The relative strength of the Premier League

My premise, which I will eventually get to, is the fact that

a) The Premier League has more teams
b) The Premier League has better teams
c) The premier league plays more matches

means that we suffer in Europe, as in England the Premier League is a bigger financial reward.
So what's the craic Twiggy? It's been 18 months now, when are you getting to it?
 
Certainly has been a huge improvement following incredible investment.

Won’t matter a shite unless pl clubs start winning the thing though.

I think if we have more than one club making a deep run (to the semis), that would be proof enough for me. From 07-09, there were always 3 English clubs in the semis, and that was IMO the PL dominating Europe (even though only 1 title was English).
 
I think if we have more than one club making a deep run (to the semis), that would be proof enough for me. From 07-09, there were always 3 English clubs in the semis, and that was IMO the PL dominating Europe (even though only 1 title was English).
Nah

It’s all done to winners at the end of the day for me. The pl was only ever bery briefly the number one league in Europe in the cl/pl era

It looks like it is a possibility again now and I hope to feck unless it’s utd it doesn’t happen.
 
I think we are one team people have underestimated. Compare us to two seasons ago. We then got knocked out from an even easier group than the one we got this season arguably.

Now we got maximum points so far. Mourinhos football might not be pretty all the time, but we have stepped up many levels since we had LVG. Sadly since City under Guardiola have developed even faster it is easy to miss it.
 
I think it's too early to claim the top of the Premier League is relatively strong again. It's the group stages, very different from the knockout stages where quality really shines through and the top teams are fully focussed. The only achievements of note are Spurs tonight but that is against a Real which is horribly out of form, and Chelsea against Athletico, who couldn't beat Qarabag at the moment.
 
I think it's too early to claim the top of the Premier League is relatively strong again. It's the group stages, very different from the knockout stages where quality really shines through and the top teams are fully focussed. The only achievements of note are Spurs tonight but that is against a Real which is horribly out of form, and Chelsea against Athletico, who couldn't beat Qarabag at the moment.
Teams look significantly better than they have been since 2009 or so. Obviously it is too early, and the clubs have everything to prove, but I hardly believe this is a false down. To be fair, I had City as favorite to win UCL this season from the beginning, we look to have a quite strong defense and can win matches without even trying to play well, Spurs when in form can beat any team in the world, Chelsea are a bit like us (not playing well but being able to get results) and Liverpool have the ability to raise their games.

I think that either Paris or an EPL team will win UCL.
 
Now we got maximum points so far. Mourinhos football might not be pretty all the time, but we have stepped up many levels since we had LVG. Sadly since City under Guardiola have developed even faster it is easy to miss it.

Honestly, not sure City have developed any faster than us, they just had a head start. It was always going to be difficult to catch them so quickly when they had a better base to work with, and are one of only a few teams that can seriously outspend us if they want to.
 
Would Dortmund, Atletico, Real, Bayern and Barce still win the premier league at a canter?
I think you're really struggling to WUM efficiently here. You know if I answer "no" it supports my argument?

I think the biggest mistake you made is using this 18 month old thread, having read back, you were constantly proven wrong in it and made to look the fool. Best thing for your A-class Wummery would've been a brand new thread mate, but look, even the best of us get it wrong sometimes.
 
The top 3 is the strongest it's been since 2009. Behind them there's 3 more teams who can be great, too. Behind those, the level is pretty much the same as in Spain, maybe slightly higher. Higher than Germany and Italy for sure. This season, it looks like the premier league might be the strongest league in the world
 
English teams have finally improved in Europe to an extent where I will happily admit that they PL has the strongest representation this year. Still early doors but 5 teams making it through in CL (basically nailed already) is a great achievement.
 
I think that either Paris or an EPL team will win UCL.

At this moment in time, I'd agree with that.
Historically, you would always dread playing Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern, but they are very much beatable this season.
 
What about United?
I just don't rate your attack particularly highly. A surprising number of the Cl knockout rounds have been high scoring events in recent years, it's only Atletico who have been able to defend their way through the tournament. I don't think you'll have great success if that's your approach.
 
the current EPL teams are very strong , In UCL at least 4 out of 5 are on verge to qualify their respective group . i don't think any team out there would like to be drawn against EPL side ,they will have a hard time to get past any of it
 
Bundesliga and La Liga have declined after a long dominant period. PL is now about to take over.

It's always went in waves. In the 90s it was Italy.
 
Bundesliga and La Liga have declined after a long dominant period. PL is now about to take over.

It's always went in waves. In the 90s it was Italy.

While I agree about the wavy nature of league's dominance, La Liga isn't clearly giving up its place, Barcelona basically lost two key players in Dembélé and Neymar but the former will be back soon enough, I know that he is still a prospect but they are better with his potential addition than without. And Real Madrid could easily fix their small problems this summer or simply do what they did under Ancelotti and retrieve their mojo for the second part of the season.

To me, it seems that a lot of conclusions are drawn very soon into the season, even though PL teams are clearly improving.
 
It's strange, but I am sure that I haven't heard any managers complaining about the number of games the PL have and how the PL doesn't help them set up for CL games. Can't think why that is!!! But then I guess we've always got Wenger to rectify that (and maybe Unsworth as well).
 
I think you're really struggling to WUM efficiently here. You know if I answer "no" it supports my argument?

I think the biggest mistake you made is using this 18 month old thread, having read back, you were constantly proven wrong in it and made to look the fool. Best thing for your A-class Wummery would've been a brand new thread mate, but look, even the best of us get it wrong sometimes.

It’s interesting how this was bumped last season multiple times to laugh at me...... but obviously the clubs have just turned around completely over summer.
 
It’s interesting how this was bumped last season multiple times to laugh at me...... but obviously the clubs have just turned around completely over summer.
But what are you even trying to get at here?

Your original argument when PL clubs were doing shit in Europe was that it was cause the PL was harder, had more games etc.

Now they're doing well in Europe, your argument is what exactly? it's like you're arguing against them having gotten better since you made this thread, because you already said they were great and only suffering in Europe cause of the PL, so why then, are they now doing well in Europe? You seem to be against the idea that it's because they improved this season and the European big-guns weakened. What the feck other reason could there be?

you've run yourself into a corner with your wum's, exhausted all options and are now just trying to squirm your way out with a "told you so" that makes absolutely zero sense.
 
It’s interesting how this was bumped last season multiple times to laugh at me...... but obviously the clubs have just turned around completely over summer.

United and City got much better, and Spurs got much better in Europe. On the other hand Barcelona, Real and Bayern have all got weaker, hence the gap closed.

Still, Liverpool and Chelsea performances in Europe this season have been average at best as well. Chelsea just lost 3-0 to Roma.

Why do you suddenly take interest in European performances? I thought they did not count at all?
 
But what are you even trying to get at here?

Your original argument when PL clubs were doing shit in Europe was that it was cause the PL was harder, had more games etc.

Now they're doing well in Europe, your argument is what exactly? it's like you're arguing against them having gotten better since you made this thread, because you already said they were great and only suffering in Europe cause of the PL, so why then, are they now doing well in Europe? You seem to be against the idea that it's because they improved this season and the European big-guns weakened. What the feck other reason could there be?

you've run yourself into a corner with your wum's, exhausted all options and are now just trying to squirm your way out with a "told you so" that makes absolutely zero sense.

Well European games count now, obviously. They didn't back in the day when English clubs were not winning, but they do count now.

And Real did not lose last night because of the hard La Liga game they played on Sunday against Girona. Of course that argument cannot possibly work with another league. It only worked when Arsenal were getting hammered by Bayern after a tough home game against Hull.
 
Also, back in the day the argument was competitiveness. Looking at current standings, I don't think Premier League is going to be very competitive this year. Third placed team is already 8 points behind City. Same with La Liga (actually the tables look awfully similar).

Serie A, on the other hand...3 points between Napoli in 1st and Lazio in 4th.
 
Well the fixture argument doesn't really apply until the new year imo, its a bit soon to be throwing that out the window.
 
The relative strength of the Premier League.

... appears to have skyrocketed from last season to this one.
 
Yeah it seems some people think that everything just changed over the course of three months.

feck knows why people can’t admit they were wrong.

Feck me this is new level of wumming. :lol:

Why does CL suddenly matter to you, seriously? I thought it was completely irrelevant so why the hell are you using it (and group stages above all) to back up your argument?

Oh, and why did it matter for La Liga's strength that Barca and Real were steamrolling teams, but it doesn't matter now that City are killing teams while Spanish top teams are struggling? Does it not make PL less competitive?

You're such a hypocrite.
 
Yes it has.

Since 2015/16:

Spurs have gelled, in particular their defence and attack, and have added numbers to their midfield. They have improved under Poch every season and are quite good now.

Chelsea have been oscillating, but they showed a definite improvement after the Jose/Hiddink season. They added Kante, Hazard/Costa stopped sulking, and the switch to a 3-4-3 took them to a title. Now they've lost Matic and Kante and seem to have gone down a few levels.

We have added Lukaku, Zlatan, Pogba, Bailly, Matic and Mkhi and have gelled very well defensively under Jose.

City have added Ederson, Stones, Danilo, Walker, Mendy, Gundogan, Sane, Bernardo Silva, and Jesus, and have a very exciting attack under Pep.

Real have their star player, one of the historical top 10 players, 1.5 years older and in the middle of a decline, a series of injuries to Bale, Benzema has dropped off form for about a year now, they've lost Pepe, IMO their best natural defender, they've sold James Rodriguez and finally Morata.

Barca's star, probably the best player ever, has also aged a bit, their main striker has aged a lot more and has been mostly off form, and they've lost the most expensive player in history, a future BPITW (Neymar). Iniesta (and notice the theme!) has aged, Dani Alves left, and Busuqets no longer looks as good without their old playing style.

Bayern is almost uniformly about ageing - Ribery, Robben, and Lahm were three of their best players.

Juve have lost their midfield star and their central defender (Bonucci), the rest of that 3-man CB combination is declining rapidly too (Chiellini and Barzagli), and Buffon is about 40 now.

I understand what you are getting at, but this is quite biased if you list Bailly and Mkhi as important additions while ignoring better signings for other teams.

Tottenham finally look impressive in Europe but the same goes for Roma, who looked as impressive vs Chelsea (x2) as Spurs did vs Real (x2).

The development of the likes of Isco and Asensio is clearly more valuable than losing James, for instance. Remains to be seen if Ronaldo just has a form dip or if it's a permament decline.

I agree that City has made some superb (and ridiculously expensive) signings. Same goes for PSG.

That same James has strengthened Bayern, together with the likes of Hummels, Tolisso, Süle etc. With a change in leadership they will bounce back.

Barca still has one of the best attacks in the world and Messi is barely showing any signs of aging. Their defence also looks very good on paper now with the additions Semedo and Umtiti.

Juventus replaced Pogba with Pjanic and Higuain and reached a new CL final, and now also added Douglas Costa, Bernardeschi and Matuidi. Bonucci has been replaced by Höwedes and Juve have rarely used 3-man CB combination the past two years.
 
Apart from City none of the PL teams stand a chance against Psg. I think they succesfully bought the cup in one transfer window.
 
Yeah it seems some people think that everything just changed over the course of three months.

feck knows why people can’t admit they were wrong.

That's a great question. Since the PL clubs are doing well, does that mean that the PL regressed to the point that english clubs can know compete in Europe and in the league? Or that the other leagues improved to the point that they struggle to be competitive in more than one competition?
 
I just don't rate your attack particularly highly. A surprising number of the Cl knockout rounds have been high scoring events in recent years, it's only Atletico who have been able to defend their way through the tournament. I don't think you'll have great success if that's your approach.
We have scored more than Spurs in the EPL and the same amount in the CL. they are Kane United.
 
Apart from City none of the PL teams stand a chance against Psg. I think they succesfully bought the cup in one transfer window.

That game would just be who can score the most while I do agree they're the two favourites at the moment.
 
While I agree about the wavy nature of league's dominance, La Liga isn't clearly giving up its place, Barcelona basically lost two key players in Dembélé and Neymar but the former will be back soon enough,

Easier said than done replacing these players though, neither Madrid or Barcelona will be hand picking the best talent from the Premier League anymore anyway, Premier League clubs are too financially powerful now and can easy say 'no' to these £100m bids, Liverpool in the summer showed Barcelona that, Southampton (average Premier League) even showed Liverpool in their pursuit of Van Dijk.

Read (or watch) this article when you have chance.

http://www.skysports.com/football/n...yers-in-world-football-says-christian-purslow
 
Easier said than done replacing these players though, neither Madrid or Barcelona will be hand picking the best talent from the Premier League anymore anyway, Premier League clubs are too financially powerful now and can easy say 'no' to these £100m bids, Liverpool in the summer showed Barcelona that, Southampton (average Premier League) even showed Liverpool in their pursuit of Van Dijk.

Read (or watch) this article when you have chance.

http://www.skysports.com/football/n...yers-in-world-football-says-christian-purslow

They don't need to handpick players from the PL and the PL doesn't really produce players anyway, so the point is moot. Real Madrid for example don't need a lot, they already have plenty of young and extremely talented players, a couple of addition should be enough.
 
Big money, better managers, international ecosystem = results improving on the pitch... you don't say? ;)