A Spanish Year for Football

[tufcfans]

This is just a post to highlight the current dominance of Spanish football. At the moment they have done nothing this year, so to speak, but with 2 clubs in the Champions League semis (both expected to go through) and 3 clubs in the Europa League semis this is set to be a fantastic year for Spanish football. On top of this is Euro 2012 where they will be favourites to lift the trophy and also the Olympics, and with their youth quality they could well win a gold medal in that. And with the champions league winners medal comes as inevitable world club cup victory following soon after. Obviously these are all predictions but the Spanish really are over taking us as the world leaders of football. Is the anything we can do about it, or is best to just watch them pass us by and marvel?

[AustrianAndyGull]

First of all Germany will win EURO 2012. Secondly i don't necessarily concur with you about them taking over as the world leaders of football. I happen to think that La Liga is very poor in quality in comparison to the Premier League and i believe the gap between Spanish clubs and English clubs has closed due to the English clubs not being as good as they were in previous years. Real Madrid and Barcelona we all know are different gravy but then you've got Valencia, Bilbao and Athletco Madrid. Could you honestly say that in a tie over two legs against Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham or even Liverpool that they would be favourites? Spain simply have the best two teams in world football and thats why they win everything generally but it doesn't mean that the rest of the Spanish league is any good. I must admit i like watching La Liga games though regardless of who is playing.

[Aussie]

Germany might well win the Euros but that would be the German national side not a Bundesliga side, the Spanish La liga teams are doing extremely well and will walk away with at least one major trophy. The Spanish national side are probably going to be the other finalists with the Germans but I wouldn`t want to put money on the outcome. I believe this year the quality of the Prem has dropped quite a bit as there is only one team left in Europe (Chelski) and I can`t see them winning it! Seventh in La liga blizted the top of the Prem the other week and even the Portugese teams have been beating the Prem teams and the Portugese teams are weaker than the Spanish ones generally! Look at some of the results in the Prem lately with QPR beating Arsenal and loads of teams giving Liverpool a hard time at Anfield, Man U and their `Noisey Nieghbours` have been tripping up on sides they really should dispatch. Man U in my opinion have not been this weak for ages and are still in with a great shout, Man C are packed full of stars but can`t get it together, Arsenal lost most of their main players and Chelsea`s big money boys are flopping. Look at Swansea and Newcastle`s squads and ask yourslef the question " Why are they doing so well with such limited rescourses? " , well it`s because the Premiership big clubs are all failing to get results they would normally get. That`s how I see it anyway! The Prem could be dying, this could destroy the English national team or give it the chance it`s needed for ages to totally rethink it`s policies and proceedures. Maybe if the Prem gets really bad the big money hunters would not flock to this country and give more time and exposure to the English lads who don`t seem to be able to get the contracts that these imports get. My question is " Does the domestic games top level need to suffer to get the national team to work properly?"

[tufcfans]

My question is " Does the domestic games top level need to suffer to get the national team to work properly?"

Yes, I think it does to be honest in the long run, but I'm not sure whether that is the best thing to do. I mean, it would be amazing to win the Euros or World Cup with an England team but would we rather win that or have an entertaining league to watch week in week out? It seems to me that to develop the English talent, for example Phil Jones, or the likes of Sturridge they need to be playing first team football a lot of the time. These may not be the best examples seeing they have played a fair bit this year but some players like Bertrand at Chelsea aren't getting the opportunities he would get if the league was just full of young English talent. And if you went down this road, suddenly the Premier League becomes just another average league which is not really what we want? The under 21s for England actually seem pretty good at the moment so talent is still getting through.
So, IMO i feel that if we are going to win one of these major tournaments as England the domestic league at the top level does need to suffer a fair bit, but, to be contenders, I think the Premier League can continue with the foreign players and investment as in some aspects they will help the young English players come through as better players.

[Plymouth Gull]

A bit off topic, but I looked at the La Liga table the other day and saw something pretty stunning...

The gap between Barcelona & 3rd placed Valencia is larger than the gap between 3rd placed Valencia and the side bottom of the league.

Crazy.

[happytorq]

I honestly don't care which is the 'best' league, at least when you're talking about quality of play. La Liga is rubbish- you only tune in to watch Barcelona or Real Madrid either hump the opposition or get frustrated to a draw. The technical side is great, but it's just as bad as the Scottish league for competition. I'd really rather catch up with the happenings in League 1, League 2, MLS (obviously ) or the Bundesliga - at least with those leagues you really don't know what is going to happen.

Also I don't think the fact that Spanish sides are doing so well in Europe means a lot (just as I never thought it meant a lot when there were 3 english sides in the semis). In the Europa League, Valencia got a bye to the later rounds after losing in the Champs League, and the other 2 teams finished 6th and 7th. I just don't think that Man Utd and Man City gave a toss about the competition after elimination from UCL - Spurs were at the time chasing another Champion's League place, and Birmingham are second-division team. Stoke got there by losing a cup final, ffs.