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European Super League: I blame you!
I had been against the idea of writing about the European Super League. To be honest, I am just as confused now as I was when the announcement was made about the whole thing.
However, after Leicester City’s FA Cup win and Manchester United fans’ protest, I decided that it was about time that I wrote about it.
To get the bottom of this, I decided to use an exam-style technique to truly find answers about ESL. I decided to analyse it by looking at the positives and negatives of the whole thing, in the hope that I can come to a conclusion.
Was the idea that bad?
It was bad but only to a certain extent. My biggest issue was the lack of competition. In this competition, no team could get relegated. This means that the ESL would have been a closed shop for Europe’s elite clubs.
This would have reduced the competitive nature of the domestic leagues, as teams would not need to qualify in the top 4 to get into Europe. It would also mean that teams need not completely focus on their domestic leagues, instead choosing to focus on the ESL. This would create a watered-down product.
The lack of competitiveness is shown in the teams selected. Teams like Arsenal and Tottenham have been nowhere near as good as Leicester in the last couple of seasons, so why reward them with European positions because of their money and history. It would have made more sense if the best teams got in, not the richest.
This closed shop policy does not punish losing. Teams can finish last in the ESL and keep their place in the competition. Usually, in football, you are punished for losing. This whole league seems like a reward for playing, which ruins the competition aspect of the sport we all love.
But was there some good in it?
Yes! If I am honest, I understand the owners’ perspective just a little bit. The first thing that we should remember is that you do not own the football club, these billionaire owners own your football club. They bought your team as an investment and now they want to make…
