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Oh go ahead Please form a European Super League. Seriously, do it. The time has come. We are tired. We’ve all been locked up for a couple of months now. We could do it with a good laugh.
The view of the biggest and most entitled clubs in Europe trying to sell tickets or take an interest in a fake closed shop competition with no fans, no history, no relegation and a quarantine of two weeks after every away game. Well who wouldn’t break the popcorn and pay to see that?
Watch it fail, obviously. Watch it burn as we laugh loudly at the absurd vanity. The most laughable aspect of the arguments surrounding the Premier League at the moment is the implicit threat that if the elite don’t get away with it, they could stamp their feet and take the ball home once again. It turns out that small clubs are bigger players than they knew.
In fact, the next time the Big Six try to dictate to them on their part, the rest should tell them where to go.
In the absence of a title race, and last season’s battle was an exception, because over the past 10 seasons, the average winning margin has been 6.8 points, or 8.2 in the past seven seasons, increasing to 9.75 in eight seasons if we consider a conservative 20-point margin for Liverpool this year. It turns out that few people really care who finishes fourth.
They are told that the reason small clubs must play an artificial season in jeopardy is that Sky will retain the money without going down. Lots of money too. Hundreds of millions. So 20 clubs are important after all.
Mid-table mediocrities, like Arsenal, are irrelevant, including Manchester City, when 25 points adrift in second place.
Once the league is won, attention turns to the last three, or six, and the fight for survival. Except that those clubs are repeatedly told that they are worth nothing, that they contribute nothing to the party, that they are being carried away by those at the top.
However, now that the money is at stake, the truth is emerging. The Premier League, any league, is nothing without relegation. He is dying. It is boring. They all say.
The reason the clubs below are being pressured to complete their games with the real threat of an economic catastrophe looming over them is because, without it, it is a catastrophe for everyone.
If you believe in the reasoning of the elite, it turns out that there is limited interest in the fight for European places, probably because that is a victory for accountants.
Whether Chelsea finishes fourth or fifth is of interest to their fans, but to the world at large, not so much; in the same way, we are not very consumed by the fight between Seville, Real Sociedad, Getafe, Atlético de Madrid and Valencia in Spain.
Some will end up in the Champions League, others will end up in the Europa League. Some will be richer this summer. And that’s it.
It turns out that relegation from the Premier League is a bigger selling point than check writing. Turns out he takes it and the stations don’t pay.
So each club does matter. Aston Villa fighting for their lives is more exciting than a normal season in Tottenham. The Premier League has been very successful in selling the entire package, all history, good and bad.
However, somehow, most clubs have been misled into believing that they weren’t part of that deal, that they should be grateful to get into the elite queues. So, that was the scam, or the pressure to return is. The elite cannot have it anyway. If relegation is important, so does each club.
Of course, failure is not good. Burnley deserves a greater reward for occupying a comfortable, if not exciting, 10th place than Norwich for being at the bottom of the table and engaging in a titanic, biting fight to survive throughout the season.
If a dangerous existence had merit, West Ham could have kept Roberto in goal and let the panto season continue as they plummeted.
So no one is arguing that it is good to fail. Furthermore, the league contains the potential for excitement at the top and bottom and certainly a year in which the title race has been a procession for many months does not present the strongest case for the supremacy of a privileged few.
Chelsea are 34 points from Liverpool and were eliminated in Europe by Bayern Munich at Stamford Bridge. Are they really capturing imaginations around the world?
The threat of a European breakdown must also be handled very carefully. At the moment, the Premier League’s broadcast partners remain loyal. In addition to letting it be known that the decline is important and that the 2019-20 season cannot last forever: too many subscriptions put on hold or canceled.
Sky and BT have been understanding the difficult situation of soccer. Compare this to Italy, where the three companies covering Series A have so far withheld the £ 193 million needed to complete the annual fee. Why would this be?
Perhaps because Andrea Agnelli, president of the biggest club in the competition, Juventus, has spent several years talking about the European super leagues, modernized the rules of the Champions League and, in general, considered Series A as the bad relationship , obsolete and irrelevant.
There was a time when he spoke of the top clubs deploying weakened teams in national league matches to focus their attention on Europe and decrease the qualification routes for national championships.
So, having made Series A broadcasters feel like they’ve bought a puppy, undermining the value of Series A and the brand of their broadcasters, it’s not surprising that TVs don’t feel like doing owners of a favor a favor. Italy.
Premier League clubs have, until now, resisted the idea of a closed European store, but it is not a threat that they can afford to use and remain on good terms with Sky.
Broadcasters have every reason to play hard to reduce their wealth, even more so if clubs start taking poses that will do more damage to the business model.
Then there are the fans. Already outside this season and, in all probability, much of the next, what can they gain from the expanded European competition in this one, of all ages?
The government’s two-week quarantine plan for travelers was already in tatters within 24 hours of its announcement after President Macron protested and a deal was renegotiated that excluded France from the new deals.
However, if the coronavirus is going to be a part of our lives for many years, as seems likely, and the journey becomes more complex as a result, what is the point in a league that inflicts incredibly expensive or logistically hostile travel on fans. ?
We know little about the future, but what can be predicted with certainty is that it will be easier to travel between Manchester and London or Liverpool than to Istanbul, Belgrade or Turin.
Quarantine restrictions could apply at any time, given an increase in casualties; air travel could be reduced and will surely be more expensive.
Even the 2021 European Championship at its multiple locations is looking for a terrible idea right now; Why would a European league be more attractive?
So when, or if, the threat arises, bad relationships should listen to it, smile politely, and challenge the elite to try. Fans prefer a dangerous league, and it seems that broadcasters do too.
The only danger in a depressing closed European store is that some very wealthy clubs will overstep their hand. Even in such terrible times, it would take a heart of stone not to laugh.
Once the title is won, Klopp can play with whoever he wants
Regardless of which Project Restart side your club is on, we should agree on one thing: The league won, Liverpool can play who they like.
There are reasonable questions about player well-being and neutral spots, and whether the relegation can be fairly calculated if 38 games are not played. However, fears that Liverpool will earn the necessary points and submit reservations are false.
In pure logistical terms, only those who run football clubs know the many nuances of the risks involved. Over the weekend, Paul Barber, Brighton’s chief executive, pointed out potential health and safety issues that could exist on unfamiliar terrain.
Normally, he explained, the visiting medical staff depends on the local team to guide them in case of an emergency. In White Hart Lane, when Fabrice Muamba collapsed in 2012, Bolton’s doctors reportedly turned to those in Tottenham to direct them to defibrillators, emergency rooms, ambulance exit routes, and hospitals.
In a neutral location, everyone will operate at a disadvantage. Only those with experience in game day events would appreciate it.
It is a fair point regarding player welfare. However, the team selection is very different. Win the league with seven games to spare and a coach has earned the right to play any XI he chooses.
If that means keeping some players safe, or giving them a long break, if that means choosing a team to secure medals for obedient squad players who have few games, if that means more opportunities for younger players, that’s fine. .
Sheffield United began this thought process by holding West Ham accountable for its decline in 2007.
They lost at home to Wigan on the last day and won just two league games after February 10. However, Neil Warnock, the manager of Sheffield United, even blamed Liverpool for presenting a weakened side against Fulham, conveniently forgetting that he did the same against Manchester United better prepared for a game away at Charlton: losing the first game and drawing the following.
So yes, with the league trophy in hand, Jurgen Klopp might not run his players on the ground for the remaining games, but why should he?
Liverpool has done the job. If other clubs had been so efficient in achieving the goals of the season, they would not require favors from anyone.
Ashley’s prudence helped Newcastle attract Saudi buyers
Sunderland’s accounts reveal a £ 20.5 million hole that is turning off potential suitors. That, and the fact that they are stuck in League One, a competition that may not even be able to restart this season.
However, Sunderland is a great club. Even after two relegations and an inconsistent season at the third tier, they still average 30,317 home doors.
With reasonable success in the Premier League, they would be boosting their local capacity of 49,000.
Just reaching 10th place in 2010-11, attendance increased to over 40,000.
No doubt, however, Newcastle is better supported. That season, they finished two places under Sunderland, but drew an average crowd of 47,718. If there was nothing to choose between the two, Newcastle would be the preferred investment prospect.
But what if Sunderland were at the bottom center table of the Premier League and Newcastle were in League One with a £ 20.5m hole in the balance sheet?
It is not a possibility that a Saudi Arabian investment fund will buy them. Few on Tyneside will speak positively about the Mike Ashley regime, but prudence ultimately brought investment to Newcastle.
If their prospect resembled Sunderland’s, they would never have been sold to anyone who could make a difference.
Dresden is an inconvenient detail
Dynamo Dresden is in quarantine, but the Bundesliga will play from Saturday. Of course he will. Germany has invested heavily in being seen as Europe’s sensitive older brother during the coronavirus crisis, and being the first major football league to return to action is part of that stance.
As leaders of the European project, recovering from the coronavirus is vital, and now little will stand in the way, regardless of the evidence.
For the same reason, the country continues to push with block relief measures, even as its R rate continues to rise to 1.13, which means that infections will increase.
The Dresden crisis is an inconvenience, nothing more, and you will not be allowed to affect the positive narrative of control and success.
Don’t imagine it couldn’t happen here. It is no wonder that many players are concerned.
The last Charlton Bobby Dazzler …
Fresh out of directing Brescia until the end of Serie A, Massimo Cellino is said to be waiting for a return to English football with Charlton.
One wonders how many black cats Charlton fans have run over to deserve this parade of nightmare custodians.
The last Friday before closing, I had an enormously enjoyable lunch with, among others, Michael Henderson, one of my favorite writers on cricket, or anything, really.
It was, as always, very good company and we will do it again in better times. Meanwhile, there’s her new book That Will Be England Gone, for lovers of everything worth having.
Like England, cricket, Ken Dodd and good friends. See you soon Mike.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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