Is The Premiership actually one of the best leagues in the world?

mr_angry

I just wanted to get some other people's feedback on this. Is the English Premier League actually as good as La Liga or Sirie A?

I watched my team, Arsenal, win the league today, and it struck me during the celebrations that we'd actually won a very poor Premiership. Even today we clinched the title with a result that could very easily have been 4 or 5-1, yet the players looked like they couldn't even really be arsed putting Spurs to the sword. Now, I would describea good Premiership to be one which is competitive from top to bottom, with unpredictable results every week, and good skill in both attacking and defending. However, while Premiership clubs demonstrate good attacking ability, the vast majority lack basic defensive skill, results have been pretty predictable this season, and the gulf between the top 3 in the league and the rest has been simply enormous.

In my opinion, if you pitted each La Liga club with each Premiership club in their respective league positions, the La Liga clubs would come out on top in almost every match. Look at the evidence - in the Champions League second round, Arsenal faced a club, Celta Vigo, who are being relegated from La Liga!

So I ask you - should the Premiership still be classed as "one of the best leagues in the world"? Is it still worthy of 4 Champions League spots. Does a team like Liverpool actually deserve to compete alongside Europe's elite next season?

sleepwalker

ive had this argument with other peole before and i genuinley believe that is defintley one of the best in the world at the moment i would say that

1. la liga
2. premiership
3. serie a

Look at the evidence - in the Champions League second round, Arsenal faced a club, Celta Vigo, who are being relegated from La Liga!

if anything I think that raises the question of how such a terrible team got into the champions league in the first place.

therecklessone

Originally posted by mr_angry


So I ask you - should the Premiership still be classed as "one of the best leagues in the world"? Is it still worthy of 4 Champions League spots. Does a team like Liverpool actually deserve to compete alongside Europe's elite next season?

No league deserves 4 spots. Thats the problem.

Because of the money associated with qualifying for the CL, teams now set out at the start of the season with their main aim being a top 4 position. Money will always play a part in deciding who is the most likely to win a national league, but when teams can set their sights on 4th place and still get the big payday, then the standard of football suffers. IMO of course...

La Liga is currently the best league there is, after that I'd take Serie A before the Premiership. Personally I feel people can't disassociate the Sky Sports hype from the reality of English football.

mr_angry

Originally posted by sleepwalker
if anything I think that raises the question of how such a terrible team got into the champions league in the first place.

Were they really that bad though. Arsenal won, but it wasn't exactly a rout. And Celta Vigo qualified from a group containing Milan, Club Brugge, and Ajax. I'd hesitate to call them a 'bad' team.

MrJoeSoap

Originally posted by therecklessone
No league deserves 4 spots. Thats the problem.

I feel people can't disassociate the Sky Sports hype from the reality of English football.

Very true. There are only a handful of decent players, and even fewer decent clubs in the Premiership at the moment. The games are rarely exciting, maybe one or two a month, while Spain seems to have one or two a week.

Having said that, Spanish football can sometimes infuriate me so much. Some of the diving and general 'muppetry' (for want of a better term) really gets my blood boiling. The Premiership has its muppets, but is generally played fairly and squarely.

sleepwalker

Were they really that bad though. Arsenal won, but it wasn't exactly a rout. And Celta Vigo qualified from a group containing Milan, Club Brugge, and Ajax. I'd hesitate to call them a 'bad' team.

fair point i dont think there a good illustration of the strength of the spanish league though


la liga is defintley the best league in europe. but if you look throughout the top division the gap in quality between teams is really quite similar to the premiership. you have the top four or five teams and then you have the rest

id say every season or so the serie a and premiership swap up and down between 2nd spot. but nothing is really touching la liga at the moment in terms of the quality of their top sides you only need to look at the champions league over the past 5 or 6 years to see proof of that

mike65

To answer the question put - the answer must be yes cos there are only a handful of TOP leagues on the planet...this year has been poor with most interest being in who finnish forth and will Leeds drop.

Mike.

niallith

i dont think its the best its in top 3-5 anyway it doesnt beat la liga r seria a imo
theres much more bigger ame clubs in those leagues and who show a bigger presence in the european cups eg milan,lazio,roma,juve,real,barca,valencia,deportivo etc

Jivin Turkey

Do I have a short memory? Or when have either Roma, Lazio, Barcelona, or Deportivo (aside from this year) done anything notable in Europe?

therecklessone

Originally posted by Jivin Turkey
Do I have a short memory? Or when have either Roma, Lazio, Barcelona, or Deportivo (aside from this year) done anything notable in Europe?

What time frame are you working off?

Lazio won the last Cup-Winners Cup in 1998.

Barca won the same competition in 1996 (and before that 1978, 1981, and 1988).

Weren't Barca the team that knocked Chelsea out of the CL the last time they reached the quarter-finals? Can't remember the year...

And don't forget, Barca last won the CL in 1991, and were runners-up in 1993.

therecklessone

Originally posted by therecklessone


Weren't Barca the team that knocked Chelsea out of the CL the last time they reached the quarter-finals? Can't remember the year...

Well, what ya know? UEFA comes up trumps...

T'was the 1999-2000 season, and Barca won 6-4 on aggregate, after a 5-1 win at home. Lazio also reached the QFs that year, losing to CL runners-up Valencia.

MisterAnarchy

The Premiership has been very poor this season.
Arsenal are unbeaten so far this season despite playing average at best for many a game.
Most English sides were suckered by Arsenals pace and their strategies to counter Arsenals play were non existant in many cases.
Pushing up the pitch and trying to play offside against a team like Arsenal is tantamount to madness.
Apart from the top 3 teams the rest are bunched pretty tightly together .
A team like Aston Villa in contention for a Champions league place is crazy.
Villa are a bad team,lacking width ,composure and skill.
Apart from the top 3 teams the chances of seeing a good passing game of football in the Premiership are very small.
Too much long ball.
Last week Sunderland played West Brom in a crucial match.
After 45 mins each side had one attempt at goal ,neither on target.
Neither team had any penetration or flair.
West Brom will be playing in the Premiership next season.
They are a bum team and would be thrashed by any Spanish Primera Liga team.
The Spanish league is by far and away the best and most exciting league in the world.
There are very few easy matches and most teams try to play passing football which is easy on the eye.
I mostly watch Spanish football now as I have become disillusioned with the English 'graft' and 'spirit' attitude.
It doesnt help that Sky are saturating the airwaves with too many poor matches.
In El Derby tonight Real Madrid had 27 attempts at goal and barca had 17.
That is the way football should be played.
Overall I'd say La Liga is best then The Premiership,Serie A ,and then La Ligue.

Big Ears

One thing about top of the table clashes when u compare Italy / Spain / England .

Italy : Extremely defensive , very few shots ,although there could be a few goals with the quality of strikers .

Spain : teams go out all guns blazing ( im not just talking about tonight )

England : Teams try and be defensive , but arent that great at it , resonable amount of chances but few goals , almost always 2-1 or lower scoring .

johnor

Have to agree with above, Italian league is dare I saw boring at times. If you like to watch defending its great. Spainish league is great to watching real atacking flair. I think the english league is a good mix of the two, but loosing big stars like Beckham who despite what people say is very creative, cant be good for the league.....


I'd say if it went for team v team v team it would come out quite even, some of the teams in both leagues are very weak. I think this season was a strange season, Arsenal have had an amazing league campaign, if they can keep the hunger they've shown this season I think next season we will see the premiership being the best league. As you'll probably have 3 main real contenders, no one horse race and more real contenders for europe, maybe 6/7 possible 4th CL spot/Uefa cup spots.

cournioni

The Premiership is the best for entertainment. But not the best league.

tHE vAGGABOND

pornapster - I like that, thats a good way of putting it..

eirebhoy

Originally posted by PORNAPSTER
The Premiership is the best for entertainment. But not the best league.

Thats a good point and I think too many people judge league's by "entertainment". You have to ask, what is the definition of the best league? If you were to judge player by player I think most people would agree the Italian is the best?

tHE vAGGABOND

well I find italian and spanish domestic games boring (in real life and on TV), but you cant argue against the quality of their teams, and their records in european club competitions..

While I enjoy watching english games, and their good but not great record in europe speaks for itself..

Big Ears

In terms of entertainment id rather watch Eircom league than Italian league . ( and to be honest that has a lot to do with the eircom league improving . )

For entertainment i find it hard to seperate spain and England , but im gonna give it to spain for shear unpredictability . Games can change so quick without u even thicking it possibly could .

mike65

Lets hear it for the Bundesleague!!!!

Okay maybe not.....:ninja:

Mike.

Take it

The prem this year has been by far the worst season since it started, just look at the forth spot, getting the CL is a joke how can you give a team like Liverpool who haven't won 21 of there games in a season a place in the CL?? And how can a team go the whole season without losing one game??

It’s a seriously weak league. Man U. Liverpool, Newcastle doesn’t have what it takes at the moment to challenge Arsenal where I feel Chelsea have the squad to do it but haven’t clicked as a team yet!

As for entertaining look at the results last weekend 1-0, 1-1, 2-1 thats hardly entertaining stuff

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

smemon

if you want attacking football head to spain, brazil etc... defensive football head to italy, germany etc..

if you want everything you head to the premiership. it's wealth, support, passion and excitement aren't matched anywere. it's the home of football, the authentic, genuine league with illustrius history.

eirebhoy

Originally posted by smemon
if you want everything you head to the premiership. it's wealth, support, passion and excitement aren't matched anywere. it's the home of football, the authentic, genuine league with illustrius history.

Did you use a thesaurus to put that piece together?;)

_blank_

Originally posted by smemon
illustrius

Originally posted by eirebhoy
Did you use a thesaurus to put that piece together?;)

Not a dictionary though?

smemon

no, being a manu fan 'illustrious' (thanks for pointing out the missing 'u' lads) is at the forefront of my vocabulary.