Oh, dear! I took a break and what not has happened in Arsenal world and football as a whole. We sent racism out with a thumping 0-4 away win and somehow managed a point against a relegation candidate – Fulham.
But today is not the day to talk about individual matches. The very idea that ‘a team fighting for it’s place’ and almost ‘winning against a top 6’ is in danger. There was a joint announcement by some of the most powerful clubs in Europe about a new league – Europe Super League, where top 15 clubs of Europe gets a free pass to play every year just because they are big and bring in more money, with 5 spots for others to fight for. This is absurd for most of us fans.
Though I don’t want Arsenal to lose a single match and win every trophy available, I love when a newly promoted Leeds United challenges and beats the Citys of the world with less resources. What’s football without competitiveness!? ESL is going to shift this to money. Top 15 founding members always gets to participate and receives a huge sum of money and they can afford a bidding war for players any other teams won’t be able to match.
In near future, we will get to know whether it will benefit the lower clubs with more money pouring in and trickling down to lower clubs or just kills the tier 2 clubs completely. But for now, it’s not good for the sport. The fact that top 4 is a trophy in itself which allows you to play in Champions League keeps us fans on our toes. On a day, any team can win and a good show of football is applauded by all. Clubs like Dortmund and Leipzig fight hard and always dream of lifting the trophy. West Hams and Evertons fight for top4 to qualify and be a part of that dream.
I personally feel it’s a three fold problem. First, the league is NOT on meritocracy. Top 15 will always play no matter what. Keeping just 1/4th of the league open to others is absurd. Second, the amount of money these clubs will get will make very difficult for others. They can afford elite infrastructure and players which the smaller clubs can’t, which in return makes it very difficult to survive. Third, this will kill the Champions League. Every year, it’s a joy to watch and PSG vs Bayern or Liverpool vs Madrid which will happen every other week.
I won’t disagree with people saying this was about to happen at some point of time and watching the big teams play among themselves will be a joy, but to bring me onboard as a fan, AT LEAST do it on meritocracy. How can Arsenal, who is 9th in the league and Sp*rs who have not won a trophy since I was born can be better the Evertons and Leicesters who are fighting hard and are above them?!
Some geezer called Jurgen Klopp managing one of the best teams in Europe currently, with a Champions League and Premium League trophy under his belt spoke against this idea a year back and he still stands to it, even when his own club is involved. We fans, at least, shouldn’t shy away to criticize this! It’s wrong for football, it’s absurd for competitiveness and it should not happen. What a bunch of greedy gits these clubs have become!
I guess Ian Wright said this in a much better way.
Right-o, over to you. Feel free to share your feelings in the comment section.
The bottom line is to find a lasting resolution to this new problem else it will push through. Florentino Perez the president of the new ESL claimed in an interview with Goal dot com that there is no transparency with UEFA. He went on to cite non-declaration of salaries as examples.
We know it is about the money, I think UEFA needs to be honest and negotiate with these clubs. Promising brimstone and hell via bans or expulsion from the domestic competition and current Europa league matches will not resolve the situation long-term.
Looks like City and Chelsea have withdrawn from ESL. This comes as a relief for us fans..