Still the best league for obvious reasons. Not even up for debate.
The relative strength of the Premier League
- Thread starter Wumminator
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The weakness of the league overall has hurt both City and Liverpool in their games against Madrid, the same thing that has been happening to PSG for years. white text
Aside from Pool and City, the PL is shit. The fact that we were in the race for top 4 in such an absymal season is one example. West Ham played out of their minds and couldnt get Europa League. Midway through, Conte showed how shit the league is by taking an abject Spurs, under Nuno, to the CL.
It's fun to watch Real Madrid beat the best Premier League teams, they're still the best league right now but the gap isn't as big as some like to claim. It was a fun season anyway and hope we get to draw Manchester City again so we can knock out the Pep Guardiola is my idol again. 
Outside of Liverpool and City the PL is crap. Contrary to the names and money being spent the quality is as low as it’s ever been. It’s still the most entertaining league because it’s unpredictable but this quality argument is nonsense, as it always has been.
If you want an example of how terrible the league is, we finished with a goal difference of zero, and we looked like one of the worst teams I have ever seen, every single match, and we still finished sixth and had a pretty good chance of a top 4 finish.
If you want an example of how terrible the league is, we finished with a goal difference of zero, and we looked like one of the worst teams I have ever seen, every single match, and we still finished sixth and had a pretty good chance of a top 4 finish.
I don’t get how this proves La Liga is best. Barcelona finished third in their group and were knocked out by a midtable Bundesliga side and Athletico were beaten by City, the ultimate CL bottlers, after barely doing anything against the worst United side in decades. Even Real had some embarrassing defeats this year.
The PL is the best league in the world. Real being brilliant in the CL doesn't change that. They've had a knack for this competition for years.
The PL is the best league in the world. Real being brilliant in the CL doesn't change that. They've had a knack for this competition for years.
It's very overrated because it's got two teams and because of Sky. Even in terms of entertainment, Serie A has arguably been more entertaining.
And City were dominated by PSG.. Liverpool suffered against a poor Inter and was in danger against Villarreal…. Only City and Pool are worth mentioning.
The PL is still the strongest, but the gap is nowhere near what the money suggests.
In recent years, Spurs, Chelsea and United have all gotten to European finals. What league has more strength in depth?
I do agree the gap in quality is smaller than the financial gap.
I’m fine with this.
I think if the Champions was a league with 20 clubs and with no knockout phase, Manchester City would finish it between 15 to 20 points ahead of Madrid.
Isn’t that what this new format is basically going to be?
I'm not sure if they are going to eliminate the knockout phase. If its the case, brace yourselves for Bayern and City winning 30 champions in the next decades.
I’m not looking forward to it. Feels like a way for the big clubs to maintain their places at the top.
To be fair they got abit lucky in semi and final, looking rather like the 2nd best team throughout. Not that I would complain at all though.
Do you base that on City drawing with Sporting, losing to Leipzig, Paris, and Madrid? And in your scenario does City still get the fake sponsor oil money + the PL tv rights?
I heard that United are the last PL team that beat a non-PL team in regular time in a CL final.
Chelsea beat Bayern in penalties and the rest were european champions by beating another PL team.
Its an alarming stat.
Chelsea beat Bayern in penalties and the rest were european champions by beating another PL team.
Its an alarming stat.
The only reason why some people thought EPL is the best is because it's using English language and i meant it wholeheartedly not trolling. So it's easier for publication and marketing purpose throughout the world. Most of those people don't watch football outside of epl nor having enough football knowledge to assess other leagues overall strength , it's simple to say epl is the best when these people literally know nothing about other leagues , it's like saying the restaurant around your neighborhood has the best food even though you never taste anything outside. Actually there isn't much different in strength between epl teams and other top 4 league, Liverpool were lucky to reach the final, any of Inter , Benfica and Villareal could have eliminated them with more luck. All the european winners this season were beating an epl side at semifinal.
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Madrid just have a mastery over prem clubs in Europe. It’s unexplainable. Even when they get battered they somehow win. This Madrid side was ragtag and weak. Yet they just find a way.
Absolutely. It really highlighted that the prem is a morass of shite below City and Liverpool, hence why they're racking up 90+ points every year.
We beat Milan but on penalties and were thoroughly outplayed. It does seem like English clubs get found out against the continental ones. Maybe a coaching standard issue? I heard a few years ago that Spain and Germany had more coaches with UEFA badges than England, and by a large margin.
Yes, United in 99. Since that we've only had 2 finals going to English sides against other opposition. Both are among the weakest winners ever. Pool 2005 and Chelsea 2012 (I can't say which is the worst fluke). And of course, both got the unlikely comeback + the shootout.
It’s not just Madrid, an average Atletico gave Pool a hard time in the group stage and kicked us out, we struggle against any La Liga side we meet throughout the years from the Madrid and Barca to Celta, Atletico, Bilbao, Villarreal, Sevilla. City got spanked by Barca and Madrid quite regularly during their first few years in the CL. Chelsea is the best of the lot, but they also fluked that win against Barca in 2012 being beaten twice before that and lost to Atletico in the semi in 13/14.
For all the masturbatory rhetorics of the PL being the best league, performance in Europe has never borne that out, but for a couple of years in the last few decades.
Yep. "You kill it, you own it" rule comes into effect. Give over those medals baldy
I mean, all 3 looked hilariously better than us over the games, but stillIt's fun to watch Real Madrid beat the best Premier League teams, they're still the best league right now but the gap isn't as big as some like to claim. It was a fun season anyway and hope we get to draw Manchester City again so we can knock out the Pep Guardiola is my idol again.
Wut? When?
Oh yeah. We'd be closer to Chelsea than City, definitely. Though I think it comes down to coaching, we actually have better players overall than Chelsea and are close to Liverpool and City
Btw, Liverpool in Europe under Klopp:
2016 - lost to Sevilla
2018 - lost to Real Madrid
2019 - won
2020 - lost to pateticos Madrid
2021 - lost to Real Madrid
2022 - lost to Real Madrid
Iirc, they got away with one there. Similar to us yesterday
They did what matters. They scored 2 goals and conceded none. You did the same yesterday but you got robbed of one of your goals (Fairplay I guess if UEFA is making you pay for the ESL).
And it really is beyond dispute. You only have to look at the money involved. Since the Americans are not terribly invested in football (soccer, for their benefit) and the OZ/NZ ones aren't either, it can't be claimed that sheer global linguistic weight is what carries the PL to prominence. There are probably two or even three times as many people in this world who are interested in football and have Spanish as their native language, and yet the Premier League is the one that remains vastly more profitable in terms of both advertisement and viewership deals. It's because this is a league that actually has more than two or three teams worth paying attention to. And that was the case before the various takeovers, too.
It's difficult to express it without sounding like an arrogant cnut, but the PL ranks far above any other league in the eyes of the world. It's why teams stand to gain like £150m from promotion into it, and why a club like United can be absolute garbage for an entire decade and still remain one of the most supported clubs in the world. If Barcelona should happen to go through a decade of shit, do you think all these kids from Switzerland and Turkey will remain staunch supporters? Of course not. That's why they're in financial trouble. Unlike Bayern and PSG, they don't have an utter monopoly on their league, so - much like the Italians - they face financial breakdown the moment they stop being the team du jour.
Real Madrid have their legacy and their firm control over the Muslim world, where they are basically the only team anyone cares about. Aside from that, if you go almost anywhere in the world where the domestic league carries no real weight, the locals will support a PL club. All of Scandinavia, for instance, is entirely devoted to English football. As a Dane, I can attest to the fact that nobody here gives the slightest of fecks about the Bundesliga despite it being our neighbour. It isn't even really televised here. Everyone supports a PL club.
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City and Liverpool are obviously better teams than Real Madrid (though I hate both City and Loserpool).
Real Madrid played like underdog in both games, in terms of possessions, chances created, xG etc.
The fact that Real Madrid managed to win both games doesn't prove it is the strongest team.
We cant say because Wigan beat city in fa cup final,, Wigan was the best team in England in 2013
Real Madrid played like underdog in both games, in terms of possessions, chances created, xG etc.
The fact that Real Madrid managed to win both games doesn't prove it is the strongest team.
We cant say because Wigan beat city in fa cup final,, Wigan was the best team in England in 2013
chelse against barcelona was an absolute shambles (or hilarious depending on your allegience).
The sheer bias of the officials at stamford bridge was incredible at the time. barcelona got away with murder.
Still remember drogba. Almost felt sorry for them at the time. Almost.
I think RM fared decently against PL teams.
Against Chelsea I think they were better. The 2nd game was bad, but RM have had a bad 2nd game after a great 1st one a lot in the winning CL runs (Juve, Atletico, Dortmund), it's a game management issue, same reason why they can do remontadas. It's difficult for anyone to manage a 2-goal advantage, you lose concentration.
City were better than RM in general, but also lucky in that RM gifted them a lot of goals. Defense in the first game was uncharacteristically shit (even by its middling standards).
Against Liverpool the tactics were the same against PSG, but this time they worked perfectly. It was incredibly boring and shit compared to the knockouts but whatever.
Against Chelsea I think they were better. The 2nd game was bad, but RM have had a bad 2nd game after a great 1st one a lot in the winning CL runs (Juve, Atletico, Dortmund), it's a game management issue, same reason why they can do remontadas. It's difficult for anyone to manage a 2-goal advantage, you lose concentration.
City were better than RM in general, but also lucky in that RM gifted them a lot of goals. Defense in the first game was uncharacteristically shit (even by its middling standards).
Against Liverpool the tactics were the same against PSG, but this time they worked perfectly. It was incredibly boring and shit compared to the knockouts but whatever.
This is like the 17th consecutive win for a Spanish team against a non-Spanish team in a European final.
I thought Chelsea was the worst actually. They got the most fortunate goal (Mendy’s error) and Chelsea missed the worst chances of any team. The first half of the first game was good but then Chelsea definitely should have got within 1 goal, Lukaku missing a few sitters iirc
In the second leg Chelsea completely outplayed them, 3 up and could have been more and Alonso’s goal was also harshly ruled out for offside (comparing to other goals allowed with the apparent new handball rule). Chelsea had 48 shots in 2 games.
La Liga is still just a 2 team battle of a league. Sometimes that is not even there.
You check the quality of teams like Leicester, United, Brighton, West Ham, Arsenal - it just shows what a different season PL teams have.
You check the quality of teams like Leicester, United, Brighton, West Ham, Arsenal - it just shows what a different season PL teams have.
The EPL is the best but I’m still not overly impressed with the teams below Chelsea. I think majority are shite with the exception of a couple who are punching above their weight.
But how do you know how the likes of Betis and Real Sociedad would do in the Premiership? Why does everyone assume they would lose just because of their smaller budgets? The accusation against them is that they don't beat Real Madrid? Well neither does Liverpool?
I don't understand the logic sometimes. Look at the record that La Liga teams have in European trophies this century. It's astonishing.
I look at La Liga’ no 7 in table vs PL’s no 7.
Ronaldo wouldn’t play for Villareal. Pau Torres is more likely to leave Villareal to join PL’s top 7.
Then in the last 2 decades I have seen - city, Liverpool, United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Leicester city win titles. Team’s like Tottenham, West ham, Everton, Newcastle getting big at different moments in the past or future, some even reaching cL finals.
Its not about Sevilla and Villareal not being able to perform in the PL - it’s more that more clubs would make it harder for the La Liga top 2 plus half of atletico madrid.
Ancelotti was the last manager of Everton and is winning titles all over the place with Real Madrid again.
It's so hard to tell if these posts are satire or not.