2020/21 Soccer Thread: Messxit?

The word "cynical" is way overused in the European football world, but it's the perfect description of these bastards continually claiming that they're giving fans what they want.

Edit: One non-political way to break this Super League would be if players refused to play in it, or if their contracts required them to suit up, take the pitch, whatever, they could stand around like in that infamous World Cup match.

Mr Bismarck wrote:
slazev wrote:

Punch Spurs all you like

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/w2E0z73.png)

...

Ipswich Town 1962.

Keywords: Top 6. Last decade (I have a dreadful feeling the following decade won't be kind).

I agree that in actuality, the people with the most power to break this are the players/managers, but I don't see a version of reality where they all take a stand and are willing to forfeit paychecks. And I'm not even blaming them for it, it's just not a reality I can imagine.

Prederick wrote:

I agree that in actuality, the people with the most power to break this are the players/managers, but I don't see a version of reality where they all take a stand and are willing to forfeit paychecks. And I'm not even blaming them for it, it's just not a reality I can imagine.

Actually it’s fans. If nobody buys season tickets, attends matches or buys the TV package, this will go nowhere.

Unfortunately, that won’t happen.

Yeah, I've seen people saying "they'll backtrack now that they've seen the backlash" and i'm like, if JP Morgan and this amount of money is involved, they knew the backlash would happen, and they're gonna wait it out and force the issue.

As a sidenote, it's really, really unfair to Arteta, Tuchel, Klopp and the rest that they're being forced to answer questions about this and not the rich assholes doing it (even if Tuchel and Arteta hit us with the "My name's Bennett").

Yes it was painful how much Klopp and the players had been left out to dry by all this. Full credit to Leeds for their statement T-Shirts as well.

Almost the impossible has happened online where various Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs fan forums are actively engaging with each other to work out what to do about it all. It won’t really amount to much unless they get all fans from all clubs engaged too, but there is a clear level of solidarity going on I’ve never seen before.

Prederick wrote:

Yeah, joke's on everyone of you, as I have lost interest in European football (except when my team plays) as it hasn't been competitive/meritocratic in at least 20 years.

Meanwhile Perez, president of Real Madrid and the Super League, claims he's only doing it to save soccer from an otherwise inevitable death.

Such a hero

"What does the world demand? We have fans in Singapore, in China, all around the world, you see that on social media, the followers they have. That's what brings in money."

The thought that more money might not be to the benefit of football probably is so alien to these cretins it might as well probe them.

God, I hope UEFA goes nuclear on this if for no other reason than because f*ck that guy.

EDIT: Via The Guardian's live blog -

Someone who’d like to remain anonymous says: “I think it’s worth considering how similar the European Super League will be to American professional sports. Leagues like the NFL are closed shops with essentially no change over time in who gets to participate. It obviously gives the owners huge monopoly powers. One noticeable thing is how frequently the owners have moved their teams to another city, like the Oakland Raiders moving to Las Vegas in 2020.”

Absolutely. If legislation prevents clubs from being domiciled in, say the UK, or if clubs are prevented from using the names of their cities, then moving their base to wherever works will absolutely be on the agenda. Similarly, why need matches be confined to home cities when others will pay more to stage them? The ESL is the big change, but if it passes I doubt it’ll be the only change.

At least he’s come out and justified - however much you disagree with it - what the Super League is all about. The American Sport Franchise owners so far have been utterly silent.

FSG have absolutely burned the goodwill they had with the Liverpool fan base, which was a lot higher than maybe you’d expect. Right now they are persona non grata in Liverpool.

And they don't give six flying f*cks, because they're betting on there being more Liverpool fans who'll shell out a ton of $$$ in the U.S. and Asia than the biggest group of angry scousers.

Wolves declaring themselves 2018/19 EPL champions after they finished seventh that year behind the group of Super Clubs. And Spurs.

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EzaCVFSXsAA6qgv?format=jpg&name=900x900)

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EzZ_Ut7WUAEFle3?format=jpg&name=small)

At this point, I gotta just start clapping.

Prederick wrote:

And they don't give six flying f*cks, because they're betting on there being more Liverpool fans who'll shell out a ton of $$$ in the U.S. and Asia than the biggest group of angry scousers.

Which is the nub of the problem really.

Prederick wrote:

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EzZ_Ut7WUAEFle3?format=jpg&name=small)

At this point, I gotta just start clapping.

My assumption is that shortening the game is only being considered to allow for more commercials.

Hello, time outs.

The games are too long? Lol

Soccer is the most consistent sport on time. 2 hrs you are in and out. Less than a movie in most cases.

Sorbicol wrote:
Prederick wrote:

I agree that in actuality, the people with the most power to break this are the players/managers, but I don't see a version of reality where they all take a stand and are willing to forfeit paychecks. And I'm not even blaming them for it, it's just not a reality I can imagine.

Actually it’s fans. If nobody buys season tickets, attends matches or buys the TV package, this will go nowhere.

Unfortunately, that won’t happen.

I think the band wagon fans will pile on but there's hope.

If I'm not mistaken one of the reasons the EPL attracts more eyeballs than say Italy/Spain is for whatever reason the matches seem more entertaining (not you Sam Allardyce f*ck off) and the fans.

I don't know if the fans will outright boycott the games from attending. Should predict a dip at the very least. Maybe even uglier there could situations where fan groups try to prevent people from actually attending.

Edit: as for the TV packages that's tricky.

DAZN in Canada carries NFL game pass also. I'm pretty sure whatever abomination they are cooking up in the Super League will get lumped into my package.

They are going to force feed this onto people. Eat the losses short term. Then start getting strategic with pricing when it sticks. I don't know much about the DAZN owner but this seems like the perfect unholy alliance. Greedy owners who want to move to a more monopoly style American setup + venture backed money bags willing to help them get there.

Reports this morning that at least one of the English clubs is having second thoughts.

And this is fun:

Am told Chelsea Pitch Owners is re-examining the Stamford Bridge lease in light of Chelsea joining The Super League. The CPO board will meet to discuss on Thursday.

https://twitter.com/ben_rumsby/statu...

Roke wrote:

Reports this morning that at least one of the English clubs is having second thoughts.

And this is fun:

Am told Chelsea Pitch Owners is re-examining the Stamford Bridge lease in light of Chelsea joining The Super League. The CPO board will meet to discuss on Thursday.

https://twitter.com/ben_rumsby/statu...

It's been said since this was announced that both City and Chelsea were reluctant, but didn't want to lose their places on the bandwagon once it went critical.

Boris Johnson has threatened a legislative bomb to prevent the UK clubs from joining the super league, but that's mostly hot air for now.

Roke wrote:

Reports this morning that at least one of the English clubs is having second thoughts.

And this is fun:

Am told Chelsea Pitch Owners is re-examining the Stamford Bridge lease in light of Chelsea joining The Super League. The CPO board will meet to discuss on Thursday.

https://twitter.com/ben_rumsby/statu...

If I had to guess maybe Man City.

They don't really need the money. They are not American owned so are not looking at the default NFL/NBA model.

I feel like Pep probably has enough sway to tell them they really want to be on the right side of this like Bayern/PSG.

Edit: Pep probably also reminded them they are winning the league and are still in CL this year so might not want to get those stripped.

Mr Bismarck wrote:

Wolves declaring themselves 2018/19 EPL champions after they finished seventh that year behind the group of Super Clubs. And Spurs.

I'm required now to put this piece from the Guardian someone on another forum shared.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/tDBTsJj.png)

Ipswich Town now with two titles more recently than Spurs!

Man City somehow becoming the voice of reason in all of this would be an amazing turnaround from being one of the poster-villains for new money buying titles, wouldn't it? Could be the most successful sportswashing ever!

It's done.

BREAKING
I understand Chelsea are now preparing documentation to request withdrawing from the ESL

https://twitter.com/danroan/status/1...

Shame UEFA was able to sneak through their awful Champions League format change yesterday under all the Superleague noise. It's almost as bad as the Superleague.

Would be nice if the non-Superclubs could use their newfound leverage to:

1) reverse that format change.
2) Make CL revenue distribution both more equitable and merit-based. By that I mean no more revenue distribution based in TV markets. Finalist Ajax should not get less Champions League revenue than non-finalist English clubs.
3) Go back to only 3 guaranteed Champions League spots + a 4th-placed qualifier for the largest leagues.

But anyway, still a good thing. Time to load up FM20 tonight.

Man City, Atletico Madrid, Barca pulling out.

And Ed Woodward has resigned from his position as Manchester United's Chairman.

talkSPORT
@talkSPORT
BREAKING: Ed Woodward has resigned as chairman of Manchester United.

Woodward’s decision comes after the backlash over the European Super League.

- talkSPORT sources understand

Radio Listen → http://talkSPORT.com/Live

https://twitter.com/talkSPORT/status...

EverythingIsHappening.GIF

TalkSPORT are reporting its all over. Done. Finished.

Thank God sanity has prevailed.

Agnelli out at Juventus apparently

Miguel Delaney
@MiguelDelaney
Agnelli resigning from Juventus.

Told there is immense pressure on Florentino Perez too.
2:05 PM · Apr 20, 2021·Twitter Web App

https://twitter.com/MiguelDelaney/st...

Roke wrote:

Agnelli out at Juventus apparently

Miguel Delaney
@MiguelDelaney
Agnelli resigning from Juventus.

Told there is immense pressure on Florentino Perez too.
2:05 PM · Apr 20, 2021·Twitter Web App

https://twitter.com/MiguelDelaney/st...

‘How to destroy your legacy and career in 2 days’

Edit: I think this Tweet from Raphael Honigstein pretty much sums it up.

Holy sh*t, did EVERYTHING decide to happen? Chelsea fans held a sit in outside of Stamford Bridge?

@KuperSimon wrote:

Note the clubs that stuck with the Super League longest: Agnelli's Juve, Perez's Real Madrid + the US-owned profit-seeking quartet of Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal and Milan; Spurs and Inter also in the profit-seeking group. Oligarch-run Chelsea + Man C don't care about profits

So we're going back to things being normal bad instead of super bad?

Juve denying that Agnelli's out.

Even if this falls apart, I'd still like to see some punishments handed out to the clubs or the officials involved.

Wembley wrote:

So we're going back to things being normal bad instead of super bad?

The owners who did this are still there, so, it's not a fix, but it's at least the proper ass-kicking they deserve.

Also, can we truly note how horrible the rollout for this has been? Like, they could've pulled something like this off, but they just did such a monumentally sh*t job.