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The English Game . . .

Sope Creek

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. . . is a series on Netflix. It's a fictional story created about two real life characters, one of whom was the first player to be paid in England. The acting is good, and the story is pretty good . . . soccer as a cultural phenomenon is the main character, and the other characters revolve around it as they try to figure out how soccer does/should fit in with the rest of their lives.

If you're hard up for something soccer-related, you could do a lot worse . . . .
 
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. . . is a series on Netflix. It's a fictional story created about two real life characters, one of whom was the first player to be paid in England. The acting is good, and the story is pretty good . . . soccer as a cultural phenomenon is the main character, and the other characters revolve around it as they try to figure out how soccer does/should fit in with the rest of their lives.

If you're hard up for something soccer-related, you could do a lot worse . . . .
Will definitely have to check this out.
 
. . . is a series on Netflix. It's a fictional story created about two real life characters, one of whom was the first player to be paid in England. The acting is good, and the story is pretty good . . . soccer as a cultural phenomenon is the main character, and the other characters revolve around it as they try to figure out how soccer does/should fit in with the rest of their lives.

If you're hard up for something soccer-related, you could do a lot worse . . . .
Sope and others. if you're on lockdown and running out of shows couple more to add in the soccer world that are entertaining. sunderland til i die. and class of 1992 out of their league. the latter is really entertaining. it's about the man u class of 92 stars. they pool their dough and by a tiny club in england. great background tv while you work from home.

i'm excited to check out the english game.
 
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If you are into reading instead, try this book:

6773aab4-da45-4a68-bdc0-2d188f4a0de8_1.44bd07cf2ce57906eab2f76620372772.jpeg


Its has always been more about 11 v 11 men chasing about an inflated ball.

How Soccer Explains the World

How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization (also published as How Football Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization[1]) is a book written by American journalist Franklin Foer. It is an analysis of the interchange between soccer and the new global economy.

The author takes readers on a journey from stadium to stadium around the globe in an attempt to shed new insights on today’s world events, both from political and economic standpoints. Soccer is here the globalized medium that seems to lend itself to explaining the effects globalization has on society as a whole.
 
If you are into reading instead, try this book:

6773aab4-da45-4a68-bdc0-2d188f4a0de8_1.44bd07cf2ce57906eab2f76620372772.jpeg


Its has always been more about 11 v 11 men chasing about an inflated ball.

How Soccer Explains the World

How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization (also published as How Football Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization[1]) is a book written by American journalist Franklin Foer. It is an analysis of the interchange between soccer and the new global economy.

The author takes readers on a journey from stadium to stadium around the globe in an attempt to shed new insights on today’s world events, both from political and economic standpoints. Soccer is here the globalized medium that seems to lend itself to explaining the effects globalization has on society as a whole.

I did read that. Ha. very interesting. the soccer version of guns, germs and steel.
 
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I spent my formative years in the UK. And I can attest to the level of tribalism.
You are lucky. Among my many bucket list dreams (that i trust will never be realized) is living in england for a season: champions league, premier, even taking in some of the nonleague games would be a blast. it's amazing how many teams are concentrated in any given city.
 
You are lucky. Among my many bucket list dreams (that i trust will never be realized) is living in england for a season: champions league, premier, even taking in some of the nonleague games would be a blast. it's amazing how many teams are concentrated in any given city.

Actually my flatmate from Jackson heights was born in North London. So either a Spurs or Arsenal fan and in his case, three generations of Gooners.
We chat through live matches every weekend for like 15-18 yrs now. I said our bucket list should be to go to the lower leagues stadiums. Passion runs as deep but you are right by the pitch. You can hear every crunching tackle.

I go to OT every couple of years. Have watched Liverpool, Everton, Notts Forrest as a kid when tickets were peanuts and the atmosphere was incredible.
To have 30-40 thousands singing in unison... And we aren't talking about the standard American chant..... Xxx clap clap chant. I remember 20 thousand Liverpool supporters in the Kop End all shouting, in unison ' fook off Phil' who happened to be to their own aging club captain then!

I am a Man United supporter and have been since I was a kid. But OT isn't the same anymore. Too corporatised now. But I still feel the agony of death etc like I was still a kid. Nervous before certain matches etc.
Heart still flutters whenever I walk towards OT on a cool fall evening. But actually I also love driving to watch the academy players at their our stadium. Wind swept community stadium with warm pies and hot Coco.
 
Actually my flatmate from Jackson heights was born in North London. So either a Spurs or Arsenal fan and in his case, three generations of Gooners.
We chat through live matches every weekend for like 15-18 yrs now. I said our bucket list should be to go to the lower leagues stadiums. Passion runs as deep but you are right by the pitch. You can hear every crunching tackle.

I go to OT every couple of years. Have watched Liverpool, Everton, Notts Forrest as a kid when tickets were peanuts and the atmosphere was incredible.
To have 30-40 thousands singing in unison... And we aren't talking about the standard American chant..... Xxx clap clap chant. I remember 20 thousand Liverpool supporters in the Kop End all shouting, in unison ' fook off Phil' who happened to be to their own aging club captain then!

I am a Man United supporter and have been since I was a kid. But OT isn't the same anymore. Too corporatised now. But I still feel the agony of death etc like I was still a kid. Nervous before certain matches etc.
Heart still flutters whenever I walk towards OT on a cool fall evening. But actually I also love driving to watch the academy players at their our stadium. Wind swept community stadium with warm pies and hot Coco.
Wow!! Amazing stuff. If you haven’t seen it there’s a great documentary about the Man U class of 92 buying a non league team. Really entertaining. Salford or something like that.
 
Wow!! Amazing stuff. If you haven’t seen it there’s a great documentary about the Man U class of 92 buying a non league team. Really entertaining. Salford or something like that.
Yeap. Those guys have stayed connected. Salford is next to OT. They got a Singaporean billionaire's money to buy the club and refurbished a bunch of old buildings, converting them into hotels.. He owns Valencia.
 
Yeap. Those guys have stayed connected. Salford is next to OT. They got a Singaporean billionaire's money to buy the club and refurbished a bunch of old buildings, converting them into hotels.. He owns Valencia.
ah!! got it. i didn't know that. i'm a barcelona fan. well old barcelona that is. they are my favorite team ever in any sport. the years when certain games every single player came from their academy. the peak of pep's years and the spanish national team. i could kick myself for not going over there during that time. or go to the champions league final with man u. dumb.
 
ah!! got it. i didn't know that. i'm a barcelona fan. well old barcelona that is. they are my favorite team ever in any sport. the years when certain games every single player came from their academy. the peak of pep's years and the spanish national team. i could kick myself for not going over there during that time. or go to the champions league final with man u. dumb.

United team in that season was fantastic (still think the 99 team was better). But just couldn't find a way around the Barca team. Boys v men. I think we lost twice in 4 years in the CL Finals to Barca?

Fergie was never the greatest tactician but still probably the greatest ever manager. And yet he couldn't find him way around Pep in all his career.

It's ironic that Ole has beaten Pep three times already in the truncated season.

Comclusion: Messi > Pep
 
United team in that season was fantastic (still think the 99 team was better). But just couldn't find a way around the Barca team. Boys v men. I think we lost twice in 4 years in the CL Finals to Barca?

Fergie was never the greatest tactician but still probably the greatest ever manager. And yet he couldn't find him way around Pep in all his career.

It's ironic that Ole has beaten Pep three times already in the truncated season.

Comclusion: Messi > Pep
Ha. Messi, Xavi, iniesta, fabregas, Sergio etc were a once in a generation crew and pep deserves credit for not only utilizing their skill but also their approach: 3 seconds to win the ball back etc. the 5-0 win over Madrid during that time was the closest thing to sports perfection I’ve ever watched. At one point Xavi and iniesta we’re passing it back and forth 30 yards from the goal, just standing, and no one on real even tried to win it back they were so defeated. Anyway, they’re all mercenaries now.

I’m really rooting for ole. This Fernandes is great and they might be getting the Dutch back. Good times ahead again for United. As for Pogba. I don’t know. He doesn’t seem to have that sir Alex ethic.
 
Ha. Messi, Xavi, iniesta, fabregas, Sergio etc were a once in a generation crew and pep deserves credit for not only utilizing their skill but also their approach: 3 seconds to win the ball back etc. the 5-0 win over Madrid during that time was the closest thing to sports perfection I’ve ever watched. At one point Xavi and iniesta we’re passing it back and forth 30 yards from the goal, just standing, and no one on real even tried to win it back they were so defeated. Anyway, they’re all mercenaries now.

I’m really rooting for ole. This Fernandes is great and they might be getting the Dutch back. Good times ahead again for United. As for Pogba. I don’t know. He doesn’t seem to have that sir Alex ethic.

Pogba wasn't trusted by Fergie even as a kid. A lot of the transfers made were for PR/commercial reasons. It was the European approach -- buy them and then let the head coach get them to work together.

But instead of a Director of Football, it was done by the Vice Chairman's commercial team.

The big mistake United did was not to appoint Jose right after Fergie retired.

Jose came in the wrong time when the team was a mishmash/remnants of various squads of the previous managers. You know Jose is best only with mature players -- he knows/trust their skillsets and attitudes and can put together a team that way. He could have squeezed out the last drops of that ageing post-Fergie squad.

And lets see if he is a tactical dinosaur next season when he gets a full pre-season with his Spurs team, assuming that they can even start the season as per-normal -- which is looking increasingly unlikely.

Instead, they got Moyes who I am sure was hardly the 3rd or even 5th choice. The other mistake was letting David Gill the CEO retire along with Fergie the same time. Very poor succession planning by the Board of Directors.

LVG was the ying-yang manager. Very bad on the eyes to watch but great as sleep therapy.

I know LCG was considered amongst the grandfather of the tiki-taka style along with Cruyff which eventually led to the peak-Barca. But man, when you are watching an LVG/United team, you long for basic hoof-ball. I came to hate tiki-taka style because of LVG.

If it's possible to humanly euthanise a person via watching football, I think LVG found the perfect solution.

I watch United matches like at 10 or 11pm. Occasionally we have the late matches that start after Midnight, Singapore time. When LVG was around, I would be asleep by 10.30 or 11.30 almost 50% of the time. Even when we won, it felt like a loss.

The standard message I used to get on my Whatsapp (with my JH's roommate) was: '' You still there or asleep?'

Just hope that LVG wasn't working for the Illuminati and those pattern of plays wasn't some subliminal brainwashing.

That once in a life-time generation is just so hard to replicate. They played forever in that team. So you would have lost talent coming out of La Masia in droves. That's the danger. And was Fergie's genius building up three generations of squads.

But the style of football has changed and to be honest, for the better. Its the gegenpress, heavy metal style out of Germany. Klopp took a couple of seasons to get this right -- his teams used to be knackered after 65th -70th minute like some premature ejaculated teenager. Van Dijk has made a huge difference to that style of play. A solidity at the base.

There are derivatives of the German approaches being Nagelsmann, Lucian Favre etc. But I don't know how transferable their style of play is to the EPL. The German league's a lot more homogeneous in their style. The EPL has a Klopp, a Pep and then a Watford or Crystal Palace.

A full pressing attacking opposition to a 100% counter-attacking team the next few days. And even the re-emergence of the old 4-4-2 with some clubs.

I am 100% behind Ole. But at some point, he would have needed a Pep-like sabbatical after all that (currently) unappreciated heavy-lifting by short-term thinking fans.

Then who next? Nagelsmann? But from the German league? That's a risk due to the reason mentioned above. Klopp may be a one-off.
 
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Pogba wasn't trusted by Fergie even as a kid. A lot of the transfers made were for PR/commercial reasons. It was the European approach -- buy them and then let the head coach get them to work together.

But instead of a Director of Football, it was done by the Vice Chairman's commercial team.

The big mistake United did was not to appoint Jose right after Fergie retired.

Jose came in the wrong time when the team was a mishmash/remnants of various squads of the previous managers. You know Jose is best only with mature players -- he knows/trust their skillsets and attitudes and can put together a team that way. He could have squeezed out the last drops of that ageing post-Fergie squad.

And lets see if he is a tactical dinosaur next season when he gets a full pre-season with his Spurs team, assuming that they can even start the season as per-normal -- which is looking increasingly unlikely.

Instead, they got Moyes who I am sure was hardly the 3rd or even 5th choice. The other mistake was letting David Gill the CEO retire along with Fergie the same time. Very poor succession planning by the Board of Directors.

LVG was the ying-yang manager. Very bad on the eyes to watch but great as sleep therapy.

I know LCG was considered amongst the grandfather of the tiki-taka style along with Cruyff which eventually led to the peak-Barca. But man, when you are watching an LVG/United team, you long for basic hoof-ball. I came to hate tiki-taka style because of LVG.

If it's possible to humanly euthanise a person via watching football, I think LVG found the perfect solution.

I watch United matches like at 10 or 11pm. Occasionally we have the late matches that start after Midnight, Singapore time. When LVG was around, I would be asleep by 10.30 or 11.30 almost 50% of the time. Even when we won, it felt like a loss.

The standard message I used to get on my Whatsapp (with my JH's roommate) was: '' You still there or asleep?'

Just hope that LVG wasn't working for the Illuminati and those pattern of plays wasn't some subliminal brainwashing.

That once in a life-time generation is just so hard to replicate. They played forever in that team. So you would have lost talent coming out of La Masia in droves. That's the danger. And was Fergie's genius building up three generations of squads.

But the style of football has changed and to be honest, for the better. Its the gegenpress, heavy metal style out of Germany. Klopp took a couple of seasons to get this right -- his teams used to be knackered after 65th -70th minute like some premature ejaculated teenager. Van Dijk has made a huge difference to that style of play. A solidity at the base.

There are derivatives of the German approaches being Nagelsmann, Lucian Favre etc. But I don't know how transferable their style of play is to the EPL. The German league's a lot more homogeneous in their style. The EPL has a Klopp, a Pep and then a Watford or Crystal Palace.

A full pressing attacking opposition to a 100% counter-attacking team the next few days. And even the re-emergence of the old 4-4-2 with some clubs.

I am 100% behind Ole. But at some point, he would have needed a Pep-like sabbatical after all that (currently) unappreciated heavy-lifting by short-term thinking fans.

Then who next? Nagelsmann? But from the German league? That's a risk due to the reason mentioned above. Klopp may be a one-off.
wow you are a soccer fan lol. good stuff! i suspect klopp is definitely a one-off, and to a certain degree that group of players. i don't know if it was a perfect storm or hell maybe klopp really is that good at developing players.

i think united is slowly developing a new identity going forward. i agree with you they got caught in trying to buy the best players they could find with no sense of construction or chemistry. it will be really interesting to see what impact, if any, this pandemic has on world football. i know the fair play rules were beginning to show some teeth, but the idea of a "super league" or whatever was beginning to gain some steam. the premier league is fantastic, but a bit of an anomaly in its competitiveness. some of the bottom italian teams are damn near broke. look at eibar and others trying to compete with real and barca. champions league has become very predictable. now maybe there will be a bit of a depression across these leagues that will ultimately make them more competitive. like i said my favorite thing in sporting history was that four year span or so at barca watching that academy team play like they did. i don't care to watch barca just out spend everyone else to bring in mercenaries from wherever, the latest flavor of the season. it's boring.
 
wow you are a soccer fan lol. good stuff! i suspect klopp is definitely a one-off, and to a certain degree that group of players. i don't know if it was a perfect storm or hell maybe klopp really is that good at developing players.

i think united is slowly developing a new identity going forward. i agree with you they got caught in trying to buy the best players they could find with no sense of construction or chemistry. it will be really interesting to see what impact, if any, this pandemic has on world football. i know the fair play rules were beginning to show some teeth, but the idea of a "super league" or whatever was beginning to gain some steam. the premier league is fantastic, but a bit of an anomaly in its competitiveness. some of the bottom italian teams are damn near broke. look at eibar and others trying to compete with real and barca. champions league has become very predictable. now maybe there will be a bit of a depression across these leagues that will ultimately make them more competitive. like i said my favorite thing in sporting history was that four year span or so at barca watching that academy team play like they did. i don't care to watch barca just out spend everyone else to bring in mercenaries from wherever, the latest flavor of the season. it's boring.

This hundred-year perfect storm may change the face fo footie forever. Not sure how the lower league teams/clubs will survive. They all depend on gate receipts. It's the rich clubs, whether self-sustaining ones or the oil-sponsored one will thrive after. I am torn on both sides of the argument for a super-league. I like the EPL for that very reason -- the variance in styles that you club can play withing a 7 days period. A super league would be watching an El Classico every week. You get jaded after a while. Its the reason why I prefer NCAA basketball versus NBA. Its more organic.

Barca has a decision to make pretty soonish -- its sinking in so much financial resources onto Messi, that it may affect its ability to transit into a post-Messi world. $650k/week.
It has bought very poorly, spending massive amounts on Courtinho, Griezmann and Dembele to the tune of £260-280million in transfer fees? And barely got any change out of them in terms of performance. Suerez aka The Fangs is near retirement or at least his legs are gone.

It will be a dodgy transition period in a couple of years time when Messi retires. And may see it reverting back to the old Barca model of buying in superstars or like United in the wilderness searching for its identity.
 
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This hundred-year perfect storm may change the face fo footie forever. Not sure how the lower league teams/clubs will survive. They all depend on gate receipts. It's the rich clubs, whether self-sustaining ones or the oil-sponsored one will thrive after. I am torn on both sides of the argument for a super-league. I like the EPL for that very reason -- the variance in styles that you club can play withing a 7 days period. A super league would be watching an El Classico every week. You get jaded after a while. Its the reason why I prefer NCAA basketball versus NBA. Its more organic.

Barca has a decision to make pretty soonish -- its sinking in so much financial resources onto Messi, that it may affect its ability to transit into a post-Messi world. $650k/week.
It has bought very poorly, spending massive amounts on Courtinho, Griezmann and Dembele to the tune of £260-280million in transfer fees? And barely got any change out of them in terms of performance. Suerez aka The Fangs is near retirement or at least his legs are gone.

It will be a dodgy transition period in a couple of years time when Messi retires. And may see it reverting back to the old Barca model of buying in superstars or like United in the wilderness searching for its identity.
Totally agree. the academy class of messi, xavi, iniesta etc was once in a generation much like the man u class of 92. barca will bring in neymar and who knows what that'll do. i'm not sure he could make an entire season in a 7th grade girl's cyc league. barca will just continue to bring in mercenaries and be hit or miss. i suspect we see a steep decline in messi's output next season, or for certain the following.

should be an interesting few years. the premier league is going through a public relations war over players' wages. it'll be interesting to see when all this is over if the public is turned off.
 
Totally agree. the academy class of messi, xavi, iniesta etc was once in a generation much like the man u class of 92. barca will bring in neymar and who knows what that'll do. i'm not sure he could make an entire season in a 7th grade girl's cyc league. barca will just continue to bring in mercenaries and be hit or miss. i suspect we see a steep decline in messi's output next season, or for certain the following.

should be an interesting few years. the premier league is going through a public relations war over players' wages. it'll be interesting to see when all this is over if the public is turned off.

I think they may be miffed for a while but I think that boat as long sailed. I remember the day that Roy Keane wanted £60k/week and I thought, no footballer is worth that sort of money. :rolleyes:

Barca has always had superstars -- but they never brought them the heights of the Xavi-Iniesta-Messi spine ever did. Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Eto'o, Rivaldo, Maradona, Stoichkov, Romario... the list is endless.

You clearly prefer homegrown talent -- following them when they are in the U16, U18, etc. This is why I prefer the Ole approach. People just got to STFU and be patient. Rome wasn't build in a season.

As cantankerous I am here with Trump, though I am a lot less so nowadays --- I have reserved all the aggro for the Ole Out brigade!
So many of them harp & compare for the old (successful) times without realising that Fergie didn't build all that within a season either. They all crawl out of the woodwork after every loss and this is a season where we need to remove the deadwood, missing our best player since August and top scorer, Rashford hairline cracked a couple of vertebrates. A very thin squad -- its a clear rebuild and yet people don't seem to understand the few tools in the shed the manager has to play with.

I am surprised I have not been banned on the United forum, to be honest.
 
I think they may be miffed for a while but I think that boat as long sailed. I remember the day that Roy Keane wanted £60k/week and I thought, no footballer is worth that sort of money. :rolleyes:

Barca has always had superstars -- but they never brought them the heights of the Xavi-Iniesta-Messi spine ever did. Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Eto'o, Rivaldo, Maradona, Stoichkov, Romario... the list is endless.

You clearly prefer homegrown talent -- following them when they are in the U16, U18, etc. This is why I prefer the Ole approach. People just got to STFU and be patient. Rome wasn't build in a season.

As cantankerous I am here with Trump, though I am a lot less so nowadays --- I have reserved all the aggro for the Ole Out brigade!
So many of them harp & compare for the old (successful) times without realising that Fergie didn't build all that within a season either. They all crawl out of the woodwork after every loss and this is a season where we need to remove the deadwood, missing our best player since August and top scorer, Rashford hairline cracked a couple of vertebrates. A very thin squad -- its a clear rebuild and yet people don't seem to understand the few tools in the shed the manager has to play with.

I am surprised I have not been banned on the United forum, to be honest.
LMAO i think it's good times ahead for man u. i really do. it's just hard to find chemistry and keep people patient. great names on that barca list. stoichkov lol. i had totally forgotten about him. i'll never forget when he played so many years ago in mls. one of his first touches he switched it and both his teammate and the guy marking him both looked like they put their fingers in an outlet as they weren't expecting the ball. he hit it about four feet off the ground all of 65 yards lol. mls wasn't ready for the balls stoichkov and beckham were capable of playing.
 
LMAO i think it's good times ahead for man u. i really do. it's just hard to find chemistry and keep people patient. great names on that barca list. stoichkov lol. i had totally forgotten about him. i'll never forget when he played so many years ago in mls. one of his first touches he switched it and both his teammate and the guy marking him both looked like they put their fingers in an outlet as they weren't expecting the ball. he hit it about four feet off the ground all of 65 yards lol. mls wasn't ready for the balls stoichkov and beckham were capable of playing.

We are a season or two away from competing. Need like 3 players and then the rest is squad depth -- hopefully with the academy player. There is a kid, Mason Greenwood who I have been following for a couple of years now. 18y.o, equally two-footed and a fantastic eye for goals. This was his 1st season with the senior squad -- 12 goals already. A two-footed Van persie.


(He was like 17/18 in the video)

We get Sancho this summer, then I think we are set up front. Rashford, Martial and Sancho with Greenwood waiting. It would be better than a Cristiano/Rooney/Tevez frontline.

 
We are a season or two away from competing. Need like 3 players and then the rest is squad depth -- hopefully with the academy player. There is a kid, Mason Greenwood who I have been following for a couple of years now. 18y.o, equally two-footed and a fantastic eye for goals. This was his 1st season with the senior squad -- 12 goals already. A two-footed Van persie.


(He was like 17/18 in the video)

We get Sancho this summer, then I think we are set up front. Rashford, Martial and Sancho with Greenwood waiting. It would be better than a Cristiano/Rooney/Tevez frontline.

Sancho is such an incredible player. You guys may be getting the dutch centerback at juve too.
 
Sancho is such an incredible player. You guys may be getting the dutch centerback at juve too.
De lijt? Not a high priority. We need to get a RW and an attacking midfielder if not two esp if Pogba leaves.
It's a methodical rebuild. It's clear to me what he is doing. Question is whether the United fans who have been used to winning Silverware have the patience.
I have see the down years so patience with Ole isn't an issue.
 
De lijt? Not a high priority. We need to get a RW and an attacking midfielder if not two esp if Pogba leaves.
It's a methodical rebuild. It's clear to me what he is doing. Question is whether the United fans who have been used to winning Silverware have the patience.
I have see the down years so patience with Ole isn't an issue.
Yep De ligt. i think so. i think this fall will place them squarely in the top 4.
 
Yep De ligt. i think so. i think this fall will place them squarely in the top 4.

Has football's CREDIT CRUNCH finally arrived? Experts warn Premier League sides could go bust as they owe £1.6BILLION in transfer fees - with values set to PLUMMET - and risk defaulting on loans with some needing TV money to make up 88% of revenue
  • The Premier League has been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic
  • Clubs were in the 'worst possible position' prior to the crisis happening
  • Experts have warned Sportsmail that they are in a serious situation financially
  • They have been accused of becoming reliant on the broadcast rights money
All the experts are crawling out of the woodwork!

UEFA should have stepped in much earlier -- implemented a soft salary cap or/and executed the Financial Fair Play more stringently. Instead, they allowed the inflationary pressures to keep pushing wages up and up.

I am not sure who has the best model league-wise. German is basically a one club league. Spain two, Italy...

The EPL has been pretty successful over the decades because of its competitiveness through the past few years its been predictable at the very top. Though the Champion's League's four spots -- that seems to be expanding with every season and the most interesting bit of the season.
 
Has football's CREDIT CRUNCH finally arrived? Experts warn Premier League sides could go bust as they owe £1.6BILLION in transfer fees - with values set to PLUMMET - and risk defaulting on loans with some needing TV money to make up 88% of revenue
  • The Premier League has been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic
  • Clubs were in the 'worst possible position' prior to the crisis happening
  • Experts have warned Sportsmail that they are in a serious situation financially
  • They have been accused of becoming reliant on the broadcast rights money
All the experts are crawling out of the woodwork!

UEFA should have stepped in much earlier -- implemented a soft salary cap or/and executed the Financial Fair Play more stringently. Instead, they allowed the inflationary pressures to keep pushing wages up and up.

I am not sure who has the best model league-wise. German is basically a one club league. Spain two, Italy...

The EPL has been pretty successful over the decades because of its competitiveness through the past few years its been predictable at the very top. Though the Champion's League's four spots -- that seems to be expanding with every season and the most interesting bit of the season.
Watch the new season of Sunderland til I die on Netflix. Really interesting watching the finances of a club.
 
Watch the new season of Sunderland til I die on Netflix. Really interesting watching the finances of a club.

You know Sunderland had an American owner -- Ellis Short. He went the route of the big-name former player and now manager route. Failed badly. A shame as it has a long history but now stuck in the lower division. They have fantastic support in the NE. Three major clubs, Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesborough. All 40-50,000 seaters stadiums.

I will watch the series this weekend. Not seen Season 1 yet.
 
You know Sunderland had an American owner -- Ellis Short. He went the route of the big-name former player and now manager route. Failed badly. A shame as it has a long history but now stuck in the lower division. They have fantastic support in the NE. Three major clubs, Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesborough. All 40-50,000 seaters stadiums.

I will watch the series this weekend. Not seen Season 1 yet.
Definitely watch it! Season 2 is even better. Yes his kid actually plays for one of my old college teammates in boca Raton.
 
Definitely watch it! Season 2 is even better. Yes his kid actually plays for one of my old college teammates in boca Raton.

I just watched like 5 episodes (S01) in a row before taking in a work call. It really provides some insights of the crap the manager has to take -- stuck between the non-performing manager, a handcuffed CEO and the owner want to bail out.
Sunderland was always a banker for United. But even a few years back you could see that their approach to life and survival was to throw money at the problem. I am surprised to find out they are in League One -- an amazing fall from grace considering that they have the benefit of parachute money of like £40million for the 1st and 2nd years after the drop from the EPL. And yet they kept on falling.
I guess someone who made his money from investment doesn't always translate to building (or rebuilding) or managing an organisation.
 
I just watched like 5 episodes (S01) in a row before taking in a work call. It really provides some insights of the crap the manager has to take -- stuck between the non-performing manager, a handcuffed CEO and the owner want to bail out.
Sunderland was always a banker for United. But even a few years back you could see that their approach to life and survival was to throw money at the problem. I am surprised to find out they are in League One -- an amazing fall from grace considering that they have the benefit of parachute money of like £40million for the 1st and 2nd years after the drop from the EPL. And yet they kept on falling.
I guess someone who made his money from investment doesn't always translate to building (or rebuilding) or managing an organisation.
oh for sure. the second season in league one is fantastic. it's so interesting from an administrative side because they have to dump the lion's share of the players and become a club that's financially on par with league one clubs yet still try to get promoted. it's really interesting. yeah crazy to think they went from the premier league to league one in a twelve month span. the guys in league one are making like $1,500 a week. super interesting show.
 
oh for sure. the second season in league one is fantastic. it's so interesting from an administrative side because they have to dump the lion's share of the players and become a club that's financially on par with league one clubs yet still try to get promoted. it's really interesting. yeah crazy to think they went from the premier league to league one in a twelve month span. the guys in league one are making like $1,500 a week. super interesting show.

Its the sort of passion you just don't find anywhere else or sport. Its so tribal. That's why at the height of the hooliganism, you can understand why and how it happens. I have never been to the North east -- Newcastle/Durham/Sunderland. But they are famous for their single-mindedness -- football. I just checked the average attendance at the Stadium of Light was 30,000 in League One!!

But also the fact that American teams don't get relegated which kills the passion too. Its just a reset button for every season.

But the theme song is very apt lyrically.

 
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. . . is a series on Netflix. It's a fictional story created about two real life characters, one of whom was the first player to be paid in England. The acting is good, and the story is pretty good . . . soccer as a cultural phenomenon is the main character, and the other characters revolve around it as they try to figure out how soccer does/should fit in with the rest of their lives.

If you're hard up for something soccer-related, you could do a lot worse . . . .

Starting The English Game.

There is a lot of nuances (to borrow an over-used word here) in this series. Its a class warfare between the toffs and the working class. South versus the Mill towns of the North -- in fact this divide still exist to this day and some say that the backs of the Northerners were broken by Maggie in the 80s and they have never voted for the Tories ever since.

Its interesting that it was the Old Etonians. They are probably the most elite public school in the country (though students and old boys from Harrow, Winchester and Westminster may have a thing or two to say.)

But there was a period that football of time was just never played at public schools (being a private school and state-funded schools were called comprehensive in the UK) in general. Its changed somewhat with football being more of an official sport now in public schools. It was always said that:

Football is a gentleman's game played by hooligans, and rugby is a hooligan's game played by gentlemen.

So they always had rugby as the main autumn sport in public schools and still is. (Hockey in the Spring and Cricket in the summer term)

Football was always a working-class sport. But with the success of the EPL now, its bridged the class gaps and has become more acceptable.
 
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