I think English football will be fine. As long as the interest is there, the tv money keeps coming in and the clubs spending that money aren't overextended.
That's exactly the problem. People already turn away because the tickets have become so expensive, that only rich folks and tourists attend the games. No atmosphere anymore. For the english people it's even cheaper now to fly to Germany and attend a game here, more and more guys do that. No kidding. English football once was for the people, now it's a toy for sheiks and oligarchs and once the interest decreases, which is just a matter of time, they will freeze their money and disappear. The national team has been a running gag for quite some time and their clubs are about to join. The more they spend, the less chances for young local players. No identification, just mercenary mindest, which lead to less competetiveness. West Ham, 7th best team last year, spend +60M€ on new legs and weren't able to beat a team from Romania to make in to the EuroLeague group stage. No english team will be a real contender for the Champions League either for years to come. That's the bubble I was talking about.
So you think the contracts in the NBA are not ludacris? I think the top athletes should get paid and transfer sums are ok as long as people pay to watch.
You can't compare that. In the NBA, the money goes to the players, no team transfers 100 mill. in a trade for an unproven player. But yeah, the overpayment got out of hand and will become a problem in the NBA sooner a later, too. Like you say, as long as people watch. But what if people don't watch anymore?
You're forgetting the American market has yet to be fully tapped. Soccer interest will only continue to rise, especially if NFL football eventually goes away or becomes watered down due to safety concerns. The MLS has failed as a competitive league and despite decent growth it is still a "retirement" league for has-beens and offers very little in terms of development of young American talent. Players like DeAndre Yedlin and Bobby Wood are much better off playing on 2nd tier English or German clubs than in the MLS.
I wish more Euro/spanish league players came to mls after 30, it would strengthen the league as a whole with more name recognition of players besides KaKa. But not just after 30, there are a lot of fringe players in the bpl that could make some noise in mls. Mls clubs need to open the pocket books
I believe the Premier League is in the strongest position for fan growth of all the European leagues in the US. They already have the games televised (some even nationally) and they are on before American football starts on weekends. You say people will stop watching, I believe they will only continue to expand. Seems like most of the German fans on this forum hold some sort of bitterness toward the Premier League. I'm not educated enough to fully understand all the reasons for that. Oil money?
That's true, most european clubs are investing in the U.S. market. I just don't think it is that much of a game changer that could balance the downfall I projected. Americans have their NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, that's too much. The only way football could become big is by a quality enhancement of their own domestic league. Premier League games are televised, but when do they start due to time zones? 8 in the morning? It will also become more and more difficult to promote the decrease of competetiveness, compared to Spain or Germany. No reason. Our national team is World Champion, Bundesliga teams compete for Champions League and Euro League, stadiums are filled, clubs are healthy and like I said, english people come over here and not vice versa. The reason for the bitterness is that this system is ruining football in one of the countries with the most tradition for the reasons named. Plus I feel very sorry for the normal people, since their sport is being taken away from them and guys who went to the stadium for decades can't afford to do so anymore.
Gnabry to Bayern soon and will be loaned to Bremen apparently. Weird transfer, but probably cheap and has good upside or resell-value.
Joe Hart loaned to FC Turin, damn. Crazy how highly regarded and redeemed he seemed prior to the EC, the performances he had in this tournament murdered his career.
He was bad before already. I'm still laughing at ChrisBosh saying he is arguably better than Neuer. Regarding Gnabry - I watched several of Germany's games at the Olympics and I still can't tell what position he plays. He doesn't seem fast enough to be a winger like Coman. Decent player, but not sure what to make of him.
Teh Gnabry news are cooking and no one knows what's up. Werder's manager Baumann just said they've struck an agreement with Arsenal and will sign the player within the next 24 hours. Baumann also saying there's no truth to a Bayern involvement. Other news claiming there's some kind of Bayern clause in the contract which would allow Bayern to buy Gnabry in a few years. Will probably learn the truth tomorrow.
It happens to English keepers. Rob Green, Ben Foster, and David James were all #1s once a upon a time before a major tourney and got their reputation destroyed after the tournament.
Bad timing for Hart. Pep was reportedly after Neuer (was never gonna happen), then Patricio and someone else before finally settling on Bravo as 4th choice. He's just been too inconsistent. There were some games in the CL that when he was called upon he made the stops necessary. Then at times he just completely lost his mind and made stupid mistakes. The Euros definitely exposed some of his worst traits, but I think it is a little unjust.
People really should move the focus away from the goalies.... Guys like Rooney are declining fast and have done worse at major tourneys. They are the false captains that cannot lead a team. He cannot even play striker, moving further and further away into midfield.
