European football power shifts

[poidy]

I read an article recently reference Monaco having lower gates than Luton?

Am I missing something here? I've always considered Monaco to be a relatively big club. Okay not one of the giants but to have lower attendances than Luton was quite surprising.

Wasn't it Monaco that knocked Chelsea out of the UEFA Cup Semi Final in Ranieri's final season in charge?

 

[beorhthelm]

As far as you're concerned then the Premier League is still where it's at then. Possibly as a entertainment package but I'm not so sure (unless certain teams buy big) were going to see an English team lift the Champions league trophy in the near future.

The English premier league is being caught up & in some cases being outdone certainly in technical areas.

im saying the idea that the Premiership is "where its at" has always been overplayed but the marketing people. we've not really ever had the absolute top draw players England, or they come and go. yes, as an entertainment package it is, clearly on evidence, the most popular and most commercially successful league. from Nigeria to Malaysia to China they watch it, they like the pace of the game apparently. watch some south american football or Italian, yeah technically great players but a snooze fest other than intermittent bursts of quality. Spanish is somewhat better spectacle, but bit predicatable and can still be slow.

now the German game from what ive seen (ITV3 or 4 have had a highlights programme) looks pretty decent. i understand they were like the Italians, but saw that they needed to be more adventrous and increase the pace. ie be more English, but with germanic attention to detail (its like a metaphor for the countries). as far as i can tell the Germans have a tight ownership regime of local, distributed shareholders so they cant really be taken over by foreigners, but still have a commercial instinct (hey, its like a metaphor...), so i think they will become a very powerful commerical product too.

 

[Flavor Flav]

The problem with the Premier League is that its full of mediocre players on massive wages which the media build up to be much better than they are. The lack of world class talent is making the league worse. World class players: Yaya Toure (barca reject), Bale (possibly leaving this summer), Suarez (wants to leave), Mata (doesn't even start for Spain), Hazard (potential), Kompany, Aguero (poor season) and Van Persie. Munich have more world class players on their bench than the Premier League does these days.

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

Makes me laugh people saying we should sit up and take note of the Germans. Some of us were saying this 5 years ago. We never will though.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Makes me laugh people saying we should sit up and take note of the Germans. Some of us were saying this 5 years ago. We never will though.

Especially when they score own goals like this.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Especially when they score own goals like this.

Very good. He's only 21 and that was his 3rd game.

PS You might want to take note that the vast majority of the regular German national team were not in the squad due to the Champions League final last weekend and Bayern, Stuttgart and Madrid playing competitive fixtures at the weekend.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Lighten up HT. I thought it was amusing for a Monday morning.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

I read an article recently reference Monaco having lower gates than Luton?

Am I missing something here? I've always considered Monaco to be a relatively big club. Okay not one of the giants but to have lower attendances than Luton was quite surprising.

Wasn't it Monaco that knocked Chelsea out of the UEFA Cup Semi Final in Ranieri's final season in charge?

monaco has a population of about 35,000....many of whom would have no interest in football

they're reletively successful because they've generally been bankrolled by rich guys...plus they, and their players, enjoy the benefits of living in a tax haven

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Lighten up HT. I thought it was amusing for a Monday morning.

You're right actually. I'm in a very defensive mood today. Apologies.

 

[gripper stebson]

I wonder whether the current dominance of German football will signal a move away from Barca style Tikka Takka football....

 

[Dan Gleeballs]

I wonder whether the current dominance of German football will signal a move away from Barca style Tikka Takka football....

That could depend on Pep Guardiola