"Not suited to the Premier League" - What's that all about, then?

[Geyzer Soze]

The last few seasons we've heard a lot of this

To me it goes hand in hand with that other refrain "Best league in the world"

On a Tottenham level - Soldado, Lamela, Paulinho, Chiriches all have been written off as 'Not suited to the premier league'

So what does that actually mean then? Does that mean that the premier league is so far better than other leagues that these people who ought to be stars in any other league just aren't good enough to be stars in ours?

And why, if that's the case, do we not just rip up other teams from other leagues when we're in competition with them if we're so much better than them that would be stars in their leagues fail in ours?

Or is it that would be stars in other leagues tend to fail at Tottenham?

 

[Ribble]

It's not really "better", it's just got a higher level of physical intensity than most other leagues. Some players adapt to handle that, some don't.

 

[tobi]

Considering their attributes the four you mentioned should be able to play in this league, Chiriches was good in first season but needs to be playing regularly. I think he'll excel in Serie A.

Soldado's confidence vanished and goes down as a flop but early on he painfully realised that playing upfront at Spurs and making off the ball runs doesn't necessarily mean that you'll get the ball so he stopped moving. We didn't play to his strengths.

Lamela can't be effective from the right in a 4-2-3-1 but can be when positioned centrally, he has the aggression that Eriksen lacks but like someone mentioned in the EPL thread at the weekend, he's one of many players who are too ponderous on the ball. Makes you wonder what they do in training.

I think Paulinho can hack in an EPL midfield, he simply didn't play well.

All the players have to accept responsibility for their failures but the coaches and club have also let them down, they aren't bad players.

 

[teok]

The premier league is officiated differently. You can be more physical here. Also games are played at a higher tempo etc. On top of that some players or their families don't settle in england be it the weather/culture/language etc.

 

[Geyzer Soze]

do other teams also have this problem?

 

[Gassin's finest]

Each major countries' football culture is different, intrinsic to the social culture. English football is by definition faster, more physical, and less technical than other countries' games. Any footballer moving from one style to the other needs to adapt, but not necessarily every footballer can. Hence a player like Soldado, who is used to the Spanish one touch football with less "hands on" defenders, struggled with the reduced time and space he got in the box here. Lamela simply cannot seem to up his strength and tempo to cope.

It works both ways as well. Successful players from British leagues, like Ian Rush for example, went abroad, failed to adapt miserably, and then came straight home.

 

[teok]

do other teams also have this problem?

Of course.

 

[Geyzer Soze]

Each major countries' football culture is different, intrinsic to the social culture. English football is by definition faster, more physical, and less technical than other countries' games. Any footballer moving from one style to the other needs to adapt, but not necessarily every footballer can. Hence a player like Soldado, who is used to the Spanish one touch football with less "hands on" defenders, struggled with the reduced time and space he got in the box here. Lamela simply cannot seem to up his strength and tempo to cope.

It works both ways as well. Successful players from British leagues, like Ian Rush for example, went abroad, failed to adapt miserably, and then came straight home.

So by that rationale shouldn't La Liga & Serie A teams struggle against PL teams in the same way?

 

[teok]

So by that rationale shouldn't La Liga & Serie A teams struggle against PL teams in the same way?

International/euro football is officiated in a way that is more in line with the spanish approach.

e - I think I made a thread on this ages ago. "what if the world cup was reffed like the premier league?"

 

[Geyzer Soze]

International/euro football is officiated in a way that is more in line with the spanish approach.

Ah ok that makes a lot of sense then

One would have thought they'd really try hard to standardize the officiating

 

[Disconosebleed]

do other teams also have this problem?

Yep, including some genuinely world-class players. Shevchenko, Veron and Rebrov were all complete flops for example. As has been pointed out, different leagues have different styles and certain players are unsuited to it. As the world gets smaller the difference between leagues is getting smaller - Italy isn't as slow and defensive as it used to be, while the Premier League is slightly more thoughtful and less intense than it once was - but it's still relevant. It works both ways though, and it's a shame more English players don't try their hand abroad - you'd think, for example, that Tom Huddlestone would have had a better career if he played in Spain or Italy, where you get a bit more time on the ball.

 

[teok]

Ah ok that makes a lot of sense then

One would have thought they'd really try hard to standardize the officiating

If numbers of viewers from around the world are any thing to go by more people enjoy watching the english style of play. You can definitely argue it's more exciting.

Different styles of play are down too things like weather conditions though. In the south of spain you couldn't play a high tempo physical style of play because it's so hot. But you have nice dry flat pitches where you can string together passes.

In the north of scotland or norway or some where it makes sense to knock the ball up to a big man because the pitch is in such terrible condition. You can also run yourself into the ground because it's so cold you won't over heat.

 

[SteveH]

do other teams also have this problem?

Yep - Chelsea and United have had some real belters.

 

[Ribble]

So by that rationale shouldn't La Liga & Serie A teams struggle against PL teams in the same way?

It's more a problem of individuals not being able to adapt to a style than the styles themselves competing.

 

[teok]

Yep, including some genuinely world-class players. Shevchenko, Veron and Rebrov were all complete flops for example.

Di Maria is a much more recent example. His family was having trouble settling in and then they were burgled which I think really shook them up.

It's not often discussed but soldado's wife's miscarriage could well have had a big emotional impact on him.

 

[SlunkSoma]

I think it's a mentality thing. Players not reckoning that 2% needed to succeed. The amount of times Soldado should have pelted it to the near/post to get on the end of a cross, the same with Paulinho pulling out of challengers and seemingly accepting it as ok to pass sloppily. Chiriches is just a bit f a nutter that didn't seem to grasp the gravity of the situation. Lamela is slightly different, his 'failure' is based on his immaturity.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

One can bomb PL experienced purchases too.
I believe it's better to remove the tinted glasses and look at other parameters than PL experience.
Torres, Carrol, Shaw, Lovren, Lambert, Bentley, Saha, Dempsey, etc didn't work out after a PL-PL move.

 

[SteveH]

One can bomb PL experienced purchases too.
I believe it's better to remove the tinted glasses and look at other parameters than PL experience.
Torres, Carrol, Shaw, Lovren, Lambert, Bentley, Saha, Dempsey*, etc didn't work out after a PL-PL move.

Not so sure too early to say.
Dempsey - 7 goal in 29 games is not too bad

 

[teok]

One can bomb PL experienced purchases too.
I believe it's better to remove the tinted glasses and look at other parameters than PL experience.
Torres, Carrol, Shaw, Lovren, Lambert, Bentley, Saha, Dempsey, etc didn't work out after a PL-PL move.

What makes football interesting is that nobody really has "cracked the code" (beyond bottomless pits of money, which even then doesn't always work).

I think it's how football is relatively low scoring and still affected by chance more than other sports.

 

[talkshowhost86]

One other element is that you very rarely get any easy games in the Premier League.

Whereas the weaker teams in Serie A and even in La Liga are very poor, here you rarely see teams getting beaten 6,7,8-0.

It means players get far less time to adapt and it seems that some players, if they don't adapt quickly, don't adapt at all.