ARSENAL PART OF DISGRACEFUL REBEL GANG THAT WANT SUPER LEAGUE

by .

Well, there’s quite a lot to unpack today.

The football, at this point, is about one thing and one thing only… winning the Europa League.

The second part of the football equation is keeping our stars fit. We didn’t manage that against Fulham. Alex Lacazette pulling up with a bad hamstring injury which could be the last of him this season, maybe even forever depending on how the summer goes.

The game overall was a bit of the nothing event.

We dominated Fulham, had 18 shots, hit the woodwork, had a good goal chalked off for a VAR minor infringement, then conceded a stupid penalty.

To the credit of the team, they did keep going until the end. Mat Ryan making himself available for a corner, nodding it to the back post where a cross was tapped in by Eddie.

The team celebrated like they’d won a world cup instead of focusing and chasing down the last minute, but there we go. There’s still a lot of education to go at Arsenal FC.

You could complain about the line-up having too many first-teamers… but when we rest players and lose, it affects our momentum.

You could complain about Balogun not making the bench, but Eddie did and he scored.

You could complain about a lot of things, but in the grand scheme of this season, the only thing that matters now is making the Champions League via the back door.

I didn’t think the performance was as bad as some made out. We created enough big chances to win that game and we weren’t treated well by VAR. The main concern defensively was Gabriel with another reckless mistake at the back. He’s young though and that’s part of the bargain with defenders of that age. I hate that he has to come out and defend himself from social media idiots. The internet really is an embarrassing place these days.

Saka, Gabriel and ESR didn’t have their best game, but man, when those three click, it’s going to be special.

The main concern going into the Everton game is who picks up that role Lacazette has been doing so well?

I think we’re dreaming if we think Auba is going to recover from malaria in a week. It’s a serious, serious disease. I think it’s going to take a while to go from hospital bed to Premier League fitness.

That gives us a conundrum in attack. Eddie is going to be off this summer, do we put our season on his shoulders? I’m not so sure the quality is there for him to do the things we need him to do.

Flo Balogun has signed his deal, he’s exciting, but it might be a bit wild to start him in a European semi-final we have to win. Crazier things have happened in the past, but that might be a stretch.

Martinelli seems the obvious choice as a striker, but he’s not a connector of players like Lacazette is. He’s more in the mould of Jesus at City. He can lead a press, he can go over the top, and he’ll work like a dog.

There are also other options in the false 9 role. Nico Pepe could be an interesting option, though I worry that he’s quite sloppy compared to Lacazette. Alternatively, the return of Odegaard might alleviate the need for Lacazette to play that role.

I just really, really, really hope it’s not an emergency call for Willian.

The other point I’d make about the Fulham game… Mo Elneny just ain’t it. He can do a lot of the basics well. He moves the ball fast, he covers a lot of ground, but the biggest miss yesterday was Partey’s quick thinking and fast actions. Mo doesn’t like to go vertical, he’s extremely low risk, and his crab football totally clogs up our game. We really need to take a chance on a youngster for the rest of the season, even if it’s worse, at least we’ll be investing in an idea we’ve not seen tank numerous times.

Onto the biggest story of yesterday: Arsenal is part of a rebel set of clubs that are pushing to set up a super league. Vinai was due to meet with fans on Sunday, but after the uproar, he cancelled. Shocker.

Here’s the basics.

  • 20 participating clubs with 15 Founding Clubs and a qualifying mechanism for a further five teams to qualify annually based on achievements in the prior season.
  • Midweek fixtures with all participating clubs continuing to compete in their respective national leagues, preserving the traditional domestic match calendar which remains at the heart of the club game.
  • An August start with clubs participating in two groups of ten, playing home and away fixtures, with the top three in each group automatically qualifying for the quarter-finals. Teams finishing fourth and fifth will then compete in a two-legged play-off for the remaining quarter-final positions. A two-leg knockout format will be used to reach the final at the end of May, which will be staged as a single fixture at a neutral venue.

It’s a £340m signing on fee. There’s no relegation. No promotion. It’s an enclosed league of ‘big name’ clubs that think they are better than everyone else. The absolute cheek that they’ll let 5 other clubs cycle in based on achievements… we’re currently 9th in the Premier League!

This is a football coup.

This is the billionaire class taking a lead in destroying football culture to entrench their wealth.

It’s anti-sport.

No one wants it.

It is an outrageous heist none of the owners will speak publicly about.

It is an international disgrace.

A few have said that the modern fan likes the big games and this might be targetted at them. I absolutely cannot have that. The narrative cannot be allowed to shift to ‘this is a visionary marketing step for a game that needs change.’

No, no, no, no. Football is fine. In fact, it’s more than fine. It would be in stunning health if not for the pandemic. Fans are getting what they want and they show it because they keep paying for it. Sky know what fans want, which is why they keep buying the rights. Amazon is sniffing around, because they know it’ll help them sell Prime bundles. There hasn’t been a conversation amongst fans about the need for a Super League.

This is not a painful idea to save a game in decline. Football is not baseball or golf. The model we have now is the hottest commodity in sport. It doesn’t need an innovation to keep the dollars rolling in.

… and if there was an innovation then SURELY that innovation is not creating a less competitive league for a select few elite names.

What makes Champions League football incredible is that everyone can win it until they can’t. A Super League will not be that. 2 or 3 teams will compete, then what of the rest? Fans like winners. A bottom of the table Super League clash will not be a spectacle. Just like it’s not a spectacle in the NFL when a once-great team that’s gone to shite falls off the wagon.

Who wants to see a shite Arsenal get walloped by Madrid? Why do Spurs, a team synonymous with losing, deserve to be in this coterie of clubs? How are Liverpool selling this vision to Klopp?

This is the billionaire class trying to impose themselves on the people’s game, again. We’ve already had to deal with expensive TV subscriptions, aggressive price hikes, attacks on the kick-offs… but the game was still the same.  Moving to this model is an attack on our football culture. Keir Starmer, the Sports Minister, and Boris have all piped up about this. Fans need an intervention at the highest level. It should not be allowed to happen. It is an international disgrace.

I am absolutely ashamed my club is part of this. Not surprised though. Stan hasn’t been able to crack the football code organically after trying 50 bang average short cuts, so now he’s attempting the ultimate short cut… start a closed competition. It is absolutely shocking.

It also shows where we are on ‘values’ and ‘class.’ Just talking points. Very sad.

Let’s see how this farce plays out.

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LoveSausage

Karsa,

I disagree. As much as I hate those corrupt bastards in EUFA and FIFA, they’ve done a lot to make sure that grassroots communities across the world are funded and encouraged. The fact that they’ve been skimming off the top doesn’t change that.

Leedsgunner

If this goes ahead, I’m done.

I cannot in good conscience support a team who has gone so far from its roots.

I’m not abandoning Arsenal.

It looks like Arsenal has abandoned me and millions of fans like me.

I’m not looking forward to telling this to my boy tonight.

Respect to Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund who said “NEIN” to this foolhardy idea.

They care about their fans!

Elmo

Leeds “I note that AC Milan is a part of this too. Not surprised. This has all the hallmarks of Gazidas all over it.” Milan are owned by a US vulture fund, Elliott Associates, who took possession of the club when the previous Chinese owner who they lent to at extortionate rates defaulted on his debts and disappeared. They focus on cornering financially distressed companies, extracting all the value, then selling on an asset-stripped shell that fails a few years later. So it’s no surprise that they are all over this. Elliott literally would be happy to destroy all of… Read more »

AFC Forever

Leeds You are right, financially we aren’t in the same league as other clubs. That is the reality of the situation and why expectation has to sometimes be tempered, as frustrating as it is. Look at Bayern, 75% owned by FC Bayern with the remaining 25% owned by Adidas, Audi & Allianz – which is why they win the Bundesliga every season and when they don’t, they just buy Dortmund’s best players! PSG and Man City are the only two clubs that are solely state-owned, Qatar & Abu Dhabi, you simply cannot compete financially with clubs like these, Kroenke is… Read more »

Karsa

Love Sausage

They do have some benefits but the FL rearranging of fixtures to suit tv without thought for the fans, and the expansion of the CL are purely money making moves.

WinOrDie

Agree with you wiglaf on power grab

Rambo

Can always count on Leedsgunner to be over dramatic. What have Arsenal done to let you done? They have somehow managed to find a spot amongst Euro elites even though they’re shit.

azed

Stan Kroenke already salivating at the prospect of tanking forever while still making money.

AFC Forever

Leeds PSG are on the board at UEFA so they can’t say anything about the ESL! Bayern, well perhaps they want to continue winning the Bundesliga every season, I’m not sure they are any role model with the absolute dominance they have in Germany – I suspect non-Bayern fans would be happy to see them go so they can have a proper league for a change. It’s all posturing, no coincidence it comes after we find out Barca & Real are knee-deep in debt with the pandemic affecting every club’s finances, well most clubs. This is only about one thing… Read more »

Kegunner

In pure entertainment terms current football model is similar to forcing blockbuster movies to share sales with indie movies as they share same theaters and they need to improve indie movie quality. The model was going to break. Big clubs haven’t got greedy they have just asked for wages for the work they do. Smaller clubs force bigger clubs to but their players at inflated costs due to nationality caps. Smaller clubs also invest less and benefit more out of league competition. The inconsistency makes owning any big club a liability and that is why so many of them are… Read more »

Cheney10

AFC ‘happy to see them go so they can have a proper league for a change.’ There is nothing in the proposals that suggest the teams will leave their domestic leagues. The ESL is an attempt by clubs to cut the middle man out (UEFA) and negotiate their own deal with TV, sponsors etc. The ESL is an attempt to change the face of European football competition not domestic football. The ESL needs to look at the closed shop aspect of the competition ie it needs a clear promotion relegation process and the chance for more to join; however, we… Read more »

Press Box Gooner

If ever evidence was needed that Kroenke is not a ‘fit and proper person’ to own our club, then this decision ticks every available box. As a point of interest, a former member of the club’s commercial department who was one of the 55 made redundant recently is now a work colleague. A Gooner, long-time season ticket holder and employee from the Highbury days onwards, he says the organisation is more like a bank than a football club. Pretty much describes the whole shameful money-grabbing scenario that knows the price of everything and value of nothing. Think whoever paid for… Read more »

Sid

The English ruling class believes everything is for sale, including their ports,
The English working class cluelessly cheer them on with distractions like Brexit, now their bread and circus is being sold too

Let that sink in

Guns of Hackney

Anyone else find it ironic that Arsenal are in, or being linked to a European Super League?

The ‘big six’? Arsenal will be around 10th again and out of Europe again for the 5th year running.

Bolton Wanderers have as much right to a European super league place as we do.

Anyway, meh. Imagine watching us getting trounced every week by a proper club?

Sid

The pandemic has seen the biggest transfer of wealth from the serfs to the ruling classes,
The serfs are still clueless thinking immigrants and BAME are the problem

The backpass

“RamboApril 19, 2021 13:08:25
Can always count on Leedsgunner to be over dramatic. What have Arsenal done to let you done? They have somehow managed to find a spot amongst Euro elites even though they’re shit.”

LOL

Emiratesstroller

AFC There is a lot of moral hypocrisy posted on Le Grove. 1. How many posters complain on a regular basis that Kronke does not spend money on the team? 2. We read persistently criticism that Arsenal are recruiting a “generational” manager 3. Arsenal win the FA Cup, but that competition is irrelevant and does not count as a proper trophy. Yet when Arsenal are invited to join a European Super League and play at the top table suddenly this becomes a money grabbing exercise and Arsenal should not participate in such a competition. When I read the suggestion that… Read more »

Wingdings

gunnermanApril 19, 2021 12:31:09
Le-grove favourite Ozil chiming inhttps://twitter.com/MesutOzil1088/status/1384100211815976960

___

Embarrassing coming from him. He’s part of the problem with his £350k every week.

Wengaball

Everyone calling for a ban on the ESL clubs – they are already planning to sue UEFA and FIFA if they do so.

Wengaball

They have thought the through. They will eat their cake. Ans still have it.

Wengaball

With typos corrected, that should read:

They have thought this through. They will eat their cake. And still have it.

NORG

a few corporate lawyers are at this moment rubbing their hands with glee.

TT

You can be damn sure that the 12 clubs would have studied the legality of their move and all the possible repercussions. I don’t believe for a moment that UEFA or FIFA can stop this, no matter what they are saying now.

The owners of those clubs are not stupid and will have all the relevant regulations, both within FIFA/UEFA and European Union studied and plans put in place to deal with any legal fallout and any actions taken by the regulating bodies.

Kroenkephobe

Graham 12.15 Cardiff City – biggest team in Wales and plenty of passion (despite the meccano set ground and MickfuckingMcCarthy as manager). Maybe they’ll eventually stay up in the PL esp if the big cunty 6 are banished. Leedsgunner – assuming you’re actually in w Yorks, you could do worse than your local team. I saw Cardiff play in a stonking 3-3 at Elland Road last season. One of the best games I’ve seen for years. Felt like being back in 80s. Can I just chip in on the anti-US sentiment which is dumb and knee jerk. There are money… Read more »

Mr Serge

KRONKE OUT

Leedsgunner

Kronkephobe I congratulate on your moniker, I think we are all Kronkephobes today! I note your comment about Leeds United FC, they are a decent side managed by a seasoned tactician… and I would love someone like Bielsa at Arsenal… they are definitely not playing like a recently promoted side are they? He’s an excellent manager. I hate what Arsenal FC has become under present management. We’ve all been had haven’t we? We were promised that we would be given a seat at the top table once we moved to the Emirates… I doubt this was what was envisioned by… Read more »

Jim Lahey

Arsenal media machine very quiet today.

Jim Lahey

You can also believe that the money KSE put in for Partey last summer was done so knowing they would get it back within the year.

englandsbest

No surprise to me, I’ve been expecting a takeover from Uefa for years now. And there is nothing good you can say about Uefa. They have emasculated European Cup (as it was) with utterly daft combat by including the no-hopers. Not for moral reasons, for commercial reasons. Extra money for them. And for weight of numbers on their side. What’s more, they plan to INCREASE the number of games and contestants. Nor is it any surprise that Arsenal are one of the English Six. Stan is the owner. Fro him it’s like opening the coffers of Fort Knox. Okay, so… Read more »

Dream10

@thelawyermag

The Lawyer understands that
@Clifford_Chance
will be the law firm acting for JP Morgan in the Super League mega-deal. The magic circle firm declined to comment. #SuperLeague #JPMorgan

Tim Lewis used to work for this company. The man the Kroenkes hired to look into things after Sanllehi left. Lol

And Sanllehi is involved in the Super League process.

Ozy

I have yet to see a single valid reason why the Super League is bad or “the end of football as we know it” – a bit hyperbolic. The alternative is staying in the stale Europa and Champions Leagues. Are we pretending that those competitions aren’t also just about the money? Since when? Also, fuck UEFA and all of these football governing bodies that fuck teams around and lie about FFP, that are corrupt and couldn’t care less about anything but the bottom line – why do we need to show them loyalty? Look at how much energy UEFA has… Read more »

Ozy

Oh, and there is no way the FA will kick the founding clubs out of the Premier League. That would destroy the league.

Cheney10

@englandsbest

Spot on there. This is a competition to rival the champions league and europa league… why should we condemn the clubs for cutting the middle man out? This is what big businesses do… it may be crass for us fans but they are businesses.

I also agree that the promotion relegation thing needs sorting and a second division with play offs etc to gain entry could solve that issue and pretty much leave uefa in the cold… is that such a bad thing?

Tom

For all the fan outrage, it’ll be interesting to see how many empty seats there will be at the Arsenal /RealMadrid game at the Ems once the league starts.
My guess…..not many.

Tom

Funny that some believe Stan would even budge on the promotion/relegation issue lol
He didn’t put the wheels in motion on this project so Arsenal can get relegated from it in season two.

Champagne Charlie

“I want to see Arsenal compete at the top level in the best league.“ Stroller this is an incredibly poor statement given what you’re inferring/ignoring. We all want Arsenal to compete at the top level, it’s the reason we’re not happy in the current state of mediocrity. But, changing the rules of the game to protect ourselves isn’t what anyone can reasonably say is acceptable. You perform poorly, run your club poorly, you deserve the regression that comes from it – and the owners should take the responsibility. It’s why there’s integrity in the game, and it’s a huge part… Read more »

Ozy

People need to grow up and realize that there is just too much money in the game to ignore.

@Champagne Charlie – if you were running Arsenal, you wouldn’t last very long.

The game is evolving. If Twitter was around during the inception of the Premier League, you would’ve seen the same outrage from people that don’t know how to move forward and would rather see their club fall into a pit of mediocrity that will be near impossible to get out of for the sake of “football” than the opposite. Shame.

Ray+in+LA

Interesting weekend for talking points…

The PL complaining about the ESL as being driven by greed 🙂

People complaining about our performance home to Fulham — if you edit out the six minutes that won us the tie on Thursday, there was not much difference in our two performances

People complaining about ElNeny not replacing Partey in a role designed for Partey

People complaining that the sacking of Mourinho will allow Sp*rs to hire Nagelsmann

Rambo

Ozy, its very good for clubs with ambitions to kick up another scale. Up against the best every week and better rewards to moot. Most of these clubs are Uber successful and they didn’t get there by being lame or taking easy. So its not likely they are gonna just settle and stop trying in the ESL. Of course the asterisk is the *clubs with ambition, which Arsenal may not be part of Anyway what’s there for us to lose? Not like we are going anywhere in the traditional setup, we are actually drifting further away from CL and Europa.… Read more »

Nelson

The reason football has become popular is mainly built on the emotional connection of the team to his home fans. ESL will turn football into a circus event. Each team ignores the feeling of the home fans. They’ll think that the football itself can attract a even wider followers all over the globe. I wonder why the fans would continue to support an administration/owner disrespecting them.

Zfree

The Kroenke boy told us to “be excited.”

@Sid

SidApril 19, 2021 13:39:42
The pandemic has seen the biggest transfer of wealth from the serfs to the ruling classes,
The serfs are still clueless thinking immigrants and BAME are the problem

Well said Sid. Spot on, it’s always Johnny foreigners fault 🤣

Rambo

‘The reason football has become popular is mainly built on the emotional connection of the team to his home fans.’

Dafuq is a home fan? Is it only Londoners? You can go back to the 70s grandpa

Captain Tierney

ET I dont think you truly understand why people are opposing the ESL. Here and everywhere. We all want Arsenal to win and compete at the top. But not in this way. The European Super League is not a competition. We wont be competing there. Its like a friendly game where the results dont matter. The different being Friendlies are played to build fitness, ESL will be played to build fortunes. I and many others are not against the idea of ESL or a reformed CL where the funds distribution is more fair and there is no corruption involved. But… Read more »

@Wiglaf

I’ve said this many times before, but the day I found out we’d been bought out by an American I turned around to a few other gooners ,who thought kroenke would be our Abromovich , and told them that that was us fucked now and we’d go backwards as a club under the Yank. Seems I was proven right

andy1886

I’m with CC. ES: ” I want them to compete at the “top table” and be successful.” You can keep posting the same old tripe and I will keep on posting the same reply: Arsenal will NOT be successful in a ‘Super League’, we’ll be propping that miserable competition to the point where simply having a season where we win more than we lose will be a cause for celebration. And you think that the money will be invested in the club? (sorry, that should be ‘brand’). You’re living in dreamland, the money is going straight into Kroenke’s pocket. No… Read more »

Jim Lahey

@Rambo –

Are you American by any chance?

“Anyway what’s there for us to lose?”

Everything, and how you are incapable of seeing it is staggering.

Rambo

The pressure will be even more in the ESL than it is in the PL. I really don’t get these folks claiming otherwise.

Again what has this traditional setup done that is so good and awesome for us? Has it steered us on the right path

Elmo

Kroenkephobe The anti-US angle is NOT aimed at American fans (who must be allies in our resistance), it is aimed at the cadre of US billionaire opportunists who aren’t interested in innovating in a way that benefits society or even their customers, but are purely interested in seeking out opportunities where they can strip value for themselves by exploiting the fact that free market capitalism (a system they ironically don’t subscribe to) doesn’t value intangibles such as culture, sporting integrity, and fans as stakeholders. They all bought into European football because they viewed it as both lucrative (a much bigger… Read more »

Rambo

Jim,

You probably oppose anything new cause you’re scared of change

Kroenkephobe

Ozy

Really mate? Getting our arses handed to us by RM on Wednesday, then Soton on Saturday, Barcelona the following Wednesday, Wolves on Saturday. Rinse and repeat ad fucking nauseam. Arteta and Kroenke would do just enough to keep us up in the PL with a b squad while the a squad faces no relegation and gets regular rogerings all over Europe. You’d be happy with that all too likely scenario?

Jim Lahey

@Rambo –

I will take that as a yes

Dissenter

The top 6 clubs in England have been whining about getting share of the pie for a long time, especially revenue from foreign TV rights. They are right absolutely right to demand that Arsenal get more of the foreign TV rights than the likes of Brighton or Burnley who are just there to make up the numbers. There are probably more Arsenal fans in DC that Burnely fans worldwide. The EPL was built on the backs of the lore of the bigger clubs. Maybe the Leicester’s added to the mystique too. Burnely shouldn’t be getting the same share of the… Read more »

Emiratesstroller

Captain Tierney

Utter rubbish it is a proper competition.

I suggest that you read what is proposed which is fully published on the Arsenal Website. The format is a Table with home and away games followed by knock out for those teams finishing in top 4.

Arsenal have been offered the opportunity to play at the top table and from my perspective they should grasp that opportunity.

I have supported and been a season ticket holder for a very long time and I am more than happy to continue doing so.

Champagne Charlie

Ozy

I understand the mentality of the owners fully thanks.

It’s you that’s completely confused by the idea of “evolution”. Having a league where 15/20 can’t suffer isn’t evolution of anything. It’s protecting self-interest from a wealthy few.

Hitman

Remove the fit and proper person test designation from these owners forcing them to sell up.
Take away work permits for all foreign players playing in ESL and right to live in UK.
Arrest/ deny travel to those players seeking to leave UK for unapproved league games under Covid rules.
Similarly arrest/ detain/ quarantine players coming into UK to play ESL games under Covid rules.
That should put and end to it.

Jim Lahey

“the idea of “evolution”. Having a league where 15/20 can’t suffer isn’t evolution of anything. It’s protecting self-interest from a wealthy few.”

Yeah, there is nothing evolutionary about this, if anything it will create stagnation.

salparadisenyc

What an escalation, feels kinda of half baked for the elite in football ownership. Talk about not reading the room and time. Now have Uefa saying they will ban players for competing in this new endeavour, these are players under contract to the club having zero say in owners decisions to join Super League. Anyones guess how that goes but it certainly has makings of getting quite messy. Two of the current top four in the premier league not invited to Super league incredible to unleash this news with it all to play for. Real slap in face considering last… Read more »

Ozy

Yikes, a lot of old, antiquated farts in here, so petrified of change.

We get it. Only English fans matter, it’s about the passion of the sport and blah blah blah.

I forgot the crowd in here averages around 60 years old.

Jim Lahey

@Ozy –

“We get it. Only English fans matter, it’s about the passion of the sport and blah blah blah.I forgot the crowd in here averages around 60 years old.”

I’m not 60 or English, no one in Europe wants this.

gunnerman

Sal

Players currently have UCL clauses in their contract so this gives them room to negotiate or pull out.

Taylor Swift

Just went for a run in my Lakers vest. Was just too embaressed to wear Arsenal shirt. Sums it up really.

andy1886

Ozy, why not just cut out the middle man – send Stan your bank details, maybe if you ask nicely he’ll put ‘Love Island’ on between quarters (two halves are sooo old fashioned) for you young hipsters!

Ozy

The sport died when owners started injecting their own money into clubs. We tried playing by the rules for years, hoping that FFP would hold those clubs accountable. It didn’t happen. We either understand that this entire sport is ALL about money now and plan accordingly, or get swept away.

Captain Tierney

ET Explain to me how a competition is a competition when a team no matter how poor they perform do NOT face any consequences like relegation. It doesn’t matter if Arsenal or Spuds or any other team accumulate 0 points in the group stage. They will STILL have the luxury of genormous financial incentives. It is utterly unfair to teams like Leicester and Villareal and Lille who have been growing their clubs organically and legally with hopes of getting CL football consistently and one day competing for the big honours. With the ESL it becomes impossible because majority of the… Read more »

Rambo

Champagne Chuckles letting out the pearlers as always.

Why would clubs suffer or not suffer in the ESL? Does suffer only entail relegation? Why would clubs not try to make the Quarters or beyond? Why would clubs not make the best attempt to win the thing? If they suffer a bad season and end up close to bottom, why would they not try to improve next season?

Danny

Yet when Arsenal are invited to join a European Super League
——————–
Invited? More like helped create!

Rambo

Again Arsenal are the exception here, the majority in that list will genuinely want to improve and stand at the top of that pile. Who knows, maybe even Arsenal will improve amongst that group. Instead of getting cosy with the Evertons and West Hams of the World

Major_Jeneral

New post

Champagne Charlie

Rambo In football terms it’s winning trophies, participation in European competition at the top end, and relegation/promotion at the bottom end. In the ESL 15/20 clubs never have to worry about either. It’s fucking basic why that’s anti-competitive and lacking the possibility of suffering. Arsenal won’t make any moves to win the thing under Kroenke, he’s securing European money for 23 years and will put his feet up in absolute comfort the gravy train will continue. Guaranteed top 4 money was always his aphrodisiac. What incentive is there for him to actually make us number 1 amongst genuine giants? He’s… Read more »

Bergkamp63

The problem is, once one or two make their minds up to go the ESL route, what else are clubs like Arsenal to do, you either jump aboard or get left behind, it only takes a couple of big clubs from each big league and it then snowballs until you have enough.

I would imagine domestic cups will be a thing of the past for ESL first team players.

Champagne Charlie

New post

Spanishdave

So Spurs get Naglesmann we carry on with Arteta, great.

Lacaqualidie

test as I’ve been kicked for some reason on the new thread.

Guns of SF

Ever since that snake Kroenke came in and took over it has been bad news. When he forced shareholders to sell, he showed his true colors. He wanted total control Time to get the plane out with the banner….. Kroenke out. Unfortunately, any new owner would see this is where the money is and sadly, they also might come to the reality to join Our EPL will be watered down by all the best players playing for the top 5 ESL clubs. The remaining average players will be in the remaining teams . Teams who want to buy and ESL… Read more »

Foxy

Perhaps the only way this can work is if say

1. The CL and EUL are merged and the two finalists or even the top 4 get auto entry into the next seasons ESL.
2. The two bottom group teams get relegated and replaced by the top non ESL team in their respective home leagues.

Biggles

@Emiratesstroller The thing I liked most about the European Cup was that winning it meant that you were the best of the best. Of course the biggest argument against it as a knockout competition was that – just like with domestic cups – a club could make a run and win it without really being the best. The Champions League, if it were an actual league of Champions, would be better than the European Cup. But this nonsense of having finals contested between teams where neither of them are champions (or hell, have even won anything at all in the… Read more »

Graham

Is the only reason PSG haven’t joined us that they hope to automatically win the Champions League this season

Tony

Samesong
Aren’t the top German clubs owned by their fans or in part owned?

Could be wrong but would explain their stance.

Wengaball

I had said many many years ago in a debate with Gambon that football as we know it will not survive if it does not put in practice ‘no money in – no money out’ principle.

The only way to keep the utopian idea of anyone can win was to make clubs not for profit entities by decree, and then share equitably (not equally) the money that was generated within the sport.

The chain of events leading to the ESL was set in motion a long time ago – the moment it became a ‘business’.

Wengaball

FFP was one chance to save the game, but UEFA et al blew it big time.

Arsenal of course were the victims then. Now we say, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

Wengaball

ESL is just a symptom of foundational flaws in the what football has become.

Barcelona and RM have racked up debts of a billion euros trying to keep up with the Chelseas, Cities and PSGs of the world.

Barring a fluke, the winners will always be the moneybag clubs. There difference between the current football set up and the ESL is just of degrees, not kind.

Football has long been the mythical Ouroboros. It is just that the mouth, having devoured the tail, is now headed for the belly.

rollen

Fuck Stan and Tets. No to superleague.

LeMassiveCoq

If there is ever an opportunity to protest Stan out, this must be it.

LeMassiveCoq

Has Le Grove crashed? Can’t see any posts…