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2016/17 Soccer/Football Thread
- Thread starter Aurious
- Start date
- Status
Maybe some blame should be thrown at all the players who have no ambition and are willing to transfer from League winning/challenging teams, give up international places and trophies to go to mid table English teams or China or to be backup players just so they can bump their salary from 100k a week to 200k a week; how much money do you need.
The problem is that the other league aren't even that "exciting" to watch because there is a sizable gap in quality between Barcelona, Real Madrid and other teams, with Atletico only joining them recently. Add on to the fact that the Premiership has the greatest marketing strategy and is a language commonly understood allows it to become very popular, hence the lucrative TV deals. Furthermore, you have to remember that most footballers simply view it as a job; they have short careers and chasing after the money allows them to set up their family for at least 3 generations.
The only way I can think of is by being better at branding and marketing and try to tap into the Asia market, where the Premiership is already an established brand. While they have young and exciting talent, ultimately talents chase after money or trophies. Let's be honest, this translates to joining Barca or the Madrid clubs. If they're not chased by these clubs, they know they had a chance to secure a big payday (and a chance at silverware) in the Premiership where the clubs are less dominant (for example, Manchester City has a better shot of winning the league than say, Leverkusen who is up against Bayern Munich). For a start, they can stop the preferential treatment given to Barcelona and Real Madrid to even up the playing field a bit (let's be honest, they'll still be miles behind but the TV deal currently makes those two much richer than the rest put together). Then, they have to work on branding and marketing strategies.
The only way I can think of is by being better at branding and marketing and try to tap into the Asia market, where the Premiership is already an established brand. While they have young and exciting talent, ultimately talents chase after money or trophies. Let's be honest, this translates to joining Barca or the Madrid clubs. If they're not chased by these clubs, they know they had a chance to secure a big payday (and a chance at silverware) in the Premiership where the clubs are less dominant (for example, Manchester City has a better shot of winning the league than say, Leverkusen who is up against Bayern Munich). For a start, they can stop the preferential treatment given to Barcelona and Real Madrid to even up the playing field a bit (let's be honest, they'll still be miles behind but the TV deal currently makes those two much richer than the rest put together). Then, they have to work on branding and marketing strategies.
it will, if anything level off the league a bit, dont see how players spreading out around Europe is a bad thing either, Bayern, Juve Barca and Madrids are dominating weaken those and strengthen others it levels the field in both the Champions league AND the Spanish leagues, some leagues are a joke right now and need to be more competitive.
I wonder if the fact that the premier league, barca, and the madrid teams snipe up the la liga clubs talent might make lower la liga team and segunda divisions a more attractive spot for players looking to get a foothold in europe and move up
Rostov is lowkey a team that the seeded UCL playoff teams don't want. Also lol Shakhtar Donetsk, the Euro 2016 failure must still be on their minds or something. Kinda feel bad for Greece though, every year their football just gets worse due to bankruptcy
The only other candidate is The Horny One.
It's fucking dumb
So la liga is going to punish teams for being poor?
Empty portions of the stadium doesn't look nice on TV and they need to maximise their reputation and potential on the market. Teams might have to reduce ticket prices though, what with the economy recession in Spain.
That ensures Mirallas isn't getting a sniff on the national team until he's sacked
Not enough or too much of a sniff...!? :P
Somewhere in Merseyside, Lukaku is crying as he can't run away from Martinez
Everton fans would disagree with you as bar the first season, his Everton side was a laughing stock.
EDIT:
Gareth Bale, Antoine Griezmann and Cristiano Ronaldo are the three nominees for the 2015/16 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award.
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Champion Route
Ludogorets(BUL) vs Plzeň(CZE)
Celtic(SCO) vs H. Beer-Sheva(ISR)
København(DEN) vs APOEL(CYP)
Dundalk(IRL) vs Legia(POL)
Dinamo Zagreb(CRO) vs Salzburg(AUT)
League Route
Steaua(ROU) vs Man. City(ENG)
Porto(POR) vs Roma(ITA)
Ajax(NED) vs Rostov(RUS)
Young Boys(SUI) vs Mönchengladbach(GER)
Villarreal(ESP) vs Monaco(FRA)
Ludogorets(BUL) vs Plzeň(CZE)
Celtic(SCO) vs H. Beer-Sheva(ISR)
København(DEN) vs APOEL(CYP)
Dundalk(IRL) vs Legia(POL)
Dinamo Zagreb(CRO) vs Salzburg(AUT)
League Route
Steaua(ROU) vs Man. City(ENG)
Porto(POR) vs Roma(ITA)
Ajax(NED) vs Rostov(RUS)
Young Boys(SUI) vs Mönchengladbach(GER)
Villarreal(ESP) vs Monaco(FRA)
how can you rank teams who are still in playoff?
however these are my predictions for those
Champions Route
Ludogorets vs Viktoria Plzen - The Czech were more of a team during the qualifying rounds defeating a difficult team like Qarabag and Ludogorets are just inferior and less proven overall at this stage. Can be close however.
Celtic vs Hapoel Beer'Sheva - As much as I can hate on Rodgers and how lucky and mediocre Celtic have been during this CL so far (even losing vs FC Lincoln from Gibraltar!) they probably have the edge but Hapoel has shown to be very solid and it can definitely be an underdog.
Copenhagen vs Apoel Nicosia - Close but i am giving the edge to the Cypriots since they have solid international experience unlike Copenhagen.
Dundalk vs Legia Warsaw - Dundalk has had a surprising run so far beating BATE in an amazing way this week, I agree, but Legia Warsaw has been solid in their league for a while and have better players in general.
RB Salzburg vs Dinamo Zagreb - Dinamo Zagreb put out a lot of talented players over the year and Salzburg traditionally has no supporters and i hate Red Bull and all that so i am rooting for them. Pretty balanced however.
League Route
Steaua vs Manchester City
Porto vs Roma - Even after losing Pjanic Roma is still the more talented team and has an amazing coach this time around. Porto is also less impressive than usual this year.
Ajax vs Rostov - The Russian have been amazing last season and have a well rounded team and a good coach and Ajax just lost Milik but they have more experience in this competition overall. Very balanced and i am pretty excited about this.
BSC Young Boys vs Borussia Monchengladbach - The German have a better team overall and are clearly the favorites for this one but Young Boys has improved in the past few years like all swiss teams so it won't be so easy.
Villarreal vs AS Monaco - Villarreal was impressive last season in EL and became stronger this season with Soriano even if they lost Bailey and Areola. Everything can happen tho since Monaco has still a lot of talented players.
however these are my predictions for those
Champions Route
Ludogorets vs Viktoria Plzen - The Czech were more of a team during the qualifying rounds defeating a difficult team like Qarabag and Ludogorets are just inferior and less proven overall at this stage. Can be close however.
Celtic vs Hapoel Beer'Sheva - As much as I can hate on Rodgers and how lucky and mediocre Celtic have been during this CL so far (even losing vs FC Lincoln from Gibraltar!) they probably have the edge but Hapoel has shown to be very solid and it can definitely be an underdog.
Copenhagen vs Apoel Nicosia - Close but i am giving the edge to the Cypriots since they have solid international experience unlike Copenhagen.
Dundalk vs Legia Warsaw - Dundalk has had a surprising run so far beating BATE in an amazing way this week, I agree, but Legia Warsaw has been solid in their league for a while and have better players in general.
RB Salzburg vs Dinamo Zagreb - Dinamo Zagreb put out a lot of talented players over the year and Salzburg traditionally has no supporters and i hate Red Bull and all that so i am rooting for them. Pretty balanced however.
League Route
Steaua vs Manchester City
Porto vs Roma - Even after losing Pjanic Roma is still the more talented team and has an amazing coach this time around. Porto is also less impressive than usual this year.
Ajax vs Rostov - The Russian have been amazing last season and have a well rounded team and a good coach and Ajax just lost Milik but they have more experience in this competition overall. Very balanced and i am pretty excited about this.
BSC Young Boys vs Borussia Monchengladbach - The German have a better team overall and are clearly the favorites for this one but Young Boys has improved in the past few years like all swiss teams so it won't be so easy.
Villarreal vs AS Monaco - Villarreal was impressive last season in EL and became stronger this season with Soriano even if they lost Bailey and Areola. Everything can happen tho since Monaco has still a lot of talented players.
I don't get CR7 nomination to be honest. He hasnt done an incredible season, wasnt influencial during high matches neither with Real or Portugal (he did a good job vs Hongria putting Portugal back twice). A player like Vardy has done an incredible season with Leicester, even if he didnt bright during Euro he would be a decent pick as UEFA Best Player in Europe Award.
I feel like CR7 nomination is just due to the fact his name is Cristiano Ronaldo and has been an incredibly good player for years. Just like Ballon d'OR, these individual trophies are more and more bullshit imo, it has become a popularity conquest more than a reward to great players.
Porto - Roma and Villarreal - Monaco are interesting, I wonder if Falcao can carry Monaco
But but but he scored 11 goals against the elite teams such as Shaktar and Malmo while also converting the 5th penalty so that he can take off his shirt in celebration.
Also, he imitated a coach and put on the Ferguson act in the Euros tournament. Surely, he is the best player.
destinyunknown
Banned deucer.
This had to happen sooner or later, not because of the Premier League or China/Arab money, but because 95% of Spanish clubs (and that's being generous) have been broke for years, current exceptions are Villarreal and Valencia, and the latter only due to foreign money, Valencia was in a dire situation before. Even Barcelona and Real Madrid have huge debts, but for the most part both national and local entities have been lenient (and in the case of local governments, even investing in teams' debts to avoid their bankrupt/disappearance), and that's why Spanish clubs have kept spending so much money.
However, that wasn't a sustainable situation and clubs improved their scouting and training, so that they could have a better business model, Sevilla being the prime example. This has been happening for a decade (and that's why clubs like Valencia, Deportivo and even Atletico for a while became much weaker), but Barcelona/Madrid seemed unaffected, but both clubs are having many legal issues as a result.
And besides all that, it's important to realize that Real Madrid and Barcelona have such a good team at the moment, and such high wages, that improving the team by signing more players is close to impossible. There's no reason for either team to waste big money on Pogba (or some other big money name), when they already have the best players at that position, or they can just get better value by retaining what they have and getting a future replacement (ie Morata).
For example, to expand on Pogba's case, do you really think Pogba would be an improvement over Kroos, Modric or Casemiro? I don't, and especially not for a 120M fee.
Dunno why Red Bull teams get so much hate, they are flawlessly managed and are usually at the head of training, scouting and technological innovation.
Ticket prices in La Liga are ridiculous, especially considering Spain isn't exactly a rich country atm. They had to reduce the price somehow, sad to see it's being done that way, but it was 100% necessary.
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