The European Leagues & Competitions Thread V2

[Fernando 6,376]

12 minutes ago, chippy said:

The NBA is seeing a huge decline in TV ratings in the USA. Even the finals only got about 6-7 million viewers, which is pretty abysmal from a population of 340 million.

True that being said I do hope we back out of this. If we don't have Bayern, PSG and Dortmund is not that great for me. AC Milan, Arsenal are nowhere near good enough for this. 

And as many people said it feels like we are bailing out Real Madrid and Juventus for their nonsense. 

Let them figure, they might fall out of the limelight for a while like it happen with Liverpool. But they will be back eventually. 

[DDA 9,570]

It would be interesting to see how a Super League would play out for a season but if its just to save the scummy Spanish and Italian clubs.. then no.

We have the power in England... in the Prem... and we are literally bending over and pulling our pants down.

[Randomshit 10]

47 minutes ago, Fernando said:

Well this guy has a point: The argument over relegation and so on seems stupid. Do games in the NFL, MLB and so on suffer from it not being a factor? When teams don’t do so well it gives them the opportunity to rebuild without the stress they may go down. The clubs could corner the market in players, but don’t they do that anyway? 

The point about that the games will be boring is also baseless. NFL, NBA has the same teams and people still watch it. 

 

Absolutely. Would love to be like Lakers who for 10 years could not make the play off and were the worst team In the league. 

Or something like okc, who traded pg and Westbrook for a tonne of draft pick and will be shit for atleast 5 more years.

Or even better, we could do something like magic, where as we trade vucevic, Gordon, Aminu as what is the point of even staying competitive if you are not going to be winning the thing, right? 

😂😂😂

The fact that the worst aspect of American sports is now being packaged as the most enticing part of it is a joke. 

[Vesper 27,372]

Abramovich should be ashamed

Tuesday April 20 2021 Matt Law's Chelsea briefing

Owner previously beat football's cartel — he cannot now block same chance for others By Matt Law, Football News Correspondent There is a reason Roman Abramovich was not welcomed with open arms by the owners of Chelsea’s Premier League rivals back in 2003 and it had nothing to do with any strong views on Russian politics. David Dein, then vice-chairman of Arsenal, was in Monaco for the Champions League draw when he famously said: “Roman Abramovich has parked his Russian tank in our front garden and is firing £50 notes at us.” Just like the motivation behind the formation of the European Super League, the reason the established two-club Premier League elite at the time did not like Abramovich and what he stood for was purely selfish and borne out of the fear of competition. And, as it turned out, rightly so, as Chelsea have been the most successful team in English football since Abramovich dared to take on the Premier League cartel of Manchester United and Arsenal. Up until Abramovich’s arrival, only Blackburn Rovers in 1994-95 had managed to stop either United or Arsenal winning the Premier League title every season since its inception in 1992. The Premier League had pretty much been a closed shop until Abramovich came in and blew the doors open to those who could afford to and dared to challenge. It could certainly be argued that Abu Dhabi would not have bothered pumping their vast sums of money into Manchester City five years later if Abramovich had not demonstrated that United and Arsenal could be beaten. Which is why it is so disappointing that Abramovich has jumped into bed with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy and Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke, and allowed Chelsea to board the European Super League train. Levy, remember, is the man who, along with others, lobbied support from Premier League clubs to make sure Newcastle United’s proposed Saudi Arabia-backed takeover did not go ahead. Piracy and human rights issues were quoted as the reasons for the failed bid, but one can speculate that Levy did not fancy the extra competition a rejuvenated Newcastle could have posed - just as Dein and Co did not want Abramovich invading their cartel. Arsenal put all their eggs in the Financial Fair Play basket, hoping it would help to kill off the competition created by Abramovich and followed up by Manchester City and, in Europe, Paris Saint-Germain. Again, Chelsea’s millions were not welcomed by the elite, who wanted to close the gates, but by then it was too late. Tottenham are a club that have not won a trophy for 13 years or a League title since 1961 and Arsenal’s expectations have fallen off a cliff so dramatically that Mikel Arteta’s future has not come under scrutiny in a season in which they could finish in the bottom half of the table. Under Abramovich, Chelsea are a club that do not hand out bonuses for Champions League qualification or finishing second as employees of the Russian billionaire only get rewarded for winning. Club legend Frank Lampard lost his job, despite finishing fourth and reaching the FA Cup final last season and qualifying for the last-16 of the Champions League this term. Abramovich does not recognise ‘success’ in the same way Levy and Kroenke do. And yet everybody, including Tottenham and Arsenal, would be rewarded for mediocrity in a European Super League in which nobody can be relegated. Similarly, those teams would also earn far more than any of the Premier League clubs left behind, no matter how badly they might perform. By agreeing to go along with the European Super League plan, Abramovich has joined forces with those who tried so hard to stop him and is now part of a group denying others the same opportunity he grasped with both hands. That is why, even though Chelsea were not among the drivers of the Super League, Abramovich should be embarrassed and ashamed to call the likes of Levy and Kroenke allies, and why Chelsea fans, for possibly the first time of his reign, should be disappointed with the man who has already fought and beaten football’s cartel. There is still time for Abramovich and Chelsea to remember where they came from and do the right thing. Got a question on Chelsea? Get in touch on Twitter @Matt_Law_DT or by emailing [email protected]

 

[Superblue 6,331]

Clubs such as Porto and Benfica have been quick to distance themselves from rumours of joining the ESL. 

I'd be surprised with the current outcry, what other clubs would have the nerve to join this league currently. 

It could end up just 12 teams or some really watered down European clubs making up the numbers, so we'd be back to average clubs involved like the Champions League.

[ZAPHOD2319 3,893]

I wonder if the Uefa lawyers have found out they cannot remove the current teams? Would be good news for us.

 

https://www.espn.com/soccer/uefa-champions-league/story/4365074/champions-league-semis-with-european-super-league-rebels-to-go-ahead-sources

Edited April 20, 2021 by ZAPHOD2319

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

[Randomshit 10]

8 minutes ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

As someone who does not watch NBA anymore, it is largely due to only a handful of teams having the best players. Who wants to watch a entire season when you can name the teams that will be there at the end.

With the same logic, why would you even want to watch a closed league of 12 teams, specially when there is no relegation involved?

Also last year Lakers and nuggets got to the conference final in the west while Miami and Celtics fought for it in East. 

Just the last 3 nba titles has been won by all different teams - Lakers, raptors, gsw.

I will give you that gsw did build a dynasty, but atleast their dynasty was solely oit of draft picks in curry, Klay, green. I highly appreciate that over making of super teams, which is what will happen if these super rich clubs get even more rich and buy even better players. That would be the definition of repetitive champions.

 

[NikkiCFC 7,597]

29 minutes ago, Blues Forever said:

As announced by Bloomberg and confirmed by RMC Sport, UEFA is preparing a counterattack in the Super League. UEFA is working with investment fund to come up with new LOC that would have a starting budget of €4.5b but which could go up to €7b.

This is essential. UEFA makes bigger budget. All good. 

[ZAPHOD2319 3,893]

1 minute ago, Randomshit said:

With the same logic, why would you even want to watch a closed league of 12 teams, specially when there is no relegation involved?

Also last year Lakers and nuggets got to the conference final in the west while Miami and Celtics fought for it in East. 

Just the last 3 nba titles has been won by all different teams - Lakers, raptors, gsw.

I will give you that gsw did build a dynasty, but atleast their dynasty was solely oit of draft picks in curry, Klay, green. I highly appreciate that over making of super teams, which is what will happen if these super rich clubs get even more rich and buy even better players. That would be the definition of repetitive champions.

 

The more I see of this Super League, I dont think it will be better than what we currently have,

[Superblue 6,331]

Just now, Randomshit said:

With the same logic, why would you even want to watch a closed league of 12 teams, specially when there is no relegation involved?

This to me is the biggest problem.

If they had planned a proper league system I would have been seriously interested as it is then something completely new and fresh (say it was 20 teams initially and broke into a division 1 and 2 with promotion and relegation each season) and I think that would then have the potential to grow even further once established as a third division could be eventually added through domestic qualification and then these clubs have an opportunity to remain in the competition and qualify up the leagues and in turn others can slip down and be relegated out.

The problem is the proposed Champions League and this ESL are barely any different and both pretty rubbish ideas to be honest.

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

[chippy 342]

39 minutes ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

As someone who does not watch NBA anymore, it is largely due to only a handful of teams having the best players. Who wants to watch a entire season when you can name the teams that will be there at the end.

To be honest, I've always found Basketball alongside Rugby and F1 as completely unwatchable sports. Basketball is just far too one dimensional and repetitive for my liking.

Never anyone to even encourage me to give it a try either,  as its never talked about at work and never watched on the TV in our sports mad bar. 

For me, Baseball is by far the most interesting, enjoyable American sport 

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

[chippy 342]

48 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Abramovich should be ashamed

Tuesday April 20 2021 Matt Law's Chelsea briefing

Owner previously beat football's cartel — he cannot now block same chance for others By Matt Law, Football News Correspondent There is a reason Roman Abramovich was not welcomed with open arms by the owners of Chelsea’s Premier League rivals back in 2003 and it had nothing to do with any strong views on Russian politics. David Dein, then vice-chairman of Arsenal, was in Monaco for the Champions League draw when he famously said: “Roman Abramovich has parked his Russian tank in our front garden and is firing £50 notes at us.” Just like the motivation behind the formation of the European Super League, the reason the established two-club Premier League elite at the time did not like Abramovich and what he stood for was purely selfish and borne out of the fear of competition. And, as it turned out, rightly so, as Chelsea have been the most successful team in English football since Abramovich dared to take on the Premier League cartel of Manchester United and Arsenal. Up until Abramovich’s arrival, only Blackburn Rovers in 1994-95 had managed to stop either United or Arsenal winning the Premier League title every season since its inception in 1992. The Premier League had pretty much been a closed shop until Abramovich came in and blew the doors open to those who could afford to and dared to challenge. It could certainly be argued that Abu Dhabi would not have bothered pumping their vast sums of money into Manchester City five years later if Abramovich had not demonstrated that United and Arsenal could be beaten. Which is why it is so disappointing that Abramovich has jumped into bed with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy and Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke, and allowed Chelsea to board the European Super League train. Levy, remember, is the man who, along with others, lobbied support from Premier League clubs to make sure Newcastle United’s proposed Saudi Arabia-backed takeover did not go ahead. Piracy and human rights issues were quoted as the reasons for the failed bid, but one can speculate that Levy did not fancy the extra competition a rejuvenated Newcastle could have posed - just as Dein and Co did not want Abramovich invading their cartel. Arsenal put all their eggs in the Financial Fair Play basket, hoping it would help to kill off the competition created by Abramovich and followed up by Manchester City and, in Europe, Paris Saint-Germain. Again, Chelsea’s millions were not welcomed by the elite, who wanted to close the gates, but by then it was too late. Tottenham are a club that have not won a trophy for 13 years or a League title since 1961 and Arsenal’s expectations have fallen off a cliff so dramatically that Mikel Arteta’s future has not come under scrutiny in a season in which they could finish in the bottom half of the table. Under Abramovich, Chelsea are a club that do not hand out bonuses for Champions League qualification or finishing second as employees of the Russian billionaire only get rewarded for winning. Club legend Frank Lampard lost his job, despite finishing fourth and reaching the FA Cup final last season and qualifying for the last-16 of the Champions League this term. Abramovich does not recognise ‘success’ in the same way Levy and Kroenke do. And yet everybody, including Tottenham and Arsenal, would be rewarded for mediocrity in a European Super League in which nobody can be relegated. Similarly, those teams would also earn far more than any of the Premier League clubs left behind, no matter how badly they might perform. By agreeing to go along with the European Super League plan, Abramovich has joined forces with those who tried so hard to stop him and is now part of a group denying others the same opportunity he grasped with both hands. That is why, even though Chelsea were not among the drivers of the Super League, Abramovich should be embarrassed and ashamed to call the likes of Levy and Kroenke allies, and why Chelsea fans, for possibly the first time of his reign, should be disappointed with the man who has already fought and beaten football’s cartel. There is still time for Abramovich and Chelsea to remember where they came from and do the right thing. Got a question on Chelsea? Get in touch on Twitter @Matt_Law_DT or by emailing [email protected]

 

I agree with every word said by Matt, especially the last sentence.

[Vesper 27,372]

Florentino Pérez’s absurd attempt to justify the €uropean $uper £eague    Really, Florentino? Photograph: Tim Goode/PA Barry Glendenning  @bglendenning A CHANGE OF MOOD? Two days after the announcement and now the initial rage has subsided, people are finally starting to see the potential positives of a $uper £eague. Glamorous away trips! To Mumbai! To Tokyo! To Stan Kroenke’s new Enorm-o-Dome in LA! For Tottenham v Inter! In a dead rubber brought to you live by TikHouse Premium! With highlights of the second quarter brought to you on the Gazprom Jumbotron courtesy of Instachat and Zoomparty after the Euro-Con half-time show!!! What’s not to love? OK, so maybe it will take a little longer for folk to see the positives, even if Real Madrid president and people’s champion Florentino Pérez has been trying to help us all see the light. “We are doing this to save football at this critical moment,” he honked, in an attempt to shine a light on the hitherto unremarked-upon benevolence and magnanimity of those billionaire vulture-capitalists whose not-at-all self-serving motives have apparently been misunderstood. “Young people are no longer interested in football. They have other platforms on which to distract themselves. We could get back some of the money we lost because of the pandemic. We have to raise more money organising more competitive games.” The ESL would destroy football as we know it – it’s almost as if they don’t care | David Baddiel Read more While Pérez may have a point, it could be argued that many young people are no longer interested in football because they have been priced out of attending games or watching them on television by gluttonous, cash-crazed money sponges like … well, Pérez. Quite what dividing games into quarters, moving them around the world and sticking them behind an even more expensive paywall will do to help pique the interest of young Madridistas is open to debate. One of very few of the men behind the $uper £eague to stick his head above the parapet since Sunday’s big announcement, Pérez’s quite frankly absurd attempt to justify their attempt to ride a FaceSpace-branded coach and horses roughshod across over a century of tradition and something resembling sporting integrity perhaps explains why the rest of those responsible have remained resolutely tight-lipped. Instead they have chosen to shove assorted managers into the hail of bullets. While Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Thomas Tuchel were relatively reluctant to bite the hand that feeds, their opposite number at Manchester City didn’t hold back. “Sport is not a sport when the relation between the effort and reward don’t exist,” declared Pep Guardiola. “It’s not a sport when it doesn’t matter if you lose. It’s not fair if teams fight at the top and cannot qualify.” The heartwarming sound, there, of a man who knows his employers need him far more than he needs them and quite literally has not a single eff left to give. As anodyne as they can be on the pitch, the Everton hierarchy released a commendably coruscating statement, as they looked down on their counterparts from the moral high ground on their side of Stanley Park, while West Ham have since followed suit. And after a meeting of the Other 14 Clubs, the Premier League has now piped up to strenuously harrumph in the face of the Dirty Half-Dozen’s proposals. “The 14 clubs at the meeting unanimously and vigorously rejected the plans for the competition,” it announced. “The Premier League is considering all actions available to prevent it from progressing. The League will continue to work with key stakeholders including fan groups, government, Uefa, the FA, EFL, PFA and LMA to protect the best interests of the game and call on those clubs involved in the proposed competition to cease their involvement immediately.” Having set the wheels in motion for this sad monstrosity upon its foundation, the Premier League now finds itself frantically trying to apply the brakes. LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE! Join Simon Burnton from 8pm BST for hot Premier League MBM coverage of Chelsea 1-2 Brighton. QUOTE OF THE DAY “I’m appalled and embarrassed. When you talk about Liverpool Football Club and its history and its roots, you could reference seven, eight or nine of grandad’s quotes which are all appropriate to the current situation – socialism, greed and the Holy Trinity – but I also think about one of the less well known comments. It’s from his book, when he spoke about wanting to bring the football club closer to the fans and the fans closer to the football club. And he achieved that. It’s not an understatement to say he would be spinning in his grave at the current situation because it couldn’t be further removed from his ethos. Given the chance I’d happily see the statue removed” – Bill Shankly’s grandson, Chris Carline, has his say.  The bronze statue of Bill Shankly stands outside of The Kop at Anfield. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian RECOMMENDED LISTENING Football Weekly? Football Weekly! RECOMMENDED LOOKING David Squires on … well, you can probably guess.  Good luck to all! Illustration: David Squires/The Guardian FIVER LETTERS “Re: yesterday’s Fiver. I know that we expect a bare minimum of effort in our daily tea-time missive but missing out on the opportunity to go full-on ‘€uropean $uper £eague’ is a new low” – Chris Beck (and 1,056 other$). “As news broke about the €uropean $uper £eague, I was stunned by the blatant plagiarism of the Danish Superliga. I suppose the anthem for the new league will be this banger from Danish band Nephew. Does it also mean that the Danish champions will be invited to join as honorary guests?” – Lars Esbjerg. “The sporting world saw fit to mark the Duke of Edinburgh’s passing by observing a minute’s silence before events and avoiding clashes with the funeral. Those luminaries over at the €$£ have gone one better though, establishing an altogether superior class of footballing family who will consort exclusively with each other and receive loads of undeserved cash every year, leaving the plebs to seethe with resentment while nevertheless maintaining a morbid fascination with the whole charade. You have to say, as a royal tribute it’s next level” – Matt Fox. Send your letters to [email protected]. And you can always tweet The Fiver via @guardian_sport. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’the day is … Matt Fox. NEWS, BITS AND BOBS Chelsea and Manchester City, in a strange mood shift from their gleeful sharing of that joint statement at bedtime on Sunday, are understood to actually be wavering a bit. Boris Johnson’s back on the sport pages, threatening to use a “legislative bomb” to stop all this madness. Of course he is. Bayern Munich aren’t having any of this €$£ nonsense. “Our members and fans reject the $uper £eague,” sniffed club president Herbert Hainer. “It is our wish as Bayern and our aim that European clubs live this wonderfully emotional competition – [Big Cup] and develop it together with Uefa.” ICYMI, some lads actually kicked a ball around for a bit, with Leeds stopping Liverpool getting into the top four, a hark back to a bygone era when that was a thing. And to replace Portuguese man-shaped cloud José Mourinho, Spurs now want someone who likes the ball in the other team’s half. Sounds like his predecessor. STILL WANT MORE? Supporters of the rich six can now see the price we’ve paid for success, can-kicks Manchester City fan Simon Hattenstone. This outbreak of ruthless self-seeking greed is a sad self-inflicted crisis after the cooperation during the pandemic, sighs Proper Journalist David Conn. Given the names attached to the forthcoming closed shop, the most successful women’s teams may end up excluded from any parallel competition, warns Suzanne Wrack. Shameful! Theft! Greed! Taller Masts To Get Countryside Connected! … what the papers say about current affair(s). “Betrayed”, “Cold and cynical”, “I think it’s a great idea” … mixed pullquote potential for Super League Inc to consider for their posters in this roundup of reaction from Big Website readers. Oh, and if it’s your thing … you can follow Big Website on Big Social FaceSpace. And INSTACHAT, TOO! OH, DO READ BARNEY TOO

Edited April 20, 2021 by Vesper

[ZAPHOD2319 3,893]

 

[ZAPHOD2319 3,893]

Quote

“Gentlemen, you made a huge mistake. Some will say it is greed, others (will say) disdain arrogance, flippancy or complete ignorance of England’s football culture. It does not matter. What does matter is that there is still time to change your mind. Everyone makes mistakes. Come to your senses...”

-Aleksander Ceferin; source: AP via Detroit Free Press

https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2021/4/20/22393838/uefa-not-banning-anyone-yet-Chelsea-wavering-as-super-league-clubs-urged-to-reconsider-mistake