Winning 3 trophies in the same year is very difficult. (Possibly the biggest understatement of the new year!) But which one is the hardest to do, and why? Premiership - FA Cup - CL La Liga - Copa Del Rey - CL Serie A - Coppa Italia - CL Bundesliga - DfB Cup - CL Finally, do you realistically see anyone doing all 3 this year?
Serie A's cup is probably the easiest to win as second string players are fielded throughout it. A manager from one of the bigger clubs (Inter, Milan, etc.) and would wreck shop on the other clubs who treat it second rate. For this reason, the lack of respect, makes the Italian treble not as much of an accomplishment.
Arsenal could do it. Manchester United could do it. Edge to Arsenal since they are still 5 points clear in the EPL. Edge to Manchester United as CL Final is at Old Trafford.
Zuh? Then how come no one has done it in recent memory? Even the all conquering Milan and Juventus sides of the 90's rarely, if ever won even two of the three. Copa Italia is two legs, I'm not sure if that makes it harder or easier.
Yeah - the Coppa Italia is pretty damn fiercely contested. Maybe he was thinking of the Copa del Rey?
Re: Re: Hardest "treble" to win? Manchester did it in the 99-00 season I believe. With the way Arsenal is playing this season, they could do it too.
Old system was harder. Bit diluted now-a-days anyway.I mean you can still lose quite a few games and still win the treble. The "hardest" treble was in the old days of the European Cup where if you lost a game you were most likely out.Also, it might be worth mentioning about the Italian restrictions of only two foreigners per team in years gone by.Awfully hard for them to compete if the local talent wasn't there.
Really? Wow, I didn't know that. How hard is the Copa del Rey to win? I know Real Madrid almost did a Copa del Rey - CL double last year but lost in the final to Depor. If Real can find its way in the CL, maybe, just maybe they can do it this year. They seem to have played their way back into form in La Liga. Sociedad is within their sights.
Most Dramatic Treble Ever Actually Man. Utd. won their treble during the 98-99 season and won all three legs in a 10 day span during May '99. Man. Utd. won the EPL title by defeating Tottenham on a Sunday, then 6 days later defeated Newcastle in the FA Cup, and then four days after that they came from behind in stoppage time on goals by Sheringham and Solskjær to defeat Bayern Munich and win the treble.
hard? well, since the firt two leg are a single game many first division teams have complained about it
The cup competition tradition is weak in most southern European countries. I know that the Coppa Italia and the Copa del Rey aren't treated with anything like the seriousness with which the respective league championships of those nations are treated. In England, however, the FA Cup is of enormous importance to all clubs. Ties played over one leg are unquestionably harder. One bad day at the office and you're out. I'm sure that, for example, Everton would win comfortably in a second leg against Shrewsbury. The European Cup Winner's Cup was always thought to be the weaker European competition as the entrants from most countries were lesser clubs who took advantage of the lax attitudes to the domestic cup of their more illustrious domestic rivals. The major clubs of Spain and Italy are definitely strong enough to have done more doubles over the years if they really wanted it badly enough. So the league/cup/European Cup treble has to be harder to do for an English team. Also, I think the Euopean Cup is much harder to win these days than ever before. It's an absolute marathon these days - 17 games to play for the winners, assuming they didn't have to qualify. As United, Barcelona and both Milanese clubs had to qualify there's every chance that the winner this year will have played a massive 19 matches. That equates to half a league season! The quality is also much higher. Four teams each from England, Spain and Italy, three from Germany etc. In the old days you could quite realistically get to the semi-finals without playing credible opposition. No chance of that nowadays! Also, those countries whose clubs were incapaple of putting up credible opposition in the old days, including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey, Greece and even Holland, are nowadays a match for anyone on their day.
Hardly surprising, seeing as Real Madrid are the only Spanish team who ever win the European Cup. Well Barcelona did once........ Interesting how lowley Nottingham Forest have won the European cup more than the entire top 30 Spanish teams combined including Barcelona, yet they are not considered a big team anymore.
Re: Re: Hardest "treble" to win? Nor are, say, Steaua Bucharest, Red Star Belgrade, or Olympique Marseille. Or, for that matter, Aston Villa. What's your point?
It can mean many things. For one It brings up the question 'what makes a club big' People say winning the European cup, well Nottingham forest have won it twice only 20+ years ago, yet they are not seen as a big club. Liverpool won it 4 times around the same time period as Nottingham Forest, yet they are still considered a big club. This law rules out most of the Spanish teams and Arsenal as big clubs, but obviously that is stupid. Is it therefore fan base (Celtic), previous success (Nottingham Forrest, Athletico Madrid), current success (Valencia, Deportivo) or Money.
Probably all of the above. The reason Forest aren't considered a big club anymore is largely due to their financial crisis and the fact that they've spent most of the past five years in the First Division. Nothing screws a large club like relegation - how many of you that don't follow Spanish soccer closely simply forgot about Atletico Madrid these past few years? Plus the advent of the Premier League structure kind of left Forest by the wayside, as it totally redefined the club pecking order in England. Would you have considered Arsenal a big club in the 80's? Or Manchester United? No, that was when Liverpool, Everton, and Forest ruled the roost.
You say that about Arsenal and Man U, but they have won the first division and FA Cup the most along with Liverpool, they have very close records. Man Utd have been a huge club since after the plane crash which made them famous, when they became European champions and won many league titles. They were a bit crap for 10-15 years though as you said in the 80's. Arsenal have never been relegated, and have won virtually as much as Man Utd and Liverpool apart from Europe. Those 3 have been big clubs since the 60's despite periods of winning little or nothing. Liverpool still have not won the league for over 12 years!
The traditional mistake of equating big to successful.Of course the reverse is also true-re Tottenham
I've always wondered why Tottenham are a big club but they are, even if some say they aren't anymore. There's something special about them you cannot describe, and they are pretty famous. I guess because they have had many famous players down the years including my great great uncle. I think it's partly their 8 FA Cup wins which is very impressive and would make any team famous. They have 1 Cup winners cup and 2 Uefa cups and 2 league titles which aint bad I guess.
Indeed. I think the signing of the two Argies had a lot to do with them geting "noticed" in Europe. And of course there was always that goal the big fella Villa scored in the Fa Cup final.I remember that to this day-screaming at the telly for somebody to take him down..but it was a peach of a goal. Another mystery is the phrase "the Tottenham way" when refering to passing the ball around. Never could figure out where that originated..it sure as hell wasn't at White Hart Lane
Not right now, but they have played geat some football down the years. I guess Glenn Hoddle IS like Tottenham in Human form. Skill, ability, no end product. The way they destroyed Arsenal at home however was very impressive, they should have won. I added above, they have won the FA cup 8 times which is very impressive and greatly added to their fame. 3 European trophies aint bad either, although only 2 league wins. Do people here realise Tottenham have won more than Arsenal in Europe and equal FA Cup wins, Arsenal just have far more league wins. Since 1931 Arsenal have consistently won league titles. 1931 1933 1934 1935 1938 1948 1953 1971 1989 1991 1998 2002 That's an amazing record by Arsenal!
Oh don't mind me. Living in their shadow as i was a teenager growing up in the Bush and us being mostly in the second division and all has led me to have-shall we say, a somewhat blinkered memory of them . Indeed the recend success and utter dominance of them by my team is only tainted in the slighest by the fact that i am now on this side of the ocean and no longer se it live.