2023-24 Season - Discussion Thread

[YayNJ]

Originally Posted by fadster

As the court judgement says it's not an endorsement of a Super League, rather that UEFA and FIFA could not block it the way they did in this case (interestingly UEFA have made some changes and the ECJ did not say they have no power at all). The other side of the coin is that it's been made clear a closed-shop league would also fail to clear regulatory hurdles.

It's all moot anyway as the topic is completely toxic across England, Germany and other northern European countries, and the original project fell apart because of that before UEFA and FIFA stepped in.

Edit: sounds like clubs are already coming out against it, already Man Utd and Atletico Madrid have shot it down, and the Atletico statement is quite pointed

“The European football family does not want the European Super League”.
“Germany, France, England, Italy, Spain (except for Real Madrid and Barcelona), etc. do not want the Super League”.
“We are in favor of protecting the European football family, safeguarding domestic leagues, and ensuring that qualification for European competitions is achieved through on-field performance every season”.

The issue is, there's enough teams that will want a part though.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus.. I bet Chelsea deep down want it, probably Newcastle.

Eventually I see it ending up being a league for state owned, oil clubs and the life long corruption tinged grifters like Barca, Juve and Madrid. and good riddance to them - I hope they go, and if they do, they aren't allowed to stay in their domestic system via third teams or youth teams.

[phooey]

Didn't European clubs reject an ESL replacement for the Champions League, voting instead for the new format that comes in next year?

The judgement doesn't make much sense to me. UEFA and FIFA are governing bodies, who sanction all tournaments, which is how pretty much every single sport on the planet is governed. Take that away and the whole thing falls apart.

No one was stopping clubs from forming their own competitions such as the ESL, it was just that they couldn't continue to be part of the existing structures if they went down that route. Sure that's a closed competition, but that's exactly what ESL was.

Don't see how this changes anything. There will be a proper league format for the Champions League and no doubt a world wide tournament eventually. But that will only happen in conjunction with UEFA and FIFA. Ultimately UEFA and FIFA are member organisation and if the majority don't like what they are doing it can be changed.

You only have to look at boxing and golf to see the mess that happens when you don't have a single governing body sanctioning events.

[fadster]

Originally Posted by YayNJ

The issue is, there's enough teams that will want a part though.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus.. I bet Chelsea deep down want it, probably Newcastle.

Eventually I see it ending up being a league for state owned, oil clubs and the life long corruption tinged grifters like Barca, Juve and Madrid. and good riddance to them - I hope they go, and if they do, they aren't allowed to stay in their domestic system via third teams or youth teams.

Other teams have cottoned on that Barca and Real are pushing this as they are in line for a big windfall, but they will barely be any better off for all the damage it will do. They've eaten everyone else's lunch in Spain and are trying to gaslight everyone else in Europe into thinking that letting them eat theirs too will be good for them somehow. I don't see Newcastle rocking the boat as they need to stay in everyone's good books, I think the Saudis will make sure they will have all the income they can book under FFP anyway.

This project is DOA, it gets interesting though if someone else puts something together that is nearly identical to the current competitions, with participation purely on sporting merit but with more income and control to the clubs. That's when we might start seeing a split and some real jeopardy.

[CiaranGQ]

Originally Posted by fadster

Three very competitive ties in Barca - Napoli, Inter - Atletico and PSV - Dortmund, the others look a little bit more one-sided.

The Inter - Atletico tie has an additional angle insofar as long-standing Atletico manager, Diego Simone, is something of an Inter legend.

He didn’t play for too long a period with Inter but was part of the famous side, alongside Ronaldo R9, that won the UEFA Cup in 1998. Still held in very high regard in Inter circles - there was much talk in past that he would ultimately end up as an Inter manager (I suspect his standing is now too high to consider it should the opportunity arise).

[YayNJ]

Anyone see the Deportivo manager after Madrid scored?

Cripes..

[fadster]

Here we go again...

Welt Am Sonntag is reporting that UEFA is investigating Barcelona for FFP violations and could issue a ban from European competition. UEFA don't consider the "levers" to sell future income, rights and assets as income relevant to FFP, without which Barcelona would be massively in violation of FFP rules going forward. Liga do use the "levers" for their calculation but UEFA told Barcelona previously they would not and even fined them for filing incorrect accounts. The punishment will depend on how large the losses are.

[mfw13]

A "Super League" is no longer viable due to the fact that the UK is no longer part of Europe and is not bound by this ruling, thus allowing Parliament to ban British clubs from participating (which they are planning to do in 2024).

[YayNJ]

The UK is very much still part of Europe

We left the political and economic union called the EU.

[YayNJ]

14 league games 0 goals 0 assists 75 million Rasmus Hojlund

[MonsterTruck20]

It’s not about the goals for Ten Hag but about the ability to press

[YayNJ]

So there's a few rumours going around that allegedly Joelinton has got a 16 year old pregnant...

[fadster]

The wild version of the rumour I heard is that up to 5 Newcastle players (including Joelinton and Trippier) are allegedly using suites at a certain hotel for their mistresses and high-end escorts, the mundane (and probably closer to the truth) version is that Trippier got caught cheating and is going through a separation. It might go some way to explaining the sudden influx of catastrophic mistakes into his game.

[fadster]

Trippier out tonight with a "groin issue"

[mfw13]

Trippier is just knackered....he's played just about every minute of every match for months....

[YayNJ]

Originally Posted by mfw13

Trippier is just knackered....he's played just about every minute of every match for months....

'knackered'

bloke has 'allegedly' screwed his life up, see the previous posts by myself and Fadster

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by YayNJ

'knackered'

bloke has 'allegedly' screwed his life up, see the previous posts by myself and Fadster

Your previous posts contain nothing but rumors....

I'll give them credence if/when they are reported by a reputable journalistic outlet....

[YayNJ]

Originally Posted by mfw13

Your previous posts contain nothing but rumors....

I'll give them credence if/when they are reported by a reputable journalistic outlet....

bless your innocent soul

[YayNJ]

Nevermind Wayne, wish you the best of luck in your next job in the Indian league.

[brewtown107]

Maybe he can join Miami Inter as a player

[YayNJ]

Originally Posted by brewtown107

Maybe he can join Miami Inter as a player

the fella can't even zip up his coat without pausing for breath these days

poor bloke looks 55 years old

[MonsterTruck20]

Is it normal in France for a Ligue 1 team to play with their best eleven in an early round cup match against a 6th tier club? Can’t believe PSG didn’t rest Mbappe.

[mikee1186]

Originally Posted by MonsterTruck20

Is it normal in France for a Ligue 1 team to play with their best eleven in an early round cup match against a 6th tier club? Can’t believe PSG didn’t rest Mbappe.

They play again the 14th then the 28th. More likely they need to keep the starters in form and game shape as much as possible vs having them play only 3 games the whole month.

[YayNJ]

RIP Franz Beckenbauer

Undoubtably one of the greatest defenders of all time, as a player one of the all time greats.

Shame he had to somewhat tarnish that legacy through cheating and corruption.

[fadster]

Very sad to hear about Beckenbauer, he was the last of the old greats left from when I was a kid. Great defender but almost unique in his ability to also dictate games with his passing when he stepped up into midfield or beyond. Losing him, Pele, Charlton and Muller in a relatively short span feels very much like the end of an era.

[Ianhatcher]

This Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid game was nutty.