European Superleague: what do you think

Discussion in 'UEFA and Europe' started by Goforthekill, Nov 12, 2012.

  1. Goforthekill

    Goforthekill Member

    Aug 13, 2011
    Minnesota
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Every once in a while the idea of a european superleague comes up. Taking the best teams in europe and putting them in one league, playing against each other every week. I think that it will start to be discussed for frequently and more seriously as time moves on, espacially with leagues in countries with huge populations like brazil, the US and china, that threaten to challenge europe's supremacy. What are your opinions: do you want it to happen? will it happen? if it does happen, what do you thing the format should be?
     
  2. barroldinho

    barroldinho Member+

    Man Utd and LA Galaxy
    England
    Aug 13, 2007
    US/UK dual citizen in HB, CA
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    This is an idea I had a while back. As I note here, I don't want a Superleague, or even what I outline here really. This is a hypothetical in a scenario where such a competition was forced into existence. As such, it's a system designed to give the big clubs some of what they might try to leverage, while also forcing them to put their money where their mouth is and prove their merit:

     
  3. Goforthekill

    Goforthekill Member

    Aug 13, 2011
    Minnesota
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    If this were to happen it would replace the CL. Europe's big teams want to play big teams every week. My idea is as follows

    3 tiered league structure

    24 teams per league
    2 games against each opponent-46 games
    top eight teams qualify for playoffs
    2-game aggregate series-1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, etc
    Final held at a neutral location

    4 teams relegated and promoted every year
    Pro/Rel playoffs but i didn't think that far

    4 teams are also relegated from the 3rd league
    Each association is assigned a certain amount of spots based on performance and re-assigned every 5 years.
    If a team is relegated from the 3rd league, then the champions the domestic league in that association would be promoted.
    For example: if liverpool were relegated from the 3rd league and Newcastle won the english league that year, then Newcastle would be promoted. let's say that both liverpool and tottenham were relegated, the Newcastle and the runners-up, lets say Everton, would both be promoted.
     
  4. barroldinho

    barroldinho Member+

    Man Utd and LA Galaxy
    England
    Aug 13, 2007
    US/UK dual citizen in HB, CA
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Why would you have playoffs to decide the title? You've already got a balanced schedule and a long season, so the team that finishes #1 would be a more worth Champion IMO.

    Also, how would the reassigment work if you're relegating teams back into the domestic league?
     
  5. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think 46 games might be fine for English clubs, but clubs in Portugal's Liga Sagres play 30 games per season. If a Portuguese club went from the Champions League Playoff Round to the Europa League final under the current format (by losing in the Champions League Playoff Round or finishing third in the Group Stage), it would play 47 games between Liga Sagres and Europe excluding domestic cup games, and playing that many games is unlikely. Under your format the club would play at least 46 games and up to 51. With 46 league games, several midweek matchdays would be needed, which compete with domestic cup games including the English FA Cup which plays on the weekend but may need to play replays midweek. I also don't think 72 clubs should be competing entirely in Europe. England has 9 of the top 72 in the UEFA coefficients for 2007-2008 through 2011-2012 and their league would be very diluted without those clubs.
     
  6. Goforthekill

    Goforthekill Member

    Aug 13, 2011
    Minnesota
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The clubs will still want a final in this format, like in the champions league, it's a huge draw around the world. I also thought i would put an american twist on it.

    As for the re-assignment. Let's say that france gets 5 spots in the league. Anytime one of their teams finishes in the bottom 4 four of the 3rd league, they are relegated to Ligue 1, then the champions of Ligue 1 is promoted. After 4 years, let's say france's teams don't do very well and they lose a spot. After that year, the worst performing french team is relegated to Ligue 1, and no one is promoted. If a french team finishes in the bottom 4 then they, along with the next worst performing french team are relegated and the champion of Ligue 1 is promoted. If scotland has 1 spot but get's a second spot because of good performances, and to account for france losing a spot, the champion of the SPL is automatically promoted, if the scottish team finishes in the bottom 4, the the top two teams in the SPL are promoted.
     
  7. Goforthekill

    Goforthekill Member

    Aug 13, 2011
    Minnesota
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think you may be right. Perhaps 3 leagues of 20 would be better for scheduling. There could also be a cap on the number of teams per association.
     
  8. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    A playoff would kind of be necessary otherwise teams near the top would have nothing to play for unless they were in the actual title -race.

    Anyway, a 3-tiered super-league would never work. In the example presented above, I can't imagine Newcastle & Everton fans being too fond of leaving their domestic rivals for an indefinite period of time just so they could play in the 3rd-division of some Euro league. Plus who would watch a 3rd division match between Newcastle v Gençlerbirliği or whatever?

    Any super-league would have to be 1-tier so that its so elite/prestigious that the benefits of playing in it offsets not playing your local rivals. Even then its a stretch.
     
  9. leg_breaker

    leg_breaker Member

    Dec 23, 2005
    Because the CL group stages aren't tedious enough?
     
  10. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    Well, the CL group-stages have been very competitive the last couple of years (contrary to what nostalgic whiners want to believe). But I get your point. It certainly doesn't need to be any longer than six matches.
     
  11. NuffSaid

    NuffSaid BigSoccer Yellow Card

    Jun 14, 2012
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    I dont think European football fans want a European super league, especially (god forbid) anything involving playoffs!!!
     
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  12. Dage

    Dage Moderator
    Staff Member

    Jun 4, 2008
    Berlin
    Club:
    Borussia Mönchengladbach
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    A European SUper League would be the dead of football. no thx..
     
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  13. guignol

    guignol Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 28, 2005
    mermoz-les-boss
    Club:
    Olympique Lyonnais
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    in the history of the game there have been good and bad ideas.

    the rule change on passes to the keeper was a good idea.

    video officiating would be a bad idea.

    this is the worst idea.
     
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  14. LoveModernFootball

    LoveModernFootball New Member

    Oct 14, 2011
    Club:
    --other--
    Thank goodness there was no Internet in 1955. Hordes of stick in the mud football fans would have rallied agaisnt this newfangled idea of a Cup for Champions of every league to determine the European supremacy. The death of football! they would have claimed. Worst idea ever! Let us enjoy our tiny endogamic leagues! Who wants a European Cup? They only want more money!

    Seriously:

    We need ONE EUROPEAN FOOTBALL PYRAMID NOW! Not 50!

    Start merging leagues! Merge them all into one! No more borders, no more "national" quotas, no more of this obsolete system!

    Yesterday we saw the scam of the so-called "Europa League" in all its splendor! Why does football hates itself so much? What have we done to deserve that?
     
  15. leg_breaker

    leg_breaker Member

    Dec 23, 2005
    How do you fit thousands of teams into one league system that people will actually give a shit about?
     
  16. guignol

    guignol Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 28, 2005
    mermoz-les-boss
    Club:
    Olympique Lyonnais
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    you don't, that's the beauty of it. you just disband or disenfranchise the clubs of hundreds of millions of fans who don't give a rat's ass for charsenal or real united, tear down their stadiums, and force feed them the Big Sky Tee-Vee Wunderleague at 40 euros a month.

    the tears of gratitude are rolling down my cheeks already.

    seriously, here in lyon we're living great times, with bunches of young academy players (lacazette, grenier, gonalons, benzia, umtiti, etc...) and one not so young (malbranque, back after a 10 year stint in the EPL), under a coach who also came out of our academy, played here for years during the days when we got promoted (and scored the first ever european goal of the aulas era), and he under an owner who is also a local... at season's start we were just happy to see a fun atmosphere in the club (and lower ticket prices for the EL than for the CL is also a nice thing) but now that we've clinched our EL group and are top of the league we're giddy as schoolboys. having more fun than any year since, say... the 5th... maybe even since the 4th title of the 7 straight. farca? manchester pity? they don't exist for us. PSG and their hundreds of millions? those asswipes only interest us on the two nights a year when we are going to KICK THEIR ASS!

    the only football you can really love, the only football that's really yours, is the football that's happening right in your town. that you get to on the metro (or for me, on my bicycle), not on your satellite dish.
     
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  17. Lemonade

    Lemonade Member

    Jun 29, 2010
    Sure, but what would change in a European League? The Clubs won't relocate, most of the national leagues would still be conserved, perhaps some local rivalries might suffer but the same happens if one of the clubs gets relegated.
    According to some 'fans' in here the 6th tier regional leagues must be the best thing ever. But curiously they all follow some big fish club near them...

    At least a European Super league would level the playing field and we don't have to watch >300M revenue Clubs play against a <10M revenue Club
     
  18. It's called FOOTBALL

    LMX Clubs
    Mexico
    May 4, 2009
    Chitown
    Exactly. I'm 100% for a Euro Superleague. That would shut up the mongs who think that their league will surpass Europe one day. And there are a lot of mongs like that on this board.

    Why should we wait years to see Man U vs Barca. 2x a year would be better. Same for Madrid vs Man U, and so on.
     
  19. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I read that when Blackpool was the in 2010-2011 EPL, the club spent so little money that the players washed their own uniforms. They got relegated due to their horrible defense and/or goalkeeping, but they were tied for 8th in goals scored so their offense wasn't a problem. I like that even clubs who get relegated can sometimes play well against elite clubs. Queens Park Rangers has 0 wins, 4 draws, and 9 losses, but two of their draws are against top five clubs Chelsea and Everton. In 2009-2010 Burnley got relegated but they beat Manchester United.
    I also like following the Champions League qualifying rounds and seeing which champions of countries that are not good enough to have anybody start in the Group Stage reach the Group Stage from the qualifying rounds. Presumably Cyprus would have had no access to a Super League for 2011-2012 and APOEL wouldn't have had the chance to reach the Champions League Quarterfinals, two rounds farther than the top two clubs in the EPL table got.
     
  20. Lemonade

    Lemonade Member

    Jun 29, 2010
    They won games against Zenit, Porto and Lyon. If we assume a two tier super league á 20 teams and play-offs between the national league winners to determine promotions. Games between teams like APOEL and Porto/Zenit/Lyon will happen regularly.
     
  21. Alex_K

    Alex_K Member+

    Mar 23, 2002
    Braunschweig, Germany
    Club:
    Eintracht Braunschweig
    Nat'l Team:
    Bhutan
    People who think that any "European super league" would have a match like APOEL vs. Zenit, or that there would be promotion and relegation, haven't really understood the concept.

    I actually follow 6th tier regional leagues.
     
  22. NuffSaid

    NuffSaid BigSoccer Yellow Card

    Jun 14, 2012
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    This exactly, believe it or not there are more fans in England that DONT support the teams in the champions league than there are that do. Most fans in England dont give a 'rats a@se' if Manchester United or Chelsea win the Champions League (and I say that as a Chelsea supporter). A European superleague will allianate most English (and my guess is other Euro nations) fans and interest would soon die down. I would MUCH prefer to watch and have MUCH more interest in Charlton v Nottingham Forest than I would Lyon v Napoli, likewise I feel sure that a Frenchman would MUCH prefer Lyon v Marseill over Newcastle v Bayern Munich. Europe is very different to the USA because it is made up of very seperate countries, the Champions league works in its current format - a European Superleague would die a death.
     
  23. Lemonade

    Lemonade Member

    Jun 29, 2010
    That is all fine and good. But there are a lot of people who would prefer to watch Chelsea vs Bayern Munich than Chelsea vs Wigan Athletic
     
  24. NuffSaid

    NuffSaid BigSoccer Yellow Card

    Jun 14, 2012
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Only Chelsea and Bayern fans (in the UK and in Germany) more English fans would have an interest in Chelsea v Wigan premiership game because it would be a Premier league fixture which means it would have a bearing on and interest fans of other teams around Wigan and Chelsea. Same thing in Germany too - the point is that more fans in Europe have a greater interest in their domestic leagues than they do in the Champions league because the domestic leagues have FAR more support in total than just the Champions league clubs.
     
  25. Lemonade

    Lemonade Member

    Jun 29, 2010
    The EPL doesn't get those massive TV deals because some Englishmen follow their local teams on Sky Sports or go to the stadiums once a week
     

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