How would a European Super League change football?
Columnist By Mike Tuckerman, 27 Oct 2009 Mike Tuckerman is a Roar Expert
Real Madrid's Pepe, center right, vies for the ball with Sporting de Gijon Roberto Canella, center left, during their Spanish La Liga soccer match at El Molinon stadium, in Gijon, Spain, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009. AP Photo/Juan Manuel Serrano
It’s difficult to empathise with one Florentino Pérez. When his team are not losing to a poor Milan side in the UEFA Champions League, the current president of Real Madrid is busily scheming the downfall of those hated separatists from Barcelona.
Pérez is a Wile E. Coyote-type figure on the European scene – constantly conjuring hare-brained schemes that seem destined to fail, but always willing to dust himself off for another go.
After his first spell in charge at Real Madrid between 2000 and 2006 yielded the grand total of two La Liga trophies and one Champions League crown, Pérez departed – admitting that his Galácticos policy had failed to pay dividends, at least on the pitch.
But when the billionaire businessman pitched up at Real again in 2009, you just knew he wouldn’t keep quiet for long.
“We have to agree a new European Super League which guarantees that the best always play the best – something that does not happen in the Champions League,” Pérez told Spanish TV earlier this year.
What he would have made of Barcelona’s recent Champions League defeat to Russian side Rubin Kazan is anyone’s guess.
Fresh from turning La Liga into a boring two-horse race, chances are that Pérez wouldn’t have a bar of Kazan playing in the Champions League.
Instead it’s familiarity that the spotlight-loving ‘presidente’ craves, and apparently he won’t settle until Real are losing to Milan again and again… and again and again.
But if we wanted to watch a predictable title race, we could tune into the English Premier League.
Or La Liga or Serie A. They’re all pretty much the same these days, at least in terms of being dominated by a select few.[
Watching Siena go around against Juventus in Serie A yesterday morning was a demoralising experience.
The tiny club from Tuscany are always going to struggle – the town of Siena lies just fifty kilometres from Florence and the powerful Fiorentina – but the Robur have a stubborn knack for sticking around in the top flight, despite regularly being forced to sell their best players.
Yet, if their football is anything to go by, it’s no wonder the locals never bother to turn out at the piecemeal Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Sitting deep, stacking the defence and desperately attempting to hold their shape, Siena only ventured forward in the most counter-attacking of circumstances.
Sound familiar? They’re the same tactics employed by practically every ‘minnow’ against the big guns in Italy, England and Spain.
Meanwhile, a plodding Juventus only triumphed against their apparently petrified hosts thanks to sheer weight of chances and a late Amauri header.
And when they’re not recording pedestrian domestic wins or stacking their expensively-assembled benches with international talent, the so-called giants of Europe are scheming a way to make the Rubin Kazan’s and Siena’s of the world redundant.
It begs the question: would a European Super League drastically alter the football landscape as we know it?
We’ve already seen the European Cup turned into a quasi-Super League, but if familiarity breeds contempt, it’s hard to see how fans won’t eventually tire of seeing more of the same old teams go around in Europe.
It’s upsets like Rubin Kazan’s defeat of Barcelona last week or Romanian upstart Unirea Urziceni’s thrashing of a diabolical Rangers that enliven the Champions League group stage.
But they’re upsets the likes of Florentino Pérez wish to do away with, as cashed-up oligarchs with scant regard for fans continue to turn the people’s game into their own ego-stroking playground.
With current UEFA supremo Michel Platini at the helm, some of Europe’s lesser lights have still got a sporting chance.
But you can bet that with Florentino Pérez circling around, a European Super League will never be far from the agenda.
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October 27th 2009 @ 3:16pm
Art Sapphire said | October 27th 2009 @ 3:16pm | Report comment
Mike Tuckerman – I appreciate what you contribute to football writing but please in future when you make a statement it should be grounded in facts.
Having been to the wonderful town of Siena many, many years ago, I feel it is my duty to defend their team and their football supporters.
How can you state the following
“Yet, if their football is anything to go by, it’s no wonder the locals never bother to turn out at the piecemeal Stadio Artemio Franchi”
Here are the facts:
Siena – Population 54,000
Stadium Capacity – 15,367
Attendance at Juventus game on weekend – 15,367 – a full house.
From what I saw – the curva behind the goal was packed to capacity.
Average attendance – after 5 home games – 11,847
They get 15k when big team play there and around 9k to 10k for the other games.
Source – http://www.stadiapostcards.com/A09-10.htm
Considering the size of the town and allowing for the population of all the surrounding villages. This is very impressive.
In regards to their playing style – you describe it as
“Sitting deep, stacking the defence and desperately attempting to hold their shape, Siena only ventured forward in the most counter-attacking of circumstances.” What did you expect a side propping up the Serie A table to do against Juventus.
Finally, introducing a Euro-League will not eliminate pragmatic football.
Everybody saw Chelsea stack their defence against Barcelona last year at the Nou Camp.
You would not call Chelsea a minnow now, would you ?
October 27th 2009 @ 3:37pm
Mike Tuckerman said | October 27th 2009 @ 3:37pm | Report comment
If we’re going to play semantics, Mr Sapphire, perhaps it’s worth pointing out that more than half the fans inside the Stadio Artemio Franchi last weekend were supporting Juventus.
What do I expect a side like Siena to do against Juve? Play exactly the same way that the likes of Livorno, Bologna, Catania, Chievo, Parma, Bari etc. do against the likes of Juve, Milan or Inter. That’s entirely my point.
October 27th 2009 @ 3:46pm
Art Sapphire said | October 27th 2009 @ 3:46pm | Report comment
Mike I agree with the sentiment of the article. Personally I am not a fan of the Euro League concept.
Its not semantics, but I still think that you gave the good people of Siena a bad rap.
Anyone with a semblance of logic will deduce that Juve and Milan attract substantial away support, but that does not discount the fact that for such a small town they are still averaging 9-10k when they play the likes of Chievo.
For a team sitting on the bottom of the table, that is pretty good in my book.
By the way, how many did table topping Sydney FC get against Brisbane on the weekend
Keep up the good work!
October 27th 2009 @ 6:27pm
Freud of Football said | October 27th 2009 @ 6:27pm | Report comment
Art, all Italian teams in the top flight attract good away support, regardless of who they are playing.
Remember the logistics of attending a game in Europe are nowhere near as bad as in Aus.
October 27th 2009 @ 3:43pm
Pippinu said | October 27th 2009 @ 3:43pm | Report comment
Putting the football to one side, Siena is an amazing place.
October 27th 2009 @ 3:52pm
whiskeymac said | October 27th 2009 @ 3:52pm | Report comment
certainly looked good in the james bond movie…
October 27th 2009 @ 3:51pm
Art Sapphire said | October 27th 2009 @ 3:51pm | Report comment
yes Pip, the Piazza del Campo and the old alleyways in the old town are pretty special. I read about the Palio when I was a kid. So I made sure I went to visit the town when I was backpacking around Europe all those years ago.
October 27th 2009 @ 4:25pm
constantine said | October 27th 2009 @ 4:25pm | Report comment
stupid idea, steals the romance away from lesser teams like porto winning the champions league. who would make up this superleague anyway, italian teams are going downhill fast. you will probably give 6 spots to england, 3 to spain, 2 to italy, 1 to france 2 to germany. i wouldnt watch it, because the champions league ist he best.
lets not forget while la liga, serie a and epl are predictable we have the champions league where no team for how many years has gone back to back
October 27th 2009 @ 6:32pm
Freud of Football said | October 27th 2009 @ 6:32pm | Report comment
How can you call Porto a “lesser team”? Porto is huge in Portugal and just because the Portuguese League isn’t the best in the world right now doesn’t make their clubs “lesser teams”. It’s all a cycle, right now it’s England’s turn to be the best, it’ll be Spain’s again in the next few years as the tax laws come in in the UK.
And no team has won the CL back-to-back because it is a cup competition which is too often decided on the outdated away goals rule. Getting to a final is extremely hard, regardless of how good a team or squad is, one goal can kick you out of the comp. This would be a league, a “marathon” competition, not a “sprint”.
October 27th 2009 @ 8:09pm
Midfielder said | October 27th 2009 @ 8:09pm | Report comment
Mike Tuckerman
Your article and others like it are needed to fight the super league… however maybe and a big maybe is … would it work… would the English stop watching the EPL …
The real problem is the media gaints that encourage the mega clubs to buy everything… almost every league in Europe has it’s top 4 or 5 sides…
If the various national associations got together and attempted to use an Australian method of media deals where each teams get the same amount … would help a lot ..
Keep up the fight Mike .. but me thinks it’s those offering the mega clubs the loot who need to be named and shamed as well..
October 27th 2009 @ 10:13pm
clayton said | October 27th 2009 @ 10:13pm | Report comment
i would love it if a superleague was created.
it`d be a pandora`s box type situation where clubs would soon find out that getting what you want isn`t always good. Clubs that are currently “giants” would find that they had become “bottom of the table fodder”. An AC Milan might find that instead of lording it over Siena etc, they would (relatively speaking) BECOME Siena.
It`s like getting a bunch of models together, the girl who was the “hot” one on the street becomes the plain one when surrounded by her hotter peers.
October 28th 2009 @ 8:40am
Mike Tuckerman said | October 28th 2009 @ 8:40am | Report comment
I don’t think you necessarily need to create a Super League for that to happen, Clayton.
Nottingham Forest were back-to-back European Cup winners but became the first former continental champions to drop into the third division of their own domestic league, whilst Milan last won a Scudetto back in 2003-04.
October 27th 2009 @ 10:41pm
Michael said | October 27th 2009 @ 10:41pm | Report comment
I’m getting into the German league now. Much more exciting. More than a handful of clubs can win it
October 28th 2009 @ 9:52am
clayton said | October 28th 2009 @ 9:52am | Report comment
As in most things in life, nobody stays on top forever. The Romans and the Pharoahs didn`t. Granted, AC Milan are dropping back. Their owner has been quite busy recently and hasn`t put so much money into his footballing play thing.
But today`s Champions League group stages pay day (I heard it is about $20 – $30 US ???) makes it harder to do a Forest …
The modern virtuous circle looks hard to break – you have to be pretty inept to waste the financial advantages that a champions league club has over a non-champions league club.
Course the new Man City makes things look very interesting in the EPL this year. How will one of the current big four like coming 5th? Player exodus? Crisis of confidence? Be very interesting to watch.
October 28th 2009 @ 2:56pm
Ando said | October 28th 2009 @ 2:56pm | Report comment
Clayton did you just compare football to the wipeout of full races of people? Haha – taking things a but far surelt mate?