Football is boring when the same teams always win
Columnist By Mike Tuckerman, 15 Apr 2011 Mike Tuckerman is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- Barcelona football, Champions League, football, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Schalke, UEFA Champions League
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, left, duels for the ball with Barcelona's Xavi Hernandez. AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza
“Why would anybody want to buy a club that takes part in a two-team competition?” That was the opening to a question posed by SBS journalist Tony Palumbo on The World Game website yesterday and one might have presumed he was referring to Spain’s increasingly predictable La Liga.
Turns out Palumbo was talking about the Scottish Premier League and the fact a chap named Andrew Ellis is reputedly in talks to buy Old Firm giants Rangers.
Yet SBS’ resident Italian football fanatic could just as easily have been describing Spain’s ‘Primera División’, where either Barcelona or Real Madrid have won the past six championships contested.
Indeed, only Valencia have broken the duopoly in the past ten seasons, winning the 2003-04 title at a time when Deportivo de La Coruña also proved a formidable force up in the windswept wilds of Galicia.
And while Villarreal and Sevilla have been there or thereabouts in recent seasons, neither have looked genuinely capable of knocking Barça or Los Merengues off their gilded perches.
It’s not surprising considering the vast sums of cash spent by both clubs to mould a championship-winning squad, but the reality is that the age-old rivalry has turned Spanish football into a dreary two-horse race.
Now we get to re-live it when the pair meet in an upcoming UEFA Champions League semi-final, which will no doubt send the world’s press into paroxysms of hyperbole about the meeting of these two venerated giants.
That’s all well and good because watching Champions League football is undeniably exciting thanks to the abundance of technique, the star-studded squads and cracking atmospheres beamed into our living rooms from all corners of Europe.
And so far the Champions League has proved surprisingly resilient in terms of being dominated by one team or another, with the trophies historically shared out between a host of Spanish, Italian and English clubs.
But increasingly those clubs are starting to look wearingly familiar.
Barcelona and Manchester United are frequent visitors to the Champions League semi-final stage – in fact, this is Barça’s fourth trip in a row to the final four – although Real Madrid have an embarrasing recent record in club football’s premier tournament.
But surely the odd team out in this year’s equation is Schalke.
The Gelsenkirchen outfit sacked coach Felix Magath less than a month ago, but his successor Ralf Rangnick returned for a second spell at the club and promptly lead the Royal Blues to a 7-3 aggregate thrashing of defending European champions Inter in the quarter-finals.
And with veteran goal poacher Raúl no doubt dreaming of a showdown with former club Real Madrid in the final, the stage could be set for the biggest boilover since Porto stunned everybody by winning the 2003-04 tournament.
No one gave Schalke much of a chance to beat Inter in the quarter-finals, but beat them they did, and the Ruhrpott upstarts are now just one tie away from their biggest game of all.
When Schalke won the UEFA Cup in 1997 they were overshadowed by the fact neighbours Borussia Dortmund lifted the Champions League crown the same year.
There’ll be no such misfortune this year, although the German side invariably go into their semi-final showdown against Manchester United as rank outsiders.
Perhaps they’ll take solace from the fact Dortmund beat United in the Champions League semis en route to winning the title, although a similarly interesting statistic goes against Schalke.
Geographically speaking, the six Champions League titles since Porto’s shock triumph have been decided by clubs from the following countries: England – Spain – Italy – England – Spain – Italy.
So for those who put stock in such statistical patterns, it looks like Manchester United are due.
But for those who put their faith in the spirit of the underdog – even one bankrolled by megarich Russian gas concern Gazprom – the sentimental favourites are surely Schalke.
After all, football gets boring when the same teams win all the time.
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April 15th 2011 @ 7:32am
nordster said | April 15th 2011 @ 7:32am | Report comment
the ‘two-team’ syndrome is whats drawn me to the Bundesliga. I still like watching Barca games if they’re in Europe or playing a top four or five team. But couldn’t care less what’s happening elsewhere in La Liga. (EPL bores me too tbh.)
Whereas in Germany i don’t really follow any one team… can enjoy BvB, Leverkusen, Hannover’s run, cheer on little Pauli in their struggles, laugh at Bayern, etc etc interest up and down the table.
April 15th 2011 @ 8:49am
PaddyBoy said | April 15th 2011 @ 8:49am | Report comment
As long as your laughing at Bayern.
April 15th 2011 @ 8:12am
jamesb said | April 15th 2011 @ 8:12am | Report comment
thats one massive advantage that the A-League has over majority of football competitions around the word.
Its far more unpredictable, with 4 champions, Sydney FC (2), Melbourne Victory (2), Newcastle Jets and Brisbane Roar in the first 6 seasons in a comp that onlly has 10 or 11 teams.
Thats one selling point, the FFA should try to send to the public out their.
April 15th 2011 @ 10:25am
wesley said | April 15th 2011 @ 10:25am | Report comment
add to that, i reckon adelaide in the nxt couple seasons SHOULD get a championship, they deserve it, so if they do, thats 5 out of 11
April 15th 2011 @ 11:25am
RedOrDead said | April 15th 2011 @ 11:25am | Report comment
So would you say that Adelaide are the sentimental favourites in this case? Yeah, okay – either Adelaide or (after last season’s final and two previous final losses) Central Coast Mariners! They’re kind of like the Netherlands (World Cup results) of the A-League. Three times unlucky! lol
April 15th 2011 @ 8:15am
cruyff turn said | April 15th 2011 @ 8:15am | Report comment
Agree with you Mike. A well-written piece.
I don’t follow the EPL much anymore for two reasons. One, I’m resigned to the fact that “my team”, Newcastle, may never rise above mid-table mediocrity – certainly with the current management and administration in place. I can’t see anyone other than Man U, Chelsea, or Arsenal winning these days. Secondly, I much prefer following the A-League because it’s not only local, but the unpredictability of the League makes it far more interesting. Who’d have thought this time last year that Brisbane would win ’10/’11 so emphatically?
Equalisation via the salary cap is a good thing in my opinion. It’s just a shame that the A-League is struggling financially, but that’s a topic for another day!
April 15th 2011 @ 9:38am
nordster said | April 15th 2011 @ 9:38am | Report comment
i don’t mind a bit of ‘equalisation’ with the HAL provided its balanced out with the cap exempt players, which it is. Clubs need to be able to build a culture and retain players which would be very tough IF the cap was rigid. Thankfully we get a bit of both in this league. I’d still like to see the minimum cap spend of 85 odd pc lowered a little.
April 15th 2011 @ 9:54am
PaddyBoy said | April 15th 2011 @ 9:54am | Report comment
Don’t want to break the “any given Sunday” rule (I harp on about this all over the shop). On any givn Sunday, even if your team is on the bottom of the table, and playing the top, you can win. Gets more fans to the games, because hey, today might just be the day, and there’s usually a half-decent chance of it.
April 15th 2011 @ 10:36am
Mark Young said | April 15th 2011 @ 10:36am | Report comment
Well said PaddyBoy, I strongly agree with you.
I would go even further and say that the Any Given Sunday element it critical to clubs remaining popular even when they are havnig bad seasons. I’m sure seeing golden runs like Porto a few years back, Shalke this year is the trigger to heaps of clubs (and fans) to think “That could be us”.
I have always wondered how many casual fans are lost in the EPL to clubs who aren’t at the pointy end.
April 15th 2011 @ 1:42pm
Football United said | April 15th 2011 @ 1:42pm | Report comment
equalisation WITHIN the league is fine. but the cap is getting us slaughtered in asia. maybe ease up some loan/short term deals during asia or have a full time higher soft cap like the NBA where you CAN go over the limit but for every dollar over the cap you give a dollar to ffa who redistribute it to the other teams under the cap.
April 15th 2011 @ 8:35am
The Bush said | April 15th 2011 @ 8:35am | Report comment
Come on City!
Now that I’ve got that out of the way…
“After all, football gets boring when the same teams win all the time.”
I agree, but that is why, personally, I’ve found the Premier League to be slightly more enjoyable in the last few seasons.
True it’s still going to be Arsenal, Chelsea or Man U with the ultimate prize, but thanks to the (re)emergence of Man City (*touch heart*) and the Spurs, at least the race for the Champions League has become a little more interesting… Or maybe I’m looking through sky-blue-tinted glasses
“Yet SBS’ resident Italian football fanatic could just as easily have been describing Spain’s ‘Primera División’, where either Barcelona or Real Madrid have won the past six championships contested.”
I have read, probably on the ever reliable Wikipedia, that Barcelona and Real have between them something like 50% of all Association Football supporteres in Spain. That leave the other 18 top-flight, and how ever many lower division teams, fighting it out for the other half. With those kinds of numbers, no wonder they have all the talent…
That for me is the problem with Spain; how do you break this strangle hold? Madrid and Barcelona are the two biggest cities in Spain true, but they don’t have half the population of the country. That means that there must be people all over the country who support one of these teams instead of their local team. I’m not sure if the situation is the same in England (Think Man U and Liverpool), but I doubt that 50% of all English Association Football fans follow those two clubs (or even the Big Four).
April 15th 2011 @ 8:58am
PaddyBoy said | April 15th 2011 @ 8:58am | Report comment
At least tell me you backed City before the Sheik came in. I’m pretty sure there never used to be this many Chelski supporters either.
April 15th 2011 @ 9:27am
The Bush said | April 15th 2011 @ 9:27am | Report comment
At least tell me you backed City before the Sheik came in.
No, I actively go out of my way to only follow sporting teams around the world that are backed by Arab oil money…
Let me guess, your really cool and trendy and follow Crystal Palace or Sheffield Wednesday from the otherside of the planet and tell everyone about how good being a Championship support is…
Don’t blame the fans just because their team got bought out and is rich… At least they’re not those obnoxious Londoner’s who support Man U in the busloads…
I’m pretty sure there never used to be this many Chelski supporters either.
Probably not, but that’s life…
April 15th 2011 @ 9:40am
Ben of Phnom Penh said | April 15th 2011 @ 9:40am | Report comment
I’m cool and trendy; I’ve always had a soft spot for Nottingham Forest. After dropping down to League One at one stage I can assure you that being cool and trendy sucks
April 15th 2011 @ 10:02am
The Bush said | April 15th 2011 @ 10:02am | Report comment
Ben,
Yes there’s nothing like a good relegation to bring out the best in a fan.
A former roommate of mine is from Swindon, and used to tell me about their infamous time in the First Division (I don’t think it was the Premier League then). Apparently they notched up the century…
Unfortunately for him, and having been to Swindon myself, I can confirm that it is never cool and trendy to be a Swindon fan…
April 15th 2011 @ 9:47am
PaddyBoy said | April 15th 2011 @ 9:47am | Report comment
I don’t really support anyone, but it definitely annoys me that there used to be people wearing Leeds jerseys all over the place, and Newcastle, now it’s Spurs on the rise in jersey numbers, plus City. I don’t blame the fans who had their team bought out, but to be honest, the vast, vast majority of Manchester City fans were in Manchester, and nowhere else. Now, they are all the ones who thought they could be the new Chelski so they decided that was their team.
Just wonder how many would stick around if they went belly up, like Leeds did.
April 15th 2011 @ 10:07am
The Bush said | April 15th 2011 @ 10:07am | Report comment
PaddyBoy,
I was being a little sarcastic mate, no need to fret and I understand your point, and knew were you were heading.
Perhaps it was the manner in which you said it – “At least tell me you backed City before the Sheik came in.” – it came off as one of those comments that the uber cool make because they are the only fan in the country of some slightly obscure Football side in England.
A huge amount, maybe even the majority, of supporters are not rusted on, it’s just the way life is.
I can remember a friend of mine trying to get his little brother to support Liverpool (like he did). But his little brother wanted to support Arsenal. My friend said, “fine mate, you can support Arsenal, but once you’ve chosen that’s it!”.
Needless to say he was a Chelsea fan the next season…
April 15th 2011 @ 10:45am
PaddyBoy said | April 15th 2011 @ 10:45am | Report comment
It is a bit sad. I don’t really follow anyone, but I’ll cheer for people over a campaign, but would never call myself a “fan”. I like watching Arsenal play on their day, and really wanted Hull to get up due to their huge run through all the professional leagues, and love watching the giant-slayers Wolves, but I’ll probably not follow anyone till I actually go to England, then I’ll rust-on.
April 15th 2011 @ 2:07pm
The Bush said | April 15th 2011 @ 2:07pm | Report comment
“It is a bit sad. I don’t really follow anyone, but I’ll cheer for people over a campaign, but would never call myself a “fan”. I like watching Arsenal play on their day,”
I agree, especially the line-up they had a season or two ago with all the teenagers… Brillant!
“but I’ll probably not follow anyone till I actually go to England, then I’ll rust-on.”
Fair enough and a wise decision. I’m a believer that you only become a rusted-on fan for a reason. Perhaps best not to live anywhere near Chelsea then… You wouldn’t wanna catch an obsession!
April 15th 2011 @ 1:27pm
Rob McLean said | April 15th 2011 @ 1:27pm | Report comment
Paddy, being a Black Cats supporter, I despise seeing all those Newcastle shirts around.
However, I don’t think that’s so much a bandwagon thing, more that the large proportion of English who migrated to Australia in the late 50s through to early 70s came from there, or at least departed from there.
Where I grew up, there are many, many Newcastle people.
I do agree on the Leeds shirts, along with Chelsea and ugghhh Man United – bandwagon.
Me? I’m Sunderland because it annoys my brother-in-law
April 15th 2011 @ 2:02pm
The Bush said | April 15th 2011 @ 2:02pm | Report comment
“However, I don’t think that’s so much a bandwagon thing, more that the large proportion of English who migrated to Australia in the late 50s through to early 70s came from there, or at least departed from there.”
This is true, and as a result there does appear to be a disproportionately large amount of Newcastle Fans in Australia. Plus Newcastle is a big place to only have one major Football team, so if you’re from the area, you support the team!
April 15th 2011 @ 8:50am
PaddyBoy said | April 15th 2011 @ 8:50am | Report comment
The reason the gap is so big? Clubs in Spain don’t collectively bargain for television rights, Real and Barca get all the money, to go along with all their billionaire backers.
April 15th 2011 @ 9:06am
Davstar said | April 15th 2011 @ 9:06am | Report comment
La Liga is a unbalanced league and if you ask me there is really no pt to it Fozz talks it up a lot but it has 2 strong sides and thats it
April 15th 2011 @ 9:13am
Ben of Phnom Penh said | April 15th 2011 @ 9:13am | Report comment
It is true that many of us are hoping to see Schalke continue their run and the recent return of Ralf Rangnick to the club makes this a real possibility. I watched the Inter match for the Nagatomo-Uchida clash and throroughly enjoyed it so hopefully now I will get to see Park Ji-Sung and Uchida cross swords.
April 15th 2011 @ 9:30am
Australian Football said | April 15th 2011 @ 9:30am | Report comment
I have not thought about it that much; ie the same two teams winning their respective leagues year after year. All I care about is that my home team win their home games; if that happens—then I’m more than satisfied and always eager to go to the next home game. Anything that happens after that, I regard as just an extra bonus.
April 15th 2011 @ 10:08am
Dapper Dan said | April 15th 2011 @ 10:08am | Report comment
It depends how those two teams are winning. You cant blame Barca for playing good football. You can maybe blame Real for buying good football, but if Real didnt go out and buy players it’d be a one team comp.
April 15th 2011 @ 10:20am
PaddyBoy said | April 15th 2011 @ 10:20am | Report comment
Villa, Ibrahimovic, Ronaldinho, Iniesta, Eto’o, Alves, Abidal, Mascherano, Toure, Milito, Marquez. Barcelona aren’t nearly as bad as Real, but they do it too, not to mention their huge $$$ means that they retain players they develop.
April 15th 2011 @ 10:30am
NF said | April 15th 2011 @ 10:30am | Report comment
I’m new to European football but I do know about the predictability of comps such as La Liga (Real & Barca), EPL (Arsenal, Man U, Chelsa) always gunning for the tile. I tend to focus on the more unpredictable side of the leagues and that is relegation and the relegation race this year in the EPL is one of the closer yet I kept my eye on Blackpool who I want to stay up but there one point away from the cop. It’s more exciting than the title race that’s for sure.