It's all about the TV exposure and not really the style of play that makes us all watch the EPL. I am a big fan of entertaining and attractive football and i get loads of that when i watch the spanish la liga! .This is a real league where u have exciting playmakers in even the smallest of teams.
We all know that the top 4 teams in the prem this coming season are going to be chelsea,man u,arsenal & liverpool. SO TELL ME WHERE THE FUN IS IN PREDICTABILITY??. No doubt the psycopathic english media contributes a lot to the idea of the prem being the heaven of football. In actuality however thanks to Mr Abrahamovic, the prem would have been a dumping ground for retiring foreign players!
It's really two leagues they have there in the premiership; the top 4 and the rest.
Hope u all know a certain Osasuna will be playing in the champs league on merit this season and a certain Villareal which got to the semi-finals last season where only a low division side 'bout 5 years ago. NOw that is excitement when you don't really know who's going to be in the top 4 or better still who's going to win the league title at the beginning of the season.
And do i really have to add that where the joe coles and cristiano ronaldos reign as the most entertaining players , they would pale in comparism to their contemporaries in Spain. I need not call names,
See u premiership fans at the end of the season when Chelsea wins it yet again.

And all the rivalries in England dont measure up to the El Classico. Real Madrid vs Barcelona!

Hype is a small english but HYPE_ HYPE_ HYPE, they are not naturally talented( i mean English players)

The premiership is money spinning anyway.

The English Premiership has both hype and substance.
What are u guys talking about?
This is the most exciting football league in the world.
English Premiership is full of thrills,intriguing stuffs and an avalanche of skills.

Talking about rivalries.
Spurs vs Arsenal, Liverpool Vs Everton, Man U Vs Man City etc are always s'thing to talk about.
No rivalry can compare to the Man Utd Vs Arsenal(The Battle of Old Trafford) in the football history.
Wenger and Ferguson was at the brink of throwing punches at each other in spite of civilization in the country.
Little wonder Ferguson's face was smashed with pizzas and burgers.
El-classico matches are rivalries on the pitch that stays on the pitch unlike the Premiership where the rivalries continue off-pitch.

I think the author of this thread is not a fan of the Premiership.
The fact is all the european leagues have major dominant forces whether u like it or not.
I can predict all the teams that will make the top 5 in all the leagues in europe by closing my eyes.
Milan, Juventus and Inter in Italy.
Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia in Spain.
Ajax, AZ Alkmaar, PSV in Holland.
Celtic, Hearts, Rangers in Scotland.

So why is everyone beefing the Premiership?
Everton got to the top 4 finishing above Liverpool in the 2004/05 season.
Newcastle came 3rd in the 2002/03 season finishing above both Chelsea and Liverpool.
Its the same thing everywhere. There will always be some dominant forces in every sphere of life.
STOP BEEFING THE PREMIERSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@ Jackal if u have any idea of the level of technicality of the other leagues u will understand y football commentators place the spanish and Italian leagues ahead of the Premiership and y it is only those two leagues that produce Fifa's world players of the year.
But if u watch only Premiership ul obviously not know. Let me illustrate to u some of the differences.

When Man U ruled the premiership it was so absolute it became obscene. Now itz Chelsea and we all know its going to be them next season.

In Italy lets review the last 6 -7 years years
1999 --- 1st 5 are Milan-- winners, Lazio, Fiorentina,Parma, A S Roma.  So u cannot even close your eyes and predict the first four finishers

2000--- Lazio  Winners

2001 ---  Top 4 are A S Roma - Winners, Juventus, Lazio, Parma.  (can't close eyes and predict that)

200&03---  Juventus

2004 --- Milan

2005 &06 --- Still pending

The Italian league is so tough u have to fix matches to win the league. Chelsea will not need to fix any match to win the next english league season and we all know it because they will just blow the other mediocare teams away.


Lets take a look at spain too.
99 Barca

2000 Deportivo

2001 Madrid

2002 Valencia

2003 Madrid

2004 Valencia

05&06 Barca.

What u will notice is that even when Real Madrid was dominating Europe and had all the world players of the year in their ranks, they still did not have a league monopoly. Same in Italy. Nobody knows who will win the league or even finish in the first four.

  And another thing. English players are generally hyped. They don't have much skill on the ball. This time last year, an exclusive premiership watcher was talking about Pirlo and Lampard and he said that Pirlo was a small boy compared to Lampard that i should never mention Pirlo with what he percieved as the 'world class Lampard'. I almost went haywire. How can he compare the most precise player to be found anywhere and the best deep lying playmaker in the world to Lampard? A guy around whom the great Milan side is built and one of the best dead ball specialists in the world? The answer was obvious-- he knew very little about Pirlo. We made a semi bet on this world cup as to who will show that he is all class. Now i guess he knows who the better player is.


Imagine if a year ago(as i had had some thoughts about it) i started a thread about Pirlo and Lampard guys who don't know much about football except the premiership would have opened their mouth to make baseless arguments. I guess their would be a slightly diffrent opinion now that he walked away with the highest number of man of the match awards in the world cup. Hell, somebody on this site after the world cup even called Pirlo an Underdog name

  And please if they are talking about football rivalries please don't mention all that Man U man City because thatz bullshit.  All the Rivalries in England put together don't match the El Classico.

@ sage,
Give yourself a round of applause for your comments.

Please lets leave the serie A out of this because its a league plagued with bribery scandal.
In La Liga, can u close your eyes and say either Barcelona, Madrid or Valencia will not make the top 3 teams next season?
If u cannot do this then the la liga is predictable.

Don't let us mix issues up.
English Premiership is different from English players.
It is not only English players that play in the Premiership so lets draw a line between the 2 issues.
If the topic had been English Players: More hype than substance then i will surrender but rubbishing the Premiership is a syntax error.

The only draw-back in the Premiership is the gulf between the top 4 teams and the rest of the league is too wide.
In La Liga, bottom sides can stand tall any day and beat the likes of Barca and Madrid unlike in the Premiership where Chelsea will waltz thru with ease.
Premiership is the only league where a team can go unbeaten throughout a season but be that as it may, it does not make the Premiership less substantial.

Talking about rivalry.
I am yet to see any rivalry match in football history that is greater than the Old Trafford battle between Man Utd and Arsenal.
Metropolitan Police had to warn the 2 set of fans to take it easy prior the match and it was just too exciting.
The tension was too hyper and the British press added more to it by quoting what the 2 managers were saying about each other.

I have never seen/heard any manager tongue-lashing another manager @ Serie A, La Liga or in Bundesliga.
It is only in the Premiership that a manager will call his professional colleague a Viewer.
Please, the Premiership ranks number 1 in substance and keep your fingers crossed on anutha tantalising season.
More foreign players have moved to the Premiership so expect more guns to blazzzzzzzzzzzzze.

Things will be different this season.
Tottenham and Liverpool have stepped up the gear. Arsenal might find it very difficult to stay above these 2 teams next season.
Expect upsets and many exciting matches this season and maybe the next world footballer of the year might just come from the Premiership next year.

U r right too

but i just used the Serie A to show u that u cannot always say that Juventus, Inter or Milan will finish in the top 4.  Yeah and the gap b/w teams in the premiership is just too much, which brings us back to my point. Chelsea does not need to fix matches to win Norwich but Juventus deems it neccessary to do that because they know any team in the league can beat them any day any time. U CANNOT PREDICT THE WINNERS OF ANY MATCH WITH A 95% ASSURANCE IT WILL BE SO, BUT IN ENGLAND U ALWAYS KNOW THAT CHELSEA WILL BLOW AWAY ALL THOSE MEDIOCARE TEAMS.

Well about the rivalries El Classico involves full scale politics. itz more than just football

And i also expect at least one player of the year to come out from England soon, co itz really scandalous that they are among the big 3 and cant produce a world player of the year unlike the other 2

@ sage,
I don't think so.
Fulham, Middlesboro and Blackburn defeated Chelsea.
Things are changing now and u can always expect other teams to fight for it.

the EPL would be hyped cos the marketing of the league is superb,

hey sage thanks for educating jackal about a lot of things especially about man utd-arsenal being the biggest rivalry in world football.I think he's a typical premiership fan. If i may add, the man u-arsenal rivalry is not as old as the real madrid-barca enemity. The supposed rivalry between man u and the gunners had its genesis in the 1979 FA Cup Finals which Arsenal won and it went into a lull with the complete domination of Liverpool in the early eighties. It only ressurected after the George Graham era and that is the early nineties.
I have been opportuned to watch a lot of man u-arsenal matches and the atmosphere does not measure up to what u have in the EL CLASSICO whether in the Bernabeu or at the Camp Nou. It is every professional player's dream to play in this fixture. Di Stefano,Kubala,Diego Maradona,Emilio Butragueno,Michael Laudrup,Ronald Koeman,Gheorghe Hagi,Andoni Zubizarreta,Hriso Stoichkov,Romario,Fernado Hierro,Luis Figo,Ronaldo,Clarence Seedorf,Ronaldinho are some of the players that have played in this mother of all domestic club matches.
And to say that the rivalry ends on the pitch is highly laughable . I'll need a whole new page to educate jackal on that 'cos the Real Madrid-Barca rivalry is often used as a case study by Sociologists of how football fanaticism affects society from the socio-cultural and political angle.
I implore you jackal to watch the El Classico this year cos something always happens before,during and after the game that you'll alaways remember.

Jackal, i can see you have humbly received your education. Now you know better!!

teeroy,

u must be joking to think because we have kept quite about this issue that Jackal has humbly taken his education, you have made the issue very less attractive for us to even talk about hence majority of other guys supporting premiership clubs have just decided to watch ur debates, and of course you have not been able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that EPL lacks substance.
Dont worry keep your fingers crossed and get ready to receive the bashing from premiership lovers from now

@ teeroy,
What education have i received?
Y'all guys have not been able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the EPL lacks substance.
The English Premiership has hype and substance and more foreign players kept coming to grace the league.

Sometimes in life (not always, but sommetimes!) you are faced with very annoying issues, like people!!, topics!!, weather!!, and so on, now on a very bright sunny day, i just decided to look through this thread, which i must say i have been avoiding to the best of my abilities, but it seems it doesn't want to die a normal death.

so Mr Tee[b]ducato[/b]roy, lets school you, or as they say in California, break you off something proper!!!

A. The real madrid vs Barca classico as you call it has more to do with politics than football, as barca represents the Basque region of spain who want to leave the mother land, and real is the club of the capital, this was further fanned by Franco's support for R Madrid with government funds, so apart from the wonderful players that play for both teams, the rivalry is more political than football!!, In Britain it would just be like Rangers playing Man U or Arsenal playing Celtic, or Cardiff. or the way When Northern ireland beat England, but since you are talking club footie, i will just leave it at that, cause if you do not understand what your so called El Classico is all about, then i can't help you.

B. The Italian league, Uhm let me see!!, well i guess JUDGE Dred of italy has said it all with his verdit on the so called big teams!! and the notion put by one of you that Italians teams have to cheat to win games because it's so difficult is such a childish, stupid and downright annoying statement that anyone that tries to even answer that statement is just as stupid as the post.

C. The English league has stood the test of time, it might not be as Technically gifted as either the Italian and Spainish Leagues, but it has always held it's own even before the advent of the priemiership in 1992. Yes the gulf might seem big at the end of the season, but you do have excitement in the prem, like Man U can beat arsenal one day and lose to Pompey the next. It happens.

D. it's not the fault of the english that the media interest in the prem is so high, isn't silvo in charge of milan and 80% of the media in italy, why is it still not top rating stuff!? Aren't there any Media Moguls in Spain!? and corrections Roman A did not bring interest in the Prem. Blame Rupert Murdoch and Sky!!.

AND finally Mr Teeroy, Didn't an English man add value to the Madrid stock and shirt sales, guess thats hype as well.

I am really bored so my writin is so disjointed and scattered, but i will come back later to do a good job, if this thread keeps popin up.

(Jackal for once i find myself in the same boat as you , but like it happens regularly in cartoons, it's only for a little while, then we draw swords again!!)

GONNER 89 Ooopps!!! i forgot (RED DEVIL 2006 )

@Loyika, u just did not disprove anything. U did not even make sense at all.

1El Classico the same as ManU vs Rangers? arghhhhhhhhhhhh

2 In Italy, Teams fix matches cos they know u need that to win the league, or u think they will fix the matches and risk relegation for fun or if they already know that they will win the league the way Chelsea already know they will win a third straight title.

3 Itz like u dont know much about other leagues apart from the premiership pls watch other leagues b/4 u start typing all that. Ive followed the 3 top leagues in Europe 4 many years now and i can tell u i have seen a lot of diffrence in their technicality.

No World Player of the Year has ever emerged from England
but thanks to Chelsea, the other teams and the league generally are getting competitive and I expect a world player of the year out of Englan soon (at least one)

loyika:

A. The real madrid vs Barca classico as you call it has more to do with politics than football, as barca represents the Basque region of spain who want to leave the mother land, and real is the club of the capital, this was further fanned by Franco's support for R Madrid with government funds, so apart from the wonderful players that play for both teams, the rivalry is more political than football!!

@loyika
um, looks like you just reinforced Teeroy's point that Madrid v Barcelona is a bigger, deeper-lying rivalry than ManU v Arsenal.

One more thing Barca is a Catalan club, same with Espanyol with whom they also have a fierce rivalry. I beleive its Athletic Bilbao that represents the secessionist Basque region.

Mocha and Sage, May be i spoke in Spanish , i am so sorry let me translate in English.

The rivalry in Spain between Real and Barca has more to do with political undertones than football, unlike Espanyol and Barca which is more of a football rivalry, Like Man U vs Arsenal which is a football rivalry (which was fueled more by the hatred of the two managers involved).

Thats why i could only describe what you are talking about as the El Classico as a match btw Rangers which is a scotish team and Man U which is an English team, definately it might not be as classical as your El classico (besides the fact that Rangers and Man U only get to play each other if their paths cross in an European competition ) but like i said the Rivalry is more of a political nature played out on the football field, the Footie is secondary to the political undertones involved. But i guess i won't get any taker on this view so i will just concede this particular Arguement and Bow down to your El Classico ( OH!! pls give me Man U vs Liverpool anyday!!)

Secondly the mere notion that club sides cheat to make everyone see that their league is so tough is just Childish, if that is the case; then the German league with their cheating referees is the best league in the world, pls give me a break , it would have been better and more matured if someone had pointed out that the fact the Italian World cup winning squad were made up of Home Based players showed the strenght and depth of their league or the fact that players like KaKa, Sheva and so on plyed their trade there, then the Italian league is among the best, that my friend is a good Arguement, the match fixing one is an insult to our footballing intelligence, Match fixing is done for greed, and purely greed!! not to show that the league is tough, So i guess Buffon's bettings are aslo done to show how tough the Serie A is

Now to your FIFA awards, i have always maintained that the Foreign players are more technically gifted than the average English player, that is a well know fact, you don't need to be a genius to know this (every football novice can tell there are more skills paraded in leagues in Spain and Italy, than in Leagues in England and germany) but at least English players like Gerrad and Becks have made a strong showing in the awards, also players like George Best, Eric Cantona, David Ginola, Dennis Bergkamp, Ossie Ardillles, David Suker, Thiery Henry, Zola, Kevin Keagan, and so on are and were all skillful players that came into the English/Premier league before Roman's millions. (Chelsea had a squad of Internationals even before Arsenal became the United Nations)

Besides i guess the Foriegn elements in the Spainish league and to an extent The Italian leagues, have no bearing at all in the Technicality of the teams. Besides leaving the Azzuris out of this, I don't see the Spainish National team with all their skillfulness and technicality ever going beyond the worst English squad you can think of in any International Competition Ever!!, or let me rephrase that "EVER GOING BEYOND" with "RARELY GOING BEYOND" (Can you say CONSTANT UNDER ACHIEVERS!!) and having said that, at least the Azzuri mix their game up and play practical Footie, displaying Skills when they need to.

But listen The EPL is popular not because of the skills or lack of it, as the case maybe, but because of the passion displayed during matches by the players and the Fans, and like i said the EPL has SKY TV, which is a major factor of thier success, ESPN show the Spainish league but they don't get as much dough as SKY!! The EPL is packaged and marketed better than other leagues, and unless you are calling everyone that watches it FOOLS then i believe those same people know that the Spainish and Italian leagues exist and they have a choice, but still chose to patronise the EPL.

The Globalcom league in Nigeria might parade teams that if push came to shove, would beat the best South Africa had to offer, But the South African league is far more Lucrative and better packaged and marketed, so people would prefer to sit down and watch their league than a match btw Lobi Stars and Gabros.

That is the Fact of the matter, so you can sit at your PC all day and wallow about how the Spainish League is this and that, doesn't still change the situation, Rappers like 50 Cents and Jay Z are living the Good live, But the African Americans are still poor, i describe this Thread as SS DD (Same Sh@t Different Day!!)

GIVE ME HYPE ALL DAY EVERY DAY, Like Will Smith would say" they called me soft, Yeah!? as in MICROSOFT!! "

Just my Humble Opinion

As much as i chose to defend my posts and not bother again about it, this question got me thinking, and when i think so much strange things happen, so with a little research i have come across other arguements on the same topics on other threads, and this guys post explains it all. so here;


[b]This is the first time,i think this topic has had a thread to itself in the warzone :shocking: but now thats its got it, my vote goes to English Premier League, Coz they have the better stars and better youngsters as well :rolleyes: ,better entertainment,u mite not get as many upsets as in the La Liga, but then thats due to the big teams who are not consistent enough or good enough, ,then the action is at a better pace,and wev had three winners in the past three years, so La Liga fans cannot use that excuse either , , The EPL big guns have had the better of the La Liga big guns in the UCL in the Last 20 matches atleast.So we have better Teams.Epl is world wide too,broadcasted more than La liga.Epl teams have more money, and rite now The Epl is like a paradise for Spanish Players also, and its nto defenitely due to money,coz Reyes came to Arsenal, Xabi alonso,Garcia,Moro and others to Liverpool, Theres seems to have been alot of La Liga to Epl moves,rather than the inverse, i guess thats due to the glamour and attraction of the league,money plays a role as well :nod: , One thing we dont have his,wat u call World Player of the Years, which u guys most abundantly have, Although most times the polls are right,the 2003 one was flawed for me, Henry deserved it for me,but Zidane won it, Gerrard had done much more than Adriano or Eto,but he was 7th.For me the voting system sucks, some of the coaches just go the big names of the past, when u put Zidane in front of Rooney,for 2005 u know that something is wrong with these awards.So i conclude,watever History the La Liga may have,we have everything in equal amount as well.


Amd btw the only reason,why teams liek osasuna are up there becoz of teams like Real Madrids,hot favourites every year playing like crap now adays, so some team has to be in 2nd position,so Osasuna took it.Thats all.If Real were playing to thier usual best,then there would have never been a Osasuna in 2nd.And the year when Real Sociedad came 2nd was coz Barca were crap before Ronaldinho came there.

And whatever u guys say abt suprises and all, u guys have had 4 different league winners only in the recent past,and wev had 3 aswell, pretty even for me in that department.

But overall package its EPL for me atleast. [/b]

The Link to this thread is;

http://z6.invisionfree.com/espnstar/index.php?showtopic=34839

I think they say it all. there are other msg boards that look at this same issue, but i can't be bothered to put up the link, thats why you all have PCs, do some research yourselves, you will find a general concession across the board, that the EPL is far more popular than any other league!!

Later amigos Over and out!!!

@ loyika,

good job done there, that about sums it all up and even expantiates better than what our other folks have been able to say about EPL having substance or not.

loyika:

The rivalry in Spain between Real and Barca has more to do with political undertones than football, unlike Espanyol and Barca which is more of a football rivalry, Like Man U vs Arsenal which is a football rivalry (which was fueled more by the hatred of the two managers involved).

Thats why i could only describe what you are talking about as the El Classico as a match between Rangers which is a scotish team and Man U which is an English team, definately it might not be as classical as your El classico (besides the fact that Rangers and Man U only get to play each other if their paths cross in an European competition ) but like i said the Rivalry is more of a political nature played out on the football field, the Footie is secondary to the political undertones involved. But i guess i won't get any taker on this view so i will just concede this particular Arguement and Bow down to your El Classico ( OH!! please give me Man U vs Liverpool anyday!!)

@loyika
Your distinction btw a politically-driven and a football-driven rivalry misses the point. The fact remains that the rivalry is in evidence when both teams meet. If anything it is the political angle that makes the rivalry more consuming and thus bigger than a "purely" football-driven rivalry. Granted some fans prefer rivalries to exist solely within the confines of a stadium, but then having football as one facet of a larger rivalry does not subtract from the fierceness of the rivalry it only enhances it.

The allegation that the EPL is more hype is not so clear-cut, but El-classico is a bigger rivalry than ManU v Arsenal and it is only enhanced by the political angle, which is also not to the detriment of the football displayed.

loyika:

May be i spoke in Spanish , i am so sorry let me translate in English.

Was that really necessary??

yeah, that's the spirit brothers. let the debate rage on
So funny how the prem supporters are trying too hard to convince us that the english league is all that. With ur back to tyhe wall u have to fight that hard, don't u? SAY NO TO OVER-HYPED MEDIOCRITY TODAY.

@teeroy

yeah rite, in d spanish league, u get to do all the rubbish u think u can do, but with a fast paced league, nothing for you, they'll either break your leg or u don't even have time other than to release the ball on time, thats why fast players as rooney, ronaldo and gerrard tend to shine, they are not all that skill ful but they can shoot and pass, but la liga is all about individual skills, and team work, tooo

The premiership is the best league in Europe by miles in terms of organisation and the money pumped into it.
The coverages of these matches are top-notch and its back to back from August to May without any hiccups like winter breaks as observed in other European Leagues.

The EPL has been able to produce so many great players like Henry, Ruud, Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Terry etc. English League produced the bulk of the players at Germany 2006 and its so amusing to know that most players are guaranteed a national team shirt as long as they play for any team in the Premiership.

The press and the marketing are also major factors that play immense role at the EPL making it the most exciting league in the world.
Mourinho,Ferguson and Wenger's comical attitudes also makes the league exciting. They make the whole league look like a soap opera and one is always on his toes to see what these bunch of over-grown babies has to say with their whines.

EPL is the boooooooooooooooooooooooooooomb.

All the guys just want to show off to us that they have access to La Liga. From Afghanistan to Zambia, the EPL is the most followed league in the world. What is more substantial than this.

hucarson:

The EPL has been able to produce so many great players like Henry, Ruud, Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Terry etc. English League produced the bulk of the players at Germany 2006

uhmm, really? u got stats? cos i did notice a lot of italian based players at the world cup.

hucarson:

and its so amusing to know that most players are guaranteed a national team shirt as long as they play for any team in the Premiership.

same with spain and italy.

hucarson:

The press and the marketing are also major factors that play immense role at the EPL making it the most exciting league in the world.
Mourinho,Ferguson and Wenger's comical attitudes also makes the league exciting. They make the whole league look like a soap opera and one is always on his toes to see what these bunch of over-grown babies has to say with their whines.

you obviously dont follow other leagues.

@Codec

it does not make much sense to argue with people who know little apart from the premiership. They think football is all about a ManU vs Arsenal argument.

Imagine somebody coming here to post that the EPL is the best league in the world by far. Who are they kidding? themselves?

let me give the premiership fans some facts

B/w 1989 and 2006 lets see how many teams from which countries played in the champions league finals.

Italian Teams-------- 12 times

Spanish teams------------8 times

English league----------- 3 times


Who is kidding who? Abegi

@ sage,
U can scream and shout all u want.
EPL is the best league in Europe overall in terms of skills, organisation and officiating.
I cannot reckon with Serie A where the size of 'em pockets determine who pinches the scudetto.
A league plagued by bribery and corruption should not even deserve any mention at all.

How many times has English clubs go to Italy to snatch victories in the jaws of defeat.
Who can forget how Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke ran riots at Turin in 1999 despite having the likes of Zidane, Del Piero and others.
Van Nistelrooy and Giggs went back in 2003 to stab Juventus 3-0 in the same Turin.
Arsenal went to San Siro to bury Inter Milan 5-1 in 2003/04 season.
I can go on and on with my stats but whatz the need.

The La Liga is great but what makes it great asides the foreign players that ply their trades in the league.
Brazilians and other South American countries are the flavours that make these leagues exciting.
Pls mention 20 world class spanish players in La Liga and i will give u my left arm.
Lets call a spade what it is.
The EPL has come of age and it rocks.