red.knight
Full Member
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2023
- Messages
- 815
Now which Saudi team will you support? Al Nassr or Al Ittihad
Some of the bottom half of the EPL will find it difficult to keep hold of their players now. Players will not pass up the opportunity of a massive pay day in Saudi
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.Its a fad, like the Chinese league. Soon Saudi will realise they need to invest in their youth.
This initial outlay is just for attracting eyeballs and establishing the league as one to watch for. I’m sure their viewing figures skyrocketed after so much European talent were bought.
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?Have the people claiming that Saudi teams will be allowed in UEFA/Champions League actually realised that four teams in the league are owned by PIF?
UEFA would never allow that in their competitions, along with FFP being a huge issue.
It's a non starter and won't happen in the current circumstances.
What goes around comes around? Can remember Milan complaining about being outbid by Bournemouth like clubs
It’s surprising how many think it’s not a worry.
The reason the premier league is so interesting and viewed by millions around the world is due to its competitiveness. Anyone can beat anyone and it happens regularly.
However, if Saudi start sweeping up players from the lower teams (below the top 6), it naturally makes the league less competitive and over time less interesting. The more transfers that happen like Ruben Neves, potentially Zaha and Mitrovic, the less competitive the league becomes. These are key star players for the lower teams.
If Saudi continues to sweep up the talent just below the top, it’s not great for the premier league. Once you have enough quality in their league to make it competitive and interesting, the bigger players will start to follow.
When the likes of City and to some extent Chelsea got the oil money, many said big players wouldn’t go to those clubs. But as we know, eventually money talks in the end with most players.
I love Bruno but if Saudi offered €200m, I think we would have had to sell?
Europe is even more of the center of football today than it was 30 years ago.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 -
Europe is even more of the center of football today than it was 30 years ago.
No.I love Bruno but if Saudi offered €200m, I think we would have had to sell?
What actually matters most here is football, not the world in general.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.
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
Personally I think you couldn't be more wrong.Have the people claiming that Saudi teams will be allowed in UEFA/Champions League actually realised that four teams in the league are owned by PIF?
UEFA would never allow that in their competitions, along with FFP being a huge issue.
It's a non starter and won't happen in the current circumstances.
How is signing prem cast offs lowering the standard?
Sorry to break it to you but Europe IS the cultural bellwether and epicentre of the world.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.
You seem to be agreeing with me?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.
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.
I think you’re in for a huge surprise; relying on legacy and prestige won’t be anywhere near enough to fend this off, if they’re serious.
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.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
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.If you're trying to make sense of this by thinking exclusively about football, you won't.
Come on.
Look at the players there now who could get into a good team.
A Saudi league x1 could probably challenge for top 4. Chinese league never had that.
Basic fallacy. Just because it turned out that way in two other cases doesn't mean this one is the same.