IN 20 YEARS THE UNITED STATES WILL HAVE THE GREATEST FOOTBALL LEAGUE IN HISTORY

[FIFAfreak]

Bari may be the exception so I didn't mention them...and to be within 3 points of Fiorentina this year isn't saying much when they're 8th! Udinese did get by Leverkusen, not too convincingly (2-2 on away goals) but I'll give them that. Then again Roma, one of the Serie A "leaders" just scraped by (1-0 on aggregate) Newcastle who is 7th from the bottom in the Premiership and way off form. And Parma well they scraped by too over Sturm Graz. I can't say I'm that impressed, yet. The only thing I did like was Fiorentina beating Man U. Does that mean the Perugias, Bolognas, Torinos etc, could beat Man U. (or Leeds & Arsenal) too, I doubt it but who knows?

My main point is when have those clubs currently finished consistently above the likes of Juventus, Inter, AC, Parma and Lazio? Sure you have the rare occasional exceptions like Udinese or Bari, Sampdoria in the early 90's that may break the top 6 or 7 and potentially finish higher, but you have to go back to the mid to late 80s and earlier to see any consistent mix up at the top with the likes of Napoli, Sampdori & Torino. But where are these clubs now, at the bottom or relegated to Serie B. What Serie A could use is a Sunderland. A recently promoted team making a run at the top.

I do agree with you about the previous years champions not being the best going into the European tournaments the next year (Real Madrid) The Spanish League is actually kinda interesting with some different clubs taking turns at the top. I'd like to see a good race in the Bundesliga too. I just think Serie A and the Scottish League need a good shake up. It gets boring see Celtic & Rangers blowing away the rest of the field every year.

[This message has been edited by FIFAfreak (edited 12-11-1999).]

 

[jsbach]

And how often have Coventry, Southampton, Bradford City, and Watford, and Sheffield Wednesday finished above Man U and Arsenal?

I'd argue that a Bologna or Perugia is just as likely to beat Leeds, Man U or Arsenal as Coventry City or Middlesboro are. Not very likely, but it happens every once in a while.

As for Newcastle and Roma...
Newcastle may be 7th from the bottom, but they are one of the hottest climbers on the table right now. They are playing the best they've played in about 3 years right now.

Anyway... what I was trying to say is that in Italy, from top to bottom, the stats don't agree with your quality assessment. The spread in points from top to bottom is comparable to the Premiership.

I'll agree that from year to year, the upper, middle and lower class teams seem to stay more consistanly in their range, but I argue against the gap in play being as huge as "total crap."

I won't argue on the Scottish League. The dominance of Celtic and Rangers is too obvious to ignore, and because of it the Scottish League IS largely ignored.

What Sunderland is doing is wonderful for the sport. I hope they don't fade at the end. I think they are also showing that if you concentrate on just one competition it makes a difference.
But to see a team succeeding and competing with the Big Spenders is very refreshing!
Same thing for Spain. Unfortunately, I don't get to watch more than one Spanish match every few weeks, so I don't get as good of a look at the teams, other than Real Madrid and Barcelona.

 

[jsbach]

PersianBoy...
15,000?
I notice you live in San Jose...
your own team there averaged 14,959 a game this season. Not bad for a team that didn't even make the playoff cut.
So if they can raise that by 41 people you'll talk about them succeeding?

The league average attendance was 14,282 a game, and that includes Miami and KC. There is a drop of about 4000 a game from 10th to 11th in attendance. (Dallas was 10th with 12,211. Miami 11th with 8,689. KC a pitiful 8,183.)

DC, LA, Columbus, NE and Chicago all averaged above 16,000.

Here's a question for you...
You live in San Jose, California. You refer to the USA as if it's not your country. Are you not American? (I have no way of knowing.)

 

[Edoardo]

Fifafreak,before you critisize the Serie A take a look at your own league MLS. like Milano or Juve D.C United have the best players in their league hence they have won i belive three out of four championships,so it must get boring watching the same finals each year ,i guess this varies depending on each persons likes... the rest of the serie A teams that are from 7th place down does not mean they $uck its just that their up against some of the topnotch teams the same goes for teams in la liga and the premiership...

 

[Game Rod]

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Boy is this topic full! I'm so far from the first post I'm afraid no one will see me down here at the bottom!

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I don't think the U.S. can have the best league, even in 20 (hundred, thousand, whatever) years.
They can have the money and resources, but MLS could only be top league if most North Americans really loved it. And they don't.
Football has always been a minor sport in U.S.A., because there's basket, baseball and other sports in which N.Americans can be better.
Think about it, if you were raised in the U.S. which sport would you choose? Why soccer if you can show yourself much better with basket, for instance?
Besides, I think most of the N.Americans still think of soccer as an European or South American sport, and so they just dump it.
Football is now a business, and if you're a good business man (or woman), you'll only invest in something really popular.
But who knows? If man was able to go to the Moon, maybe "soccer" can still be a really popular sport in the states and...

naaaah!

 

[PersianBoy]

HAHAHHA... it take you guys another 1000 years to succeed. First of all, try to get atleast 15000 for each game and then talk about succeed, lol..sorry, but i don't think it will ever work for US. PEACE