Deuce

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lltodrDLw41qcjzcm.gif I don't agree with him, but he's surprisingly holding his own in what was essentially a kamikaze mission. That wasn't my point.

Added time extra balls would be a fantastic addition tbh. Should also put up cages and have the players bludgeon each other in Royal Rumble madness. No cards issued, no fouls or stoppages until a goal is scored.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lltodrDLw41qcjzcm.gif

Could, but how likely is that. Let's say the season finished now and the top 8 teams made the playoffs (though I think top 6 would be better). How likely is it that West Brom beats ManU at Old Trafford, then the winner of Arsenal/Spurs at either Emirates or Goodison, then wins the championship played at either a neutral location or at the opposition venue (as West Brom wouldn't get to play at home at all)?

Now I understand where this boldness originated.

We're not going to get anywhere if you're going to come in here and lie, ffs. "Highest level" meaning NFL/highest tier, not quality of the performance.

Whether it's money or not, they are the best team. Surely the whole point of sport is to find out who's the best. You make leagues when you're a kid, you make them with pro evo, sunday leagues have them. We have sideshows of cups but the point of the season is find out who's best in all the league, not to be a preliminary round for an 8 team cup. I honestly think this is a fundamental misunderstanding of how playoff systems work. I really think teams would fight all that much harder if they knew they could make the playoffs and have a chance at winning the title. You'd see better results right up until the last week of the season.

The entertainment would drop instead, imho. 38 games that count more or less as much as a league cup first round. Boring as f*** for 9 months, tbh. In other sports the best team wins in 99% of the cases, in football this percentage is already much lower and there's no need to add an extra factor to make it drop further. That's not at all true though. There have been 5 different champions of the PL in 21 years. Sorry for keeping this U.S.-centric, but over that same time frame, 11 different teams have won the World Series, 13 teams have won the Super Bowl, 8 teams have won the NBA Championship, and 13 different teams have won the Stanley Cup (NHL). And very seldom do the teams with the best regular season records win the championship, as Mike will attest to (being the scumbag Yankees fan that he is). Yes, but that's because in US sports the values of the teams change completely and pretty often, and you can be the champion one year and finish rock bottom the next one. Many different winners, but they were most probably the best in the league when they won, no matter how crap they were the previous or the following season. The system is different and that doesn't happen in football, and certainly not because there are no playoffs. Then the sport culture is different, I have the impression that american fans don't care that much about the results of their team as long as the game is entertaining. They begin to care about the results too when the playoffs start. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I'm not in Europe such a perspective would never work. To be fair, there is a big difference between European football and American sports in that we don't have cup competitions outside the league or relegation systems. Which changes how football clubs approach the league. I wouldn't say Americans don't care about results. Though some fans (myself) are resigned to their teams being complete crap year-in and year-out. Though due to a lack of relegation, I know the Buffalo Bills will be back again next season playing at the highest level (though maybe not in Buffalo).

And playoffs are one way of helping negate the influence of money. It all starts with the belief that what teams like City and Chelsea do, in terms of their spending, is inherently unfair. If a team like Everton can stick with the big dogs through an entire season, despite a pitiful budget, they absolutely deserve the chance to compete for the league title. I think we can all agree that City (and Chelsea to some extent) would be absolutely nothing without their billionaire owners. Mancini is a horribly average manager and Chelsea would've died a long time ago if they tried this manager merry-go-round on half their budget. ManU and Arsenal at least have achieved consistent success through winning and excellent managing. Neither the Glazers nor Kroeneke have the kind of money into their respective clubs as have the Qataris and Abramovich...their funding has come from their on-field success primarily (in addition to wildly successful global marketing campaigns).

This. This is why it wouldnt work, too many meaningless games could kill the league. However, I must admit, we stand absolutely no chance of winning the league without major investment, that if anything, is absolutely shit. Playoff's is probably not the way to go but fuck me the current system is boring as fuck. Why playoffs in conjunction with a salary cap would do the league a world of good. Not that either stands a great chance of implementation currently. Oh well, I love the league regardless and will continue to follow no matter what.

Say they added playoffs, scrapped the League Cup, and added a few more regular season games to the PL schedule (say 42 games) to make each game slightly more "hollow." Top 6 qualify for playoffs (keeping the playoffs rather exclusive). Top 2 clubs earn first-round byes, home-field advantage, playoffs over in 2 weeks.

Difference in sporting cultures obviously, but I still think playoffs would be far more exciting than what the PL currently offers in an average season, in terms of finishes. And the league is hardly "totally fair" as is. I think it'd also be more exciting if they banned Man United from winning it for a while after 20 titles but I couldn't begin to justify it. I just can't get over how ridiculously unfair it is that a team who won the league doesn't win the league. If Newcastle won the league, and then fucking 8th-placed West Brom won a play-off, nobody could tell me we didn't win the league. I'd buy my own fucking trophy if necessary. That's the thing, "winning the league" wouldn't mean what it does now. It would mean winning the regular season AND winning the playoffs. And if 1st place Newcastle couldn't beat West Brom in a two-game playoff played in Newcastle, they honestly wouldn't deserve to win the league.

The entertainment would drop instead, imho. 38 games that count more or less as much as a league cup first round. Boring as fuck for 9 months, tbh. In other sports the best team wins in 99% of the cases, in football this percentage is already much lower and there's no need to add an extra factor to make it drop further. That's not at all true though. There have been 5 different champions of the PL in 21 years. Sorry for keeping this U.S.-centric, but over that same time frame, 11 different teams have won the World Series, 13 teams have won the Super Bowl, 8 teams have won the NBA Championship, and 13 different teams have won the Stanley Cup (NHL). And very seldom do the teams with the best regular season records win the championship, as Mike will attest to (being the scumbag Yankees fan that he is). It's not as if clubs could piss away the PL regular season like they do the League Cup. And they wouldn't.

Difference in sporting cultures obviously, but I still think playoffs would be far more exciting than what the PL currently offers in an average season, in terms of finishes. And the league is hardly "totally fair" as is.

It was harsh, but it's baseball season. We ain't cool right now. Tbh I was laughing at this thread in general. You knew exactly what you were getting yourself into when you started it.

The teams at the top are there because they've spent the most money to be there. Plain and simple. Yankees spend the most and lose all the god damn time in the playoffs. Not against you, but still. Well yeah, exactly my point. A playoff system is a way at reducing the impact of clubs like ManU, Chelsea, and City who spend god's money. Playoffs = (some) parity.

Mike man I will say, playoffs are infinitely more exciting than having the league victor determined a month or more before the season ends. Today's ManU victory was the most anti-climactic "championship" possible (and Bayern's even more so). For every finish like last season's (which was spectacular, one of the best I've ever seen in any sport), you'll get 10 like this season's. Clubs who win throughout the season absolutely deserve to be recognized. But if they can't continue their run of form by beating lesser club throughout a short playoff, they don't really deserve to win the league. It's an incentive for clubs to keep competing for something meaningful until the very last game. And it's not as if there's a wiping of the slate for playoffs. The top teams would be seeded higher, have "home-field advantage," etc. So it's not like ManU will dominate for the entire season and have nothing to show for it once playoffs roll around. I've long read complaints about the lack of parity in the PL. Well, he's an answer. While we're at it, scrap Europa. Doesn't make any sense in the slightest.

The teams at the top are there because they've spent the most money to be there. Plain and simple.

It'd be a smart move for De Bruyne. Certainly isn't going to get playing time with Chelsea in the near future.

Tbh, I'm rather excited to see what this Bayern team can accomplish under Pep. They have the potential to completely dominate Europe for the next several years.

Don't agree. €37million? They still have Reus who is a better player, will be interesting too see what they will do with that money though. Exactly. Gotze is a fabulous player, but Dortmund isn't in the doghouse without him. That is a sizable chunk of cash that they'll be able to re-invest in several good players. And Dortmund traditionally does a fantastic job with recruitment.

Yikes. So much fluidity with whatever combo they choose.

I wonder if Dortmund will look to make Sahin's transfer permanent.

If true, they'll be able to sign a few top quality players to fill his shoes. Good bit of business for both sides tbh.

People who know they won't be held accountable. Watch them crumble if ever confronted.