soon in the EPL....I would keep an eye on Palace, Newcastle and Southampton, (how no oligarch/arab billionaire has bought Everton is still a mystery to me). Personally if I was a billionaire, I'd buy Millwall and take them into the Champions League final

 

[ajiiiplatinum]

The only reason people think the premier league is a better league is because American Media tells them it is.

The BPL is what America chooses to market because of the common language and player make up (i.e. Mostly white with some latinos and blacks)

We are so "Ameri-centric" that we think everything we (america) say is true and everything we like is the best.

Anyway thats just my two cents

 

[Coupé It]

Didn't mean Sturridge, I meant Sterling, my bad.

I brought up why billionaire don't take over clubs in Spain, taxation could be one of the reasons. Idk but I hope some billionaire does.

 

[eiddyfouw]

Didn't mean Sturridge, I meant Sterling, my bad.

I brought up why billionaire don't take over clubs in Spain, taxation could be one of the reasons. Idk but I hope some billionaire does.

you know damn well he's going to Madrid.

I think we should also be cognisant of the fact that Barcelona and Madrid have deep history. So when a player who isn't even of latin descent gets the call up to either team, most of them wouldn't say no. Growing up watching the Galacticos in those all white kits was just a fantasy for someone like me, but for footballers it can be an achievable dream, I can only imagine how they feel at the opportunity to join a club like Madrid/Barca.

I'd be more interested to see how many players from the EPL are signing to La Liga clubs who are NOT Barca and Madrid....

 

[noskey]

Keep throwing money at them and they will come. ****, PSG and Monaco got decent teams that way.

 

[Coupé It]

you know damn well he's going to Madrid.

I think we should also be cognisant of the fact that Barcelona and Madrid have deep history. So when a player who isn't even of latin descent gets the call up to either team, most of them wouldn't say no. Growing up watching the Galacticos in those all white kits was just a fantasy for someone like me, but for footballers it can be an achievable dream, I can only imagine how they feel at the opportunity to join a club like Madrid/Barca.

I'd be more interested to see how many players from the EPL are signing to La Liga clubs who are NOT Barca and Madrid....

None, La Liga don't need them. They produce and have enough young talent.

Bunch of Spaniards in the EPL tho.

 

[Kimchi Papi]

I think there has been less than 20 English footballers in La Liga over the years (including Becks, Michael Owen, & Gary Lineker). Most of them played for Los Blancos...

 

[trunks206]

The biggest flaw I see in "well this biggest players leave the EPL for la Liga, thus La Liga > EPL" argument is ya'll are acting like top players are leaving for Malaga, Sociedad and the like.

Madrid and Barca are massive clubs, the two biggest in the world, so just because players from the EPL leave to go play there ISNT because of the strength of the league. Nobody talented is going anywhere but those two.


Also the big two from Spain are people much the only destination for top EPL players as the English clubs usually will not sell to another English rival barring a MASSIVE upcharge and the only teams that can afford to "make it worth their while" to lose a their top player is only the big two from Spain. Everyone in Italy is broke, the Portuguese clubs are selling clubs, Munich has a monopoly on German players on the low so they typically dont need to spend big to get anyone, PSG is the only club in France with money like that since the Monaco owner's divorce, so that only leaves two clubs from Spain that can shell out what it takes to pry players like CR7, Bale, Suarez etc away from England.

Add that Madrid basically gets unlimited loans from Spanish banks to buy players and they as well as Barca have very skewed TV distribution rights compared to the rest of La Liga* (where in EPL tv revenue is pretty evenly for example) it is no wonder they are able to throw their weight around so well and buy the top talent.

*

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/apr/11/la-liga-television-rights-premier-league
View media item 1250174

Its a silly argument anyways, I enjoy both leagues and with how often this subject comes up with the same people arguing over and over on it I would hope you are on a payroll somewhere.

Different leagues different players, but at the end of the day its football. Enjoy it damn it!

 

[Thierry Henry]

What's the most famous football ground in the world? This conversation came up today and I responded by saying it was the Maracana stadium. Some guy was arguing with me saying it was the Bernabeu. What do you guys think?

So Eredivisie and UPL aren't best leagues in the world?

I like the Eredivisie. FC Twente, Feyenoord, PSV, Ajax, AZ

UPL I don't know much about besides Shakhtar and Dynamo Kiev

 

[Kimchi Papi]

That's a hard one Louis but the Maracana wouldn't be a bad choice. Others one might consider could be Wembley, Azteca, San Siro, Camp Nou, & the Bernabeu.... Maybe Estadio Monumental in Argentina...

Hey Prem teams might not have fared well in the CL, but Everton & Spurs won in the EL...

 

[rck3sactown]

 

[SamKQboro]

Hey Prem teams might not have fared well in the CL, but Everton & Spurs won in the EL...

True, not recently but the past decade there's been 8 prem CL finalists, 5 ligas, 4 bunds & 3 serie teams in that same period.
As a somewhat self described neutral, for purely entertainment value I enjoy the relative overall competitiveness of the epl.

 

[heggsy]

Wembley

 

[blackmomo]

i'm pretty sure there are more players leaving Spain to join the EPL than the other way around

 

[Sinner]

LVG... 

Rojo out 6 weeks, won't require surgery...

Falcao still out...

 

[Kimchi Papi]

True, not recently but the past decade there's been 8 prem CL finalists, 5 ligas, 4 bunds & 3 serie teams in that same period.
As a somewhat self described neutral, for purely entertainment value I enjoy the relative overall competitiveness of the epl.

I forgot to add in my comments that I meant Prem teams weren't faring well in the CL this year.

Bundesliga is 12-2-2 in the CL, +25 goal diff & have 3 teams in 1st (Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern, & Dortmund).

La Liga is 10-1-5, +16 goal diff, & 2 teams in 1st (Atleti & Los Blancos).

The Prem is 5-5-6, +3 goal diff, & 1 team in 1st (Chelsea).

Having said that, I think the trend of the Prem not doing well in the CL will continue.

Sid Lowe had some great comments in his La Liga podcast about Spanish players who moved to the Prem.

Having interviewed a ton of these players over the years, he said they commented that the Prem is indeed faster but fast for just the sake of being fast. The speed doesn't help to accomplish anything tactical or technical.

They said the English game is very basic & simple. When the English teams come to play in the CL, the game is slowed down a bit & relies much more on technical ability & intelligence which hampers the Prem teams.

They try to play the English way & it doesn't translate.

Not my comments but Sid Lowes by way of the players he's interviewed. Food for thought...

 

[blackmomo]

If SId's job wasn't to cover La Liga maybe I would prolly put more weight to his opinion.@psk2310 you're bring up stats from just this yr. If you look at the CL competition for the pas decade, I think more English teams have made it to the semi and finals than any other league. The best team in the past decade may have been in La Liga but I don't think that makes the league better just off that. La Liga has been a 2 horse league since day 1. Barca n Real have won the league 95% of the time. Until the league gets restructured and gives every club a fair shot (ie. equal tv distribution) I cant consider it to be #1.

No if we were to talk what league produces the best talent, it's prolly the Dutch or the Brazil league IMO

 

[champcruthik]

What's the most famous football ground in the world? This conversation came up today and I responded by saying it was the Maracana stadium. Some guy was arguing with me saying it was the Bernabeu. What do you guys think?
I like the Eredivisie. FC Twente, Feyenoord, PSV, Ajax, AZ

UPL I don't know much about besides Shakhtar and Dynamo Kiev

PSV has only lost 2 league matches all season by a combined 3 goals. 4 points clear at the top with Ajax chasing.

If SId's job wasn't to cover La Liga maybe I would prolly put more weight to his opinion.@psk2310 you're bring up stats from just this yr. If you look at the CL competition for the pas decade, I think more English teams have made it to the semi and finals than any other league. The best team in the past decade may have been in La Liga but I don't think that makes the league better just off that. La Liga has been a 2 horse league since day 1. Barca n Real have won the league 95% of the time. Until the league gets restructured and gives every club a fair shot (ie. equal tv distribution) I cant consider it to be #1.

No if we were to talk what league produces the best talent, it's prolly the Dutch or the Brazil league IMO

Dutch youth academies are serious business. Hence why I'm predicting Netherlands to win the World Cup in 2018. LVG played his youngsters in Brasil, and that experience will come full circle in Russia. So many talented under-25 footballers that can make meaningful contributions, attacking-wise and defensively.

 

[Kimchi Papi]

English success in the middle of the last decade is not in dispute. My point was for this year so far only & possibly the future (emphasis on possibly). The English FA has a pretty big job to do & I don't think they know what they're doing to get things right.

I don't think the best way to describe talent is to define it by league. I think it's more accurate to define by country. I would put Argentina ahead of Brazil as of late.

The sheer numbers of Argentine players in all the Euro leagues (& even here in MLS & Liga MX) is very surprising.

 

[blackmomo]

PSV has only lost 2 league matches all season by a combined 3 goals. 4 points clear at the top with Ajax chasing.
Dutch youth academies are serious business. Hence why I'm predicting Netherlands to win the World Cup in 2018. LVG played his youngsters in Brasil, and that experience will come full circle in Russia. So many talented under-25 footballers that can make meaningful contributions, attacking-wise and defensively.

I want to see how they do in Euro16. I'm expecting a lot from them and Belgium. Also want to see how Spain will rebuild and if Germany will continue to get stronger. Even though they won the world cup, I don't think we have seen the best of the German squad yet.

 

[blackmomo]

English success in the middle of the last decade is not in dispute. My point was for this year so far only & possibly the future (emphasis on possibly). The English FA has a pretty big job to do & I don't think they know what they're doing to get things right.

I don't think the best way to describe talent is to define it by league. I think it's more accurate to define by country. I would put Argentina ahead of Brazil as of late.

The sheer numbers of Argentine players in all the Euro leagues (& even here in MLS & Liga MX) is very surprising.

Oh ok, in that case I agree with you. I don't think the FA will ever get things right. They still believe England is the best football country in the world even though God knows when they last won anything. Once they get it through their bloody heads that the English game of 1950 is no longer the way to go, then maybe we can see some progress.

Argentine has produced a great number of talent but I still say Brazil is better. They have produced far more elite world class talent.

 

[champcruthik]

I want to see how they do in Euro16. I'm expecting a lot from them and Belgium. Also want to see how Spain will rebuild and if Germany will continue to get stronger. Even though they won the world cup, I don't think we have seen the best of the German squad yet.

Courtois is obviously better than Jasper, but I prefer Netherlands' back four with Kompany and Vertonghen aging. Belgium did prove to be defensively responsible in Brasil, and a thrill for the dramatic scoring late. I think the Dutch midfield, wealth of options, will be the difference-maker. In 2018 though, not 2016 just yet.