European Super League.

[AgainstAllOdds]

19 minutes ago, sparky88 said:

I can just imagine Joel Glazer saying 'We are going to have to call the whole thing off, Premier League captains think the ESL is a bad idea'. 

If the players went against playing the ESL I feel like someone somewhere would have to take notice.

Isn't the whole premise of this thing that the best players, the best teams, the best stadiums are all there? If the players don't back it and won't play the ESL falls down. 

[jamamafegan]

Pep is the first ‘big six’ manager to nail it in his statement. That’s the type of backbone required right now. This whole thing will fall apart imminently, no doubt.

Was this sarcasm? I’ve just read some of the stuff he’s said and it sounds like he has shat it. Too many managers pussy footing around the issue saying shit like “oh we don’t have enough information.” f**k off, you know as much as everyone else does and it’s enough to tell you that it’s a diabolical idea, so stop pissing around and say how you feel.

[sparky88]

5 minutes ago, AgainstAllOdds said:

If the players went against playing the ESL I feel like someone somewhere would have to take notice.

Isn't the whole premise of this thing that the best players, the best teams, the best stadiums are all there? If the players don't back it and won't play the ESL falls down. 

Give the players more money and they will play in the ESL.  And they shouldn't be blamed for that. 

[GNU_Linux]

Utterly disgusted to see what is happening to the sport of association football that was invented all the way back in 1992.

[Hedgecutter]

6 minutes ago, AgainstAllOdds said:

If the players went against playing the ESL I feel like someone somewhere would have to take notice.

Isn't the whole premise of this thing that the best players, the best teams, the best stadiums are all there? If the players don't back it and won't play the ESL falls down. 

Are Arbroath getting an invite for Gayfield?  Suddenly it becomes clear why Dick Campbell has spoken.

[Sherrif John Bunnell]

Talksport are reporting that Spurs are one of clubs already shiteing it.

[AgainstAllOdds]

Just now, sparky88 said:

Give the players more money and they will play in the ESL.  And they shouldn't be blamed for that. 

I take your point, but these players are multi-millionaires. They will surely have some integrity (at least some of them) and see how bad this is for football.

The ESL not allowing them to play international football is also a breach of contract from the club's side (as per the Athletic article below), so effectively allows the players to walk away should it happen.

Not for a minute saying "I think the players will strike" but you can see the direction it's heading. 

[DiegoDiego]

Without exception the folk I've spoken to in Italy (who all support one of the three clubs in question despite living on the other side of the country) are very pro-ESL. Anecdotal data, but it doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

[The Real Saints]

9 minutes ago, jamamafegan said:

 

Was this sarcasm? I’ve just read some of the stuff he’s said and it sounds like he has shat it. Too many managers pussy footing around the issue saying shit like “oh we don’t have enough information.” f**k off, you know as much as everyone else does and it’s enough to tell you that it’s a diabolical idea, so stop pissing around and say how you feel.

 

I saw Jurgen Klopp as shitting it yesterday, but not Pep today. Seemed quite damning IMO. I interpreted the ‘not enough information’ bit as a challenge to the people in charge, as it was immediately followed by him saying that they need to come out and explain their decisions publicly.

[Dons_1988]

I see also the womens version of this to be set up, assuming it's the same 'founder clubs', would almost be even more of a joke. Clubs like Lyon frozen out whilst clubs like Man United who formed a team 2 years ago would be in it.

[Hedgecutter]

Scottish football  UEFA competitions need a strong Rangers & Celtic:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56815127

Talk about desperate.

[PB1994]

17 minutes ago, Dons_1988 said:

I see also the womens version of this to be set up, assuming it's the same 'founder clubs', would almost be even more of a joke. Clubs like Lyon frozen out whilst clubs like Man United who formed a team 2 years ago would be in it.

Liverpool woman also currently playing in the second tier while Lyon, like you mentioned, have won the champions league for the last 5 years or something daft like that are not included.

[ahemps]

5 minutes ago, Baptiste Bourgeois said:

Not necessarily true. What level of prestige does the Chinese league have? Absolutely f**k all despite having had tonnes of great players in it. It's seen throughout the world as a joke retirement league. 

Is the Chinese League more prestigious than the Eredivsie given the higher number of top, internationaly recognised players? Never in a million years. 

The Chinese league has 1 or 2 high paid foreigners then a bunch of players nobody has heard of.

The ESL teams would literally be a full squad of the current best players in the world.

[Detournement]

1 hour ago, Ross. said:

I reckon PSG will go for it after the World Cup. The owners won't be wanting to f**k about with FIFA right now. The Germans I don't see going near it. The football culture there is still hugely fan orientated and the clubs mostly seem to follow a more community minded ethos in terms of approach, investment and development. RB Leipzig are the only ones I would imagine may change their minds, though it would be easy enough for Red Bull to suggest one of their other teams for a position in that league and focus more resources away from Germany if it came to it. I doubt many Austrians would miss Salzburg nowadays, or, more likely, they could get New York on board to really try and tap into the US market.

I agree about Germany. Bayern Munich would be shunned like lepers in German society if they joined up to this. 

 

 

[DiegoDiego]

Not necessarily true. What level of prestige does the Chinese league have? Absolutely f**k all despite having had tonnes of great players in it. It's seen throughout the world as a joke retirement league. 
Is the Chinese League more prestigious than the Eredivsie given the higher number of top, internationaly recognised players? Never in a million years. 

A terrible analogy. Especially as their league's top scorer recently moved to the Eredivisie.

Not a single player of their champion club has played at a World Cup. Their biggest name is Eder. Their most successful team doesn't have a minute of international football outwith China.

[Lofarl]

I hope to f**k that every team that signed up to this has to play it.  I’m praying there’s an iron clad utterly legal unbreakable commitment that regardless of external pressures or sanctions, they have to play it.  Even if it’s just for one season.  The hilarity of knowing once it’s over teams like Tottenham will have to start in the 8th tier of English football because they got booted out would surpass Rangers 2012.

[craigkillie]

46 minutes ago, sparky88 said:

Give the players more money and they will play in the ESL.  And they shouldn't be blamed for that. 

Part of the motivation behind the ESL is to create salary caps and avoid having to pay the players so much - the owners want to keep it for themselves, not pay the folk who actually make them the money.

[sparky88]

Just now, craigkillie said:

Part of the motivation behind the ESL is to create salary caps and avoid having to pay the players so much - the owners want to keep it for themselves, not pay the folk who actually make them the money.

Probably, but they will still need to pay them more than they are currently. Otherwise, what would the incentive be? 

[Richey Edwards]

Football has been dead to me since the late noughties. Yes, I know that I support Ayr United and Scotland. However, my interest in football outside of the admittedly very limited sphere of these two football teams is pretty much non-existent. I don't think I have watched more than ten non-Ayr United matches in any year that hasn't had a World Cup since. I have absolutely zero interest in the English Premiership, the Champions League or any league for that matter.

Do you know what has killed football as a genuine sport? Money.

Despite the old saying that "football is a business", it most definitely is not. It is a sport. Football is a sport that belongs to everybody. The clubs belong to the fans and the communities that they represent. They do not belong to these arsehole billionaires - who only care about money.

The plans for a European Super League are the final nail in the coffin. This is what happens when you let money take precedence over the actual sport of football.

The "top leagues" in the world are not what they once were. They are now a Disney-like caricature of football - and have been for some time.

I am aware that I am posting this on a football forum, so you might question what I'm even doing here if I'm not all that interested in football. To be honest, I love Pie and Bovril and always have.

Edited April 20, 2021 by Richey Edwards

[ahemps]

3 minutes ago, Baptiste Bourgeois said:

Way to miss the point.  

Do you not realise that already exists in the Champions League? Whatever prestige you're imagining this new league will have, it will be by default far less than the UCL, because history and tradition plays a huge part in that. Having top players is only one part of it. 

Hence China being a joke league. 

Maybe I'm not understanding your point.

A competition with the best players in the world will soon hold some prestige no matter how much people hope it doesn't. I am not a supporter of this but I think it would be wrong to say it wouldn't hold some prestige at all.