Now which Saudi team will you support? Al Nassr or Al Ittihad
Saudi signing wave: What are the implications? Is it weakening the Premier League?
- Thread starter justsomebloke
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
What goes around comes around? Can remember Milan complaining about being outbid by Bournemouth like clubs
I don’t think you quite understand what they’re trying to do. They never will have any interest in investing in youth, they aren’t trying to win anything. They’re trying to create a super league that people will watch, not win the World Cup.
I guess the Saudis are looking to do more than just give their own league a shot in the arm and instead are looking to essentially create a new global league showcasing all the worlds greatest talent.
Consider me dubious about whether that could ever be achieved. Even if they started getting A-grade players, it would be extremely difficult to get people to care about it outside of maybe watching the odd goal clip on Youtube, Hard to imagine how it would get the cultural impact that the European game has
Consider me dubious about whether that could ever be achieved. Even if they started getting A-grade players, it would be extremely difficult to get people to care about it outside of maybe watching the odd goal clip on Youtube, Hard to imagine how it would get the cultural impact that the European game has
The fact you are posting this whilst watching money decide what happens with football gives me some hope but, deep down, we both know it's not true. Firstly it's not 4 teams, it is every single team in that league that are gov owned and secondly for argument's sake, let's say Aramco own 1 team, Saudi Telecom own another, Riyadh Bank another do you really think UEFA will say 'hold up, they're still all owned by the government' or will they do what they have always done and take the money?
@justsomebloke they need the CL for the prestige. You are correct they could probably create a whole new competition long term but then you ask why haven't they done the same with fashion, with cars, with watches etc. it's because of the brands. Same with LIV golf, the tactic is very clear - go after the No1 name in the sport, pump money into destabilising them until they are compromised, then merge or acquire them. They will keep the Open and the Masters, in the same way they will keep the CL, it gives them credibility but they will then slowly buy more and more of the company until they effectively run it.
Agree. Although your EPL pundits will not be pleased with what is happening. Gary Neville has already complained about it.
Kneejerk complacency all over the place. And cultural lag - most people think as though we still live in a world where Europe and the West is the center and measure of everything, as a matter of course - and hence such absurd things as that the best players will always want to play in Europe, because, you know, it's Europe and it's the best, so. We lived in that world 30 years ago, we don't anymore. We really need to start coping with that, including by doing a more serious job of protecting our own interests. If we don't, we'll have millions of angry nationalist scum on our hands, who once they finally cotton on to the fact of our reduced stature and power will choose to believe they've been betrayed. Well, we already do, but it can get worse.
I love Bruno but if Saudi offered €200m, I think we would have had to sell?
It would certainly create an intriguing problem. What if he didn't want to go?
We get the football world we deserve. For the guts of two decades now we've cheapened the game, allowed it to be sold off bit by bit and signed the death warrant by letting oil states own teams and buy their way to the top. Tough shit now that another oil state wants to do the same at home. Good enough for all the whatabouters and excuse makers who sat on their thumbs watching city ruin the game. There's no values or culture to hold on to now, let the highest bidder take it all.
We’ll what we do know if the EPL is to stay at the top and super relevant it needs its top teams to be able to compete so if united were purchased by Qatar, there would be less hostility from the directors test and other PL teams who would need a successful ; Newcastle, United and City to spend within the PL to generate additional revenue that’s filtered down, I don’t like it, it’s completely wrong but we have no choice and I think Avram and Joel will see this very quickly. I Mean if Saudi are dropping €1bn for one season on one remarkable player.
How can one of the greatest football clubs in the history of the game not be worth at least 7 times that figure?
This has made things much worse for the takeover ?
How can one of the greatest football clubs in the history of the game not be worth at least 7 times that figure?
This has made things much worse for the takeover ?
@justsomebloke they need the CL for the prestige. You are correct they could probably create a whole new competition long term but then you ask why haven't they done the same with fashion, with cars, with watches etc. it's because of the brands. Same with LIV golf, the tactic is very clear - go after the No1 name in the sport, pump money into destabilising them until they are compromised, then merge or acquire them. They will keep the Open and the Masters, in the same way they will keep the CL, it gives them credibility but they will then slowly buy more and more of the company until they effectively run it.
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With Tennis, Golf, F1 etc those are already global competitions, they can be adapted in a way a regionally tied competition can't. With football, there's also the World Cup and not least the new club WC format, which FIFA has thoughtfully and conveniently introduced.
Fashion, cars and luxury watches simply aren't realistically supplantable. They require a complex skill base and organisation you can't easily establish, and in any case brand prestige is built over decades and centuries. How easy would it be to actually make better watches than the Swiss do, and for how long would you need to do that before people around the world stopped thinking Swiss watches were the best? A century? Not so with football. If you have the means of attracting talent, it's a matter of a few years to build a top football organisation. What was done at City can be done elsewhere. And once, say, seven of the biggest ten names in football is playing in your league, Bob's your uncle. Not saying that will happen, but it's not a long and winding path.
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With Tennis, Golf, F1 etc those are already global competitions, they can be adapted in a way a regionally tied competition can't. With football, there's also the World Cup and not least the new club WC format, which FIFA has thoughtfully and conveniently introduced.
Fashion, cars and luxury watches simply aren't realistically supplantable. They require a complex skill base and organisation you can't easily establish, and in any case brand prestige is built over decades and centuries. How easy would it be to actually make better watches than the Swiss do, and for how long would you need to do that before people around the world stopped thinking Swiss watches were the best? A century? Not so with football. If you have the means of attracting talent, it's a matter of a few years to build a top football organisation. What was done at City can be done elsewhere. And once, say, seven of the biggest ten names in football is playing in your league, Bob's your uncle. Not saying that will happen, but it's not a long and winding path.
Europe is even more of the center of football today than it was 30 years ago.
How is signing prem cast offs lowering the standard?
I'm talking about the world in general. Which matters in this context, because motives such as prestige no longer necessarily means "being highly regarded by Europeans and Americans." It's entirely plausible that Saudi investors are more concerned with how they are regarded by Saudis and other people in their own region.
No.
How long before they start buying top 16 year olds so they can build a national team?
What actually matters most here is football, not the world in general.
We've seen this before with China and USA. The big spend won't last for to long and certainly not to the extent we've seen this summer in will taper off massively in 5-10 years
Err, it's United who should be rejecting not Bruno.
Well, whether you like it or not, football is a part of the world in general, so how the world in general looks also pretty much determines what happens with football, just like it does everything else. If you're trying to make sense of this by thinking exclusively about football, you won't.
In any case, my point there was why people were making the sort of points they are making.
Basic fallacy. Just because it turned out that way in two other cases doesn't mean this one is the same.
Don’t know how some of you think the league is full of cast offs.
A first eleven (sixteen even) now could challenge for top four. The quality there is only going to get better as well.
Premier league wanted this. Look forward to them reaping the rewards.
A first eleven (sixteen even) now could challenge for top four. The quality there is only going to get better as well.
Premier league wanted this. Look forward to them reaping the rewards.
Any player with a ounce of ambition would reject Saudis.
Within 2 years a Saudi Club will be in the ECL is my guess and then that's it. UEFA will love the injection of cash and will be more than happy to legitimise them.
Personally I think you couldn't be more wrong.
For the umpteenth time, because they're not just signing prem cast offs. A player like Mitrovic is arguably the best and most important player on a mid-table PL team, who desperately do not want to lose him. Someone like Allan St Maximin would strengthen more than half of the teams in the league. And Ruben Neves could plausibly play for nearly anyone. Also, they're pitching for bona fide PL stars like Bruno and Son, so the ambition is obviously higher.
Sorry to break it to you but Europe IS the cultural bellwether and epicentre of the world.
You seem to be agreeing with me?
Although on you are incorrect on the examples I mentioned. It kind of proves the point on the strength of a brand, with fashion, cars and watches you are putting them on a pedestal because of their name, brand and reputation but there is no reason a company could not within a short time frame create a manufacturing chain to replicate watches, fashion items and cars of the exact same quality - the difference would be the reputation of the company. The cost to do this would be insanely high but it's a drop in the ocean for them. The value is in the brand not in the actual physical items hence why they aren't trying to rival Ferrari or Rolex, they will just buy into the ownership when possible. That's what they will do in football.
They would need to completely re-write the FFP rule book or abolish it entirely for that to happen, maybe i am in the minority but i cant see how that would be allowed to happen at all
I'd quite like to see the PL burn in all honesty. Go for it Saudi.
I can see it harming the clubs in the EPL outside the top clubs, as the other clubs mostly have very little history, or history people outside their town don't actually care about. Its not as if Ruben Neves was playing in Wolverhampton because of the culture, history, weather and scenery. He was playing for wolves because they could offer him lots of money. In fact the second biggest draw for him would have been playing man city , man utd etc. Not even wolves themselves, joining a club because of other clubs is sad for a club.
No this is much worse than people think it is. This is not China or USA. That I can understand. They have massive populations for football to grow and prosper. Saudi / Quatar etc are tiny on comparison. They just dont have the numbers to grow. They also dont need the money. So the only reason they are doing this is for their own plaything. For the elites to buy up toys that they can go watch on a weekend. Thats why they are doing it. Throw in some sportswashing and access to Western economies. Its nothing to do with the fundamentals of the actual game - passion, youth, growth etc. All the top players will be playing in this small random country with attendances of 17 thousand and winning leagues/cups that no one gives a fk about.
Meh, City can financially dope for years and receive zero punishment/have any decision kicked into the long grass for a decade. The temptation of billions into the coffers will be too much and the rules will be amended.
I for one welcome our new Saudi overlords
You're not making any sense of it other than the extremely generic "if things are X now then surely they'll be X SQUARED in five years", the same rationale people use to hype up AI, cryptocurrencies, or whatever thing is currently in vogue.
It will completely screw over the fans, non Saudi clubs will have to raise their wage offers for players and that will get passed on to ticket prices going up
Your right there is a chance I could be wrong. But generally when you've seen a similar scenario happen multiple times you generally expect what you've seen time and time again to happen again
I see nothing to worry about right now and I think it's nothing to panic about. It's basically big names and henderson with no longevity they're signing.