ScouseFox Posted 1 October 2014 Share Posted 1 October 2014 kagawa's assist tonight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan LCFC Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 Where did Man Utd go so wrong with Kagawa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-man Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 kagawa's assist tonight I'd argue Piszczek's for Ramos was even better. Beautiful passing from them tonight. May be said that Anderlecht were the bins at the back though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Prussian Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 Well done Paulo Sousa Well done Basel, this win somewhat makes up for Zurich's poor performance in Limassol a few weeks ago and adds some more valuable UEFA ranking points to our coefficient that is there to be defended against Turkey and Greece (and maybe the Czech Republic). Actually, we're now approaching Belgium for tenth spot. That would be quite the achievement to feature amongst Europe's finest. The Swiss FCB has a tremendous record against English clubs as of late - must be about seven wins in the last eight competitive matches played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VLC86 Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 Where did Man Utd go so wrong with Kagawa? Buying him in the first place when he plays the same position as Rooney therefore was never going to be given fair crack of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col city fan Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 I dont get anyone who argues that the Prem ISNT the strongest league in the World. It clearly is. In Spain, for example, after the top four, the rest are very very average sides. The average ability across the whole of the Premiership is better than Spain, Italy and the like. I'm not referring to the top sides. Real Madrid can beat Chelsea and vice versa. But overall, the Premiership is the strongest. IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Prussian Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 I dont get anyone who argues that the Prem ISNT the strongest league in the World. It clearly is. In Spain, for example, after the top four, the rest are very very average sides. The average ability across the whole of the Premiership is better than Spain, Italy and the like. I'm not referring to the top sides. Real Madrid can beat Chelsea and vice versa. But overall, the Premiership is the strongest. IMO. I personally don't get this English Football Supremacy theory. Granted, the Spanish league has been a two-horse race for over a decade - whereas in the PL, one club pretty much dominated for about twenty years. But apart from the two Madrid clubs and Barcelona, La Liga also features Valencia, Bilbao, Sevilla and (right now) Villarreal. All clubs competing on the European stage on a regular basis. That's not a bad performance at all and unlike you claim, far from being "very, very average". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purpleronnie Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 I dont get anyone who argues that the Prem ISNT the strongest league in the World. It clearly is. In Spain, for example, after the top four, the rest are very very average sides. The average ability across the whole of the Premiership is better than Spain, Italy and the like. I'm not referring to the top sides. Real Madrid can beat Chelsea and vice versa. But overall, the Premiership is the strongest. IMO. How is it clear? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corky Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 How is it clear? We'll never know, will we? Leicester and Crystal Palace won't be playing Elche, Cordoba, Sassuolo and the like any time soon, I don't know how we can say any league is the strongest for definite. And does it really matter either way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purpleronnie Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 We'll never know, will we? Leicester and Crystal Palace won't be playing Elche, Cordoba, Sassuolo and the like any time soon, I don't know how we can say any league is the strongest for definite. And does it really matter either way? Yes corky damn you it does matter. Would Spain's 6 europa league wins in 11 seasons to Englands 1 win be an indicator? or would that provoke the 'English sides don't care about Europa league' response? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samilktray Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 I've started watching La Liga football a lot more than Premier League football in recent times, as I find it much more enjoyable. So I'm not pro premier league at all, but let's be realistic, our clubs really don't care all that much for the Europa league. Maybe that'll change now though due to the winners getting a champions league place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSi13 Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 No idea where to start here. 1) Atletico are the current La Liga champions. 2) Bilbao and Barca both lost tonight. 3) I would be monumentally surprised if Burnley won at City. 4) We used to get teams regularly to a CL final a few years back 5) No way could Chelsea or City be shagged out, they both came through games fairly easily on Saturday. OK the points I was making: 1) La Liga has been won 39% of the time by Real Madrid, 65% of the time by either Real Madrid or Barcelona. The Bundesliga has been won 24% of the time by Bayern Munich and 32% of the time by either Bayern Munich or Nuremberg. The Premier League has been won 17% of the time by Manchester United and 33% of the time by either Manchester United or Liverpool. The point I was making (poorly granted) was that the Premier League is, and has always been, more varied in who can win it. 2) Barcelona's result wasn't a complete surprise considering where they were playing and Bilbao are new to the competition so not great shocks IMO. 3) Well that's opinion, I wasn't for one moment shocked that Stoke City went to the Etihad and got the deserved three points for example. 4) I'm not arguing for one moment that the Premier League is superior in quality to either La Liga or Bundesliga at the present time. In fact I have said that many times in this thread alone. The UEFA coefficient is bang on for the Premier League right now I reckon. But in terms of entertainment value it's in a league of it's own, there is a reason it is so popular beyond these shores you know (e.g Leicester City 5-3 Manchester United ). 5) Chelsea were fresh yes and won. Manchester City had to win their match with Hull City twice over. I'm not making excuses for the English sides, none of them have the quality to win the Champions League IMO, I just believe our league being so competitive during every match certainly doesn't help their cause. PS. Not counting the Europa League, it's hard to find anybody that gives a shit in this country! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samilktray Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 Phil Thompson has said liverpool will beat Real at Anfield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_horns Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 Phil Thompson has said liverpool will beat Real at Anfield. Going to need improvement in defence if that is going to happen! All the talk is about missing Suarez but he would have been banned anyway even if he had stayed at Liverpool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MattP Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 I dont get anyone who argues that the Prem ISNT the strongest league in the World. It clearly is. In Spain, for example, after the top four, the rest are very very average sides. The average ability across the whole of the Premiership is better than Spain, Italy and the like. I'm not referring to the top sides. Real Madrid can beat Chelsea and vice versa. But overall, the Premiership is the strongest. IMO. I'm the other way around, since 2008-09 I can't get my head around anyone who seriously thinks that the English league is stronger than the Spanish, to me La Liga looks stronger across the board. I think you could argue that apart from Chelsea most of our teams look pretty average until they come against someone good, Man City still haven't got out of a CL group, Liverpool have just struggled to beat Ludrogrets and lost to Basel and the less we say about our performance in the Europa the better. Spain had 5 teams in the semi finals of Europe last year, Real Sociedad were the only side to actually be knocked out of Europe by a non Spanish side all season, for so called average sides, teams like Valencia, Bilbao, Villarreal, Sevilla etc certainly seem to perform better than our top 4 so against Europe's elite. The bottom of the league last season in La Liga got to the Europa League quarter finals, I'm not having that Cardiff were capable of that. I often find the only people who think our league is far superior very rarely watch the Spanish game, you would never get a game as low on quality as us v Palace in BBVA. 4) I'm not arguing for one moment that the Premier League is superior in quality to either La Liga or Bundesliga at the present time. In fact I have said that many times in this thread alone. The UEFA coefficient is bang on for the Premier League right now I reckon. But in terms of entertainment value it's in a league of it's own, there is a reason it is so popular beyond these shores you know (e.g Leicester City 5-3 Manchester United ). PS. Not counting the Europa League, it's hard to find anybody that gives a shit in this country! You do get games like that in la Liga though, it's just most people don't watch them here. Have a look at the game on the first day of this season in La Liga, Real Madrid went to Real Sociedad and went 2 up early, Sociedad then produced an absolutely incredible second half comeback that was on a par with ours to beat that star studded line up 4-2. At some point English teams are actually going to have to start winning trophies instead of saying they don't care about anything if they want to say it's the best league in the world from top to bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan LCFC Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 Actually being in the Premier League, I am warming to the idea of it being one of the most entertaining. I don't think it's as high in quality as Spain though and Germany's a tough ask. People slate the defending in Germany but is it really any better in England? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan LCFC Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 I'm the other way around, since 2008-09 I can't get my head around anyone who seriously thinks that the English league is stronger than the Spanish, to me La Liga looks stronger across the board. I think you could argue that apart from Chelsea most of our teams look pretty average until they come against someone good, Man City still haven't got out of a CL group, Liverpool have just struggled to beat Ludrogrets and lost to Basel and the less we say about our performance in the Europa the better. Spain had 5 teams in the semi finals of Europe last year, Real Sociedad were the only side to actually be knocked out of Europe by a non Spanish side all season, for so called average sides, teams like Valencia, Bilbao, Villarreal, Sevilla etc certainly seem to perform better than our top 4 so against Europe's elite. The bottom of the league last season in La Liga got to the Europa League quarter finals, I'm not having that Cardiff were capable of that. I often find the only people who think our league is far superior very rarely watch the Spanish game, you would never get a game as low on quality as us v Palace in BBVA. You do get games like that in la Liga though, it's just most people don't watch them here. Have a look at the game on the first day of this season in La Liga, Real Madrid went to Real Sociedad and went 2 up early, Sociedad then produced an absolutely incredible second half comeback that was on a par with ours to beat that star studded line up 4-2. At some point English teams are actually going to have to start winning trophies instead of saying they don't care about anything if they want to say it's the best league in the world from top to bottom. I'd take being the Real Sociedad of England. They're a quality side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MattP Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 Most entertaining and competitive is the Argentine league by a mile. I still try and watch as much Copa Libertadores as possible, everything about it is brilliant. I'd take being the Real Sociedad of England. They're a quality side. Not bad, although Bilbao for me are still the World's most amazing club. To compete at the level they do only being allowed to pick local Basque players is quite astonishing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSi13 Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 Most entertaining and competitive is the Argentine league by a mile. I still try and watch as much Copa Libertadores as possible, everything about it is brilliant. Not bad, although Bilbao for me are still the World's most amazing club. To compete at the level they do only being allowed to pick local Basque players is quite astonishing. OK now you're just coming across as a hipster Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan LCFC Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 Most entertaining and competitive is the Argentine league by a mile. I still try and watch as much Copa Libertadores as possible, everything about it is brilliant. Not bad, although Bilbao for me are still the World's most amazing club. To compete at the level they do only being allowed to pick local Basque players is quite astonishing. Bilbao have cost me three bets this season already. I do agree in seriousness. Admirable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad. Posted 3 October 2014 Share Posted 3 October 2014 Regarding the Europa League and stuff.. Do you think it makes a difference that La Liga are giving two of their Europa League spots to the 5th and 6th best teams in the League, and also their Cup winner spot (usually a Champions League qualified side) goes to the 7th spot. So with their format, usually the 7 best teams in La Liga are playing European football. Our set up is completely different, last season the three sides who represented England in the Europa League were Wigan (just been relegated to the Championship and qualified by winning the FA Cup), Swansea (who had finished 9th and qualified by beating Bradford in the League Cup Final) and Spurs who finished 5th and they qualified purely on League standings. Maybe if English clubs took the League and FA Cup more seriously and a winter break was put in place so the Champions League clubs would go full strength in the FA Cup and League Cup then we would have better sides representing us in the Europa League. Or on the flip side is it, that La Liga is that poor in quality a top three/four side in La Liga are always going to win the Copa Del Ray because the other sides competing for the trophy aren't good enough to challenge for it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manwell Pablo Posted 3 October 2014 Author Share Posted 3 October 2014 OK the points I was making: 1) La Liga has been won 39% of the time by Real Madrid, 65% of the time by either Real Madrid or Barcelona. The Bundesliga has been won 24% of the time by Bayern Munich and 32% of the time by either Bayern Munich or Nuremberg. The Premier League has been won 17% of the time by Manchester United and 33% of the time by either Manchester United or Liverpool. The point I was making (poorly granted) was that the Premier League is, and has always been, more varied in who can win it. 2) Barcelona's result wasn't a complete surprise considering where they were playing and Bilbao are new to the competition so not great shocks IMO. 3) Well that's opinion, I wasn't for one moment shocked that Stoke City went to the Etihad and got the deserved three points for example. 4) I'm not arguing for one moment that the Premier League is superior in quality to either La Liga or Bundesliga at the present time. In fact I have said that many times in this thread alone. The UEFA coefficient is bang on for the Premier League right now I reckon. But in terms of entertainment value it's in a league of it's own, there is a reason it is so popular beyond these shores you know (e.g Leicester City 5-3 Manchester United ). 5) Chelsea were fresh yes and won. Manchester City had to win their match with Hull City twice over. I'm not making excuses for the English sides, none of them have the quality to win the Champions League IMO, I just believe our league being so competitive during every match certainly doesn't help their cause. PS. Not counting the Europa League, it's hard to find anybody that gives a shit in this country! Liverpool have never won the Premier League....... The only suprise English Prem winner has been Blackburn, and that was ages ago. The rest have all got their by either being a big club or one spending Money, Arsenal Chelsea Man City and or United. I've seen five different prem clubs lift the trophy and four different Spanish one's lift La Liga in the modern era. You are right though I think it's certainly the most entertaining league in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad. Posted 3 October 2014 Share Posted 3 October 2014 Liverpool have never won the Premier League....... The only suprise English Prem winner has been Blackburn, and that was ages ago. The rest have all got their by either being a big club or one spending Money, Arsenal Chelsea Man City and or United. I've seen five different prem clubs lift the trophy and four different Spanish one's lift La Liga in the modern era. You are right though I think it's certainly the most entertaining league in the world. Wouldn't really say Blackburn was a surprise winner mate when they finished second the year before and they themselves were spending a lot money on players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manwell Pablo Posted 3 October 2014 Author Share Posted 3 October 2014 Wouldn't really say Blackburn was a surprise winner mate when they finished second the year before and they themselves were spending a lot money on players. Well yeah probably not. Although that United team was a bit unstoppable. On the flip side I can remember Deportivo and Valencia winning La Liga after carefully building a good squad over time. EDIT: You make a very good point about the teams representing us in the Europa League as well but with Everton and Spurs there this season hopefully we'll see where our also rans really sit in the grand scheme of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad. Posted 3 October 2014 Share Posted 3 October 2014 Well yeah probably not. Although that United team was a bit unstoppable. On the flip side I can remember Deportivo and Valencia winning La Liga after carefully building a good squad over time. Yeah, I agree in that respect, Arsenal probably did that though too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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