Unpopular Opinions (Association Football version)

HulkSmash

Just a bit outside...
Jan 7, 2020
163
108
Rent-free in your head
AFL Club
Sydney
Other Teams
NK, NUJ, SK, ST, NSWW, NSWP, MUFC
EPL clubs shouldn't be in the League Cup IMHO. If you must have EPL clubs in it, then only have the clubs that aren't competing in Europe.

Also, too many clubs in UCL and EL. I know a lot is to do with TV rights, but really, way too many.
 
Aug 16, 2011
70,779
55,789
Melbourne
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Arsenal
EPL clubs shouldn't be in the League Cup IMHO. If you must have EPL clubs in it, then only have the clubs that aren't competing in Europe.

Also, too many clubs in UCL and EL. I know a lot is to do with TV rights, but really, way too many.
Er, what?

It is to do with coefficients.
 

Minidisc MD

Cancelled
Nov 29, 2019
424
593
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Er, what?

It is to do with coefficients.
Like everything UEFA/FIFA it is about money.

If it was coefficients you could strip it to say top two from England, Italy, Spain, Germany as it was for most of the 90s. the other half of the 90s was even stricter, 24 or less teams and one per nation.

I don't totally agree with it but it's pretty obvious it's going to be expanded before shrunk.

It's a s**t competition anyway, I'd take one Premier League title over two Champions Leagues.
 

HulkSmash

Just a bit outside...
Jan 7, 2020
163
108
Rent-free in your head
AFL Club
Sydney
Other Teams
NK, NUJ, SK, ST, NSWW, NSWP, MUFC
Like everything UEFA/FIFA it is about money.

If it was coefficients you could strip it to say top two from England, Italy, Spain, Germany as it was for most of the 90s. the other half of the 90s was even stricter, 24 or less teams and one per nation.

I don't totally agree with it but it's pretty obvious it's going to be expanded before shrunk.

It's a s**t competition anyway, I'd take one Premier League title over two Champions Leagues.

Agreed. Now they're adding a third cup for the lesser nations (essentially). Just wait until the TV networks want more clubs from the bigger nations in.
 
EPL clubs shouldn't be in the League Cup IMHO. If you must have EPL clubs in it, then only have the clubs that aren't competing in Europe.

Also, too many clubs in UCL and EL. I know a lot is to do with TV rights, but really, way too many.
I wish they went back to what we had from 96-97 and prior
Champions only.

Growing European participation has allowed the big clubs to comfortably overspend compared to their compatriots, stabilising the gap. Now it's hard for smaller clubs in a country to work their way up and compete with the best.
It's led to domestic leagues being more repetitive and boring.

The big clubs win because there's less chance of being beaten
The small clubs lose because they can't realistically close the gap

So domestic leagues lose.

But even the champions league has lost its unpredictability.

In the 23 years since the expansion, only 3 teams outside of England, Spain, Germany and Italy have made a final, with only 1 winning......And that 1 was against 1 of the other 2 teams to make it. But in the 23 years before the expansion, we had 14 teams outside those 4 leagues make a final, with 6 of them winning.

Going back to how it was gives people in Sweden hope, gives people in Belgium hope, give people in Romania hope.

I'd much rather watch Liverpool vs Club Brugge, or Nottingham Forrest vs Malmo, or Barcelona vs Bucuresti, or Marseille vs Belgrade then the same teams from the same 4 countries compete for the title every single year. You get an underdog story, someone to root for, you're more invested. And without making this disparity so large within countries, the talent is spread more over. So more games are competitive.

The current setup has made Europe predictable and Domestic boring.

You wonder why England is considered the best in the world? It's the competition, Why watch PSG, or Bayern, or Juventus walk in and win the title every year when you can watch England and more often than not have a race to the end.

You could argue Champions League has made super teams playing each other which is great (And yes, these games are amazing, and better than we'd have the other way). Too bad 95% of the season is now dull and boring.
 
Aside from Guardiola's sextuplet win, Leicester winning the PL is the greatest achievement of this decade.
But the sextuplet win was the previous decaude ;)
He only got the 5 in 2011 (Missed out on the cup)
 
Last edited:

kid_a

Club Legend
Apr 5, 2010
2,317
1,177
Perf
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Hammarby IF, East Freo, Glory
Champions League should be restricted to literally just the champions of European leagues (1 team from each country)

Europa league should revert to uefa cup and just be a comp containing all the national cup winners.
 
Champions League should be restricted to literally just the champions of European leagues (1 team from each country)

Europa league should revert to uefa cup and just be a comp containing all the national cup winners.
If a team does the double do they compete in both competitions?

I wouldnt actually be opposed tbh
Surely they can make it work (with less games, you can have CL 1 week, EL the other)
 

kid_a

Club Legend
Apr 5, 2010
2,317
1,177
Perf
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Hammarby IF, East Freo, Glory
If a team does the double do they compete in both competitions?

I wouldnt actually be opposed tbh
Surely they can make it work (with less games, you can have CL 1 week, EL the other)
Yeah either that or the cup runners up take their place...but I like your idea
 
Aug 21, 2016
15,608
24,568
AFL Club
Geelong
Other Teams
Oldham
I wish they went back to what we had from 96-97 and prior
Champions only.

Growing European participation has allowed the big clubs to comfortably overspend compared to their compatriots, stabilising the gap. Now it's hard for smaller clubs in a country to work their way up and compete with the best.
It's led to domestic leagues being more repetitive and boring.

The big clubs win because there's less chance of being beaten
The small clubs lose because they can't realistically close the gap

So domestic leagues lose.

But even the champions league has lost its unpredictability.

In the 23 years since the expansion, only 3 teams outside of England, Spain, Germany and Italy have made a final, with only 1 winning......And that 1 was against 1 of the other 2 teams to make it. But in the 23 years before the expansion, we had 14 teams outside those 4 leagues make a final, with 6 of them winning.

Going back to how it was gives people in Sweden hope, gives people in Belgium hope, give people in Romania hope.

I'd much rather watch Liverpool vs Club Brugge, or Nottingham Forrest vs Malmo, or Barcelona vs Bucuresti, or Marseille vs Belgrade then the same teams from the same 4 countries compete for the title every single year. You get an underdog story, someone to root for, you're more invested. And without making this disparity so large within countries, the talent is spread more over. So more games are competitive.

The current setup has made Europe predictable and Domestic boring.

You wonder why England is considered the best in the world? It's the competition, Why watch PSG, or Bayern, or Juventus walk in and win the title every year when you can watch England and more often than not have a race to the end.

You could argue Champions League has made super teams playing each other which is great (And yes, these games are amazing, and better than we'd have the other way). Too bad 95% of the season is now dull and boring.

2 French teams made the semi-finals last season. PSG could have won it.
Ajax were unlucky not to reach the final in 2019.
Monaco made the semis in 2017.

The 'Champions League' is a marketing term. You no longer need to be champion of your country to qualify, and the serious phase of the competition is still a knock out cup. From a purist point of view I can see your point that the old European Cup had a certain magic. But in recent years the knock out stage of the Champions League has provided some amazing entertainment.

It's hard to tell whether going back to only one club per country would change which countries would win it. Ajax had that great run in 2019 but they only qualified in 2nd place behind PSV. PSV got knocked out early. Liverpool finished 4th in the EPL to qualify for the CL when they won it in 2019. The additional clubs allowed entry into the comp means that clubs with better current form than their previous season are likely to win it - but it doesn't mean those countries are more likely to win.
 

Kompany

Norm Smith Medallist
Dec 23, 2005
5,069
743
AFL Club
Melbourne
The European Cup wasn't that exciting, to be honest. You had good games from the QF onward, but otherwise the old Uefa Cup, with 3 teams per country, was better value.

Imagine the European Cup today... These are the champions of Europe's top 16 nations:
Out in the round of 16: Club Brugge, Dinamo Kiev, Basaksehir, Salzburg, Slavia Prague, Olympiakos, Dinamo Zagreb, Midtjylland
Out in the QF: Juve, Zenit, Porto, Ajax
Out in the semis: PSG, Real
Final: Liverpool - Bayern

This would be great for the fans of those teams of course, but this tournament wouldn't generate as much international interest as the CL does.

What really hurt the teams from smaller countries was Bosman and the abolition of the 3 foreigners rule. Teams like Ajax, PSV and Anderlecht used to have a big number of Dutch or Belgian internationals. Sure, Gullit, Rijkaard and van Basten played in Milan, but at that time, PSV still managed to win the European Cup with van Breukelen, Koeman, Vanenburg, van Aerle and Kieft who won the euros with the Netherlands a few weeks after. Other players in that Dutch squad played for Ajax, Feyenoord, Anderlecht, KV Mechelen, Roda JC, Fortuna Sittard and FC Den Bosch.

Imagine today's big clubs with only 3 foreign players in their starting XI, and how all international players would be spread all over Europe.
 

kid_a

Club Legend
Apr 5, 2010
2,317
1,177
Perf
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Hammarby IF, East Freo, Glory
The European Cup wasn't that exciting, to be honest. You had good games from the QF onward, but otherwise the old Uefa Cup, with 3 teams per country, was better value.

Imagine the European Cup today... These are the champions of Europe's top 16 nations:
Out in the round of 16: Club Brugge, Dinamo Kiev, Basaksehir, Salzburg, Slavia Prague, Olympiakos, Dinamo Zagreb, Midtjylland
Out in the QF: Juve, Zenit, Porto, Ajax
Out in the semis: PSG, Real
Final: Liverpool - Bayern

This would be great for the fans of those teams of course, but this tournament wouldn't generate as much international interest as the CL does.

What really hurt the teams from smaller countries was Bosman and the abolition of the 3 foreigners rule. Teams like Ajax, PSV and Anderlecht used to have a big number of Dutch or Belgian internationals. Sure, Gullit, Rijkaard and van Basten played in Milan, but at that time, PSV still managed to win the European Cup with van Breukelen, Koeman, Vanenburg, van Aerle and Kieft who won the euros with the Netherlands a few weeks after. Other players in that Dutch squad played for Ajax, Feyenoord, Anderlecht, KV Mechelen, Roda JC, Fortuna Sittard and FC Den Bosch.

Imagine today's big clubs with only 3 foreign players in their starting XI, and how all international players would be spread all over Europe.

It'd be beautiful.
 

gaelictiogar

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 23, 2006
8,474
3,627
east melbourne
AFL Club
Richmond
The European Cup wasn't that exciting, to be honest. You had good games from the QF onward, but otherwise the old Uefa Cup, with 3 teams per country, was better value.

Imagine the European Cup today... These are the champions of Europe's top 16 nations:
Out in the round of 16: Club Brugge, Dinamo Kiev, Basaksehir, Salzburg, Slavia Prague, Olympiakos, Dinamo Zagreb, Midtjylland
Out in the QF: Juve, Zenit, Porto, Ajax
Out in the semis: PSG, Real
Final: Liverpool - Bayern

This would be great for the fans of those teams of course, but this tournament wouldn't generate as much international interest as the CL does.

What really hurt the teams from smaller countries was Bosman and the abolition of the 3 foreigners rule. Teams like Ajax, PSV and Anderlecht used to have a big number of Dutch or Belgian internationals. Sure, Gullit, Rijkaard and van Basten played in Milan, but at that time, PSV still managed to win the European Cup with van Breukelen, Koeman, Vanenburg, van Aerle and Kieft who won the euros with the Netherlands a few weeks after. Other players in that Dutch squad played for Ajax, Feyenoord, Anderlecht, KV Mechelen, Roda JC, Fortuna Sittard and FC Den Bosch.

Imagine today's big clubs with only 3 foreign players in their starting XI, and how all international players would be spread all over Europe.

Agreed. It really is a totally different landscape and there is no going back. Imagine this. Rensenbrink was probably the second-best attacker on the 1974 Dutch team...he played the peak of his career at Anderlecht!!. Zico played at Udinese. It is a lost and distant world.
 

Established1870

Norm Smith Medallist
Jun 28, 2016
8,379
17,197
Tigris River
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
Other Teams
Baghdad Bombers
A lot of British/Irish players get considerably underrated by many people only because they were born in the British Isles.

Lewis Dunk is good enough to start for most top 6 teams. Jack Grealish would walk into almost any team in Europe (when he's not acting like a complete dickhead). Andy Robertson is one of the best LB's in the world and Kieran Tierney is one of the best young LB's around and will be better then Robbo in due time. Jarrod Bowen, David Brooks and Eberechi Eze are all great young creative players who could tear it up in any top 5 league.

Then you flip it around and look at the s**t guys like Hendo got for years before he really got noticed as actually being good under Klopp and he still gets undervalued (people preferred Lucas Leiva over him at one stage FFS). Rooney might be a flog but he was for a period of time one of the best players in the world and peak Rooney is better then peak Drogba. Wilfried Zaha is easily one of the best players outside of the top 6 and has been for years. 50-60 million pounds for him would probably be better value then what Arsenal paid for Nicolas Pepe.

Then you hear people say guys like Beckham, Shearer and Roy Keane were overrated for a variety of reasons. SAF built dynasty after dynasty with homegrown youf (Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, Butt) and cherry picking the best players from the non-top clubs in the EPL (Keane, Rooney, Carrick, Andy Cole, Irwin, Ferdinand) and they all have Champions League winners medals to their name but yeah nah overrated hacks the lot of them.
 
Back