I like the Premiership, I think there are some great teams playing in England, some would say I even support an English team, while others refuse to acknowledge that Arsenal even represents English football, but that’s their choice. Yet, ignoring Serie A (and La Liga in some cases) in support of English football well that’s a sentiment I’ve never understood.
Let me explain, we’ve gotten some emails with the typical stereotypes of Serie A (or La Liga even) being boring, that English games are more exciting, and that the best players are in the Premiership. Some say that even the smallest teams like West Ham in the Premiership can beat the biggest in Manchester United?
Sorry if you’ve noticed the pattern, but when I get mad I break out the stats: if it’s a Cuban thing, or a Baseball thing, it’s just something I’ve never been able to figure out.
Here’s the answer to the competitiveness question: Since 1992 when the Premiership was founded, only 4 teams have won it: Blackburn, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United. Ok, but how about second and third place finishers? Any new names on that list? (6) Aston Villa, Norwich, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Leeds United. In Germany, only 4 have won the league: Stuttgart, Bremen, Dortmund, Kaisersalautern and (6 others) Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkeusen, Freiburg, Schalke, Hertha Berlin, and Hamburg have contended. Compare that in Italy (5 teams): Juventus, Roma, AC Milan, Inter, and Lazio have won it. 4 more have contended: Sampdoria, Parma, Udinese, Fiorentina. So far pretty even. In La Liga, it’s even more interesting. Since 1992 (5 teams), Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Deportivo La Coruna, and Valencia have won it. Another 7 have contended (finishing second or third) : Real Zaragoza, Real Betis, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad, Real Mallorca, Villareal and Sevilla. Looks to me that most of the leagues are pretty even, with maybe La Liga being slightly more competitive top to bottom over that time.
What about the excitement question? The league that scores goals must be more exciting, right? Have you heard these stats before, maybe on a podcast or two from here in the States or in England? Of the three leagues, the Premiership is last in terms of goals per game with of 2.60 per year since 1995. La Liga is ahead of England with 2.63 and so is Italy with 2.64. It’s true, and France is at 2.3 per game, Germany is at 2.8 and Holland is at or near 3.0. But goals=excitement just doesn’t cut it. You couldn’t pay me to watch Eredivisie over England, so it must be something else.
Is it the fans or history? Well, no one can tell me that the Madrid derbies between Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid, or the politically motivated rivalries between Real Madrid and Barcelona or Real Madrid and the Basque teams, are second to a historically noncompetitive Manchester derby. Does Arsenal v Manchester United have that kind of galvanizing power of Castilians versus Catalans, or Castilians versus Basques? Maybe Liverpool v Manchester United comes close, but is there any more of a hatred there than between Lazio v Roma fans? Is it atmosphere? Other than the Kop at Liverpool singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” does anyone (other than Citizens or Hammers) get excited over Forever blowing Bubbles or Blue Moon? Is that inherently better than the Curva at the Stadio Olimpico singing Roma, Roma or flags, flares and smoke bombs going off at the San Siro between a sea of rossoneri and nerrazzurri. Frankly, I’d love to have been at Athletic Bilbao for that final match that secured safety from relegation last year. The atmosphere, even with poor sound coming from GolTV, was electric.
In the end, I don’t think there’s that much difference between any of these leagues in terms of level of play, the leagues are semi permeable membranes, the players all come and go between them, and as we’ve seen, there isn’t much of a difference in atmosphere. Maybe it’s the presentation, as the sound quality and the English announcers that the La Liga and Serie A have used have been generally subpar, or the fact that stadiums in England are more viewer friendly (no running track, very few 80,000 seat giants) so it seems more intimate.
Frankly, it just comes down to a matter of taste. Like whatever league you want, watch whatever you watch. I have ceased to worry about it : the game is the game is the game
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