State of La Liga

[beef-supreme]

Firstly, a league's dominance is based on the performance of its representative clubs in europe. This season the #1 representative of spain taught england a lesson. And in fact those aren't my words, those are the words of epl disciples jamie redknapp and andy gray. You are right that this season the challenges to the big 2 weren't anything special. But given the names that spain is attracting, given that some of the most marketable players in the world are in spain (plus if ibra comes to fcb it will be the two highest earners of 08/09 in spain - kaká and ibra), given that of all the key players Spain used bar THREE to win Euro 2008 and be hailed as the first team in ages to win it by playing the best football came from la liga ...it shows that we are seeing a turning point for la liga. And that's the key phrase. Turning point.

You said that sevilla always sell their players and cannot have success like they had in 05/07. If you have followed la liga intensely for for 10 years then you would know that monchi has been at sevilla for 9 years and in that time (as they have been a selling club) they have gone from being a newly-promoted side to winning back to back UEFA cups. For them to be a selling club (losing the likes or reyes, baptista and ramos) and continue to go on to win those titles speaks volumes. They have had baptista who had a record of more than 1 goal in 2 games, they have kanouté (pichichi two season ago) who they have managed to tie down to the club and they have fabiano who was almost pichichi last season had it not been for the phenominal run of form by guiza in the last few weeks. Manolo jímenez is learning, but i see potential in him. They are a project team and i have huge faith in them continuing to improve. Perhaps they take one step forward two steps back at times, but in the long run i see them moving further than they have before.

Also, you forgot to (or rather chose not to) mention atléti who have been slowly but surely improving. They now have two-time pichichi (and the same player who scored enough goals this season to earn him the golden boot...even though la liga was so bad outside the top 2, right?), one of the hottest young strikers in the WORLD, a decent midfield, and are no doubt going to continue to strengthen this summer. Not to mention they have abel resino who replaced the mediocre aguirre.

Spain's problem has been the way the league is run. They need to remarket it. They need to have deals in place whereby it is the league that sells the TV rights, as opposed to individual clubs negotiating their own terms. It needs to confirm fixture days for TV months before they take place. It needs to improve its refereeing standards vastly. Those are the places where la liga is miles behind the epl.

The names that are arriving at la liga, the football being played, the dominance of fcb in europe this season, the potential different teams show...as i said we are seeing a turning point.

Actually, excellent post.

 

[VivaBarca]

Thanks for sharing your opinion with us VivaBarca. It is just as informative as Ed's recap of La Liga

Short and sweet.

 

[diegomessi]

La liga has the best players in the world! everyone going to be wanting to see the league this year... england getting left in the dust.. they can have their physical long ball we have work of art footy

 

[Cule Angles]

When the biggest club in the "Best League in the World" can't keep it's best player then you know the illusion has been shattered. The quality throughout La Liga is superior to the PL's, as evidenced by matches between lesser clubs which are more often than not turgid affairs in England yet often very entertaining in La Liga. For EPL fans to turn round and say that we have a two horse race is ever so slightly ignorant seeing as it was Villarreal who finished 2nd last season and that there have been only three title contenders in England for the past few seasons with Arsenal becoming a selling club/finishing school. Like Edward I really couldn't care less about the media war regarding the "best league in the world", it's a bundle of hype which was kicked off by the Murdoch media outlets in the UK and has since found its way over to the media here in Spain. I support Barça, not la liga, and the only reason I'm happy to see the EPL knocked off its perch is because I'm fed up of the sneering from idiots like Andy Gray, Clive Tyldsley and Martin Samuels.

 

[maz]

I support la liga. Its a wonderful league and a good la liga means a thoroughly entertaining season. Indeed indeed.

 

[Cule Angles]

I love the league and the football it produces but I don't blindly follow Spanish clubs in Europe.

 

[maz]

I do.

 

[Cule Angles]

So you're a big Real Madrid fan when they're playing in the CL are you?

 

[maz]

Heh, im just messing.

 

[ronsytler]

Can Barcelona afford to pay Ronaldo/kaka money for Ribery if they really really wanted to??

Given that they have a similar membership structure, similar social significance and global marketing power how come Real Madrid can afford to spend 4 to 5 times more??

 

[Cule Angles]

We're not prepared to gamble on the club's future to the same extent that Perez is. The "we'll sell enough shirts to cover the transfer/wages" argument is over simplistic and possibly extremely flawed.

 

[ronsytler]

We're not prepared to gamble on the club's future to the same extent that Perez is. The "we'll sell enough shirts to cover the transfer/wages" argument is over simplistic and possibly extremely flawed.

But hypothetically if Laporta really wanted Ribery and had the same thinking as Perez, is it financially possible for Barca to do the same thing, or is it just that Real Madrid are far far richer than Barca.

 

[Cule Angles]

They're far, far more in debt than Barça. Theoretically we could do the same if the banks were prepared to lend us the money based on future earnings, maybe Perez's working relationship with La Caixa is such that he can get them to agree to anything with the threat that if they say no he'll move his business accounts elsewhere.

 

[Beast]

Can Barcelona afford to pay Ronaldo/kaka money for Ribery if they really really wanted to??

Given that they have a similar membership structure, similar social significance and global marketing power how come Real Madrid can afford to spend 4 to 5 times more??

No you actually don't have a similar marketing power at all... you are far behind us..
when we didn't win a thing and crashed out early in the CL we were still much far in terms of earning then you ..

you were able to decrease the gap with your CL win of course .. and with dinho then Messi as brand names.. but make no mistake if one of them was in Real .. we would make at least 8 times more then you did ..and even when we didn't bother going on Tour to Asia & the US

you need some good marketing department in Barca.. having an Economical genius doesn't mean he is a brilliant mind in action.. academical studies is not the same as applying it

 

[Cule Angles]

We've closed the gap massively in recent years though, before 2003 we were nothing in terms of marketing and revenues, now we're firmly amongst the top 3 of world football and with further work we'll close the gap yet more.