Penal Madrid

[DonAndres]

Atletico need world class players like Falcao to compete with the top two, not more squad players, losing Falcao to madrid will send them down the table rather then up..........

Atletico get economical players and turn them into world class ones. Over the next few seasons they will develop great youngsters like Leo Baptistao, Oliver Torres, Javier Manquillo, Koke, Saul Niguez, and many more into stars. I'm sure that even if they sell Falcao, they will take the money to pay off the debt and start making the club into a European elite. Of course, I doubt they will sell Falcao to Madrid, probably Chelsea or someone else. The money from this transfer could actually spread to make their entire squad strong and world class instead of just sticking with one world class striker.

 

[Paganinisrvnge]

I think it would be foolish to sell Falcao if Atletico make the Champions League.

 

[DonAndres]

Atletico losing Falcao will have a similar effect as to the one Arsenal have had losing Van Persie. It's not going to make the team stronger. And let's not kid ourselves, the main reason Atletico are in second place is due to Madrid players being crappy for the most part this season due to lack of motivation/drive to retain the crown.

Van Persie went for 22 million and Arsenal is a club notorious for lacking ambition and motivation to win titles. Falcao will sell for no less than 40 to 50 million and Atletico are a VERY ambitious club. They've already won 2 Europa league titles, and they are expanding rapidly. They will use the money from the transfer to improve the club further. Atletico have played amazingly this season and that's the reason for their success, not Madrid's failure.

 

[Semi-Neutral]

But surely teams that are challenging for European spots actually display more quality especially when they are playing with a man advantage for the vast majority of the game. You think United would get away playing with a man down for 70 or 80 minutes against the 6th ranked team in PL????

I wouldn't be too surprised to be honest, United have only lost three games this entire season and have the quality to hold on. Not to mention that in that area of the table, the Premier League is superior; however, the bottom ten is generally better in La Liga, as is the top three.

 

[big_man]

But surely teams that are challenging for European spots actually display more quality especially when they are playing with a man advantage for the vast majority of the game. You think United would get away playing with a man down for 70 or 80 minutes against the 6th ranked team in PL????and that too after having played a mid-week game.

So wait, you're using PL as the Barometer for quality? the league that has the 1st positioned team 12 points ahead of second and 16 points ahead of third? The league which boasts a team that got embarrassed 4-0 by Atletico this season? The league that has 12 of the 20 (soon to be 13 out of 21) titles won by ONE team?

 

[hellsangel1]

Van Persie went for 22 million and Arsenal is a club notorious for lacking ambition and motivation to win titles. Falcao will sell for no less than 40 to 50 million and Atletico are a VERY ambitious club. They've already won 2 Europa league titles, and they are expanding rapidly. They will use the money from the transfer to improve the club further. Atletico have played amazingly this season and that's the reason for their success, not Madrid's failure.

Arsenal are in a much healthier situation financially than Atletico, it;s not even close. Atletico are deeply in debt. Arsenal are a team that consistently finished in the top 3 or 4. When was the last time Atletico made the CL???

Like I said, losing probably the best player in the world at his position will have a huge effect on AM. Their second best goal-scorer has 4 goals in La Liga. Atletico depend heavily on Falcao and losing him would be a big blow. And Arsenal tried to invest the money they got from Van Persie into other players but it hasn't quite worked out for them has it. Just because that money you get will be used to buy new players doesn't necessarily mean that it will work out.

 

[Blaugrana dude]

By that logic, how did Getafe, Real Betis, Sevilla, Malaga, or Granada beat Real Madrid? This season, la liga is more competitive than ever. You can't just take a few results against Real Madrid and claim that it's the trend. If anything the new impending tv deal and new youth policies at many la liga clubs ensure that the league is going on a rise within the next 5 years and many clubs will come out of debt.

La Liga more competitive than ever? The last time La Liga was truly competitive was in the 2006-2007 season. Btw its very hard for La Liga clubs to ditch the debt. Remember Spain itself is suffering an economic crisis. The economic problems facing La Liga clubs can't be divorced from that. Its very telling that Valencia, one of the best teams in Spain, had to be taken over by the city council, which itself doesn't have any money.

 

[DonAndres]

Arsenal are in a much healthier situation financially than Atletico, it;s not even close. Atletico are deeply in debt. Arsenal are a team that consistently finished in the top 3 or 4. When was the last time Atletico made the CL???

Like I said, losing probably the best player in the world at his position will have a huge effect on AM. Their second best goal-scorer has 4 goals in La Liga. Atletico depend heavily on Falcao and losing him would be a big blow. And Arsenal tried to invest the money they got from Van Persie into other players but it hasn't quite worked out for them has it. Just because that money you get will be used to buy new players doesn't necessarily mean that it will work out.

Atletico are very economical and will use the money from Falcao's transfer to fund the transfers for new players that will make their squad even stronger. That's what they've always done in the past and will continue to do so in the future. The fact is that no matter how worse their financial condition is, Atletico are improving rapidly yet Arsenal continues to be stuck where they are. When Atletico do get out of debt, it'll only be a matter of years before they become title contenders.

They rely on Falcao for goals right now because they've built their team around him. Selling him would be a big loss, but not nearly as influential on their play as you might think. Within the next few seasons, Atleti will get plenty of money from transfer fees and cl and liga revenues. Plus Atletico have made MANY extremely shrewd yet smart transfers, unlike Arsenal, so they will be very efficient at spending the money they earn.

 

[El Gato]

Atletico economical LMFAO

 

[hellsangel1]

Atletico economical LMFAO

I just find the entire conversation pretty surreal.

 

[Deco 20]

La Liga needs to become more commercial, like the PL, in order to attract more investors and save the clubs from debt issues. With the current state of the Spanish economy as a whole they'll have towards other markets.

Improving the management of league and clubs (it's long been apparent that most of them are incompetent), production, refereeing, branding, distribution of wealth, kick-off times etc would all work towards securing the long-term status of the league. It should be possible given the wealth of talent at the league's disposal, because right now the only thing that is world-class with La Liga is the way the teams play. The rest is unworthy of a league of its stature.

 

[footyfan]

I remember Rosell (or was it Butragueno) saying that they will have a collective TV rights deal (like EPL or Serie A) from 2015/16. The plan is to sell the collective deal for a price greater than the sum of the parts (i.e what all the clubs are getting now). At the same time, the collective deal would be more equitable in the distribution. Rosell however wants a 16 team league to get a bigger share of the spoils.

Despite Spain's economic and league-related problems, the one thing that is in their favour is that all the biggest stars of the game play in Liga and they need to take advantage of that.

 

[BXI Fútbol]

...It should be possible given the wealth of talent at the league's disposal, because right now the only thing that is world-class with La Liga is the way the teams play. The rest is unworthy of a league of its stature.

Well put.

I hadn't heard of the collective TV rights deal starting 2015, that is definitely a step in the right direction.

 

[Kerrybai]

I hope the new tv deal is significant. I also hope Valencia can sort out their shit and finish their stadium. They are one team that has the fan base to compete with the top 2. As for atletico their furture also lies in their new 75000 seater stadium. If they can attract enough fans, and in particular increase their revenue from corporate facilities then they can also start to compete financially. The corporate facilities at arsenals stadium earn more money than the whole of highbury ever did.

 

[aaron101]

I wonder why they are building new stadiums when they can't even fill their current stadium that is smaller than the one they're building.

Look at Atletico, they are on their best season and competing with Barca & Madrid but their stadium is still always half empty even on a Europa League match.