I’ve never been one of the ‘Against Modern Football’ brigade, pining for a past which never really existed. I absolutely love the Champions League and the elite competition it brings. However, the idea of a closed shop Super League is absolutely abhorrent.
The willingness of those involved to destroy the entire game, just to make more money for themselves is truly disgusting. The game isn’t perfect at present but this is completely the wrong way of looking to improve it.
To me, part of the beauty of the game is that through a combination of smart thinking, strong player development and recruitment, assiduous tactics, any club can rise through the ranks and ultimately win the biggest prize of all. This throws it all away.
This moves beyond just selfishness. It’s not just about enriching themselves further. It’s the willingness to blow up the 150-year history of the whole sport. To destroy international football as well as the club game. Just for money.
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Really important point about this. JP Morgan are not ‘financing’ this deal as in paying for it. They are lending the ESL the money, to be paid back with interest over the long term. The clubs are not receiving ‘new’ money. They are taking a loan secured on future TV revenues.
What’s more, the finances of this whole endeavour are slightly precarious. The clubs are talking about getting €4bn a year in TV money. With 20 clubs participating that’s €200m each which is less than lots of the top teams get already.
€4bn may well be right, but it’s significantly more than the entire CL rights at present. Even if they match the existing CL money in England, Spain and Italy, what about the rest of the continent?
Actually hard to see how any of this could possibly be resolved by August. So many potential ramifications to untangle. Not just the questions over whether clubs can be thrown out of their domestic competitions.
What about any TV/prize money for this season? Can that be withheld? If the teams leave the PL, what happens to the TV deals already in place? Do Sky/BT have to pay full whack for a league without the big stars?
If the ESL is not a FIFA-sanctioned league, do player contracts stand? Can they act as a pirate league and just poach all the players from non-ESL clubs or vice-versa? If players aren’t able to compete internationally does that invalidate their contracts?
Who fancies another trip down memory lane? Imagining a list of the 100 best players in the world from 16 years ago, May 2004.
100. Diego 🇧🇷
Santos - Midfielder
It might be too early to say but given his talent, Diego looks set to be the next great Brazilian playmaker. Brimming with imagination and no little confidence he has set the league alight already.
99. Robinho 🇧🇷
Santos - Forward
Electric footwork and dazzling trickery are the hallmarks of Santos’s young gem. Already Europe’s biggest clubs are circling to poach a remarkable prodigy.
It’s about this time of year that various publications start to come out with their list of the 100 best players in the world. So I thought I’d wind the clock back 30 years and imagine what a list in 1989 might have looked like.
100. Lajos Détári 🇭🇺
Olympiacos - Forward
Has not really lived up to the hype since his £4.5m move to Greece but possesses huge talent. A set-piece expert, he’s looking to recapture the form that so impressed during his spell at Eintracht Frankfurt.
99. Riccardo Ferri 🇮🇹
Inter - Centre-back
One of the game’s premier markers, he might lack some of the class of a number of his fellow Italians but his positioning and anticipation more than compensate. Forms a superb right-sided partnership for club and country with Bergomi.