Waking up the day after the news of the Super League and it still feels odd.
Spurs have sacked Jose Mourinho, a story I’d normally be basking in, but are they doing that because they want to gear up with a proper manager for this Super League windfall? They’ve gone from being able to attract Nuno, to now being able to attract a rockstar. They’ve gone from a certain Harry Kane exit, to now possibly keeping him.
I’ve spent 5 years writing about Stan K needing to do things the hard way, and in the space of one pandemic, he’s shortcut 5 years of pain and taken us back into guaranteed Champions League football. He did it all without spending his own cash. He brought us the Arsene Wenger FFP dream. We have the edge without the effort.
It’s a lot to take in.
Amazon and Disney are looking at stumping the $4b for the TV deal. That’s game-changing money. $350m just to sign on.
There are some lawyers doing the rounds that basically say UEFA have no say in this and the Premier League wouldn’t be able to stop it.
Some are saying the league might suspend the teams. Don’t be stupid. The 6 teams leaving are the 6 teams that matter. All of them are clubs that can make a super league on brand name alone. The Premier League likely won’t have much power in this.
One possible hope with this is that there is European Union or British government intervention. It’s been trendy for countries to get involved in big business to protect industry. We’ve seen moves on 5G, TikTok in America, medicine. Question, is football worth protecting? This is a culture wrecking move. There’s also not a lot of love for billionaires. Boris Johnson won with the little guys last time around, would he go against his elitist instincts and step in? Is Macron action-oriented or just hot air? Would Merkel accept this from yet-to-be-confirmed German sides? Where is the politics on this?
There’s not really a counter to creating a closed league, hence the botched PR launch. However, human nature is all about the in and out club. We’re programmed to want to be on the inside. In caveman times, if you were in the out-group, you didn’t eat. Well, shock horror, my DMs were firing on all cylinders this morning…
‘Awful… but’
Clear-eyed, this move for Arsenal, is hard to argue. David Dein led the first break away league way back when. We are crippled financially, there was no plan for the pandemic, clubs want to take back control of their destiny. Arsenal have turbo-charged the future with this move.
I suspect the calculation on this is that fans are easily won over. Morals didn’t stop human rights abusers taking over clubs. No one cared about blood money if it was being spent on big-name players over the last decade. It won’t take long for fans of the in-club clubs to sail over to the idea that this is actually a good thing because Arteta’s transfer budget just grew 10x inside a day.
The other part of this story is that there’s going to be a networked effect on the fan multiplier. The biggest clubs, with the most fans, always in the biggest competition, will grow their fanbase at the expense of outsiders or plucky upstarts. Where are the kids going to spend their $80 for football shirts? The clubs where the stars go every season. Wednesday night football will be a global spectacle that diminishes smaller ‘outsider’ clubs chances of moving forward.
Think about the shape of our summer now. We’ve gone from a hard sell, to one of the easiest.
I spoke to some people yesterday that had a ruthless mindset on the matter.
Why not change?
When you start at a new place of work, your first job is to look at how they do things and ask questions. You will always find something that is baffling, inefficient, and counter-productive. When you ask why… ‘we’ve always done it that way.’
Human nature is routine. Football is routine because it works. Change doesn’t have to be a bad thing. This could be the start of an ideas race. Rory Smith, who I’m sure will have some excellent thoughts on this, said that football without competition is content. Do fans want content? Or competition? Can a truer competition exist for the purist? Does that purist spend more money than the casual? So many unanswered questions.
I was speaking to Matt Kandela from the podcast who has been shaped by New York to be one of the ruthless business people I know. He asked why European football was only for the top 7 clubs in each country. Is that interesting enough? Is that exploiting all the opportunities there are? Why can’t we create European avenues for Championship teams? That’d be interesting. Norwich vs St Pauli? I’d watch. Monday and Friday nights are free. Is there such thing as too much sport? Baseball has 180 odd games as season. So not in America. What is the capacity for fans?
Why couldn’t the alternative Champions League be an awesome spectacle? In the current Super League, you have a shite Arsenal, a shite Spurs, a fairly meh Chelsea team, and a Liverpool in decline.
Super League vs Champions League. Let’s make this pure WWE.
Football fans go where the hype is.
The main losers here right now are the fans that will have to spend money on all these experiments.
… but football only dies if the others don’t fight back.
What I will say is that I have absolutely no interest in supporting UEFA and FIFA in this. Two of the most corrupt organisations in the history of sport. Fuck them. They’ve allowed this into the game. They failed to enforce FFP, they failed to get a grip on disgraceful schedules, they gave the World Cup to a country using slave labour to build their stadiums. They have no moral high ground on this.
… and that’s the rub in this. It’s like a Tarrantino film, everywhere you look, there are bad guys. You don’t know where to place your allegiances.
The big loser is the game and as a result, the fans.
The billionaire class moved in on our culture and they are ripping it to shreds.
Being on the winning side is better than being an outsider, but don’t enjoy it too much, if something is too good to be true… it’ll bite you in the pocket eventually.
For now, tell me what you think in the comments below. Gonna try and get a podcast fired up a little later today about it.
The UK Government comes out against the ESL plan, and the Sports Minister Oliver Dowden says he will work hard to thwart this “dreadful proposal”
“We will do whatever it takes to protect our national game.”
We may see an exodus of many quality players to Bundesliga and Ligue 1.
Its going to be interesting seeing how this all plays out. I have my seat and drink and am going to enjoy the squirming from all involved. This much i know, my money is key and right now no one has any of it. Going to be entertaining.
I have no problem with football being a business Wealth creation is a good thing, the same people who complain about a lack of social mobility, are the same ones who then complain when working class lads work their way to the top, of one of the highest paid professions The PL generates £7.8 billion each year for the treasury My issue is having an uncompetitive league with no consequences for poor performance and poor decision making I get that football is an entertainment industry, but I don’t think this format is in the least bit entertaining No relegation, no… Read more »
Dowden: “It starts with fans, and it ends with fans”
From UK govt Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport: “But, be in no doubt, if they can’t act we will. We will put everything on the table to prevent this from happening. We are examining every option from governance reform to competition law and mechanisms that allow football to take place. “Put simply, we will be reviewing everything the Government does to support these clubs to play. I have discussed these options with the Prime Minister this morning and we are working at pace across Government and with football authorities. “We will do everything it takes to protect… Read more »
Football is finished if this goes ahead.
It’ll be Worthing Town for me and nothing else.
We will not qualify for the ECL in the coming years and for over ten seasons we never qualified to play the better teams on Bayern Munich who whipped our arse.
Don’t talk about greed when our shareholders sold us out to Stan.
Double standards folks.
No wonder PSG didnt sign unto the ESL
They will be crowned CL winners come Friday, if you believe the rantings of the UEFAS board member.
Then Uefa will have to REFUND the broadcasters and corporate sponsors for the cancelled semi finals/finals.
It’s all about the money. No one is going to kick out Chelsea, City and Madrid.
UEFA will probably become bankrupt from the lawsuits that will ensue. There is such a thing as process.
Rich,
Unfortunately, free market capitalism with free and fair competition only exists in dated Economics textbooks.
This is what happens when you have so many non- footballing folk at the top of the game.
people saying 350 million will reshape our team completely forget about inflation.
You give all the top teams in europe 350 million and you don’t expect players transfer values to rise? of course they will be they will skyrocket.
anyways I’m against the super league because I think it will take the joy out of playing the biggest teams it will become too regular too common place and without needing to qualify it will remove all the stakes and the drama. It will become utterly meaningless.
A lot of you would still be planting seeds by hand .
Same reaction to the industrial revolution.
I dont even care about the capitalistic argument the super league is boring. You need competition and the potenital ability for under dogs to win these big competitions.
ES – I don’t give a damn about FIFA or UEFA or even the PL. Just because I despise them doesn’t mean this idea is acceptable either. I know I’m repeating myself yet again, but with no chance of relegation and little chance of actually winning the thing there is ZERO incentive for Kroenke to invest in the playing side of the club. He can finish rock bottom year in, year out and reap the rewards. P.S. I did have a good laugh at this bit: “if we develop and/or recruit the right players”. And btw Kroenke did not generously… Read more »
Spanishdave
the industrial revolution happened because of competitive people striving to achieve more do more and make more.
Super league is the opposite its about removing competition and maintaing the status quo of big clubs. Hardly innovative, the opposite in fact.
SpanishDave,
Give it a rest with the industrial revolution claptrap.
The industrial revolution has already happened with football, as has the broadcasting and subsequent revolutions. It is already by far the most popular and most viewed sport in the world.
This is all about who gets the proceeds of success, not about doing things more efficiently.
andy 1886 You are wrong Arsenal can be relegated, because the six clubs who have agreed to join the ESL still plan to play in EPL. Also if you read the Arsenal website there will be most probably promotion or relegation from ESL. It would seem the plan is to start with 15 members including the 12 who are foundation members. An additional 5 clubs will be added and it is as yet unclear whether there will be promotion and relegation. It would not surprise me that one or two clubs will be relegated each year once the programme has… Read more »
Yes, what I wrote
The ESL teams will have the best players and will be able to buy from non ESL teams if they need new ones. Non ESL teams will raise the prices considerably since they need the money, and these super teams have more $$
ITs going to create a shit show
I know it sound far fetch, but I would not put it past them. According to some reporters, a few of the ESL proponents had to be told that they could not change the rules of the games to make even more money. They discussed + Having 4 quarters instead of half + Increasing the overall length by having quarters of 30 minutes each + Removing draw. With extra time or penalty to get a winner during the regular season + Introducing Time-out + Introducing the automated offside system + Increase the number of substitutions to 7 (2 more than… Read more »
Not sure how this will play out but UEFA, FIFA and the Premier League can go fuck themselves. Appaling organisations that are probably shitting themselves right now.
TR7
I’d like believe the mass exodus to Bundesliga possible but in the end most players go where the wages are.
And that will certainly be in the Super League.
Time outs, no draws, quarters and not halves, LOL.
Sounds terrible.
May make it much more popular in the USA all right. As for the rest if the world?…
Whilst Arsenal will surely benefit… it is time for the major Clubs in European and British football to finally acknowledge that the integrity of the game is important to maintain.To recognise the importance of grass roots fans and to realise that they have now reached “The Precipice”. Over the last 20 years supporters have put up with their Clubs attempting to squeeze every last available penny out of them in order to line the pockets of overpaid players and executives but I truly believe that at this point “Post Pandemic ” ….Enough is enough! During this Season I have sat… Read more »
if FIFA and UEFA want to end this, they need to do it now and not let this thing grow legs. Make the threats now and follow thru.
World Cup is next year… CL and EL still to be played.
These bodies can make shit difficult if they play it right.
Stroller,
You have either not reading the official statement or not understanding it. 15 permanent clubs that cannot be relegated plus 6 invités clubs. The 12 original founders plus the the 3 expected joiners rumoured to be PSG, Bayern München FC and Dortmund.
If the ESL clubs are excluded from this year European competition, then PSG would be the winner of the Champion’s League and Roma would be given a bye to the final.
If these assholes were just patient, the money will come back in when fans start coming back and the pandemic is over.
Sal
If FIFA really bans players playing in ESL from participating in WC then I can see many players moving to Bayern, Dortmund, Leverkusen etc. merely to ensure they play in a competitive league and represent their country in WC in 2022.
Valentin
The smart thing for UEFA to do is to remove Real, Chelsea, City, United, Arsenal from European competition and bring in beaten CL QFinalists Porto, Dortmund and Bayern, and Sparta Prague and Granada in EL. That way the SFs and F go ahead, and there are no refunds to the broadcasters and sponsors.
Our club have brought this upon ourselves.
its a matter of time before BM and dortmund join
“A lot of you would still be planting seeds by hand”
Not sure about planting seeds…….but spreading them by hand seems like a frequently indulged activity by some on here.
TR7
50k a week at Leverkusen or 140k in the ESL over two years prior to that World Cup?
Idk mate.
I think I posted only once here, but this garbage motivates me to do another. The only thing the super league does is consolidate the value of the owner’s investments. There’s no such thing as arsenal becoming a better team: like any franchise, 2 or 3 compete and the rest just do the bare minimum. If the quality of arsenal was measured against the entire PL, now it’s measured against the little rich club, and there we are bottom 5. The extra cash is useless. The market will adjust and we are going to have a team as distant from… Read more »
I suggest you read the ESL statement Stroller, as has been mentioned the fifteen founder members cannot be relegated.
Not exactly talking from a position of knowledge on this one are you?
Arsenal can finish 20/20 for years and will still make $$ being in this ESL thing.
no penalty for relegation…. for the elites
Lets say for example, Norwich wins the prem – will these elites let them in to the tourney? Who says who gets in and what criteria? Seems somewhat ambiguous based on how its written in the media.
Charlie
With EPL and La Liga devalued, there’s a possibility that many sponsors pump in a lot of money in to German clubs especially if several top players show an inclination to move to Bundesliga which in turn could boost financial power of many German clubs. All conjecture of course at this point of time but wouldn’t be surprising If it happened.
So, long time Arsenal fan, think early 70’s and an American, yes, not an oxymoron. First, I hate this idea! Second, free market capitalism unrestrained leaves the human population as slaves and an uninhabitable planet in the long run! Rich, I like your posts and agree here and there, but please, the elites run and own everything in the USA, notice I did not say socialists, because is that not what the NFL is all about, along with being a monopoly. This entire thing is a $ play and that is that. Give you the perfect equivalent for us AFC… Read more »
As an long time daily Le-Grove reader since around 2008, I generally agree with a lot of what you write Pedro. I rarely ever make a comment however, this is a shocking post! This proposal it’s a complete lack of respect for the history of our sport and we should never support it!
Valentin I do have a major criticism of the timing of the announcement, because I do think that UEFA will announce that the 5 clubs who have signed up for ESL may be excluded from competing in CL and Europa Cup. Obviously the announcement could have been left to the end of season. However, I do think that the ESL was inevitable, because most of the major clubs are in financial difficulty. It is a fact of life that nothing stands still and football is no different from other businesses. Arsenal Supporters may holler and complain about what is happening,… Read more »
Wiglaf/Don
Lol you better can your tits man, no amount of ranting on here will effect in anyway what will eventually happen and that’s the reality on the ground at the moment.
Here’s the thing: In the USA, the American sports franchise model was put in place with the support of: 1) Owners 2) Sports governing bodies 3) US Federal Government 4) Various State Governments 5) Congress 6) Various city munipalities/mayoralties 7) Fans (as far as I am aware) In Europe, We have opposition from: 1) The EU 2) Various national governments, including the UK, Spain, France and Germany 3) FIFA/UEFA (i.e. international sports governing bodies) 4) The EPL/Serie A and other national sports governing bodies 5) “Left behind” clubs 6) Fans (whether or not “left behind” With billionaires behind it and… Read more »
Have a feeling this whole thing would eventually go through, doesn’t feel like the clubs involved haven’t thought this whole thing through. UEFA and FIFA and fans alike can bark and scream about money greed and whatnot all day long but if the clubs involved have done their proper homework then its just a matter of time really
Batistuta,
Well if you’re right and it goes ahead be prepared for a few decades of Arsenal being European Super League fodder.
There will be zero incentives for the Kroenkes to either invest or get out of the game, and we will just make up numbers in the ESL.
The owners can do whatever they like. As I said we didn’t make a fuss when David Deion and co sold out to Stan. Their greed started this along with the other top ten teams. This is the result of that complacency. Do you want to see Man City and Chelsea win the league for the next ten years, because now they will as FFP has been scrapped. Football has been about greed and high player values for over fifteen years, which has created a gulf in the league which now will not be broken. The Super league will have… Read more »
All this hatred. All this pain. All this remorse. For what? The biggest money clubs have been dominating global competitions for YEARS. We have ZERO chance of competing with City and Chelsea and PSG in the current format. Why hold it so dear? UEFA are piss-poor at running their tournament. Why bow to the Swiss to make all the rules? Why not get a seat on a 15-member board and actually have a say in the future of the sport?
Imagine how you’d feel if they did this and we WEREN’T invited? Being invited is definitely better.
Here’s an interesting side note. The Premier League requires at least 14 votes for any major decisions. We can be pretty sure that of the 3 permanent members still to be invited for the ESL, one of them will be a British team. This is assuming that Bayern and Dortmund at least don’t join and possibly PSG.
I wonder if Usmanov is waiting by the phone?
Words
We’re well behind already aren’t we? I mean we haven’t come close to winning anything substantial since what 2009 i think. I’m surprisingly not so fussed about it really, I’m sure there was maybe similar uproar when the premier league was formed in 92? The no relegation thing is a bit off putting but I’m in a let’s wait and see what happens phase. Again it’s not like Arsenal football club were doing anything substantial anyway with whatever current formats exist
We can absolutely compete with Chelsea + City within our resources
We’re one of the richest clubs in the world, we’ve spent plenty of money, we’ve just squandered it on dross
If the bureaucrats running Leicester were armed with our level of resources and pulling power, they’d be absolutely flying
so this is confusing. someone answer this…
If we finish 20th, we get relegated from the prem, but continue in the ESL league?
Now for the next item that I’ve seen raised which is about how Kroenke will be an even more passive owner in the ESL. Case for Kroenke: His U.S sports teams are competitive within the ‘permanent member’ structure Case against Kroenke: U.S sports have a salary cap and draft system which makes those leagues more even (although big spenders can still tilt things to their advantage if they are prepared to pay a heavy luxury tax in the NBA for example). I’m not sure it will make a difference either way. We’re already uncompetitive and that is unlikely to change… Read more »
The 350 Million we get should help get some good players as Pedro mentioned.
Guns of SF
Getting relegated from the Premier League and remaining in the European Super League would be the very embodiment of elite mediocrity!
Bats, the parallel with the PL being formed is doesn’t bear scrutiny. Even ignoring the lack of relegation the PL was formed of clubs there on sporting merit. Clubs weren’t ‘invited’ to join based on financial considerations like this new ESL.
Another question, how long before the other ESL super clubs and sponsors get bored with the likes of us and the Spuds as whipping boys every season and decide that we can get relegated after all? If you trust this lot then you seriously are soft in the head.
Strange how self-styled fans play the ‘ESL is bad for football ‘ card. How, in what way, bad for football? Elite clubs have always cherry-picked the best players. Did they complain when we cherry-picked Bergkamp, Vieira, Pires & co. Did they say it was bad for football? If they did, they assuredly are NOT Arsenal supporters. The ESL style is to cherry-pick the biggest clubs. It easy to find umpteen reasons why that should be GOOD for football, but hard to come up with even one reason why it will be BAD for football. To make the point, here are… Read more »
Dont worry, this whole thing will be a field day for attorneys left and right.
Teams that are not selected ex. Lecicester etc, will not be happy about this.
The teams in the ESL have the most fans, and worldwide appeal, that is clear
Guns – as Eagle mentioned we’ve spent something like £500m over the last five years and where has that got us? Worse is the answer.
Bati Really surprised by your take to be honest. Considering you’re a massive AC Milan fan, a club that were not relevant for close to a decade before their crazy turaround in 2020. Which was achieved without significant spending. They are above Juventus and would have competed for the title if Ibra, Rebic and their other key players were available for the last few months. Inter are another club that were middling and irrelevant in the title picture for the best part of a decade and now they are cantering away with the Scudetto. Liverpool were pretty much where we… Read more »
Pedro This is massive- so massive , I’m having a tough time taking it all in- the ramifications etc. Stan is a lucky guy. After ten years of slowly but surely turning Arsenal fc into mid table also rans, he’s suddenly been given a potentially winning hand. The thing is, despite the inherent unfairness of the fledgling ‘super league’,we’re in it and when has football ever been fair, on or off the pitch? We’re not Aston Villa or West Ham or Leicester. Also, to quote you: ‘What I will say is that I have absolutely no interest in supporting UEFA… Read more »
We signed Bergkamp as a failed player, even if it was for a transfer record
Vieira was signed from the AC Milan reserves
We sold Overmars who was injury prone, and swapped him for Pires who wasn’t, and turned a profit
We sold Anelka for £23 million, and signed Henry for £11 million
Money is important, but we used to have people who could outsmart the market
Right now our bureaucrats seem to struggle with basic maths, and couldn’t outsmart a puppy
Guns – If Arsenal are allowed to play in the PL after having joined the ESL then Arsenal can be relegated all the way to the Vanarama National League and below yet we’ll still remain in the ESL.
What’s more if Arsenal finish bottom of the ESL for years Arsenal cannot be relegated due to being a ‘founder member’.
AH, no we’re not Leicester, Villa or West Ham.
If it’s on merit then Leicester are more recent PL champions than us, have been in the CL more recently and have placed higher than us in the league.
Villa are former European Cup winners.
West Ham though are garbage (but could still sneak a CL place).
Rich Hopelessly naive doesn’t even begin to describe your free market ideology and your comments today. You’ve spent absolutely ages on here crapping on about the wonders of the free market and now it’s reaching the end game you’re suddenly all upset about it? Do you think Stan, the Glazers and John Henry give a flying fuck about the nuances of your position on free markets? No they want to win and take all your cash and laugh in your face. Fucking hell Rich, its a bit late for you to have second thoughts. Your idols brought all this on!… Read more »
ES The timing for me is all to do with the announcement from UEFA about how the CL will be organised going forward. It’s this bit of the statement that is for me the key to the whole issue “In recent months extensive dialogue has taken place with football stakeholders regarding the future format of European competitions. The Founding Clubs believe the solutions proposed following these talks do not solve fundamental issues, including the need to provide higher-quality matches and additional financial resources for the overall football pyramid.’ The plan to increase the number of clubs in the CL from… Read more »
Lacaqualidie
what a bunch of non competitive horse shit!!!!!
Just what Stan loves. No desire, no competition and no cash influx…
Just stay in this whack ass tournament as a founding member
Get the money.
Get lazy
Win nothing
We are about to be kicked out of the uefa cup as are man u
Real city and Chelsea to be kicked out of CL they are talking about brining back the teams we knocked out
Guns of SF
April 19, 2021 19:31:38
The 350 Million we get should help get some good players as Pedro mentioned.
——————————————-
That’s only 5 Pepes (not including wages). Every other club given £350m will be trying to buy good players. All it will do is inflate transfer fees and wages further just like the current TV deals have done.
I’ve got a bridge to sell anyone who thinks all of a sudden Arsenal are going to become competitive.
englandsbest
We already have a competition where we can watch all of the elite and best players in the world- it is called the Champions League.
All this will do is dilute the rest of the footballing competitions’ quality and interest and you will have a situation where the lone league with all of the best players in the world has nothing at stake and is meaningless save for the winner of it.
Competitions like the World Cup will not thrive as you claim. The level of skill/football quality will plummet without the talent.
Pedro and to the rest of the people who support this monstrosity. Fuck you guys seriously . Arsenal and all the other 11 clubs who made their reputation and brand on the back of these domestic leagues , competing with all those clubs and winning . As soon as you find out youre gonna be fucked like Nottingham or Leeds ( when they took those debts) wanna create a monopoly and ride over the very same league that made you what you are . Shameful and a Disgrace to those who are supporting this horrible Idea. Make this like WWE… Read more »
Elite Purgatory . Those were your own words Pedro , Shame you forgot them .
The idea of this stupid super league is disgusting because it will mean there is no place for romance in football anymore. It will mean that achieving something by your own merits will be taken away. That in itself is shocking to me. We aren’t better than Astonvilla in football merits right now. The excitement was waiting for us to overtake everyone and win on our own merits again. A premier league win was what we have been waiting for for the last 17 seasons. I think this Idea is an abomination. It will be a very boring league consisting… Read more »
Guns – that’s why Kroenke has been meeting with the other American owners in trying to set this up. It’s been going on for years. Chelsea, Arsenal, United, Liverpool and City were caught at the Dorchester Hotel in 2014 discussing breakaway plans. The football leaks scandal exposed similar in 2018.
It’s only because of big money backing due to the fallout from the pandemic that’s made them feel bold enough to now do it.
The club owners want financial reward without the risk. No competition = no risk, hence not being able to be relegated from the ESL.
350 million… Hmm. Wasn’t that the same figure touted by those lying shits Boris and Gove on their brexit bus o’bullshit as money that would be saved every week and channelled to the nhs?
How did that one work out? Oh yeah a complete crock.
Kroenkephobe I’m in favour of free markets that are based on free and fair competition I’m not in favour of government or corporate protectionist rackets, that are designed to eliminate the competition Corporatism and big state government are basically the same thing, they eliminate the competition to preserve the means of production for themselves This European Super League is the football equivalent of the EU customs union and single market I won’t confuse you any further because you’re as thick as two short planks, you’ve really not got much going on between your ears So I’ll probably leave it there… Read more »
Jurgen Klopp: “I have the same opinion about the super league. My feelings have not changed.”
“The no relegation thing is a bit off putting but I’m in a let’s wait and see what happens phase. Again it’s not like Arsenal football club were doing anything substantial anyway with whatever current formats exist”
Because we’ve been poorly run let’s flip the whole system on it’s head and give that a go? What a take.
We’ve not been doing much because of the failure in leadership/ownership, nothing to do with the football system in place domestically, or in Europe.
Pedro big day Spuds not even discussed hidden with what’s gone on, Levy very clever.
Nice one Rich
You’re evidently a serious intellectual. There there.
Pedro Honestly have a word with yourself and introspect , Sport is and always will be a competition . A fair contest between equals on the pitch. If you reduce it to the levels of Baseball ,the cheek of Americans calling it World Series when no other country participates in them . There is no consequence for failure , what good will that actually bring ?? UEFA and FIFA might be corrupt institutions but they dont meddle in when the sport is being played .They dont give undue advantage to clubs ,yes City and PSG to some extent have financially… Read more »
This is a lazy ass get rich scheme.
Stan loves this of course.
3 years is a long time before it happens and I am sure by then, it will be litigated enough to die a pre mature death.
Stan just needs to sell the club to a new owner who knows what it takes to win.
That is it!
out of interest does anyone know why psg rejected the super league when you city middle Eastern backed teams like City front and centre in the esl queue its intriguing psg rejected it..
Can’t believe people still believe there would be an EPL with ESL
If the big six get to play in the ESL what is in for them? They are already in Europe so why still they play their best players in the EPL?
The EPL would be like Carling Cup for the big teams.
Bergkamp63 April 19, 2021 16:05:19 And who the fuck wants to see teams like Dundalk in the CL anyway ? ————————————————————————————- Me, I do, definitely. One of my favourite moments in football was seeing Raith Rovers going one-nil up on Bayern Munich in Munich in the UEFA Cup. But aside from the romance of everybody getting a shot, I do find it more interesting to see teams I’ve never seen before, from countries I’ve never visited, with completely unknown players. Sure, there’s often lots of dross. But once in a while there’s a Shevchenko, or a Stoickov, or a Hagi.… Read more »
Why do Arsenal players earn so much when they are apparently so shit at their jobs? I’m watching Leeds play calmly out of the back against a Liverpool press and wonder if Leeds players are better than the Arsenal players.
Why do highly paid professionals panic when required to do the basics of their job?
London gunner
PSG reason is the owners also own the main Tv network in that part of the world that haven’t long paid a shit ton load of money for the champions league rights until 2024 . They have a vested interest in champions league till then or they paid a huge amount for a now second rate European competition . They’ll join eventually.
Eagle
Mate I’m really a bit open minded about the whole thing really, don’t care that much what happens to be fair because well, both teams i follow have been a bit shit for a while now. Can see the merits and demerits of it all but like i said earlier, not so fussed what happens with it
Agree with Spanish D, Levy very clever.
Shifts Mourinho under the absolute fog of the Super club announcement, can only imagine that payout. Somehow blagged entry into the Super league based on what? This is a club thats won 2x league cups since the incarnation of the Premier league.
Thats a fancy piece of negotiating on his part, as a friend text me earlier the Amazon Doc definitely greased the wheels with them involved in potential TV rights. Which really says it all.
There should have been a rule that said 51 % of any team should be owned by fans and a single person can’t own more than 10 or 20 % of any sporting team. This abomination wouldn’t have happened if football was still owned by fans. I hope they try it and it fails badly. And these clubs take major losses and return with their tails between their legs.
Yeah levy clever axing mourinho now , how we haven’t done the same is beyond me . We cannot in any shape or form go into all this with arteta fumbling his way about . That’s the first thing that needs changing
Not to mention City’s owners are from the UAE whereas PSG’s are from Qatar, who have pumped billions into hosting the FIFA World Cup next year, FIFA being the key component here.
WE
Absolutely PSG owners I’m pretty sure want to stay in fifa good books after greasing their palms so lavishly for the Qatari World Cup
Pedro.. I’ve followed this blog for a long time. I have mostly agreed with your sentiment on the football side of things, i.e. the decline of Wenger, giving Unai a chance but realising he was a busted flush, and more recently being patient with project Arteta (sauce). However.. your post today is so blatantly trying to sit on the fence between loyal football fans (legacy fans wtf?) and the greedy, grubbing, billionarres club trying to take ownership of elite football that it is actually creepy. I do not give one fuck if Arsenal gain £350 million for joining this capitalist… Read more »
Someone will sue this ESL for a monopoly or unfair business something or another.
If this is going to kick in this summer ( i read 2024) then we are really up shits creek though in the mean time.
As we type, lawyers are at the ready….
EPL is under UEFA and if this rogue teams dont get in line, we might get kicked out of the prem?!
This is going to get ugly
I mean UEFA have allowed oil rich countries take over clubs spending billions while parroting some random shit about Financial fair play. We used it as an excuse as to why we couldn’t compete for so long so it’s not like UEFA have any moral standing themselves too which is maybe why I’m a bit not so fussed about the whole thing
PSG only need to wait till the world Cup is over and then they can abandon ship and join the super league.
I think their tv deal for champions league tv rights is on three years so they will only lose out on one year but make 350 from joining the super league.
PSG are being tactical they will join the super league when the timing aligns
I wouldn’t mind a super league if it had the possibility of being relegated and promoted to.
Maybe have a two year system whereby the lowest points total over two years is relegated with the winner of the domestic league promoted in their place.
Divine Sherlock It is not a question of supporting the idea that there should be an ESL, but if 12 of the 15 most post powerful clubs in Europe sign up to the idea then I am afraid it becomes a fait accompli whether you like it or not. There are three elite clubs who have sofar not signed up to the project and the only one which really matters is frankly Bayern Munich. The other 2 clubs PSG and Borussia Dortmund will make absolutely no impact on final outcome. There is a short term threat to the five clubs… Read more »
I cannot think of a bigger public relations fiasco that the announcement of the ESL.
They seem to have totally miscalculated the public sentiment. All the balled up anger from the pandemic will be discharged on the top 6 teams.
The premier league is not going to bin the top 6 clubs though because they hold most of the commercial value of the league.
After reading up a bit I’m pretty confident The super league won’t happen. I’m a bit sad though that Arsenal have mugged themselves off by announcing it. We don’t have the pull or power of the likes of united, Barca and real. We just look like kids trying to sit at the big boys table. Could be worse though I suppose. We could be Spurs. What a joke that is, almost no winning heritage in that team. Hopefully the Arsenal brand will be damaged by this and our price will drop and Dangote will swoop in and take Arsenal off… Read more »
One of the major threats of forcing this league to structure itself outside of the FA, UEFA, and FIFA would be that there wouldn’t be any control or more likely any need for these clubs to pay transfer fees or compensation. No doubt that the clubs themselves would have some sort of agreement about honouring contracts but I do wonder how FIFA could possibly impose sanctions against clubs that wouldn’t be part of their structure. This whole saga is a about power and in this context power is money. There is a lot of knee jerk about clubs being kicked… Read more »