[Fordlover88]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Just how good are Leeds?!

Relentless, and the quality and fitness to back it up.

Final seconds of added time, 3-0 up on the night, and they still have SEVEN players up for the last counter-attack. Wow!

Leeds are turning out to be the surprise package of EPL. Their highline relentless attack is a joy to watch. But what's worrying is that their high tempo football may lead to fatigue soon & without a decent bench they may start fading as season progresses.

[ABHI_1512]

So, whose game it will be tonight ?? Pirlo v/s Koeman should be a game to look out for but with no Ronaldo, Barcelona might scrap through I guess !!

[SaiSW]

Is anyone reading the FT twitter thread replies ( esp Arsenal thread after yesterday's match ). They're damn hilarious

Also, I can't fully verify that dribble stat picture, but if that's true then this is absolutely shocking for arsenal. It pains me to see one of the biggest clubs in England play like this.

[ABHI_1512]

Loads of expectation kept me awake to watch the Barcelona and Juventus Champions League match. But the half time result of 2-0 in favour of Juventus is overshadowed by two separate incidents it seems.

Manchester United are playing catch up against RB Leipzig and the match between PSG and Istanbul Basaksehir has been suspended for an incident involving, of all things- racism !!

Koeman would so like to have something on the lines of Gullit-Rijkaard-Van Basten combo in his team right now !

[ask_017]

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

Manchester United are playing catch up against RB Leipzig

Ever since that match vs PSG at home last week, writing was pretty much on the wall for Ole I think. Poor decisions coupled with poor defensive performances, always playing catch up has finally proven costly. Qualification was there for the taking and Man United failed miserably at that.

[pandey.jai]

Originally Posted by ask_017

Ever since that match vs PSG at home last week, writing was pretty much on the wall for Ole I think. Poor decisions coupled with poor defensive performances, always playing catch up has finally proven costly. Qualification was there for the taking and Man United failed miserably at that.

.. and yet, he still has the job and there are calls for the board to back him in the next window. He has enough buddies in the right places, so the pundits and the media don’t call him out for his poor performances. I guess this is the equivalent of “networking” in IT.

[kavensri]

What do you guys think about the proposed ESL (European Super League)? When there is so much of opposition from UEFA, FIFA and even head of these countries, how can these clubs go ahead with this proposal? Which player wants to be part of these teams if they are banned from playing for their national team and the club banned from playing in their national league?
Or, is this just a bargaining plan from these major clubs to make sure that UEFA listens to them?

[Eshan Joshi]

Originally Posted by kavensri

What do you guys think about the proposed ESL (European Super League)? When there is so much of opposition from UEFA, FIFA and even head of these countries, how can these clubs go ahead with this proposal? Which player wants to be part of these teams if they are banned from playing for their national team and the club banned from playing in their national league?
Or, is this just a bargaining plan from these major clubs to make sure that UEFA listens to them?

It's horrible and disgraceful.

They are ruining the sport just for money. They are gonna kill so many small clubs by this.

It's gonna completely ruin the football league system .
I would let Rio Ferdinand explain that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC08HPDlJlA

And this is what the fans think:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFtb17BPtpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBsfJ2hmDsQ

And as an Arsenal fan what am I supposed to say? Yesterday we drew 1-1 to Fulham who are 18th in the league. If we go there we are just gonna lose every match and finish in the bottom 3.

Jose got sacked from Spurs because he declined to train the team after Spurs entered the ESL.

And I don't think many people are ready to see Leicester , West Ham and Everton fight out for the PL title.


But my respect to PSG , Dortmund and Bayern for not joining



This thing is so dangerous to the football system that Boris Johnson has got involved in preventing this.

Just hope and pray that this thing gets scrapped.

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by Eshan Joshi

But my respect to PSG , Dortmund and Bayern for not joining[/b]

Don't know about PSG, but most of the German clubs are owned (atleast the majority stake) by fans. And we have seen so far, the reaction from fans are 'against' this league. So no surprise there with Bayern Munich and Dortmund.
I am following every reaction to this news and eagerly waiting for the comments from the players from these 12 clubs. What if, the players start quitting these clubs? I know, there is so much of money involved, but still if a player is banned from playing for his country or his team is banned from playing the league, will that be okay for a player?
I have been following the football since more than 30 years now and I have not seen anything like this in those 30 years!

[Eshan Joshi]

Originally Posted by kavensri

Don't know about PSG, but most of the German clubs are owned (atleast the majority stake) by fans. And we have seen so far, the reaction from fans are 'against' this league. So no surprise there with Bayern Munich and Dortmund.

That's why I have been watching the Bundesliga since the past 5 years. Way more advanced that the others.

Actually It's called the 50+1 rule. Under German Football League [DFL] rules, football clubs will not be allowed to play in the Bundesliga if commercial investors have more than a 49 percent stake.. Which is really nice model.

For those who don't know , here is the Bundesliga explaining it:
https://www.bundesliga.com/en/news/B...ned-466583.jsp

I am following every reaction to this news and eagerly waiting for the comments from the players from these 12 clubs. What if, the players start quitting these clubs? I know, there is so much of money involved, but still if a player is banned from playing for his country or his team is banned from playing the league, will that be okay for a player?
I have been following the football since more than 30 years now and I have not seen anything like this in those 30 years!

The truth is harsh. Many of these owners care about maximum profits. Daniel Levy just let Jose walk out of Spurs a week before the EFL final. This happened 2 hours ago when Jose told him that he won't train due to a disagreement over the ESL.

Apparently many board members are not happy with the owners.

But the owners are doing this for maximum profits. Apparently they are fine if the players get banned from international football.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SigvDl14tAU

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Eshan Joshi

This thing is so dangerous to the football system that Boris Johnson has got involved in preventing this.

I can understand that this will potentially change everything in football and it is a big deal in the football world, but what i can't understand is why the PM of the UK would care or need to get involved especially at a time when there's a full-blown Covid crisis going on?!

I mean it's not like Indian cricket and the BCCI where a lot of politicians/ministers hold cricket administrative posts, so why does Boris need to get involved here at all?! Potentially affects the livelihood of the EPL, so that's why? He wants to be seen to be concerned about an issue that is so emotional to millions of British voters?

I'm not saying this is not an important issue to the football clubs and fans, but why does it matter to a politician? Can someone explain please (I'm not very clued-in to English or European football, I just follow the football world cups every 4 years.) Thanks in advance for any information.

[Chetan_Rao]

This all started way back in the 90s, when the English First Division was converted into the Premier League, and the European Cup into the Champions League (UEFA Cup was rebranded Europa League a decade or so later). Spain always had a disparity due to Barcelona and Real negotiating their own broadcast contracts for ages, making everyone else an also-ran financially.

That was the moment football sold its soul, this is just progression down the path. Core motivation is the same as before. Bigger teams wanting disproportionate share of money & influence.

It's all about TV audiences and overseas revenue now. The local European supporter is financially irrelevant.

The ex-players sound a bit hypocritical, to be honest. They all benefited from the mega-money spinners the leagues became, fueled by broadcasting and sponsorship revenue. I wonder how many of them thought their multi-million dollar pay packets were absurd when they were being paid more per week (often as bench-warmers) than most average 'fans' made in a decade working their backsides off. Will they renounce their lucrative punditry contracts in protest?

Why is it suddenly an atrocity now?

P.S. It's no different in other sports. India in Cricket (supported by a few other biggies now), Ferrari in F1. List goes on. Big money and level playing field never did go very well together.

[AZT]

FIFA can interfere here by not allowing those players to be eligible for the World Cup but I'm guessing the clubs will call that bluff. FIFA neither has the legal standing nor the will to go ahead with this.

[RD150]

This reminds me of ICL which actually came before IPL and BCCI was opposing it so strongly. Later the BCCI banned the players which participated in ICL. This made it difficult for the ICL to survive and then came the master stroke IPL. Now whether this Super league is inspired from ICL or IPL, we need to wait and watch. IMHO, there are already so many cups and leagues, this is not needed at all.

[mav3r1ckblu3]

Utterly disgusted and heartbroken as a fan. In the 21 years that I've been watching football, never seen anything like this. I in fact started watching football while supporting an underdog team back in the day, knowing very well the incentives that lay ahead if we did well in the Premier league.

Cut to the chase, what will it be like for the smaller clubs now? Why would anyone support an underdog? Where is the incentive for them to do well now? They killed the joy of football in terms of its unpredictability. The beautiful game that was born out and was once reminiscent of the working class's struggle, is being taken away from them by the billionaires for minting more money!

Perez made sure his plan was airtight and foolproof! FIFA and UEFA aren't exactly on a moral high ground too, they've been run by corrupt officials, and have openly flouted rules and showed their financial might on several occasions. Now Perez has them by their balls! It's a classic case of "the lesser evil".

The clubs can join or be left out of the "revolution". ESL is here to stay, whether we like it or not. As they say, The King is dead, long live the King!

The Football that we grew up watching and the one that we know of, is gone!