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Has the Champions League ruined football?

Rocksuperstar

Isn't this fun? Isn't fun the best thing to have?
Jun 6, 2005
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Not saying it happened but:

Klass: "I want to go to the Woolwich, they have Champions League football!"
Agent: "But they've not won anything in donkeys years"
Klass: "But i want Champions League..."
Agent: "Yes, you said. Well that Tottenham are pretty close to breaking up that top four, how about them?"
Klass: "want Champions League..."
Agent: "But if you start at the top then the only way is down, right? Why not join a team that's going places, not a team that's scammed it's way to every achievement in the last 100 years?"
Klass: "Champioooooooons leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeague!!!!!!"

Personally, Champions League can go f*ck itself - all it's done is to alienate every team that's not qualified for it into a second tier and the money involved has turned the difference into a chasm.

Any team that's close to busting that top four on merit has to scrabble around for the rejects out of the teams they want to usurp, because, despite there only being perhaps 100 player slots for those four squads, every single player in the entire world wants the big payday of the CL, and they want it now.

Ok, i know that footballers careers are notoriously shorter than most "normal" careers, and i know that it's nice to play amongst the cream of talent but what is it about the psyche and the mental makeup of top footballers now that means they can't see glory achieved, only glory they can join in with? Why do they always want instant success from everyone elses hard work up until that point, rather than to carve themselves a bit of history and joining a team that can pay the same money and can offer exposure on all other levels except this mythical holy grail that is the CL?

Granted, there are teams like Citeh who are putting this to the test and, from my opinion, i think Citeh's fortune could be the key to working out this enormous gap - there are only 4 slots for the CL positions, if Citeh are going to push their way in, who's not going to make it?

More importantly, perhaps, it would be fascinating to see how many of these top class acts start wanting away from whichever club drops out of that top flight once the fairy tale league isn't an option.



My one other gripe is how embarrassingly un-balanced it is, all in the interests of keeping the smaller countries involved happy - look at the 2nd round qualifying teams:

Levski Sofia
Wisła Kraków
Ekranas
Baku
Stabæk
Debrecen
Sheriff Tiraspol
Tirana
Copenhagen
Dinamo Zagreb
Bohemians
Pyunik
Red Bull Salzburg
APOEL
Makedonija
Aktobe
Partizan
Maribor
FH
Glentoran
Maccabi Haifa
Inter Turku
WIT Georgia
Rhyl
Kalmar FF
Ventspils
BATE
EB/Streymur
Slovan Bratislava
Zrinjski
Levadia
Dudelange

Out of that list, there's maybe 4 or 5 that i even recognise, let alone have ever seen play. These teams are made up of plumbers and bricklayers here for nothing more than bragging rights - you don't see the likes of Arshavin or Huntelaar considering offers from Rhyl :shrug:

It's driven a massive wedge between those who do qualify (for qualify mean, make it to the group stages) and those who don't, simply because of the amount of money being poured into it, and it being so massively, massively poorly distributed.

Why not pool the money coming into the competition and, instead of doling it all out to the already mega-rich sides who will inevitably make up the last 16, think about it's application, what affect it will have across all of europe, then do the sensible thing - make the prize money waaay smaller, then spread the rest of the money raised amongst all the leagues that participate.

It will benefit the game as a whole, rather than just line the pockets of the few richest who, lets face it, have already shown their hand and stood by as clubs struggle against receivership or slump into obscurity but my general gripe is it's constant pandering and encouraging of the destruction of football as we know it.

The Premier League might have kicked football around the block until it agreed to join it's gang, the Champions League are a bunch of gang-stars who need to decide whether they're doing this to create the greatest footballing spectacle in the world, or if they're doing it to fill the coffers of some shrewd businessmen.
 
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