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EPL on the brink of losing 4th CL spot.


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Imagine saying that on a Monday Night Football show. Astonishing, genuinely astonishing.

It's astonishing people actually think Neville is a good pundit. He's awful, all spin and no substance.

And how many times have we seen the England team fail with players apparently too unfit to carry on playing a few extra games in the summer? Maybe it's a cultural thing.

Explored in Viallis book "The Italian Job" - maybe the English players with their culture of beer and take aways just aren't as fit?

Yeah but when you said eps teams weren't trying were you meaning in Europa or the champions league?

What I was getting at was the poster who said pleasing after last nights results - not sure why people want to see a team less from the premiership when an Italian team will go in there? The Italians (according to viali last night ) play boring football. But that aside they still have the same arrogance that the English posses anyway so I'm not sure what there is to gain seeing an English team less in the champions league !

Where did he say this?

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Just when he was getting interviewed on BT when talking about how the English teams are struggling tactically in Europe and the comparisons to how the Italian teams are doing and he said that the Italians set up to play boring football all the time and that it was effective or words to that effect. I don't think he was joking nor do i think it is boring and can't judge because i don't watch it. My question again was about wanting to see Lazio or Fiorentina in place of Man Utd or Arsenal and what positive effect it would have and if it was a GIRUY to the English press. Wasn't wanting an argument about it or anything, i just prefer watching English teams and think 4 teams is fair in comparison to the competition they are just underperforming just now.

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Just when he was getting interviewed on BT when talking about how the English teams are struggling tactically in Europe and the comparisons to how the Italian teams are doing and he said that the Italians set up to play boring football all the time and that it was effective or words to that effect. I don't think he was joking nor do i think it is boring and can't judge because i don't watch it. My question again was about wanting to see Lazio or Fiorentina in place of Man Utd or Arsenal and what positive effect it would have and if it was a GIRUY to the English press. Wasn't wanting an argument about it or anything, i just prefer watching English teams and think 4 teams is fair in comparison to the competition they are just underperforming just now.

Currently yes, but it won't be fair if they fall below Serie A.

Arsenal are usually the fourth hangers on, and they're pretty hilarious to watch rather than enjoyable.

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Its hilarious alright. There is a definite dip in the performance in the EPL but it will be swings and roundabouts between the countries for years to come. 2008 wasn't that long ago when there was an all English final and 3 out of 4 English teams in the semi final. Wasn't that long ago when Liverpool beat Real Madrid 4-0 either!

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Its hilarious alright. There is a definite dip in the performance in the EPL but it will be swings and roundabouts between the countries for years to come. 2008 wasn't that long ago when there was an all English final and 3 out of 4 English teams in the semi final. Wasn't that long ago when Liverpool beat Real Madrid 4-0 either!

But since then there has been an all Spanish and all German Final.

So I think 7 years is quite a long time really.

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Well the English teams are unrecognisable now compared to then but my point still stands. The league will still attract the top players and managers, as long as the money is there it will continue to prosper.

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Well the English teams are unrecognisable now compared to then but my point still stands. The league will still attract the top players and managers, as long as the money is there it will continue to prosper.

Does it currently attract the top players? Great players, yes, but the very top players play in La Liga and the Bundesliga.

The likes of Ronaldo, Suarez and Bale make the move there, whereas Real and Barca willingly send back players they no longer want.

If Barcelona were desperate to sign Aguero or Hazard do you really think they would stay at their respective clubs?

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I think Real Madrid and Barcelona just have the pull above everyone else, having said that Barcelona's success of late has been overwhelmingly down to home grown talent.

Wouldn't have said Bayern have the stature/pulling power above the EPL clubs although are better just now

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The EPL=money thing can't really be overstated when clubs like Leicester are signing first-teamers from clubs like Inter. It's like the late 80s and early 90s when English players were ending up at clubs like Sampdoria (not even just Juventus and Milan). You have to acknowledge the role TV money is playing in squad-building when that happens. However, Barcelona and Madrid, even allowing for the recent changes to tax law in Spain, are still absolutely the top draw. There's no way the average player would go to City over Barcelona.

I'm not actually sure where Bayern fit into this equation as they don't seem to go for players from England very much.

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The EPL=money thing can't really be overstated when clubs like Leicester are signing first-teamers from clubs like Inter. It's like the late 80s and early 90s when English players were ending up at clubs like Sampdoria (not even just Juventus and Milan). You have to acknowledge the role TV money is playing in squad-building when that happens. However, Barcelona and Madrid, even allowing for the recent changes to tax law in Spain, are still absolutely the top draw. There's no way the average player would go to City over Barcelona.

I'm not actually sure where Bayern fit into this equation as they don't seem to go for players from England very much.

Yeah but if Paul Pogba, say, had the chance of Bayern vs. any English club, I don't think he'd struggle to make that decision.

We're not sure what interest the likes of Videl or Alonso had but I'd be surprised if the top EPL clubs weren't considering it. Similarly, there was absolutely interest from Man Utd in Thiago and other clubs would have surely been looking at a free transfer like Lewandowski or Gotze.

Bayern don't overtly take the best players from the EPL as Real and Barca do but if they're interested in a player, he tends to end up there over somewhere else. On the flip side, do you really think Bayern were hankering for signings like Sterling or Martial? I reckon if they had wanted KDB they would have got him. Impossible to prove of course.

IMO these three clubs stand on their own podium of world football.

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Bayern are easily on the same level as the two Spanish sides, its not really a contest between them and the English sides. Just because they dont chose to spend £90m every Summer on top drawer players doesnt mean they cant compete, id argue they could destroy both Spanish sides in the transfer market if they were so inclined. But theyre not.

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English results this week:

Porto 2-1 Chelsea

Arsenal 2-3 Olympiacos

Man United 2-1 Wolfsburg

B M'Gladbach 1-2 Man City

Liverpool 1-1 Sion

Monaco 1-1 Tottenham

W: 2 D: 2 L: 2

Italian results this week:

BATE 3-2 Roma

Juve 2-0 Sevilla

Belenenses 0-4 Fiorentina

Lazio 3-2 St Etienne

Legia 0-2 Napoli

W: 4 D: 0 L: 1

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