The relative strength of the Premier League

[Zehner]

The PL simply was the first league to truly embrace global marketing and it has leveraged that head start quite well.

And part of that is a much fairer distribution than in other countries to keep the league interesting.

I'd say it is also availability. The EPL utilized much better than the Bundesliga which - in typically German fashion - primarily saw the risks of it. Still remember the early 10s when you could barely find a Götze video on YouTube that was online for more than a couple of hours before taken down because of copy right infringements while you could watch seasonal compilations of Brazilian second division players. And it's not as if they just wanted to distribute such footage on their own platforms (which at least wouldn't have been as stupid), they just didn't want it out there at all. Terrible brand marketing, really. They should have been thankful for every piece of user generated content out there that strengthened the brand of Bundesliga players, clubs and therefore the league itself.

Just recently, Bayern and Dortmund officials criticized other teams for not making preseason journeys to other countries as well with respect to the bad foreign commerciale Bundesliga revenues. It's just not in the DNA of most club officials to think that way.

 

[ThierryHenry14]

Only because of the amount of money in the PL. It's not strong because great managers have put together great teams for the most part, it's because teams are spunking record fees left, right, and centre.

Of course. Money talks.

 

[Stacks]

It's hard to compete with City both in the PL and in Europe, but with Brighton, Newcastle and possibly Aston Villa knocking on the door to become regulars in the fight for UEL and UCL spots, leaving clubs like Spurs and Chelsea without European cup play, plus West Ham qualifying for UEL through Conference lague, it's hard to argue against the width and strength of the league. It's never been better compared to the rest of the world.

I disagree. So you are basically saying this because one season Spurs and Chelsea did not make Europe? Spurs have not been in Europe for many years in the past and I have seen them come 13th in my lifetime. Due to tightness they were always likely to drop out. Chelsea will bounce back. I have seen teams like Athletico, Valencia and Villareal miss Europe before so would that make La Liga the best in the world due to its competitiveness? Sevilla just finished 12th and they smashed us on route to winning the Europa. Does that not make La Liga the strongest?

 

[Stacks]

Its steadily heading to what peak serie A was in the mid 80s to mid 90s

Its not. During that period Seria A teams dominated the 3 European trophies. Sevilla still the dons of the Europa League

 

[Lay]

This league is dead.

Where’s the relative strength of the Saudi League thread?

 

[MO_Football92]

Sorry but this is bollocks. There are quotes by Guardiola and his stuff that even Messi had to play in the positions he was played in up until the final third. Henry once reminisced in an interview how Pep signed him off at halftime although he had scored - the reason being that before he scored, he left his position.

I'm sorry you misunderstand football and tactical dynamics. If you watch games from 10-12 years ago, you'd see there's much more spaces with teams reliant on individual quality. This individuality enabled star players, particularly in the 10 position who expressed themselves. The modern game there's much less space; a coaches game model doesn't allow players that license to roam or express nowadays. Most plays are based on tactical automatisms or patterns of play.

 

[FrankFoot]

That alone doesn't explain the difference. The Bundesliga e. g. generates ~€200m annually from foreign TV rights, the EPL ~€2bn. Language barriers are a pretty weak argument in todays world, IMO. I'd say English clubs think bigger in the corporate sense in general than German clubs which tend to be pretty provincial and groudned in their commercial approach.

I'd say England won the race already in global marketing, they were the first european country to enter the asian football market with force in the mid 90s after EPL was established.
Back in the days, Beckham in Asia was more famous than players like Zidane, R9, Roberto Carlos, and Henry. Of all foreigner players, Beckham t-shirts were the most sold in Japan in South Korea during the WC 2002, as he was the poster boy from EPL.

La Liga for a while tried to catch up with the likes of Messi and Ronaldo, but now that they are gone, PL seems uncatchable in the marketing competition, especially in the asian continent.

 

[Infordin]

At this stage the Prem has thoroughly defeated every continental league. The only thing that can stop the Premier League from becoming a de-facto superleague is a foreign power like Saudi Arabia. Continental Europe won’t do anything.

 

[Infordin]

If you cast your mind back to 2015,

- MSN vs BBC was the main discussion of football
- Classicos felt larger than life
- Barca and Madrid dominated in Europe completely
- the best player in England was Hazard
- no English team was relevant in Europe

It’s crazy how badly La Liga mismanaged their advantage.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

Its not. During that period Seria A teams dominated the 3 European trophies. Sevilla still the dons of the Europa League

that time is coming. Its inevitable. West ham bagging the european conference title was the beginng. English sidesndver used to take European competition outside the UCL seriously. The new crop of midtable teams and their managers are changing it.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

If you cast your mind back to 2015,

- MSN vs BBC was the main discussion of football
- Classicos felt larger than life
- Barca and Madrid dominated in Europe completely
- the best player in England was Hazard
- no English team was relevant in Europe

It’s crazy how badly La Liga mismanaged their advantage.

These things have always been cyclical, not sure what your point is.

 

[André Dominguez]

If you cast your mind back to 2015,

- MSN vs BBC was the main discussion of football
- Classicos felt larger than life
- Barca and Madrid dominated in Europe completely
- the best player in England was Hazard
- no English team was relevant in Europe

It’s crazy how badly La Liga mismanaged their advantage.

They still win most of UEFA titles lately, though. Even a club like Sevilla that, as an example, hires players that fail to impress from other top teams (including players that didn't impress at Porto, Sporting and Benfica) manages to build a competitive squad.

 

[Wumminator]

These things have always been cyclical, not sure what your point is.

No longer. The cyclical nature is done with the money in the game. Prem will only get stronger.

 

[Demyanenko_square_jaw]

that time is coming. Its inevitable. West ham bagging the european conference title was the beginng. English sidesndver used to take European competition outside the UCL seriously. The new crop of midtable teams and their managers are changing it.

Don't think they were any different than any other league. Depending on the team and situation that season, you might get a B-team and focus going elsewhere, or you might get strong lineups looking to do well. i've seen plenty of Europa games from English teams that were clearly playing to the best of their ability. Big teams that usually play CL are more likely to not take it serious in the sense of fielding weakened teams, but even then, that usually means players who want to make a statement and break into being first-team regulars.

From the big leagues, i'd even argue it's Italian teams that most often gave performances in the Europa where you can clearly see a lack of effort, to the point it's like they've been instructed to play in 2nd gear and avoid injuries. Even ones that haven't done anything in europe for a long time. It still varies a lot, though.

 

[Stacks]

At this stage the Prem has thoroughly defeated every continental league. The only thing that can stop the Premier League from becoming a de-facto superleague is a foreign power like Saudi Arabia. Continental Europe won’t do anything.

They haven't though. We don't exactly dominate European comp and Real still get the best players. Sevilla beat United easily and Utd were the 3rd best team. Every team bar City is beatable by many in other European leagues imo

 

[Stacks]

that time is coming. Its inevitable. West ham bagging the european conference title was the beginng. English sidesndver used to take European competition outside the UCL seriously. The new crop of midtable teams and their managers are changing it.

They always did. Liverpool and Fulham got to Europa finals in the recent history so that's false. They didn't get there by fluke. English clubs have 9 wins and 8 losses in Europa finals. They been taking it serious.

 

[stefan92]

They always did. Liverpool and Fulham got to Europa finals in the recent history so that's false. They didn't get there by fluke. English clubs have 9 wins and 8 losses in Europa finals. They been taking it serious.

Once you reach a final it doesn't make sense to throw it away. The criticism is that they played and lost in group stages by fielding weak teams, because the EL/ECL just didn't seem interesting enough to really compete.

Of course that doesn't apply to every team every season, but to a lot.

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

If you cast your mind back to 2015,

- MSN vs BBC was the main discussion of football
- Classicos felt larger than life
- Barca and Madrid dominated in Europe completely
- the best player in England was Hazard
- no English team was relevant in Europe

It’s crazy how badly La Liga mismanaged their advantage.

Chelsea alone have spent more money than all of La Liga combined since 2022. Even the big two in Spain can't compete to the same level financially anymore. Back then they were about the same level/richer than the top PL clubs, now they are not so rely more on prestige or 'clever' accounting to keep up. Real Madrid though have won 4 of the last 8 Champions Leagues since then so I doubt they're too unhappy.

 

[Stacks]

Chelsea alone have spent more money than all of La Liga combined since 2022. Even the big two in Spain can't compete to the same level financially anymore. Back then they were about the same level/richer than the top PL clubs, now they are not so rely more on prestige or 'clever' accounting to keep up. Real Madrid though have won 4 of the last 8 Champions Leagues since then so I doubt they're too unhappy.

Real also scoop up the best young players whilst Chelsea drop 80m on average players. Sounds like another club.....

 

[Infordin]

Real also scoop up the best young players whilst Chelsea drop 80m on average players. Sounds like another club.....

Chelsea is one of the worst run clubs I have ever seen in my life. With all the investment they’ve had in the last 20 years, from Abramovich to Boehly, only winning 5 league titles and 2 champions leagues is a mediocre return. That said, it is only a matter of time before every La Liga club is left in the dust with that level of spending. This includes even Madrid.

 

[ThierryHenry14]

Chelsea is one of the worst run clubs I have ever seen in my life. With all the investment they’ve had in the last 20 years, from Abramovich to Boehly, only winning 5 league titles and 2 champions leagues is a mediocre return. That said, it is only a matter of time before every La Liga club is left in the dust with that level of spending. This includes even Madrid.

It really doesn't matter how well or worst Chelsea run as a club. Just like no player care how well the saudi clubs run. It is all about money. Always.

 

[Andy 1892]

Only because of the amount of money in the PL. It's not strong because great managers have put together great teams for the most part, it's because teams are spunking record fees left, right, and centre.

That isn't a new phenomenon. Money has always dictated strength, it's just that the fees are outlandishly high these days. Most teams that have done well in any league over the past 30+ years have done so with hefty financial backing, relative to the market at that time.

 

[Pintu]

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[KeanoMagicHat]

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The funny thing is you can’t say Chelsea would be any worse if they had all those players that couldn’t get in their team. Certainly Giroud would be the consistent forward they’re currently missing and Tomori would easily start in their back 3. Loftus Cheek and Pulisic aren’t world beaters but Pulisic as good as Mudryk at least? Loftus-Cheek and Gallagher probably much of amuchness.

 

[Markolan]

Sorry if I bump the thread but the last 4 european games played finished:

- Legia Warsaw 3 v 2 Aston Villa
- Brighton 2 v 3 AEK
- Manchester United 2 v 3 Galatarasay
- Lens 2 v 1 Arsenal

4 bad losses against, on paper, much weaker sides. Is it the beginning of something worrying? Newcastle and Manchester City tomorrow against two plastic clubs as PSG and RB Leipzig will tell us more, let's see what happerns..

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

Sorry if I bump the thread but the last 4 european games played finished:

- Legia Warsaw 3 v 2 Aston Villa
- Brighton 2 v 3 AEK
- Manchester United 2 v 3 Galatarasay
- Lens 2 v 1 Arsenal

4 bad losses against, on paper, much weaker sides. Is it the beginning of something worrying? Newcastle and Manchester City tomorrow against two plastic clubs as PSG and RB Leipzig will tell us more, let's see what happerns..

But Brentford is a harder game than AC Milan away apparently.

 

[Stacks]

Sorry if I bump the thread but the last 4 european games played finished:

- Legia Warsaw 3 v 2 Aston Villa
- Brighton 2 v 3 AEK
- Manchester United 2 v 3 Galatarasay
- Lens 2 v 1 Arsenal

4 bad losses against, on paper, much weaker sides. Is it the beginning of something worrying? Newcastle and Manchester City tomorrow against two plastic clubs as PSG and RB Leipzig will tell us more, let's see what happerns..

When will you realise? Premier league teams simply pay a premium for ordinary squads. We've conflated expense for quality. The only team in our league who clears anyone is City. I mean Arsenal came 2nd

 

[DJBillRemfry]

Sorry if I bump the thread but the last 4 european games played finished:

- Legia Warsaw 3 v 2 Aston Villa
- Brighton 2 v 3 AEK
- Manchester United 2 v 3 Galatarasay
- Lens 2 v 1 Arsenal

4 bad losses against, on paper, much weaker sides. Is it the beginning of something worrying? Newcastle and Manchester City tomorrow against two plastic clubs as PSG and RB Leipzig will tell us more, let's see what happerns..

West Ham beat the Serbians the night that Villa and Brighton lost and Liverpool won as well.

PL teams won two of the three european competitions last year.

It's more about individual teams not being very good or very savvy. There is an art to playing in Europe.

 

[Born2Lose]

Sorry if I bump the thread but the last 4 european games played finished:

- Legia Warsaw 3 v 2 Aston Villa
- Brighton 2 v 3 AEK
- Manchester United 2 v 3 Galatarasay
- Lens 2 v 1 Arsenal

4 bad losses against, on paper, much weaker sides. Is it the beginning of something worrying? Newcastle and Manchester City tomorrow against two plastic clubs as PSG and RB Leipzig will tell us more, let's see what happerns..

I wonder if there are United fans on AC Milan forums questioning the strength of Serie A. Doubt it.

 

[GinobiliTheGOAT]

I wonder if there are United fans on AC Milan forums questioning the strength of Serie A. Doubt it.

He’s not wrong though, the strength of the PL is overrated

 

[Zehner]

I wonder if there are United fans on AC Milan forums questioning the strength of Serie A. Doubt it.

Probably has to do with how few United fans speak Italian.

 

[adexkola]

The English teams expend so much energy in the PL that they have little left for Europe

 

[Theonas]

When will you realise? Premier league teams simply pay a premium for ordinary squads. We've conflated expense for quality. The only team in our league who clears anyone is City. I mean Arsenal came 2nd

The amount of finalists and winners of the CL over the past 5 years paints a clear picture I’d say. The PL produced 4 different finalists in that period. 2 of them made the final more than once. No other league comes even close to that consistency in the same period.

 

[JogaBonitoRooney]

PL is still the best for now but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a slump in the near future after the PL golet ahead of themselves thinking it's so great and all other leagues are bad.

There was a slump for a good 5 to 6 years from 2012 where English teams weren't great and CL results reflected that. They were good in Europa in that period however.

 

[Pintu]

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[Acrobat7]

The English teams expend so much energy in the PL that they have little left for Europe

I've always loved that explanation and I'm glad it's back. And yes, I know you are not serious.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

Big PL clubs just seem to have bad seasons more often than, say, big La Liga clubs.

 

[Ragnar123]

4 bad losses against, on paper, much weaker sides. Is it the beginning of something worrying? Newcastle and Manchester City tomorrow against two plastic clubs as PSG and RB Leipzig will tell us more, let's see what happerns..

Ironic calling PSG and Lepzig plastic clubs while Newcastle and City are literally oil state sponsored. Both el plasticos today, no matter the result, won't tell us anything because the autumn form means nothing. The spring form is crucial.

 

[JPRouve]

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This post is so braindead. He did all this research to try to shoehorn farmers when he is talking about miners. Lens is/was a mining city.

 

[Stacks]

The amount of finalists and winners of the CL over the past 5 years paints a clear picture I’d say. The PL produced 4 different finalists in that period. 2 of them made the final more than once. No other league comes even close to that consistency in the same period.

and if you go back 8 years we have 3 Spanish finalists and multiple winners. its more neck and neck I'd say plus Spurs and Chelsea were a fluke. not gonna make a final again. Its basically City and Liverpool. the rest of our league aint on much