OK, so I've said it here for decades, I think the future will automatically go towards a european league.
No doubt the SL project was absolutely disgusting, especially the way it was thought (without relegation for "certain" teams).
However, the fact is that some people want to see the big clubs in their own competition without hurting the domestic leagues and competitions.
My proposal hasn't changed for decades now and here it is :
A european league consisting of 20 teams. The 20 teams will be chosen ONLY on UEFA coefficient.
Right now here it is :
Coefficients Des Clubs | Coefficients UEFA
Of course it will change this summer since another year of european football will be over. But it gives you an idea :
Bayern, Real, Barca, City, Juve, Atletico, PSG, United, Liverpool, Sevilla, Arsenal, BVB, Chelsea, Spurs, Porto, Roma, Ajax, Donetsk, Lyon and Napoli (2 german, 4 spanish, 3 italian, 2 french, 1 portuguese, 1 ukrainian, 1 dutch, 6 english)
HOWEVER, those current coefficients are greatly influenced by the league of origin. They would have to be deducted before choosing the top 20 teams (more or less the same teams as above, but not quite).
Those 20 teams will have their independant league in the middle of the week and this is important in terms of TV revenue. They can play tuesday, wednesday and thursday since the CL and EL would disappear.
Each year 4 of these teams will be relegated back to their national league. So for instance if Napoli, Lyon, Donetsk and Ajax are relegated (I'm only using the last 4 in the coefficient here as an example) back to italian, french, ukrainian and dutch leagues.
On the weekends, the domestic leagues would play without those clubs. Of course, they will lose some revenue since the big clubs are gone but we also ALL know that the weekend is where people go to the stadium and watch football the most. So they would still get good TV deals and sponsors.
Especially since the champion of EACH european country would at the end of the season participate in a one leg, neutral ground playoff. The 4 winners will be promoted to the european league.
Problems :
1/ if a team from say France is relegated but the french champion is not promoted then what do you do? Prevent the Ligue 2 champion from promotion? No, the L1 would play with 21 teams.
2/ How about domestic Cups? European league teams would still participate in domestic cups.
3/ How about the rivalry games? That's a tough one indeed. They could still meet in cups, but at the same time, when two rivals are in a different division (like when Betis was in Liga B) those things happen.
Advantages :
1/ Much less games, but quality ones. Players would play 38 league games + a maximum of 5-6 Cup games instead of the 60+ right now.
2/ The access to the european league is only based on merit, not money or brand. If a team from Poland suddenly has a golden generation and can qualify through the playoffs, they'll get huge money by participating in the Euro league.
3/ On the contrary, if a big team doesn't perform, it'll sink to domestic league or even worse. This means good management is still extremely important, contrary to the SL.
4/ No more crappy coefficients or unfair draws based on your brand or league of origin. Equal terms for everyone.
5/ This system doesn't stop investors from buying a team, building it and promoting it to european league. This means that today's biggest brands aren't necessarily the same as 10 years ago or 10 years from now.
What do you think?
No doubt the SL project was absolutely disgusting, especially the way it was thought (without relegation for "certain" teams).
However, the fact is that some people want to see the big clubs in their own competition without hurting the domestic leagues and competitions.
My proposal hasn't changed for decades now and here it is :
A european league consisting of 20 teams. The 20 teams will be chosen ONLY on UEFA coefficient.
Right now here it is :
Coefficients Des Clubs | Coefficients UEFA
Of course it will change this summer since another year of european football will be over. But it gives you an idea :
Bayern, Real, Barca, City, Juve, Atletico, PSG, United, Liverpool, Sevilla, Arsenal, BVB, Chelsea, Spurs, Porto, Roma, Ajax, Donetsk, Lyon and Napoli (2 german, 4 spanish, 3 italian, 2 french, 1 portuguese, 1 ukrainian, 1 dutch, 6 english)
HOWEVER, those current coefficients are greatly influenced by the league of origin. They would have to be deducted before choosing the top 20 teams (more or less the same teams as above, but not quite).
Those 20 teams will have their independant league in the middle of the week and this is important in terms of TV revenue. They can play tuesday, wednesday and thursday since the CL and EL would disappear.
Each year 4 of these teams will be relegated back to their national league. So for instance if Napoli, Lyon, Donetsk and Ajax are relegated (I'm only using the last 4 in the coefficient here as an example) back to italian, french, ukrainian and dutch leagues.
On the weekends, the domestic leagues would play without those clubs. Of course, they will lose some revenue since the big clubs are gone but we also ALL know that the weekend is where people go to the stadium and watch football the most. So they would still get good TV deals and sponsors.
Especially since the champion of EACH european country would at the end of the season participate in a one leg, neutral ground playoff. The 4 winners will be promoted to the european league.
Problems :
1/ if a team from say France is relegated but the french champion is not promoted then what do you do? Prevent the Ligue 2 champion from promotion? No, the L1 would play with 21 teams.
2/ How about domestic Cups? European league teams would still participate in domestic cups.
3/ How about the rivalry games? That's a tough one indeed. They could still meet in cups, but at the same time, when two rivals are in a different division (like when Betis was in Liga B) those things happen.
Advantages :
1/ Much less games, but quality ones. Players would play 38 league games + a maximum of 5-6 Cup games instead of the 60+ right now.
2/ The access to the european league is only based on merit, not money or brand. If a team from Poland suddenly has a golden generation and can qualify through the playoffs, they'll get huge money by participating in the Euro league.
3/ On the contrary, if a big team doesn't perform, it'll sink to domestic league or even worse. This means good management is still extremely important, contrary to the SL.
4/ No more crappy coefficients or unfair draws based on your brand or league of origin. Equal terms for everyone.
5/ This system doesn't stop investors from buying a team, building it and promoting it to european league. This means that today's biggest brands aren't necessarily the same as 10 years ago or 10 years from now.
What do you think?
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