KaKa

25 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Makes sense - particularly if genuinely independent businesses start investing in them.  I do think it is better for a sport with the pretentions of being the world's game to not have so many resources concentrated in Europe (and South America to an extent) - it would be the best thing for the sport generally if serious investment in Asian (and African) clubs led to a general growth in attendances, interest, commercials etc.

 

There is though the feeling that we've seen this before, too - the US, China etc have in the past (and present) thrown money at the game and signed big names, yet the sport never grew in the way they hoped.

 

 

 

The US has always had restrictions on the number of high salary players each club can carry, and they have a salary cap setup over there similar to their other sports I believe, and so they were never really going to be a threat.

China looked like they might be a threat but they never really had the kind of money we are talking about with Saudi, or the same level of determination. Saudi have already shown with golf, boxing and UFC that they are looking to make the region a global hub for sport.

7 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Unsustainable in that the revenue of Al Ahly will never match those outgoings.  

Yeah, so apparently the plan is to have various businesses invest in these clubs and fund their signings etc with no restrictions. At the moment it is the PIF fund that is funding the clubs and the moves they are making. It is not ever going to be down to purely the revenue individual clubs make.

1 hour ago, TheBrownBottle said:

The problem is that even if the PL lost ALL of its international TV revenues, it would still have a higher income than any other European league.  The domestic TV revenues alone are double that of La Liga or the Bundesliga.

 

And it is unlikely that the PL will go from

£5bn+ for each three year cycle to £0.

 

The PL losing its financial dominance of Europe isn’t likely to occur any time soon.  What makes events in KSA interesting is that it could have the effect of strengthening Asian football.  At the moment, the PL doubles its TV revenues from international broadcasts.  If folks in Asia start paying for domestic leagues instead of PL, that could really help support stronger domestic and Asian competitions.  Though of course the KSA model is unsustainable - KSA clubs would never have the income to support the crazy wages paid.  They would always need propping up - and that can’t be indefinite. 

I don't get the impression what the Saudis are up to is unsustainable, as they are not operating under the same restrictions in Europe, and so are not bound by any rules on spending. 

43 minutes ago, Deuce said:

I’m not convinced that the Saudi league paying well above market value for a bunch of players past their prime is indicative of a major shift in the global football power structure. Your midtable PL club can still blow most European clubs out of the water when it comes to transfer fees and wages on offer.

Eventually more and more of the better players are going to question why they should settle for earning less than said washed up players.

Also, the likes of Neves, Mitrovic and Milinkovic-Savic aren't washed up and they have all opted for Saudi. It is just going to escalate.

Giannis man 

28 minutes ago, CFlan said:

I couldn’t give a fuck about the Premier League tbh. I just struggle to connect or care with any of football more. Money always drove the game I know but the whole thing just feels rotten now. We’re going to start to win trophies in the near future and I’ll still be ambivalent towards it all. 

I remember Wenger talking about introducing some sort of salary cap setup back in the day, and no one was really trying to hear that. That's the only thing that could have prevented all this nonsense escalating. Way too late now.

21 minutes ago, toon25 said:

 

I would say that the one (possible) caveat here is that at the very least there's a notion of heritage behind the football league in England. 

Yes, I think for English players certainly, but a lot of foreign players will take the money being offered as the amounts in question are so absurd.

The Mitrovic situation was very telling. Just came off a great season with Fulham on the cusp of a European place, and he wants out to go to Saudi.

Any quality player that isn't at a club that is one of the top ones that is competitive and that can pay high wages is likely going to take an opportunity to go there.

8 minutes ago, CFlan said:

It’s pure depressing watching football nosediving towards this shite, even more so with our great leaders being behind it all.  

The other European leagues have been levelling these same complaints against the Premier league for a while now.

Premier league has had a good run. Had to end sometime though and this summer is the beginning of it.

I'll never for the life of me understand why people take transfer rumours so personally. Very very strange.

11 minutes ago, RodneyCisse said:

Honestly just watched the highlights and dubs for a goalkeeper of his experience still hasn’t got a clue where his near post is. Shocking.

I don't trust Dubravka at all anymore. 

Pope coming in completely rattled him and I really think we should be getting rid.

2 minutes ago, Hanshithispantz said:

Beundia bouncing off Schar and Tonali in the buildup too 

 

The defending for all the goals (Villa and ours) was really bad like.

 

 

 

 

Yeah, our defending in the build up wasn't great, but by the time Buendia gets to the edge of the box we are still in pretty good shape.

The way Trippier then just drifts inwards ball watching and completely leaves Watkins free is so incredibly bad man.

Trippier's defending on that first goal man ... so so bad. 

3 hours ago, jack j said:

Pope

Trippier

Lascelles

Burn

Targett

Livramento

Longstaff

Willock

Gordon

Barnes

Wilson

 

Eddie's dream English 11

Howe would have mostly worked with English players coming up through the lower leagues.

He seems to appreciate them and knows how to get the best of them. They also seem to be well suited to his high intensity and hard running style.

Said it before, Howe is going to be a heck of an England manager at some point.

This guy looked terrifyingly good when he first went to Southampton as a teen.

Such a sneaky good signing. Think a lot of people have forgotten and are going to be shocked when they see him out on the pitch.

33 minutes ago, brummie said:

What do people see in Connor Gallagher?

Probably the goals and assists he had during his Palace loan.

With scouting also being increasingly data based, he shows up really well on those models too.

2 minutes ago, Whitley mag said:

Tobido is the one.

You got the b and d wrong way around.

12 hours ago, Thumbheed said:

How many out and out right wingers have we been linked with? 

 

Seems we've been almost exclusively linked to left wingers since the takeover.

I think we may have someone in mind that we can possibly get at better value or on loan initially, as we get closer to the end of the window.

At a guess I'd say Chiesa or Raphinha, hopefully!

Really like how up for the move he seems to be. Really think this is going to be a great fit.

2 hours ago, gdm said:

It’s not even that I don’t rate him so u clearly haven’t been paying attention  I do rate him he’s decent. Just not as good as people are trying to convince themselves he is.
I just don’t think he’s next level. We’ve got a defence that’s getting there, one of the best midfields in the league and we are spending £80m on to wingers that may or may not come good. 

Well he plays more games and gets more goals and assists in the premier League so it's definitely a step up a level. No need to try and convince oneself of anything really.

1 hour ago, The College Dropout said:

£80m on English wingers that don’t make the England squad. 

Those cost £100 million each.

11 minutes ago, mikejaxer said:

Is it? They're going to walk the league like they usually do.

Yeah, maybe. If so, still interested to see who steps into Gundogan, Mahrez and Silva's shoes.

Just now, SUPERTOON said:

City have a bit of a rebuild on their hands now.

Yeah, it's going to make for a really intriguing season.

Looking forward to seeing who they bring in.

Just now, Mike said:

How old is Mahrez? 30 million seems like a bargain.

32 years old.

Just now, Jack27 said:

Do they want both ASM AND Mahrez?

Yeah, want to have both either side of Firmino.

I'll definitely keep an eye out for their highlights next season.

Just now, reefatoon said:

Nope, there are people that can see the benefits of it for being able to move the team forward, but nobody is desperate to see him go.

 

We have evolved so much as a team, sometimes the odd talented player falls by the way side, it’s just what happens when another manager sets a style and system. Not everybody fits into that.
 

People seem to be just talking a bit sense on both sides of the debate, but not seen anyone desperate to get shot, that’s just you being overly dramatic because you are upset about it.

Yeah, quite honestly, if he had come off a season where he had looked much stronger physically and was more of a fixture in the team because of it, I don't think we would have entertained selling him. We'd likely have announced a new contract instead. We just can't make that kind of commitment with the way things played out last season though.