Hold on, Clive. You're degrading La Liga because it's a "two horse race" yet you place the Bundesliga - where Bayern Munich essentially have the title cemented every March - and Serie A - where Juventus have won the last SEVEN Scudettos - ahead of La Liga? Based on what, exactly? As for the "game abroad", the EPL suggested doing the exactly same thing a few years ago but wanted to take it to another level: Adding a 39th round in which all the fixtures would be played at various cities throughout the world. It probably would have happened by now had they not caved when FIFA stepped in and said the EPL needed their approval. I'll believe this "game abroad" nonsense when it actually happens. Stupid move no matter the league, no matter the sport (NFL). "more competitive top to bottom"... How many points did Man City win the league by last season? "more entertaining"... debatable. Depends on what style people enjoy more. "more popular"... without question the EPL knows how to promote its product better than any other league on the planet. Kudos to them. The English language certainly helps since it's widely spoken the world over especially when compared with Spanish But popularity has only become the EPL fan's sole argument in the last ten years. Back in the late-70s/early 80s English fans gloated on the English league's superiority citing three clubs winning the European Cup. YOU even "dick waved" how five clubs have won it the past 50 years. (I'm not sure what 1979 Nottingham Forest or 1982 Aston Villa have to do with today's status of the Premier League but whatever.) And even ten years ago they were "dick waving" how three EPL clubs were in the semi-finals of the Champions League two seasons on the trot. Now the goalposts are being shifted to the sole argument of "popularity" due to English clubs continuously crashing out of Europe. If it was okay for EPL fans to "dick wave" European success once upon a time, what's wrong with fans of other leagues doing the same when their clubs are dominating UEFA tournaments? I mean, besides the fact that it crashes your argument of "popularity". Imagine if England had won the World Cup? The EPL would be promoting itself as, "The League of World Champions". Anyway, if anyone has an inferiority complex it appears to be YOU based on the number of times you have posted in this thread. As a fan of the EPL, why should you care how La Liga conducts its business? Tired of seeing La Liga clubs lifting UEFA silverware, no doubt.
GOOD GRIEF! Have you NOT read anything I've said!!! D*CK WAVING nothing but non-stop d*ck waving! You simply CANNOT get past it can you, you are a prime example of what I am talking about! All Spaniards EVER do is harp on and on and on about how 'good' the teams are! CANT YOU UNDERSTAND that until you get the Spanish league as competitive as 'other' Euro leagues it will NEVER overtake the EPL (or Italy, or Germany for that matter) as the worlds most popular sports league!
Manchester United crashed out of the Europa League in devastating fashion as they were outclassed by Athletic in their last-16 tie in Bilbao. Iker Muniain hit the post before Fernando Llorente scored a fantastic volley from Fernando Amorebieta's raking diagonal pass. Ryan Giggs then headed wide but Oscar de Marcos put further daylight between the sides when he crashed in. Wayne Rooney scored from 25 yards late on but it was merely a consolation. It was a fine strike from the United forward to score his 28th goal of the season, but it was only a footnote as a young Athletic team once again posed all sorts of questions for their opponents. Just as in the Old Trafford game a week ago Marcelo Bielsa's side pressed all over the pitch and attacked en masse, and in the end Sir Alex Ferguson's team could not stem the flow. By Alistair Magowan BBC Sport 15 Mar 2012 From the sectionFootball Share this page Fernando Llorente scores for Athletic Manchester United crashed out of the Europa League in devastating fashion as they were outclassed by Athletic in their last-16 tie in Bilbao. Iker Muniain hit the post before Fernando Llorente scored a fantastic volley from Fernando Amorebieta's raking diagonal pass. Ryan Giggs then headed wide but Oscar de Marcos put further daylight between the sides when he crashed in. Wayne Rooney scored from 25 yards late on but it was merely a consolation. It was a fine strike from the United forward to score his 28th goal of the season, but it was only a footnote as a young Athletic team once again posed all sorts of questions for their opponents. Just as in the Old Trafford game a week ago Marcelo Bielsa's side pressed all over the pitch and attacked en masse, and in the end Sir Alex Ferguson's team could not stem the flow. CUP FINAL RUN ENDS Defeat means it is the first time in 10 years that Manchester United have failed to reach a cup final That it came from a side seventh in La Liga, 33 points behind leaders Real Madrid, perhaps added weight to the argument surrounding the strength of the Premier League challenge in Europe this season. And only the most churlish of observers would begrudge the Basque team a place in the next round as United ended a disappointing European campaign which failed on two fronts, following their Champions League exit.
You're deluded lol and this isn't a popularity contest. It's a fact Barcelona and Madrid are the best teams in the world right now.
Please explain how Bayern's domination of the Bundesliga and Juventus' domination of Serie A places those league as more competitive than a supposed two team league? Next you're going to tell us that the SPL is more competitive than La Liga, at which point we'll know for certain that you're simply trolling.
But I am talking about the popularity, Barcelona and Madrid are amongst the best for sure (THE best right now is arguable, there are many clubs across Europe that can make that claim) but we are talking about the leagues ability to attract eyeballs here. The Spaniards comments directed at the EPL earlier on in this thread show an 'indignation' towards the fact that the world prefers the EPL to the Spanish league and I am simply trying to explain why, all I get in return though is 'we are better than you, we are better than you, we are better than you' and I suggest that (rather childish attitude) is part of the problem, an inability to see the bigger picture. The world will simply watch what it finds the most 'entertaining' and a two horse race is simply not as entertaining no matter how good the two horses are! If you want the Spanish league to be more popular (yes OK or the Scottish league) then I simply suggest levelling the playing field there could be a start. Responding to this by telling me who won the Europa tin pot trophy in 2007 isn't a relevant answer.
How far back would you say the Premier League has been the most popular in the world? How long have they held this distinction, in your opinion?
Lmao I don't care about a leagues popularity. How does it effect Laliga? Prem is all marketing and Spanish clubs embarrass English clubs in Europe
Rly? I am saying this cos there are teams like Betis,Valencia and Villarral who are very fun t watch.There are strong teams like Espanol and Getafe.There is Girona,Bilbao.Interesting Sociedad team.I dont just watch Real.
Big difference between what you just said and calling this season when it just started the best ever lol
To he the most fun it would imply it's the best season yet ain't it? Or are you saying the best season would be the most boring and least fun? Idk what you're getting at here
Well I would imagine as the birthplace of football you could argue that it had a head start no? Attendances at English football were averaging 30'000+ from the second world war which is something unique to this island, I know that Liverpool always 'claimed' to have supporters across the world in the 1970's but of course before the world was as well connected as today it is hard to say and arguable. In the 1980's after the English clubs were banned from European competition the Italian league became the 'dominant' league in Europe but this century the EPL has picked up the 'mantle' again, why? Because there are more 'high end' clubs (see link below) with 'big' histories in the EPL which makes it more competitive - There have been FIVE different English clubs that have won the European Cup/Champions League (soon to be SIX when the Sheiks spend their way to success with Man City) - I don't think any other European country can say the same but probably more telling is the fact that TWO English former European Champions aren't even in the top division says a lot. http://www.sportbible.com/football/...ropean-football-championship-la-liga-20180117
So now the goalposts have been shifted and you have decided to do some "dick waving" yourself not only for past success of English clubs in Europe but also for Serie A during England's European ban. Why is no one surprised? I'm not sure what 1979-80 Nottingham Forest or 1982 Aston Villa has to do with the status of the Premier League in the twenty-first century but I do remember very well during that period of 1977-1984 when English clubs had a fairly tight grip on the European Cup most of those finals (five of which ended 1-nil) are amongst the most boring in the competition's history. Yes, even more boring than Pep Guardiola's tiki-taka that outclassed Alex Ferguson's mighty Red Devils in two Champions League finals the past ten years. I agree that the English top flight is not only the most popular league today but even back before the establishment of the Premier League in '92 and beyond. When Liverpool were dominating the old First Division (9 titles during the 14 year span of 1977-1990, finished second on four other occasions) and when Manchester United were cleaning out the Premier League (8 of 11 titles from 1993 to 2003 while finishing second on two other occasions) England always boasted - with justification - that their league was the most popular. So it's proven that the competitiveness of a league has very little to do with a league's popularity. During Liverpool's run from the late-70s to throughout the 80s league matches were shown the world over (mostly on tape delay highlight shows) while other leagues were rarely seen. I used to listen to the BBC World Service on shortwave radio during the 80s and it was clear how popular the English league was by the amount of mail they used to receive from all four corners of the world. And, as you say, this was during the time when English clubs were banned from Europe. BBC World Service would read from the many letters they received during their "Saturday Special" program when they would transmit a live match followed by complete results from all four divisions and even announce pool results. Having a head start by being "the birthplace of football" is a fair argument. For me, the English language also plays a significant role in the popularity of English football as it's probably the primary language spoken in the most number of countries. This certainly helps in today's world where we are able to see things from the other side of the planet the moment they occur. The formation of the Premier League and the money it attracts through domestic and international TV rights further cements its status as "the most popular league on the planet", a title that won't go away any time soon no matter how competitive or non-competitive the EPL or any other league is. Something else that probably helps draw many eyeballs to the EPL is their style of play. When Jose Mourinho was at Inter he was asked to compare the Serie A to the EPL: "In England they play with heart. In Italy they play with brain." For many fans of the game, especially the general/casual fan who will only watch players and teams they recognize, tactics is something they could care less about. They want to see lots of action that involves running and physical play, things the Premier League has a history of providing. La Liga and Serie A "play with brain", more tactical than physical. And as you have already suggested with your opinion of Barcelona's successful tiki-taka style people who don't care for, cannot appreciate - or most likely, don't understand - the tactical aspect of the sport will simply label it as "boring". With all that said, "popularity" can only go so far and it certainly does not equate to being "the best". That argument is always decided on the pitch and when a fan's team/league is not the best on the pitch they will look for other ways to claim superiority, laughable as they may be. The fact that you feel the need to go back nearly forty years and "dick wave" the success of Forest and Villa in Europe tells me that ten years ago you would have cited English clubs' results in the Champions League and their UEFA coefficient as the reasoning for the Premier League's superiority. But since they are constantly getting wiped off the floor in Europe this decade a different approach is needed to slag off La Liga. What's the old saying... "Winners tell jokes, losers say 'deal'."
I'm not claiming 'superiority' I leave that to the Spanish (who were the ones that started slagging off the EPL by the way, which is why I started posting here). I haven't resorted to the 'we are better than you' narrative that the Spanish constantly harp on about. I am simply saying why the EPL has become the worlds most popular league, that is a simple fact (notice I said most popular not best), its reasons why that are debatable but it has nothing to do with Manchester United being 'the bestest' in the world so its something else right? And THAT is why the Spanish don't 'get it' because they are the ones that can't get past the d*ck waving. The EPL is popular because its entertaining, it is more 'fluid' than other leagues whether Bournemouth's rise or Sunderland's fall (just two of many examples), one time European Champions are not guaranteed to be top flight clubs in the UK because there are many 'big time' clubs with potential, that is because Watford make the same TV money as Manchester United, its a more level playing field (though Man City's Sheikh owners worry me), if City become the 'Madrid' or the Celtic of the EPL it will be to the detriment of the league and not to its advantage (even if it meant we could sit here and harp on that 'we are better than you' because of it)
Confused ..... didn't ManCity just win the league by about 20 points or something ??? For what it's worth ........ I'm English , living in England paying around £80+ per month for Sky full package and still choose to pay an extra £5.99 per month to ElevenSports to watch La Liga matches ...
Good for you, the EPL is though 'by far' the worlds most popular football league (sports league even) and we are surmising 'why', it obviously isn't because English clubs are any better than 'other' European clubs so its something else right? The Spanish tendency to 'trash talk' the EPL only shows a jealousy it doesn't explain 'why', for some reason the Spanish seem to think that if you have two 'great' teams then 'the world' would find the league 'irresistible' but that is plainly NOT the case, (people don't want the same two clubs dominating for eternity), in fact like I am trying to point out it actually has a detrimental affect and until the Spanish realise this things will not be changing. And yes if City were to dominate the way they have for the next decade it will also have a detrimental affect on the EPL, hopefully though there are plenty of other teams in England on equal footing in finance and support that will make sure this doesn't happen.
I think the EPL is popular simply because many of the matches are fast , frenetic right to the very end of each game .. the quality of football is badly lacking on my view as very few actually TRY to play decent football .. I know Liverpool will always do so , Man City also to a lesser extent as I find them a little too predictable same applies to Spurs . Arsenal were the other team after Liverpool who played dreamy football but they and Chelsea have new managers so it isn't clear how they are gonna play . New guys Wolves and Fulham look to be playing nicely thus far ... The rest I avoid watching ..
You could be right, fast and frenetic is a more exiting watch than slow and dull. Some of the usual stereotypical 'spite' directed at the EPL doesn't necessarily ring true, not when you consider that the EPL has mostly foreign players and managers.