How Come The Premiership Has Turned Into Serie A ?

j4y3m · Sep 20, 2005

The Prem is getting more and more boring every week, if you watch La Liga on Sky Sports you will see a lot more entertaining stuff.

TOON ARMY · Sep 20, 2005

hermolt said:
I've said it before, we're footballing poetry.

Yep credit to Pardew for playing football how it should be played.

The likes of Liverpool, Bolton, Blackburn, etc are killing the entertainment with going out on the pitch to fulfil one objective, that being to keep it tight with the goal scoring being the second objective.

We saw it in the Merseyside derby, both teams were more concerned about conceding than winning the game, at the end of the day Chelsea are the ones who are laughing when two title 'rivals' bore the **** out of each other

Vagegast · Sep 20, 2005

Just wait until you see AZ play in the Eredivisie. They play magnificient attacking football.

Johnny_Big · Sep 20, 2005

In the Portuguese League FC Porto is playing very atractive football. Sporting Lisbon will make good football too when they start to play well (I really hope so, because they did it last season)

SB9Dragon · Sep 21, 2005

I probably would have shot myself already if I didn't have GolTV. How did I ever survive? Oh yeah, Mexican footie. :mexican:

QYC · Sep 21, 2005

Paulo Da Silva said:
Well chelsea until yesterday, when i checked was the highest scoring team in the league. Go figure Chelsea is boring right?lol

You can't measure how entertaining a team is with the number of goals you score.

Hans · Sep 21, 2005

I personally find Serie-A is very attractive, so does the EPL, and the Spanish League. I`m rarely watch Bundesliga, but I`d love to. I don`t understand this tendency to put one league on top of another or callin` other leagues as boring. Serie-A is not boring at all, especially in the mid 90`s, where you can have 7 to 8 teams fighting for the Scudetto until the last match day. Less goals doesn`t mean less exciting, I mean I enjoy watching good, intense defense. I love the no compromise style playin` of the Serie-A teams.

The EPL is a good league too. The fans enthusiasm and the aura in the pitch is just amazing, and no teams in the EPL is afraid with each other. The stronger the opponents, the more determine the weaker teams playin` against them.

So in short, why wasting our time debating which league is better ? I enjoy them both, and to be frank football in Europe is basically about 22 billionaires playin` the ball on the pitch

FFC2004 · Sep 21, 2005

there are bad seasons now and again, i can remember some of the mid to later ninety seasons being crap compared to a couple seasons ago.. etc... just a spell

crowds are dropping because of the prices too i would think

TheBlueBalla · Sep 21, 2005

There is something to be said for quality, attacking play. That is entertainment in itself, obviously. But I think way too many people just jump on the bandwagon and brand Italian football 'boring' simply because they dont get the subtleties of the game. Yah, playing entirely negatively is one thing, but teams probing weaknesses and using tactics to think their way through the opposition, or dashing back against them on the break has a thrill all its own.

I simply cant bring myself to call a whole league boring simply because its full of strategically sound teams that defend well. JamboDen already mentioned the blinding skill of some italian players, and just look at how they can absolutely rip the opposition in the Champions League. Udinese and Milan had some breathtaking attacks on matchday one.

Im not sure where I read this, but alot of people have the idea that this is why Chelsea get branded as boring so often. They defend soundly and tactically, as a team like Italian sides, but going forward, they usually rely on the individual skill of the wingers to create opportunities for others. I think that much can be confirmed because of the fact that they have no "set" attacking options or frontline, and plug and rotate players with much the same effect.

Edit: Oh and heres a good little read from a different perspective via Alan Hansen
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4259992.stm

TOP FLIGHT IS STILL A THRILLER
Liverpool's game with Manchester United has been held up as 'Exhibit A' in the current rush to put the Premiership on trial for being boring.

It was the most high-profile game of the weekend - and the worst.

But I am not having it that the Premiership has become dull, although I will accept that there seems to be something of a backlash against football at the moment.

People are looking at a decline in attendances, a perceived lack of goals and excitement and also at the England cricket factor - putting all the pieces together and announcing the death of the Premiership as a source of excitement.

This is nonsense, although again it is fair to say the Ashes has knocked football off its usual spot on the back pages.

An added factor in the criticism is that the football season, in my opinion, started too early and we had a late, and incredibly dramatic, finish to the cricket season.

But let's coldly examine this weekend's games, Anfield apart, and take on those who claim that the game has gone dull.

Sunderland against West Brom was as open as it gets, Manchester City could have scored 10 against Bolton and there could have been a host of goals in the game between Aston Villa and Spurs.

And while Chelsea's win at Charlton was not a classic, it was highly-entertaining and there was some real quality on show from the champions.

There was more than enough entertainment and I completely disagree with those who say football is losing excitement.

The other factor in the equation is the increasing focus on formations - and the use of 4-5-1.

Taking the Anfield game in isolation, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has played that way at Liverpool and been very successful in recent years.

He is no fool and he is hardly going to change it just to get a few extra marks for artistic impression.

Liverpool are searching for a foundation and they now seem to have that in defence, with four clean sheets in the Premiership this season.

The trick for Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez is to strike the balance - but they are certainly better than last term.

But I laugh when I hear 4-5-1 being discussed as some sort of new-fangled, experimental theory - it has been used for years.

If you want to subdue teams, two well-organised banks of four or five are very difficult to break down. And why should teams make life easy for the opposition?

Another aspect of the "Premiership is boring" argument is the fact that champions Chelsea have gone off at pace, leaving the rest behind.

Some are already writing off the title as a one-horse race - rather like they did when Arsenal were red-hot at the start of last season.

People can be cynical or critical about Chelsea but what about giving them the credit they deserve?

No team has ever won the title by not having great players or not playing good football - and this applies to Chelsea.

No-one was complaining like this when Arsenal were running away with the league because they were playing such a terrific brand of attacking soccer, the like of which many of us had never seen before.

Chelsea, because they are more clinical and have big money behind them, are being labelled boring.

What a load of rubbish.

It is all well and good having money, but the manager has to mould the players and the players have to have hunger and desire.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has proved he is right up there with the best and, even though the opposition treat every game against Chelsea like a cup final, his players play as if their lives depend on it, as if every game is their last.

Mourinho has the same attitude as Ferguson and my old Liverpool manager Bob Paisley.

He will not give a monkey's about how he wins the title. He will not care what people say.

I recall winning a few championships at Liverpool and I don't remember any bad ones.

So as people queue up to criticise, let me be the first to say that reports of the death of excitement in the Premiership are premature.

the twin · Sep 21, 2005

Perhaps to encourage more attacking football we could have a new points system. With the current system, a team can score a goal, put ten men behind the ball and defend, win 1-0 and still get maximum points. But if we have a wonderful, see-sawing match which is eventually drawn 3-3 or 4-4, both teams come away with a solitary point, not even half of what one team could have got if it had defended like hell for the whole match and scored one goal.

What I have in mind is something along these lines:

Win- 4 points
Draw- 2 points
Loss- 0 points
Every goal scored up to 5- 1 point
You don't lose points for conceding goals.

I've tested this with some existing tables from previous seasons, and it doesen't skew the results too much- it just favours the teams which scores more goals.

Obviously match-fixing could become an issue, so it would have to be come down on very hard.

What are your thoughts on this?

IceBlu · Sep 21, 2005

henry#14 · Sep 21, 2005

the twin said:
Perhaps to encourage more attacking football we could have a new points system. With the current system, a team can score a goal, put ten men behind the ball and defend, win 1-0 and still get maximum points. But if we have a wonderful, see-sawing match which is eventually drawn 3-3 or 4-4, both teams come away with a solitary point, not even half of what one team could have got if it had defended like hell for the whole match and scored one goal.

What I have in mind is something along these lines:

Win- 4 points
Draw- 2 points
Loss- 0 points
Every goal scored up to 5- 1 point
You don't lose points for conceding goals.

I've tested this with some existing tables from previous seasons, and it doesen't skew the results too much- it just favours the teams which scores more goals.

Obviously match-fixing could become an issue, so it would have to be come down on very hard.

What are your thoughts on this?

This isn't rugby

Frostwolf · Sep 21, 2005

Haha yeah.. bonus points in football

modena_10 · Sep 21, 2005

Hans said:
The EPL is a good league too. The fans enthusiasm and the aura in the pitch is just amazing

thats one thing i will definitely agree with. the whole presentation of the epl is fantastic. the camera angles are unique because of the stadiums(i love how the crowd is(in most parks) 15 feet most away from the pitch, the crowd makes great noise that doesnt sound like its coming out of a radio and of course the commentating.

FFC2004 · Sep 21, 2005

the twin said:
Perhaps to encourage more attacking football we could have a new points system. With the current system, a team can score a goal, put ten men behind the ball and defend, win 1-0 and still get maximum points. But if we have a wonderful, see-sawing match which is eventually drawn 3-3 or 4-4, both teams come away with a solitary point, not even half of what one team could have got if it had defended like hell for the whole match and scored one goal.

What I have in mind is something along these lines:

Win- 4 points
Draw- 2 points
Loss- 0 points
Every goal scored up to 5- 1 point
You don't lose points for conceding goals.

I've tested this with some existing tables from previous seasons, and it doesen't skew the results too much- it just favours the teams which scores more goals.

Obviously match-fixing could become an issue, so it would have to be come down on very hard.

What are your thoughts on this?

This crap happens in the youth soccer league Tournaments in the US... i hate it

3 for a win
1 for a draw
0 for a loss

simple

newbie original · Sep 22, 2005

"You play to win the GAME", Herman Edwards. And whu are the fejvuhrites to vin the Champeeuhns Leeag? Chelc. Bowring or nawt, you plej to vin the gejm. High entertejnment in the 90s but won CL trofeeee = bowring futebol to plej to vin the gejm. :boohoo:

Pripere phor the advent of the nieu E P L .

Hans said:
to be frank football in Europe is basically about 22 billionaires playin` the ball on the pitch

Wel sed. Ai agri phulee vith yu. That' s eksactly the wej it is. :rockman:

Callum · Sep 22, 2005

I just understood what he posted

INFESTA · Sep 22, 2005

I don't think you can reason or get scientifical into why a league is more appealing than the other. Only thing you can do is put teams from different leagues in the same competition and see what happens. And that is being done for quite some time now.

So here's my biased, subjective top for the best 5 leagues in europe:

5th - Portuguese Liga. I said this was biased didn't I, so there.

4th - French League. Massively underrated. Nobody here gives a crap about it but there's plenty of good football being played in France. There's always great goals scored every weekend and every year there's different teams fighting for the title. Their biggest problem is Lyon, though.

3rd - EPL. Still very enjoyable to watch; the games have the best atmosphere in Europe and some of the top world footballers are currently living in England. Problem is there's only good quality in the first 6 spots. In fact, some teams are very, very weak, and the defending is shocking at times - which gets on my nerves and takes away some of the enjoyability factor. And come on, no disrespect but who wants to see Boro play against Bolton?

2nd - Seria A. All teams are hard to beat, which makes for a very competitive championship. I admit I'm having more fun watching Serie A games lately, although

1st - I get much more fun watching any la Liga game and that's ultimately what makes the difference. Almost all teams are competitive and have great players. Lots of attacking-orientated football, good skills, great goals.

Internazionale · Sep 23, 2005

Each different league have its own unique for professional soccer players. Some find it suitable, while others don't. Players also need his luck too: play at the right time at the right place.

The European leagues here are so damn appreciated by many crazy soccer fans, btw.

Brondbyfan · Sep 25, 2005

Those who characterize the EPL as boring, both in the media and in this thread, look to blame Big Sam and Bolton most of the time. It is because they are lazy. Bolton's style of play is responding to a problem, not creating it. The problem is the gross inequality in the Premiership. UEFA and the CL exist only to serve the interests of the "top clubs" and line their pockets. For the love of God, they let Liverpool in despite the fact they didn't deserve to qualify at all. It's easy for Arsene Wenger (the primary culprit in my opinion) to criticize Bolton for not playing the kind of football that he personally wants to see. Wenger has Ljungberg, Pires, Van Persie, Reyes, and most importantly Henry. It's easy to play attractive football with a team like that. He's also sitting on nearly £14 million from the Vieira sale. Bolton might get that for selling their entire starting XI.

Big Sam has done the best he can with a team that only recently acheived Premiership security. He's put together a very talented roster, largely on free transfers. He plays to their strengths and has made them tough to beat. If Wenger finds that boring he can chuck us Reyes and some of that Vieira money, we'll buy a couple world class players and then we'll play his way. Of course, he doesn't want that. If Arsenal could romp over Bolton he wouldn't care how many long balls we play or how "ugly" our football is. Since his side has deteriorated so rapidly he just wants to bitch and whine about little teams like Bolton instead of taking on the real perpetrators: Big Bad Roman Abramovich, Sky, and UEFA. In other words, Wenger is an impotent wuss.

Fix the inequality, you'll see better football. Period.

How Come The Premiership Has Turned Into Serie A ?

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