Before I begin with this post; those of you who do not know me personally will be surprised to know that I am a massive football fan. To my own surprise, I have no idea, as to why I haven't blogged about football yet but hey that's about to change starting from here. So enjoy, comment and share!
Since the turn of the century it has been widely accepted that the Premier League is quintessentially the best league in the footballing world. Due to it's fast pace, aggression and high money spending features has helped it to attract millions of sports lovers to the Premier League. Similarly, the Premier League sides have dominated European competitions for the last seven plus years. However, recently there has been a shift in superiority, Spanish clubs and players are now the dominant force in world football.
Earlier this week the annual FIFA Ballon d'Or 2012 awards took place and with it the worlds best XI of 2012 was announced. The XI was completely comprised of teams from the La Liga. Even more it was confined to just three teams; Barcelona (5), Real Madrid (5) and Atletico Madrid (1). We can go as far as saying the world's best XI is confined to just two Spanish cities. Not Manchester, London, Munich or Milan. Simply just Barcelona and Madrid.
(IKER CASILLAS, DANI ALVES, MARCELO, GERARD PIQUÉ, SERGIO RAMOS, ANDRÉS INIESTA, XABI ALONSO, XAVI HERNANDEZ, CRISTIANO RONALDO, RADAMEL FALCAO, LIONEL MESSI.)
Firstly, myself included, I was a bit taken aback, when the XI was announced not one player from a non-Spanish club? Putting other European players aside, surely one player from the Premier League could have made the XI. Of course first person on your lips is Robin Van Persie, undoubtedly the best player in the Premier League last season scoring 37 goals in 48 appearances for Arsenal. Or perhaps Ashley Cole who put a solid performance last season in particular in the Champions League as well as being an eventual winner. Nonetheless, neither made the list which is quite surprising considering Van Persie did score one more goal than Falcao in fewer appearances. Similarly, to my belief I can't recall seeing anything special from Marcelo definitely in comparison to Ashley Cole.
Many critics of the Spanish league would argue that it is dominated by two super teams (Barcelona and Real Madrid), who are almost guaranteed a victory every game. Lack of challengers for the super teams, as the rest of the teams are nowhere near the quality of Barcelona and Real Madrid. While with the Premier League any team can seemingly beat any team, a victory is never guaranteed (even if you're Manchester United Or City). There's always at least four main challengers for the title at the beginning of every season.
Though many critics argue that the English league is majorly over-hyped with unattractive football, over-priced players and a media who portray it to be something that it truly isn't. More accurately, Atletico Madrid, a side that finished fifth last season, demolished a strong Chelsea side in the Super Cup at the start of this season. With Falcoa being the criminal in the murder, scoring a hat-trick within 45 minutes. Atletico a feeder club to many of England's top sides for years, beating Chelsea the current Champions League winners, with ease. Same can be said for Manchester City current Premier League champions, were drawn in the 'group of champions', in the group stages of this seasons Champions League- that being Real Madrid (champions of La Liga), Borussia Dortmund (champions of Bundesliga) and Ajax (champions of Eredivisie). This should of been a great testament of English football, displaying our very best among Europe's very best. Tragically, Man City finished bottom with just 3 points and not one single victory. Not to forget Manchester United who crashed out to Atletico Bilbao in the Europa League last season. So if seemingly the best team from England cannot beat at least one of Europe's elite teams; what does it say about the supposedly best league in the world?
The La Liga has the two best players in the world (Messi and Ronaldo), two best teams (Barcelona and Real Madrid). More people watched the El Classico (1.7m twitter mentions) than the Manchester Derby (420K twitter mentions). To take the the argument further, there's a huge difference between either national sides Spain who are both world and European champions; play romantic, attractive and passing football. While England play dull and unfulfilling football, not reaching the final of any tournament since winning the World Cup in 1966. Lastly, English teams look to Spain to buy their youngsters as English talent are never to the quality of Spanish players. Spain simply produce better players, have better coaching staff and facilities.
It seems there's been a shift in what is the best league in the world, as Spanish teams now dominate European football. Being a Premier League lover myself I will always prefer to watch the Premier League, but have to concede that Spanish football trumps English football.
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| Cristiano Ronaldo scoring against Manchester City earlier this season in the Champions League Group stages |
Since the turn of the century it has been widely accepted that the Premier League is quintessentially the best league in the footballing world. Due to it's fast pace, aggression and high money spending features has helped it to attract millions of sports lovers to the Premier League. Similarly, the Premier League sides have dominated European competitions for the last seven plus years. However, recently there has been a shift in superiority, Spanish clubs and players are now the dominant force in world football.
Earlier this week the annual FIFA Ballon d'Or 2012 awards took place and with it the worlds best XI of 2012 was announced. The XI was completely comprised of teams from the La Liga. Even more it was confined to just three teams; Barcelona (5), Real Madrid (5) and Atletico Madrid (1). We can go as far as saying the world's best XI is confined to just two Spanish cities. Not Manchester, London, Munich or Milan. Simply just Barcelona and Madrid.
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| FIFPro X1 2012 Players |
Firstly, myself included, I was a bit taken aback, when the XI was announced not one player from a non-Spanish club? Putting other European players aside, surely one player from the Premier League could have made the XI. Of course first person on your lips is Robin Van Persie, undoubtedly the best player in the Premier League last season scoring 37 goals in 48 appearances for Arsenal. Or perhaps Ashley Cole who put a solid performance last season in particular in the Champions League as well as being an eventual winner. Nonetheless, neither made the list which is quite surprising considering Van Persie did score one more goal than Falcao in fewer appearances. Similarly, to my belief I can't recall seeing anything special from Marcelo definitely in comparison to Ashley Cole.
Many critics of the Spanish league would argue that it is dominated by two super teams (Barcelona and Real Madrid), who are almost guaranteed a victory every game. Lack of challengers for the super teams, as the rest of the teams are nowhere near the quality of Barcelona and Real Madrid. While with the Premier League any team can seemingly beat any team, a victory is never guaranteed (even if you're Manchester United Or City). There's always at least four main challengers for the title at the beginning of every season.
 |
| Falcao celebrating after scoring his hat-trick against Chelsea in the Super Cup this season |
The La Liga has the two best players in the world (Messi and Ronaldo), two best teams (Barcelona and Real Madrid). More people watched the El Classico (1.7m twitter mentions) than the Manchester Derby (420K twitter mentions). To take the the argument further, there's a huge difference between either national sides Spain who are both world and European champions; play romantic, attractive and passing football. While England play dull and unfulfilling football, not reaching the final of any tournament since winning the World Cup in 1966. Lastly, English teams look to Spain to buy their youngsters as English talent are never to the quality of Spanish players. Spain simply produce better players, have better coaching staff and facilities.
It seems there's been a shift in what is the best league in the world, as Spanish teams now dominate European football. Being a Premier League lover myself I will always prefer to watch the Premier League, but have to concede that Spanish football trumps English football.
