Has the glitter of the top european leagues ruined how people see their own leagues?

I was talking to a Colombian friend of mine today. He told me something surprising. He felt that with football becoming so globalized, many people from around the world are focussing on the Champions League/+ top European leagues.

What's worst is that he told me many Colombians feel "depressed" watching their own league since they see the quality of the spectacle to be "3rd rate" compared to the glitter of the Champions League + EPL/Bundesliga (Stadiums, coverage, $$$$$$).

I have found that many people I speak to (from so many places) tend to hate their leagues, because it doesnt match up to the top leagues around the world.
IE: Australians who hate the A-League, Canadians/Americans who see the MLS as the "2nd rate cousin of the EPL". Even a Brazilian friend of mine told me he was depressed a few weeks ago attending Gremio in a 80% empty stadium , watching players who will be sold in a matter of weeks for more $$$.

We are living in an era where the leagues with money look so good and seem so exciting that many people around the world seem to almost resent the local product. (I live near Korea town, and i never see anyone who supports their korean teams. But they LOVE their British teams).

Does anyone feel like this?

About Koreatown, none of the Koreans in Australia follow the K-League. It's natural that diaspora are less likely to be attracted to second-rate leagues (which they are) than to the top leagues which they have ready access to on TV.

Koreans in Korea, on the other hand... they take the K-League pretty seriously. Despite Park and co playing in England.

I don't see how there would be a disillusionment if the people in the States or Colombia etc knew that their leagues were second rate in terms of glamour and player ability (which they are, don't even try to debate it). This is what it is like in Korea. People KNOW the K-League isn't as good as the Premier League. On the other hand, if Koreans or Americans or Colombians actually thought their leagues were the sh*t (which may be the case for the people your friend talked about) then that problem is understandable. But then again, if they had held any hope that their native leagues would be anywhere near as good as Spain or England then they're delusional. That's their problem.

For me it's the other way round actually, all the "glitter" annoys me, all stadiums are starting to look the same and get ****ed up sponsorship names.

Elber2k3;2771557 said:

For me it's the other way round actually, all the "glitter" annoys me, all stadiums are starting to look the same and get ****ed up sponsorship names.

Click to expand...

I agree man. To be honest, after the top 4-5 in England, the rest of the league is piss poor. Even the "2nd rate league" teams (as the poster above called them) would trample poor Hull, Boro ,etc. Not only that but the quality of entertainment is bull ****. Watching Arsenal vs. anyone except Chelsea, Liverpool or Man U (and maybe City and Tottenham) is up there in the worst football you can watch.
It's good in a way, that "gloss/glitter" doesn't fool fans. Look at Rangers and Celtic. Crap football when they face St. Johnstone. Crap football in general. I'd much rather watch Aberdeen v. Dundee United. Entertainment is top notch.

But honestly speaking. I often have to remind my non football friends that it doesnt work like it does here in North america. Here, The NBA is the end all. Even the worst team can beat the best team in some other leagues. But in Europe, after the 4th , 5th in England, italy, Spain, Germany....the rest of the teams in europe are up to par with the mid t able or worst teams in Asia/S. America/MLS. So in terms of quality (to judge the product), there's not much difference IMO.

pasion1;2771840 said:

But honestly speaking. I often have to remind my non football friends that it doesnt work like it does here in North america. Here, The NBA is the end all. Even the worst team can beat the best team in some other leagues. But in Europe, after the 4th , 5th in England, italy, Spain, Germany....the rest of the teams in europe are up to par with the mid t able or worst teams in Asia/S. America/MLS. So in terms of quality (to judge the product), there's not much difference IMO.

Click to expand...

I have a different opinion on that. I think the best thing about the Bundesliga is the competition, there are so many surprises. Look at Stuttgart, they are playing Champions League and are fighting relegation or Hertha BSC, they were a title contender last year, now they are in oblivion.

Well not to say that being on par with the likes of Independiente is a bad thing. But it isn't like in other sports (IE: Basketball, Rugby, Hockey) where being on another level guarantees you will always win.
IMO there's just a parity. IE: Liga de Quito would play Schalke 04 and both teams would probably take away 5 wins each. That's what i meant.

It isn't like in Rugby where there's clearly a superiority among SUper 14 clubs and clubs from other nations (even Argentinean, who are relatively strong). They'd probably beat a top Argie side 109-0 , without breaking a sweat.

Football has become even all over the world. Remember DC United wiping the floor with Celtic 4-0 3 years ago? That was Celtic's full squad. Seeing Steven Pressley get outrun, out maneuvered ....was a wake up call to all who thought that Celtic's $$$ guaranteed an elite status.

***Another example was Seattle giving Chelsea a better game than any EPL (non top 6) side had given them in about a decade.
A good example of "overwhelming superiority" was Real Madrid embarrassing Toronto FC this summer. now THAT was an example of 2 teams on a different level.

I believe the 10th placed team in the Premiership would beat the best team from Columbia or Uruguay. But the game is not going to happen so we'll never know.

I don't know if the glitter is gone from the smaller leagues, there will always be traditional followings in every league.

One thing that i think the "world game" has had a negative effect on though is the World Cup. IMO a lot of the mystique is gone, it used to be that if like England played Paraguay, you never quite knew what to expect because few people outside of Paraguay had ever heard of any of their players... just as an example. I always thought it added to the intrigue, but now everyone plays in Europe for the most part and there aren't many secrets left. I guess some African and Asian countries might still have that..

North Korea FTW!

Horatiu;2771953 said:

I believe the 10th placed team in the Premiership would beat the best team from Columbia or Uruguay. But the game is not going to happen so we'll never know.

Click to expand...

lol! First learn to spell "Colombia", then we'll talk buddy.
On the other comment, it's so stupid it doesn't warrant a response.

Last summer Everton was dominated by Last place Argentine squad River Plate (prob their worst squad in history). After the game, the Everton players said they found it "impossible" to mark Ortega (who is well past his prime, overweight and an alcoholic). Point is the game has become very even worldwide. No one is really "better". Except the elites. They are on a whole other level. It's somewhat understandable why they feel they should have a "Elite league". I watched Chelsea play today and it blew me away. Then I switched on my recording of Hull City and accidently thought I had stumbled into 4th division Bolivian football.

Kind of sums up the nature of modern football.

It's impossible to watch the MLS and not crave some proper European soccer. I'd love to support the league to raise interest in the USA, but the quality just isn't there. Sorry RunDMB

pasion1;2771985 said:

lol! First learn to spell "Colombia", then we'll talk buddy.
On the other comment, it's so stupid it doesn't warrant a response.

Last summer Everton was dominated by Last place Argentine squad River Plate (prob their worst squad in history). After the game, the Everton players said they found it "impossible" to mark Ortega (who is well past his prime, overweight and an alcoholic). Point is the game has become very even worldwide. No one is really "better". Except the elites. They are on a whole other level. It's somewhat understandable why they feel they should have a "Elite league". I watched Chelsea play today and it blew me away. Then I switched on my recording of Hull City and accidently thought I had stumbled into 4th division Bolivian football.

Kind of sums up the nature of modern football.

Click to expand...

You have a good point there, however, this game was played in pre-season. As you probably well know, not all "bigger clubs" beat the "smaller clubs" (although in this case River Plate is the "smaller club", despite having more fans worldwide than everton) because usually the "smaller clubs" raise their game to try to beat the "bigger clubs", just like you see in the FA Cup.
I agree that Chelsea is in a different class to Hull though.

pasion1;2771985 said:

lol! First learn to spell "Colombia", then we'll talk buddy.
On the other comment, it's so stupid it doesn't warrant a response.

Last summer Everton was dominated by Last place Argentine squad River Plate (prob their worst squad in history). After the game, the Everton players said they found it "impossible" to mark Ortega (who is well past his prime, overweight and an alcoholic). Point is the game has become very even worldwide. No one is really "better". Except the elites. They are on a whole other level. It's somewhat understandable why they feel they should have a "Elite league". I watched Chelsea play today and it blew me away. Then I switched on my recording of Hull City and accidently thought I had stumbled into 4th division Bolivian football.

Kind of sums up the nature of modern football.

Click to expand...

No need to be a retard and call me "buddy" on the internet as some sort of insult. Excuse me for spelling Columbia wrong. The game was a 'friendly' first of all. I didn't say Argentinian teams (which tend to do very well in Copa Libertadores compared to the other countries I mentioned). And I don`t trust your comment on `Everton players said ...`.

And you`re saying Ortega (who you diminish with stupid reasons) is harder to mark for teams like Hull than world class players they go against in league weeklyÉ That makes no sense.

Your opinion on mid or lower Premiership club is not universal, alot of people think its good quality football filled with alot of drive from both teams, along with good overall physical and techincal skill.

I do admit I`d rather watch a Columbian game rather than an MLS game (don`t like the style). I`ve seen some Columbian league games and the skill and style is nice.. just more slow-pace and lazy appearing.

I'll bring the 'report' of what's going on in Brazil:

People here are usually seen wearing so much more european big teams' shirts rather than their own clubs'. that would be pratically impossible to imagine 10 years ago.

But I don't really think it has anything straightly to do with the quality comparison that a football fan helplessly does when he watches his domestic league and the big euro leagues. Today, cable TV is here is much much more accessible than it was 10 years ago, and you watch football everyday almost all day long. And it's easier for a brazilian football fan to watch an european - both domestic or CL - classic match than his own league clubs'. No wonder why we see children wearing drogba's, messi's, cristiano's and rooney's shirts along with ronaldo's, de federico's, neymar's and rogerio ceni's. Of course, the vast majority, pirate ones.

About the just aparent good quality in english, spanish or whatever league: that's a global issue in my opinion. Once again, using the '10 years ago' standard; remembering that 10 years ago the greatest final CL match was played between Man U and Bayern, a player like Fabregas or even Xavi would be considered ordinary. You had back then, in Europe, players like Rivaldo and Beckham in great, great shape, Mijatovic, Weah and even Vieri, Ginola and Zizou. Those guys were great creators, finishing with their weak foot wasn't a real big deal, controlling and trapping incredibly fast and long passed balls was just part of their game, they improvised and were bloody 'luck' magnetos, with unlikely kicks that went to the net or even balls that 'bounced' on them and they scored. It was a time of much less marketing and lot more football.

And here in Brazil we had Marcelinho, Edmundo, Luizão, Alex, Romário, Sávio, Juninho. Those guys were masters. You could count on them to watch great and unpredictable games like the unforgettable finals of Copa Sulamericana between Flamengo x Palmeiras in a year and Palmeiras x Vasco in the other. Not to mention the Libertadores' games between Palmeiras and Corinthians.

Kids today get all excited about Neymar, Elias, Dentinho...these youngsters are lightyears away of those other players I mentioned were with the same age. It's such a shame.

tinytim;2779191 said:

But I don't really think it has anything straightly to do with the quality comparison that a football fan helplessly does when he watches his domestic league and the big euro leagues. Today, cable TV is here is much much more accessible than it was 10 years ago, and you watch football everyday almost all day long.

Click to expand...

This right here is probably the biggest factor. It's not the quality of the play but the marketing that's got the "big 5" (being England, Germany, Italy, Spain, and France) so far ahead of everyone else. And it's a cycle - they have the most money, therefore they can afford the most marketing, which means they draw the biggest crowds and best players, so they make the most money and so on...
Also, in a lot of the markets with the newer upstart leagues, such as MLS and the A-League, there are also other major sports they have to compete with. It's a pretty damning fact that the MLS Cup got bumped from ABC to ESPN2 to make room for NFL games. Again, the NFL has the money and the viewership in America and ABC would be stupid to air something that will get them less of both, but by the same token, without exposing the MLS brand to a wider audience, growth becomes exponentially more difficult.