Over the years I find myself more and more interested in soccer. In the past, I’ve paid attention to the World Cup and occasionally go to Red Bull’s games; I don’t live that far from the stadium. But I started watching the Premier League this year and find it very interesting but have some questions. Is the Premier League the best soccer league in the world? I know there’s a Spanish league and a German and French leagues but all I see I see on tv is the Premier league and many of the players played in the World Cup. Second, clearly there are 6 teams at the top of the Premier league way better than the rest of the teams. Are these better because they have the money to spend on the players? And, do they buy the better players from the other Premier teams or do they buy them from other leagues or do they develop their own or a combination? I have other questions but this is a good start for me.
Maybe. The Spanish league probably has the best argument, as they've won the vast majority of the European competitions over the last decade. 5 years ago I would have said it isn't close - Spain is better. But now the vast amounts of money in the EPL are starting to tell, and the squads are so much deeper than in other leagues. There's a lot of poorly spent money in England, but even so there's still a lot of money.
Q2. Second, clearly there are 6 teams at the top of the Premier league way better than the rest of the teams. Are these better because they have the money to spend on the players?
I'd say this is accurate. The top 6 budgets vary from 1.3B to 713M, and they are held by the top 6 clubs. The dropoff to the 7th club is significant: Everton at 478M. IMO where the money really makes a difference is in squad depth. There are so many matches to play (they play an additional domestic tournament in England), and a 38 match league schedule is a huge grind. The teams with the deep squads can weather the tournament schedule to better keep up in the league.
Q3. And, do they buy the better players from the other Premier teams or do they buy them from other leagues or do they develop their own or a combination?
What I'm seeing (and I could be wrong) is that they're buying players from other leagues. Outside of the 5 superelite continental clubs (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, Juventus, PSG), the rest of Europe can't really compete financially. Even big clubs like Atletico or Dortmund can see their rising talent harvested by the English clubs.
There are some really good clubs in England outside the top 6. If I were jumping in now I'd probably want to support Watford or Wolves...their matches seem like a blast.
I could be wrong about this but I am fairly sure the PL is the only one of the big four leagues to have equal revenue sharing for TV money, and the league has the richest TV contracts so every team benefits. My understanding is that Spain for example has a completely unequal distribution where the biggest clubs get the vast majority of the TV money.
Spain has the two biggest teams in the world and the two ultimate destination clubs for a lot of players, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Germany has Bayern Munich which is a traditional global super power. They virtually always win their league and compete in Europe.
Italy has fallen off a lot in recent years. Juventus dominates the domestic league and serves as the sole regular representative deep in the Champions League, although Roma had a run last year.
I think most people would rank it:
1/2: England and Spain in some order
3: Germany
4: Italy
France is bigger than the rest but definitely #5. Paris St Germain was acquired basically by the state of Qatar and has stupid money and dominates now, but otherwise the league is not very competitive in Europe. They will sometimes have another team pop up in the CL, most recently Monaco a couple years ago.
Juventus is trying to adapt its business model to reflect the EPL teams. The purchase of Ronaldo was as much of a business decision as it was to try and win the Champions League. Roma is an example of what Terps is talking about, they made the CL semis last year and sold, sold, sold, and will likely sell Dzeko and Manolas in June.
I put Germany ahead of Spain in terms of watchability but it's a matter of taste. Spain is so top heavy but it's nice to watch these amazing teams on bein every week. But I enjoy the style of play in Germany more.
Frankly the only difference between following Liverpool and following the Giants is that I can actually go to a Giants game pretty easily. But I don’t ever go to Giants games so it doesn’t feel different at all. I guess they don’t talk about Liverpool on WFAN but they don’t talk Giants too much either.
BTW, Bein (channel 596 where I am) has a great "Monday Night Soccer" show that uses the "90 in 30" format - they condense the three best games of the weekend (in their view) down to 30 minutes each, so they cover three games in 90 minutes. It's much better than a "highlight" show because you can see the buildups and get a good feel for how the game went.
Another thing I love is the tiny clubs that get promoted up and try to stay in the top league. Spain has a couple now - Huesca, I think it's called, and a team up in Basque Country, I forget the name - their stadiums host like 7,500 people and they have the best players in the world come to town, it's crazy but fun.
Fox Sports carries the Bundesliga, Germany’s top league.
Personally, I think the EPL is the deepest, most competitive league. Outside the traditional six - ManU, ManCity, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea - there is quality depth. As mentioned above, the EPL is awash in cash. So they can lure talent from anywhere. And the big clubs aldo have great world marketing arms to generate more revenue...
But anything is possible in the EPL. Hell, Leicester City won the EPL three years ago with one of the most astonishing years I’ve ever seen. And getting a top four spot for Champions League is a grind.
Further, I think the EPL has is the most physical league of the top leagues. They seem to be bigger and a bit less technical.
La Liga, the to Spanish League, is the most technical, the least physical (outside of Atletico Madrid), and the most enjoyable to watch in terms of free flowing soccer. And you get to watch the best player and athlete on the planet - Lionel Messi.
These clubs in every league have youth leagues where they develop the next generations. But they also have scouts who comb the world looking to poach talent anywhere - Central America, South America, China, Africa, etc.
Fox Sports carries the Bundesliga, Germany’s top league.
Personally, I think the EPL is the deepest, most competitive league. Outside the traditional six - ManU, ManCity, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea - there is quality depth. As mentioned above, the EPL is awash in cash. So they can lure talent from anywhere. And the big clubs aldo have great world marketing arms to generate more revenue...
But anything is possible in the EPL. Hell, Leicester City won the EPL three years ago with one of the most astonishing years I’ve ever seen. And getting a top four spot for Champions League is a grind.
Further, I think the EPL has is the most physical league of the top leagues. They seem to be bigger and a bit less technical.
La Liga, the to Spanish League, is the most technical, the least physical (outside of Atletico Madrid), and the most enjoyable to watch in terms of free flowing soccer. And you get to watch the best player and athlete on the planet - Lionel Messi.
These clubs in every league have youth leagues where they develop the next generations. But they also have scouts who comb the world looking to poach talent anywhere - Central America, South America, China, Africa, etc.
FYI Serie A is on ESPN+ no longer on bein. Very angry about it.
I thought I was one of the few with no real team that I root for, but I enjoy watching the EPL especially the top teams. Oh, except for Liverpool. Fuck Liverpool.
But, I like the Premier League because the competition for winning the league and the top 4 is more intense. And the relegation battle each year is great too. Watch "Sunderland until I die" on netflix. It's a good view into English football.
Serie A is also a really fun league, too, IMO.
Look at a team like Wolves. Ranked 20th in the world by Fifa and stands 7th in EPL. And this is a club that just got promoted to the EPL this year. They also have wins this year over big 6 clubs Liverpool, ManU, Chelsea, Arsenel and draw with Man City.
But, I like the Premier League because the competition for winning the league and the top 4 is more intense. And the relegation battle each year is great too. Watch "Sunderland until I die" on netflix. It's a good view into English football.
Serie A is also a really fun league, too, IMO.
Serie A needs a strong Milan to return to prominence, and that will only happen once the club is sold to an ambitious owner. The Ricketts family that owns the Cubs was interested, then looked at the books and promptly passed.
The appeal of Serie A are the bunch of teams fighting for 3rd-4th, Milan, Lazio, Roma, Atalanta, Torino.