T1B

seriously, going into each season, there are only 4-5 realistic teams who can get into the top 4 in both leagues.

Seria:

Inter
Roma
Juve
milan sure, on the rare occasion,(dropped to serieb) a team might sneak in, but these teams are virtually a lock every season. it is boring, the only suspense, is who will win it out of top 4

EPL:

Manure
Arsenal
Liverpool
Chelsea It would take a severe injury bug to stop these 4 from making it every season to CL spots. pretty weak. For a league that used to see a win by a leeds, blackburn, etc, now its the top 4 and who gives a shit. leads to a ton of meaningless games. Think about it, last season there was no big games(minus chelsea and Manure) for Cl or eufa cup spots, it was all about the relegation battle. As with Milan and Inter, the top 2 in EPL are about who can spend the most, and Chelsea being the biggest spender.

Arsenal do it the right way, build from your youth, but even they cant keep their best players for payday glory. They are punished for doing it the right way!

Fuck Arsenal. They have to pull from everyone else because their youth academy sucks compared to the other 3. No one wants to play for Arsenal and get 4th place.

No, for a number of reasons.

First is that it is the draws that aren't supposed to happen or even the losses from those other 16 teams that decide the season. Ties to Blackburn, Everton, Aston Villa (4-4 at that), Wigan, and Bolton all at home, cost Chelsea the EPL title this season. Much like baseball it is about endurance against a range of styles and game plans.

Second you'd be killing some great story lines on a season. Man City's start to the season; I bet you not even a million people in America could have told you that the team that had England a buzz at the start of last season was in Manchester but it wasn't United. Mid-season shockers such as Fullham being in the top 8 before falling back to where they barely avoided relegation.

What about clubs like Sunderland as well? They were a nothing club a decade ago and not not only did they brake in to the EPL but they kept from getting relegated in their first season. Rack them!

Getting kicked down from the premiership is a rotton feeling, so in the aid of polishing a turd - the second flight is every bit as exciting and a lot more pleasurable to follow with the added bonus of not having to watch the same old shit, same results, week after week. If you can avoid the inevitable administation battles that hang around, you'll be fine.
Fuck the premiership, it's like watching coke battle pepsi week in, week out.

I'm not sure there's anything that can be done about it. Man Utd peaked just as the major television contracts were signed and Leeds missed it by a hair - might well have had Leeds solidified as an international brand instead of financial meltdown. Chelsea only managed to break in with laundered money.
There was talk of a super league a few years ago but it came to nothing, if the top four left, they'd just be re-placed by someone else.
I know in Scotland two years ago, all the top flight clubs bonded together and said they were actually pulling out of the league to try and force the issue with Rangers and Celtic, but that came to nothing aswell.

Just part of the new world of sport.

The top division in England has never been so dreary. The days when a club like Nottingham Forest could come up from Division Two and cause ruckus (never mind win the thing) are long over.

Seriously, I wish some Americans could come over here and take the Premier League over and make it competitive again.

Adelpiero wrote:Arsenal do it the right way, build from your youth, but even they cant keep their best players for payday glory. They are punished for doing it the right way!

their youth? have you seen their roster? there are 4 players from england total, and 2 don't even have numbers listed! arsenal are listed as the team with the MOST foreign players when it comes to the UCL teams...

btw, united have 13 from england, 1 from wales, 2 from ireland, 1 from scotland, and 1 from northern ireland...
so 18 of their 33 rostered players come from the UK

Mac22 wrote:

Adelpiero wrote:Arsenal do it the right way, build from your youth, but even they cant keep their best players for payday glory. They are punished for doing it the right way!

their youth? have you seen their roster? there are 4 players from england total, and 2 don't even have numbers listed! arsenal are listed as the team with the MOST foreign players when it comes to the UCL teams...

btw, united have 13 from england, 1 from wales, 2 from ireland, 1 from scotland, and 1 from northern ireland...
so 18 of their 33 rostered players come from the UK

yes, youth they buy 15,16 year olds, and develop them as footy players. that is building with youth.


there isn't enough good British players to build with.

that's buying with youth... there isn't much building of the youth when they will be on the first team in a year or two.

either way, it's the same principle, different time frame. you're still buying players from other places, just doing it earlier. United, Chelsea, and Liverpool, plus the continental teams just let the smaller teams do it for them. which enhances their play, imo. you allow them action against more mature professionals as opposed to other kids.

united tried the old way, and it got them second place.

Nishlord wrote:The top division in England has never been so dreary. The days when a club like Nottingham Forest could come up from Division Two and cause ruckus (never mind win the thing) are long over.

Seriously, I wish some Americans could come over here and take the Premier League over and make it competitive again.

I'd rather they make our soccer better personally...

Sounds like Arsenal may be in a little finanical trouble. I guess your theory about them buying talent is going by the wayside....like their title hopes.....

there are potential buyers as we speak for Arsenal, with big kitties. Once that Stadium is paid for, Arsenal will have a windfall of cash for years and years. Unlike over here, they paid for their own stadium, that is a huge out of pocket cost.


Wenger has been his own enemy, he refused to spend on proven talent, he would rather spend 1mil on a 15 year old or sign a bunch of 14 year old french(errr africans) kids.