mazolaman Posted March 21, 2012 Posted March 21, 2012 Xavi and Iniesta are ridiculously good. Fabregas and David Silva? Also studs. Let's see how Messi does for Argentina. Strikers are always so overrated. Xavi might be the best player on Barca in my opinion. Iniesta for me. Lot's of great ball players there. Either way, Messi is the best striker out there, in the best team.
Habanos2000 Posted March 21, 2012 Posted March 21, 2012 "Bayern are the Yankees of the Bundesliga. Big deal. They have a huge market and should be profitable. I don't think anyone would put the Bundesliga above EPL, La Liga, or even Serie A. Maybe not even some South American leagues. Haha. " If a comparison to the Yankess is based on sucess, then I agree with you. And if you base profitability on market then how do you explain the financials of EPL and La Liga teams? Here's an interesting observation from an English perspective no less. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/apr/11/bundesliga-premier-league
frenchkiwi Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 I for one am not a fan of any business that operates at a loss and then accepts accolades for being “great”. According to ESPN, Barca was almost 600 million in debt at the end of the 2010 season. How hard is it to overspend in the short term only to ultimately bleed yourself dry? Color me a Bayern Munich fan. A club that not only dominates its domestic league, arguable the most competitive in Europe, but does so at a PROFIT! While Messi is deserving of the praise for his individual talents, although I’m still waiting for him to show up for Argentina, I’d take Robben or Schweinsteiger any day of the week over him. so you only support teams with zero debt? what a strange attitude to sport (by the way, the average debt as a percentage of net worth for U.S. non-financial corporations is around 50%, same as FC Barcelona, and has been so since the 1980s...)
Habanos2000 Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 so you only support teams with zero debt? what a strange attitude to sport (by the way, the average debt as a percentage of net worth for U.S. non-financial corporations is around 50%, same as FC Barcelona, and has been so since the 1980s...) I just think sports teams should be more financially responsible instead of spending money they don't have primarily on players, which in turn artificially drives up the player's net worth and then drives up the price of tickets, drinks, etc and makes it next to impossible for the "average" fan to go to a game. If the salaries were sustainable by the club's income then everything would be OK in my book. But to say "good job!" by spending more than they take in and not have a clear path to profitability should be frowned upon. Also debt to net worth doesn't mean much when you can't pay your players. I believe that was Barca's case a few years ago, wasn't it? Barca is a damned good team, shame on them if they can't figure out how to make money.
Ken Gargett Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 as a devoteed fan of the glorious skins, may i just suggest that having an owner with massively deep pockets and a willingness to spend it far too freely, is not always the good thing it is cracked up to be. as a fan of the glorious gunners, i have great regard for wenger, for many reasons, but his financial responsibility is truly amazing. of course, had he loosened the pursestrings a smsidge more, perhaps we'd have had a few more trophies.
riazp Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 Yes. He will be known as the greatest footballer of all time before he reaches the age of 30.
CaptainQuintero Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 re Barca not being able to make money: No brains in the transfer market! for example they give Inter £45 million PLUS Eto'o for.....Ibrahimovic What the hell?? Eto'o who is one of the top strikers in the game, PLUS 45 mil for arguably the most over rated striker in the game? So what £95 mill spent on someone who just a year later they realised was pretty average so they send off on loan to Italy then tell him not to come back. There is your financial responsibility! Arsenal financially are exceptional, won't be effected at all by the new financial fair play rules
khomeinist Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 I just think sports teams should be more financially responsible instead of spending money they don't have primarily on players, which in turn artificially drives up the player's net worth and then drives up the price of tickets, drinks, etc and makes it next to impossible for the "average" fan to go to a game. If the salaries were sustainable by the club's income then everything would be OK in my book. But to say "good job!" by spending more than they take in and not have a clear path to profitability should be frowned upon. Also debt to net worth doesn't mean much when you can't pay your players. I believe that was Barca's case a few years ago, wasn't it? Barca is a damned good team, shame on them if they can't figure out how to make money. I actually kinda agree with you, although I would take you more seriously if you were a fan of say... FC Köln. Am not a fan of La Liga. Even EPL has massive problems. If 5-10 teams do not have a realistic shot at winning the title, it really takes away from the overall credibility of a league IMO.
Habanos2000 Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 I actually kinda agree with you, although I would take you more seriously if you were a fan of say... FC Köln. Am not a fan of La Liga. Even EPL has massive problems. If 5-10 teams do not have a realistic shot at winning the title, it really takes away from the overall credibility of a league IMO. If I was a fan of Köln I wouldn't take myself seriously. You are absolutely on the right track when it comes to competitiveness in a league. Except you could expand 5-10 teams to 17 for the EPL, La Liga and Serie A based on the last decade of results. The Bundesliga on the other hand has had 5 unique clubs as champions since 2000, so could be said to have 13 without a shot.
khomeinist Posted March 22, 2012 Posted March 22, 2012 I was being charitable with my 5-10 number. The Köln comment just indicates that you would be less of a front-runner. Anybody can follow a winner. Much more challenging to follow a less-successful side. Those that focus on celebrity and power often support the big teams. Never used to see Chelsea gear until a few years ago. Now Man City blue pops up everywhere. Just part of the sociology of sports. Now tell me you were born in Munich or something. Haha. All in fun.
Ken Gargett Posted March 23, 2012 Posted March 23, 2012 Arsenal. Yawn. C'mon you SPURS oh dear. whoops. they were so close. actually, they were so far in front, the barn door was swinging. and then? they still have a good chance to finish fourth, which, let's be honest, is way above what they deserve. and yawn you might, but has any side in the history of the competition overcome such an appalling start to a season to do so well, no matter where they finish. especially when they are pretty much a shadow of their best teams from recent years. all those crying out for wenger to be sacked showed themselves up as simply as dumb as soup.
khomeinist Posted March 23, 2012 Posted March 23, 2012 Higher than they deserve? Spurs have a lot of talent and have been one of the most enjoyable European teams this season. Yes. The 5-2 loss was appalling. It happens. Don't get too excited. The Spurs schedule is quite soft after Chelsea on Sarurday. Nothing wrapped up yet....
Ken Gargett Posted March 23, 2012 Posted March 23, 2012 in truth, i don't mean higher than they deserve of course. and the gunners can be inconsistent tho for once, we appear to be firing at the end of the season. very rare of late. a chelsea win or a draw would assist this weekend. then we have man c and chelsea though both at home. a win or a point from each would help. for me, the danger game is away to stoke. tough to think that one of gunners, spurs or chelsea will miss champions.
mazolaman Posted March 23, 2012 Posted March 23, 2012 The EPL is an accident beginning to happen, a few clubs are on the brink, also in the lower leagues and the SPL. I watched every other week with my dad and brother, on muddy pitches etc etc. Football has been over blown and over sold, but my main gripe is that it is not the sport of the working man anymore. Maybe the lower leagues, certainly not the EPL. On a side note, I live 100 yards away from where the first professional game was played by Corinthians...a bit of history. C'mon Carlisle...
Ken Gargett Posted March 23, 2012 Posted March 23, 2012 carlilse? well at least you won't ever have to worry about what is happening with the epl.
mazolaman Posted March 23, 2012 Posted March 23, 2012 carlilse? well at least you won't ever have to worry about what is happening with the epl. Yep, pleased to say you're correct. It's where I come from, so It's the team I support. Not too glamorous eh?
mk05 Posted March 24, 2012 Posted March 24, 2012 What's going on nowadays with my favorite team, Juventus? Juventus! Juventus! My heart will always belong to Juventus. Deeeeeeeeeel Pieerrrroooooo
gersonmorelli Posted March 26, 2012 Posted March 26, 2012 I was going to refrain myself from posting any comments on this post, but it is stronger than me... Messi is undeniably the best player in the last 2 or 3 years. But that's it. It's not even possible to compare him and Pelé. Messi's name shouldn't even be allowed to be used in the same sentence as Pelé. As Ken mentioned this guy won his first World Cup at 17 years old, so there's no excuse for not having played well (ever) for Argentina at 24 years old. Again, don't get me wrong I think he is an amazing player, but he is not and never will be comparable to Pelé. Maybe Maradona, Zidane or Ronaldo someday, although I doubt it because I don't think he will ever take Argentina to win a World Cup, and for me this is the game changer in becoming a legend.
CaptainQuintero Posted March 29, 2012 Posted March 29, 2012 Was interesting to see again that a decent well organised defense nullify the vaunted Barca threat. Inter did it twice the year before last and it looks like an AC team that is a shadow of its former self may do it again. No Messi to be seen last night.
Ken Gargett Posted March 29, 2012 Posted March 29, 2012 Arsene blowing hot air as usual.... My link i can understand why those few remaining spurs fans detest the great man but on any objective level, what he has acheived and continues to achieve is nothing short of miraculous. any serious gunners fan will surely concede that our current mob is probably the worst team he has put on the park in many many years and the start to the season, combined with the loss of nasri and fab, showed that. and yet he has now got them, with a little help from rvp, to a solid third spot. you could have got 100-1 on that. how many managers could have done it? even less than a month ago or thereabouts, we were ten points behind spurs, which must be particularly galling, and in no time, have run them down and leapt ahead. still some tough games to go but 6 weeks ago, i would not have put money on them to make the champions next year. now they are odds on. all hail wenger!!
khomeinist Posted April 25, 2012 Posted April 25, 2012 Haha. Nice penalty try. Not a Blues fan but nice to see an upset and quell the Barca hype....
Ken Gargett Posted April 25, 2012 Posted April 25, 2012 meant to mention something similar. missing a pressure penalty to see your team kicked out of the champions is hardly the stuff of the greatest, as fine a player as he might be. he does remind me a tiny bit of graham hick (zimbawbean cricketer who was a superstar till he came up against a bit of pressure at the highest levels - the ultimate flat track bully). bet pele would not have missed it.
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