I haven't fallen for any hype, I was very much La liga > EPL and had many debates with PL fanboys back then when they were calling La liga 'the sunny SPL' but now, the PL is just a better league. more excitement, the best players are spread more evenly. I rather watch fast, end to end crazy scoreline football than 'strong defence' la liga teams playing out 1-1 draws.
Although La liga doesn't have those huge scorelines, this isn't down to the rest of the league getting better; its down to Barca and Madrid sucking.
Excitement means fuckall about quality of football. It doesn't help people always use the vaguest of words like 'better' and can't decide what it actually refers to. People really need to be more specific. Here are some thoughts I think are more precise:
- it's the most 'excitable' league if all you need to see to be entertained is something as simple as goals; in EPL high scoring games are likely regardless of the club you talk about, Leicester beat Southampton 8-1 didn't they? games are likely to be more open and therefore a good watch regardless of the fixture you tune into
- it's more competitive, in the sense that more teams will threaten each other's position because any team down to ~10th in mid-table (and beyond, if backed financially i.e. Villa, Leeds, Fulham) can afford high-fee transfers and sustain large wage of good players; in most other leagues that margin is about 5-6th place tops
- it's the most marketable; English language being ubiquitous helps outreach around the world and it's far easier to attract investors (see teams from 3rd rate cities like Birmingham or Wolverhampton easily securing the financial backing they need), and get the businessmen themselves invested in the team they buy as they already speak the local language for their own professional purposes
- more established good coaches and new exciting ones like a challenge in low risk projects; the margin of failure is absolutely fucking huge for upper-midtable projects like Everton, Wolverhampton, Leicester or Arsenal who are all expected to end up anywhere between 4-10th without anyone sacking the manager on the spot if a given season expectation isn't reached due to sheer breadth of competition; it's so much easier for job security, wage and creative freedom than midtable Spain, Italy or anywhere else
- it's the most professionally presented by broadcast companies and the most accessible on TV grounds with tonnes of Sky-BT clips available on Youtube that anyone (sometimes needing VPN) can access without having to learn an extra language; compare the amount of punditry you get linked from Sky, BeIN, ITV on this forum alone to punditry from other leagues - again marketability
- it's also the most trendy; who the fuck wants to play in a league where competitors get as much bad English press as Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus or PSG do? the only pull factors in post-MessiCR era for Italy and Spain are climate and possibly tax/image rights laws
It honestly all boils down to the ease of making money with English language dominating all the global media.
When you can throw money at a problem (paying a manager, patching a squad hole) and you know you're going to get TV revenue, reliable fan support (horrendous stadia maintenance costs in Spain and Italy hiking ticket prices) and you don't need to do financial gymnastics to keep away from FFP (or even take a hit from sanctions and still be OK), it's so much easier.
Compare this to shitshows of Peter Lim Valencia, Milan, Inter etc etc..
None of this for a second means EPL as a league entity is characterised by 'better football'. It doesn't mean it's more thought out or intricate. It doesn't mean it's better executed. It doesn't mean it's more consistent. It doesn't mean players apply themselves more in big European fixtures or even succeed more. It doesn't mean it's more of a football challenge. On project setup side of things it may in fact be 1000x more challenging to be anywhere but England. But it will not be more profitable. People won't watch your football unless you have immediate impact on the continent. Not the case in England.
PS
Bullshit about unexpected scorelines being a measurement stick for league quality. This used to get brought up back in Pep-Mourinho days as well and English teams were regularly getting exposed for what they are in serious conditions. Not at all something to draw 'better league' statements from and if it makes you want to tune in to the league more often, you should question why you're watching it. Because such results don't happen through planning & successful execution and are for all intents and purposes anomalies.
