On a similar debate, Which is the best domestic cup between Spain, Italy and England? I feel the FA Cup is king, due to it's proper structure and fantastic knockout football action. Coppa Italia is ruined by having a two legged final and Copa Del Rey is not that exciting for some reason.
Re: Is la Liga the best league this year? I've broken this topic out into its own thread as I think it's deserving of discussion in its own right.
Rather than make asinine comments why don't you put the same effort into making an argument for why the DFB Cup is the best?
I don't really believe it is #1, but I also think you shouldn't get so sensitive over little comments princess.
So you think your comment was helpful in adding to the value of the discussion? The OP asked a question which I expanded to cover the whole of Europe in the naming of the thread. If you don't like it then leave the thread
I don't mind the thread, everyone is entitled to visit in here even if they hurt your feelings while they are at it. I was simply adding a bit more to 96's post, which adds more variety than the main 3 leagues in Europe.
So me trying to move this thread past Germanic insecurity and onto discussing the actual thread topic is having my feelings hurt? As I pointed out - the OP posed a question in another thread which I thought would serve as a good starting point for a new discussion. By changing the title of the thread I thought it was clear enough that the discussion was being extended beyond the original question posed and applying to the whole of the UEFA domain. Evidently I didn't make that clear enough given the whiny comments that followed. Now, as I originally stated, it's a shame you haven't felt it appropriate to put as much effort into stating the qualities of the DFB Cup as you have about bitching about Germany being excluded when this is the second time I've stated that it isn't. Is that clearer now princess? Maybe you'd actually like to comment on the thread topic now we've got that out of the way.....
As for which is the best, potentially FA Cup perhaps followed La Liga's and Bundesliga's Cup competitions.
SOrry for Excluding the DFB cup. PLease feel free to include it in our discussion as well as the French Cup, Dutch Cup and what ever cup that you feel can hold it's own in this debate.
I quite like the DFB-Cup. I haven't researched it but I've had the sense that the Pokal has provided more shocks in the recent past than the other cup competitions from the so-called 'bigger' leagues. This season alone saw two Regionalliga/4th tier sides (Eintracht Trier and VfB Lübeck) knock out top-flight clubs (Hannover and Mainz) while quarterfinalist VfL Osnabrück (third division) put out Hamburg. For me, the problem with the Copa del Rey is that each round is over two legs which would appear to lessen the odds of seeing shocking results, especially in the Round of 32 when top flight clubs enter and teams from the lower leagues are forced to host the opening leg. Because of this, it makes Real Madrid's defeats to Real Unión and Alcorcón the past two seasons all the more spectacular. And yet, it would seem that the Copa has produced more unlikely finalists than the Cup, Coppa or Pokal in the past decade. With that said, none of it compares to what Calais (nearly) accomplished in the Coupe back in 2000. That was amazing.
The stadiums were scarily empty at last weekend's FA cup games. Attendance at cup games is a big worry in England. I think generally and across Europe the popularity of the cup is club-related not so much league related. Some clubs don't give a shite. Others (including some top sides) love it.
Are you sure you could include the DFB Pokal in this generalisation? Ok, Bayern winning the League and battling for the CL final may not care as much, but the rest of the teams and their fans would love to win it.
That's not what your media are saying. Besides, the whole of Northern Europe has had similar weather.
It is a bit of a generalisation but some clubs in my view love the cup fighter image more than others. Feyenoord for example has always been far more into it than Ajax and PSV even at the height of their success. At my own club even early rounds v amateur sides sell out - a lot of people are on the waiting list for a season ticket and can't go to domestic league games for that reason, and for them the cup is a great opportunity to see Twente.
When have the media ever had a clue? This is the worst sustained cold snap we have seen in years and, unlike other countries, there is no window break. The weather is the fundamental reason for lower attendances across the board not just in the FA Cup.
Many were not and when you consider the conditions for those travelling to games there is no surprise to find that attendances are down. For some it was impossible to travel to the game while for others it was frankly dangerous. The police have been stating for weeks that people should not travel unless absolutely necessary. In terms of postponements some have come within two hours of a match because the conditions have worsened which does not help fans who often have long trips to make. Thankfully the authorities have learned from prior games and postponed both Carling Cup ties in advance, despite both pitches being playable, for the safety of fans.
My point is Teso that it's the same everywhere in Northern Europe. We've had loads of snow here and sub-zero temperatures for weeks. Yet with more snow on the way predicted our friendly on Friday is already virtually sold out as were all of our cup games so far even v an amateur side (last one played on Dec. 17th in the freezing cold and snow). Some clubs will just attract capacity crowds for any game, regardless of the circumstances, and others will not. Like I said earlier this is more club-related than league-related in my view. It's also to do with the ticket pricing policies of these clubs mind. Some clubs ask outrageous prices for tickets to cup games. Whereas my club sees the cup as an opportunity for non-season ticket holding fans.
I have to defend Teso here though. British public transportation is just useless, unless you live in London, and the road maintanance also isn't the best. I am pretty sure the UK and Ireland are the least prepared Northern European country when it comes to a lot of snow, partly because of their closeness to the gulf stream.
We have had our worst sustained cold snap for 30 odd years and our worst period of snowfall for almost 40 years. The lowest temperature recorded thus far is -18C and it is supposed to drop below -20C this week. Some parts of the country had 19in of snow overnight. The main problem is ice that is not clearing due to the temperature and even when roads are cleared they do not stay clear for long. But of course johan decides to ignore the weather and instead focus on British teams and fans... Did anyone see what happened to us in The Day After Tomorrow..?