EPL Power Slipping In Europe?

[Ubietz]

I couldn't care less!

Hopefully, it will continue to slide and then the foreigners will shiraz off, so will the money from sky and then we can have football back. I'll be able to stand at a game and abuse the opposition.

BRING BACK FOOTBALL!!

Stand at what game though?

Being against modern football is all well and good but don't forget there's European football and then there's shitty ass 5th division hoof it long English football. Slight difference my Millwall loving cobber.

[God is an Englishman]

I couldn't care less!

Hopefully, it will continue to slide and then the foreigners will shiraz off, so will the money from sky and then we can have football back. I'll be able to stand at a game and abuse the opposition.

BRING BACK FOOTBALL!!

Stand at what game though?

Being against modern football is all well and good but don't forget there's European football and then there's shitty ass 5th division hoof it long English football. Slight difference my Millwall loving cobber.

I think my comment above shows exactly what I mean. How many games of the English "5th" division have you seen?

[AnotherMilanFan]

I've read about the merger of the Eredivisie and the Pro League, but I don't think they will pull it off.

Historically, Dutch sides have done well on a European level without the need of high earning big name players...However in this day and age, high earning players sometimes correlate with quality of the player. If you look at the last Dutch squad to win a title (which was Ajax versus Milan in 95, a great Ajax team) you had van der Saar in goals, who stayed a bit longer then eventually went to Juve, Reiziger who left to Milan on a free a year later, Danny Blind who retired soon after, Frank Rijkaard who retired afterwards, Frank and Ron de Boer who left for Barca in 98 for like 20m pounds, Seedorf who went to Sampdoria right afterwards (on a free I believe), Finidi George who went to Betis the next season on a free, Edgar Davids who went to Milan next season on a free, Jari Litmanen (who was legendary there) went to Barca in 99, Marc Overmars to Arsenal for 5.5m pound in 97 , Kanu to Inter in 96 for 4m pound, and Kluivert to Milan the next season on a free.

That's an entire team gone within the space of 4 years, and most of it in the next year...And all because of the Bosman ruling.

I'm not making excuses for the Eredivisie, but this talent was lured away with lucrative deals which Ajax, and other dutch teams also affected, couldn't match...However, everyone knows that the youth academy's there are incredible and it would not be impossible for a dutch side to win a UCL or EL with a young squad...They would just sell that squad in the next couple years and have to start again.

[ozzie owl]

I couldn't care less!

Hopefully, it will continue to slide and then the foreigners will shiraz off, so will the money from sky and then we can have football back. I'll be able to stand at a game and abuse the opposition.

BRING BACK FOOTBALL!!

Bring back the dark ages:

442
Long ball.
Overcrowded terraces.
Running battles on the terraces.
Muddy pitches.
Thundering tackles.
Failing to qualify for 1974 and 1978 World Cup.

The good old days.

[God is an Englishman]

I couldn't care less!

Hopefully, it will continue to slide and then the foreigners will shiraz off, so will the money from sky and then we can have football back. I'll be able to stand at a game and abuse the opposition.

BRING BACK FOOTBALL!!

Bring back the dark ages:

442
Long ball.
Overcrowded terraces.
Running battles on the terraces.
Muddy pitches.
Thundering tackles.
Failing to qualify for 1974 and 1978 World Cup.

The good old days.

what's wrong with 4-4-2, there's not such thing as a perfect formations. Horses for courses.
long ball - horses for courses, sometimes long ball gets results, ask Wimbledon.
you live in a dream world if you think football hooliganism has gone away
do sky change the weather and pitch drainage now as well
thundering tackles - give me that over some foreigner rolling around like he's been shot
didn't qualify in 94, or euro 08. Both post sky.

This is why us real football supporters need to take football back before people like yourself ruin the game forever.

[ozzie owl]

I couldn't care less!

Hopefully, it will continue to slide and then the foreigners will shiraz off, so will the money from sky and then we can have football back. I'll be able to stand at a game and abuse the opposition.

BRING BACK FOOTBALL!!

Bring back the dark ages:

442
Long ball.
Overcrowded terraces.
Running battles on the terraces.
Muddy pitches.
Thundering tackles.
Failing to qualify for 1974 and 1978 World Cup.

The good old days.

what's wrong with 4-4-2, there's not such thing as a perfect formations. Horses for courses.
long ball - horses for courses, sometimes long ball gets results, ask Wimbledon.
you live in a dream world if you think football hooliganism has gone away
do sky change the weather and pitch drainage now as well
thundering tackles - give me that over some foreigner rolling around like he's been shot
didn't qualify in 94, or euro 08. Both post sky.

This is why us real football supporters need to take football back before people like yourself ruin the game forever.

The development of Young English talent has been sacrificed for buying ready made talent,the shift in the wealth of the game may see the clubs have no choice. I would rather the clubs recruit world class junior overseas coaches than overseas players.

[God is an Englishman]

You see, you want the good old days back as much as me. The money from sky and the premier league brought the "ready made talent" over in drives. Bring back the 2 foreigner rule - SORTED!

Bring back the days of the people watching football actually gave a shit about the sport rather than going because it was the "cool" thing to do.

[God is an Englishman]

how many european cups were won Sthe 20 year pre premier league?

how many won in the last 20 years?

We were so strong "with home grown players" then that uefa banned us, to stop our dominance.

[ozzie owl]

You see, you want the good old days back as much as me. The money from sky and the premier league brought the "ready made talent" over in drives. Bring back the 2 foreigner rule - SORTED!

Bring back the days of the people watching football actually gave a cabernet about the sport rather than going because it was the "cool" thing to do.

I would love to see a cap on overseas players all over the World at least AFC ha a three overas player cap,pity EU have blocked this happening in Europe.

[God is an Englishman]

You see, you want the good old days back as much as me. The money from sky and the premier league brought the "ready made talent" over in drives. Bring back the 2 foreigner rule - SORTED!

Bring back the days of the people watching football actually gave a cabernet about the sport rather than going because it was the "cool" thing to do.

I would love to see a cap on overseas players all over the World at least AFC ha a three overas player cap,pity EU have blocked this happening in Europe.

3 is too many.

So, England pulls out of eu, we fix a football and a social problem in one hit.

[ozzie owl]

You see, you want the good old days back as much as me. The money from sky and the premier league brought the "ready made talent" over in drives. Bring back the 2 foreigner rule - SORTED!

Bring back the days of the people watching football actually gave a cabernet about the sport rather than going because it was the "cool" thing to do.

I would love to see a cap on overseas players all over the World at least AFC ha a three overas player cap,pity EU have blocked this happening in Europe.

3 is too many.

So, England pulls out of eu, we fix a football and a social problem in one hit.

If the rule came in you would definitely see a lot of clubs across Europe in trouble. However long term good for the game.

[God is an Englishman]

If the rule came in you would definitely see a lot of clubs across Europe in trouble. However long term good for the game.

most contracts are 2/3 years in length. Start at 7 per club in 2 years time, and drop it by 2 every 2 years. Prices for foreigners would drop, but go up in their own country. Prices of home grown players go up, so teams would put more into youth coaching and a redistribution of wealth to the lower league clubs as well.

[ozzie owl]

If the rule came in you would definitely see a lot of clubs across Europe in trouble. However long term good for the game.

most contracts are 2/3 years in length. Start at 7 per club in 2 years time, and drop it by 2 every 2 years. Prices for foreigners would drop, but go up in their own country. Prices of home grown players go up, so teams would put more into youth coaching and a redistribution of wealth to the lower league clubs as well.

Also be good for the smaller leagues across the world who will see less players playing overseas.

[ruud]

I've read about the merger of the Eredivisie and the Pro League, but I don't think they will pull it off.

Historically, Dutch sides have done well on a European level without the need of high earning big name players...However in this day and age, high earning players sometimes correlate with quality of the player. If you look at the last Dutch squad to win a title (which was Ajax versus Milan in 95, a great Ajax team) you had van der Saar in goals, who stayed a bit longer then eventually went to Juve, Reiziger who left to Milan on a free a year later, Danny Blind who retired soon after, Frank Rijkaard who retired afterwards, Frank and Ron de Boer who left for Barca in 98 for like 20m pounds, Seedorf who went to Sampdoria right afterwards (on a free I believe), Finidi George who went to Betis the next season on a free, Edgar Davids who went to Milan next season on a free, Jari Litmanen (who was legendary there) went to Barca in 99, Marc Overmars to Arsenal for 5.5m pound in 97 , Kanu to Inter in 96 for 4m pound, and Kluivert to Milan the next season on a free.

That's an entire team gone within the space of 4 years, and most of it in the next year...And all because of the Bosman ruling.

I'm not making excuses for the Eredivisie, but this talent was lured away with lucrative deals which Ajax, and other dutch teams also affected, couldn't match...However, everyone knows that the youth academy's there are incredible and it would not be impossible for a dutch side to win a UCL or EL with a young squad...They would just sell that squad in the next couple years and have to start again.

agree with this, the introduction of the Bosman ruling hurt us alot

[DOC]

I've read about the merger of the Eredivisie and the Pro League, but I don't think they will pull it off.

Historically, Dutch sides have done well on a European level without the need of high earning big name players...However in this day and age, high earning players sometimes correlate with quality of the player. If you look at the last Dutch squad to win a title (which was Ajax versus Milan in 95, a great Ajax team) you had van der Saar in goals, who stayed a bit longer then eventually went to Juve, Reiziger who left to Milan on a free a year later, Danny Blind who retired soon after, Frank Rijkaard who retired afterwards, Frank and Ron de Boer who left for Barca in 98 for like 20m pounds, Seedorf who went to Sampdoria right afterwards (on a free I believe), Finidi George who went to Betis the next season on a free, Edgar Davids who went to Milan next season on a free, Jari Litmanen (who was legendary there) went to Barca in 99, Marc Overmars to Arsenal for 5.5m pound in 97 , Kanu to Inter in 96 for 4m pound, and Kluivert to Milan the next season on a free.

That's an entire team gone within the space of 4 years, and most of it in the next year...And all because of the Bosman ruling.

I'm not making excuses for the Eredivisie, but this talent was lured away with lucrative deals which Ajax, and other dutch teams also affected, couldn't match...However, everyone knows that the youth academy's there are incredible and it would not be impossible for a dutch side to win a UCL or EL with a young squad...They would just sell that squad in the next couple years and have to start again.

agree with this, the introduction of the Bosman ruling hurt us alot

has hurt alot of clubs

[ozzie owl]

I've read about the merger of the Eredivisie and the Pro League, but I don't think they will pull it off.

Historically, Dutch sides have done well on a European level without the need of high earning big name players...However in this day and age, high earning players sometimes correlate with quality of the player. If you look at the last Dutch squad to win a title (which was Ajax versus Milan in 95, a great Ajax team) you had van der Saar in goals, who stayed a bit longer then eventually went to Juve, Reiziger who left to Milan on a free a year later, Danny Blind who retired soon after, Frank Rijkaard who retired afterwards, Frank and Ron de Boer who left for Barca in 98 for like 20m pounds, Seedorf who went to Sampdoria right afterwards (on a free I believe), Finidi George who went to Betis the next season on a free, Edgar Davids who went to Milan next season on a free, Jari Litmanen (who was legendary there) went to Barca in 99, Marc Overmars to Arsenal for 5.5m pound in 97 , Kanu to Inter in 96 for 4m pound, and Kluivert to Milan the next season on a free.

That's an entire team gone within the space of 4 years, and most of it in the next year...And all because of the Bosman ruling.

I'm not making excuses for the Eredivisie, but this talent was lured away with lucrative deals which Ajax, and other dutch teams also affected, couldn't match...However, everyone knows that the youth academy's there are incredible and it would not be impossible for a dutch side to win a UCL or EL with a young squad...They would just sell that squad in the next couple years and have to start again.

agree with this, the introduction of the Bosman ruling hurt us alot

has hurt alot of clubs

It has really only benefited the very rich clubs.

[AnotherMilanFan]

Couldn't be any more spot on there. With the exception to FC Porto and Borussia Dortmund, all UCL winners since the inception of the Bosman ruling have been from the 10 top grossing clubs in Europe, with 12 of the 16 titles won by clubs in the top 5 of the list.

[Facts and Stats]

Chelsea could easily win it still.

They can still win it......

[Le King]

Pretty sure Shaka said that England is the only nation that's had atleast 1 team represent them in the quarter finals of the competition since about 96?97?

[Derek]

its only 1 year, EPL teams will b back next year!

I wouldn't put any money on that.

Spain is number one at the moment and I can't see anyone else knocking them off for a few years yet.

Germany are getting better every year with greater competition in their league.

Italy is also playing much better football than the EPL this season and the Serie A is more competitive than it has been for many years.

Even Dutch football is slowly getting back to a decent standard again now they've gone back to basics again.
The EPL is losing it's appeal overseas due to the 'buy anyone who can kick a ball without falling over' mentality of most clubs.

Funnily enough, the Championship is getting better every year and the other divisions are also playing much better football than of old.

At least you used the word slowly

[Stitch This]

Good to see the Manchester contingent holding true to the general theme of this thread.

[Blue Mastiff]

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