Saudi Pro League

[robertmac43]

The draw for the AFC CL was today. Neymar heading to India is kind of cool.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

UPDATED:

Al Ittihad: Benzema, Kante, Jota, Helder Costa, Fabinho

Al Nassr: Cristiano Ronaldo, Brozovic, Seko Fofana, Luiz Gustavo, Alex Telles, Alvaro Gonzalez, Sadio Mane, Aymeric Laporte (?)

Al Hilal: Koulibaly, Neves, Milinkovic-Savic, Mitrovic (?), Matheus Pereira, Malcolm, Neymar, Bono

Al Ahli: Firminho, Mendy, Mahrez, Saint-Maximin, Ibanez, Kessie, Merih Demiral

Others: Henderson, Moussa Dembele (Al Ettifaq), Jason Denayer (Al Fateh)


NGL, I'd rather watch these 4 teams than Everton v Palace.

I'm not sure why I would. Why would I care if Al Ahli beats Al Hilal or Al Ittihad climb to the top of the table? There's a reasons Americans watching the PL end up picking teams to support..football without fan culture is worth no more than water polo.

 

[Corto]

I'm not sure why I would. Why would I care if Al Ahli beats Al Hilal or Al Ittihad climb to the top of the table? There's a reasons Americans watching the PL end up picking teams to support..football without fan culture is worth no more than water polo.

Whats that even mean?

If the product is good enough, I'll watch it. If these Saudi clubs end up pitting 4 All Star teams against each other, with stars up and down the line up, why wouldn't I watch it?
Human rights protest? By that logic, I wouldn't be watching City, Newcastle or PSG.
Artificially created big teams? Same logic for City, PSG, Chelsea, Leipzig, etc.

If these oil dudes end up buying some superstars just past it, players in their prime AND talented youngsters like Gabri Veiga... I have no issue with watching Al Ahli v Al Hilal.

Why would I not watch it?

I watch a TON of football. 90% of the games I watch I have no bias either way. I don't care who wins in Brighton v Spurs or BVB v Leipzig.
Same goes for Saudi league.
If it's good enough, I'll watch it.

 

[Jersey Fresh]

Whats that even mean?

If the product is good enough, I'll watch it. If these Saudi clubs end up pitting 4 All Star teams against each other, with stars up and down the line up, why wouldn't I watch it?
Human rights protest? By that logic, I wouldn't be watching City, Newcastle or PSG.
Artificially created big teams? Same logic for City, PSG, Chelsea, Leipzig, etc.

If these oil dudes end up buying some superstars just past it, players in their prime AND talented youngsters like Gabri Veiga... I have no issue with watching Al Ahli v Al Hilal.

Why would I not watch it?

I watch a TON of football. 90% of the games I watch I have no bias either way. I don't care who wins in Brighton v Spurs or BVB v Leipzig.
Same goes for Saudi league.
If it's good enough, I'll watch it.

I mean, first of all PIF only funds four of these teams, so 80% of the league are still scrub nobodies. Secondly, even the PIF teams have like what, five maybe six Euro players they poached? The majority of their starting XIs are still ME level. It’s a clown league where even I’d say a plurality of their “big name” signings are past their prime mercenaries. Not “all-star” squads by any metric.

 

[Albatros]

I mean, first of all PIF only funds four of these teams, so 80% of the league are still scrub nobodies. Secondly, even the PIF teams have like what, five maybe six Euro players they poached? The majority of their starting XIs are still ME level. It’s a clown league where even I’d say a plurality of their “big name” signings are past their prime mercenaries. Not “all-star” squads by any metric.

Come on now. They may not have exceptional depth, but their best XIs would be very competitive in most European leagues.

Al-Hilal

Mitrović
Neymar, Malcom, Michael
Milinković-Savić, Neves
Al-Shahrani, Koulibaly, Jang, Abdulhamid
Bono


Al-Nassr

Mané, Cristiano Ronaldo, Otávio
Fofana, Talisca
Brozović
Konan, Telles, Laporte, Al-Ghannam
Ospina


Al-Ahli

Roberto Firmino
Saint-Maximin, Barrow, Mahrez
Kessié, Boudebouz
Alioski, Roger Ibañez, Demiral, Majrashi
Mendy


Al-Ittihad

Benzema, Hamdallah
Romarinho, Jota
Kanté, Coronado
Bamsaud, Hamed, Hegazy, Fabinho
Grohe

 

[Power Man]

Come on now. They may not have exceptional depth, but their best XIs would be very competitive in most European leagues.

Al-Hilal

Mitrović
Neymar, Malcom, Michael
Milinković-Savić, Neves
Al-Shahrani, Koulibaly, Jang, Abdulhamid
Bono


Al-Nassr

Mané, Cristiano Ronaldo, Otávio
Fofana, Talisca
Brozović
Konan, Telles, Laporte, Al-Ghannam
Ospina


Al-Ahli

Roberto Firmino
Saint-Maximin, Barrow, Mahrez
Kessié, Boudebouz
Alioski, Roger Ibañez, Demiral, Majrashi
Mendy


Al-Ittihad

Benzema, Hamdallah
Romarinho, Jota
Kanté, Coronado
Bamsaud, Hamed, Hegazy, Fabinho
Grohe

Boudebouz might be leaving Al Ahli but they are getting Gabri Veiga

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Whats that even mean?

If the product is good enough, I'll watch it. If these Saudi clubs end up pitting 4 All Star teams against each other, with stars up and down the line up, why wouldn't I watch it?
Human rights protest? By that logic, I wouldn't be watching City, Newcastle or PSG.
Artificially created big teams? Same logic for City, PSG, Chelsea, Leipzig, etc.

If these oil dudes end up buying some superstars just past it, players in their prime AND talented youngsters like Gabri Veiga... I have no issue with watching Al Ahli v Al Hilal.

Why would I not watch it?

I watch a TON of football. 90% of the games I watch I have no bias either way. I don't care who wins in Brighton v Spurs or BVB v Leipzig.
Same goes for Saudi league.
If it's good enough, I'll watch it.

You can do what you want. I'm telling you why I wouldn't watch it even if the best 100 players in the world all played there. I'm almost certain that hardly anyone will watch it even with all the big names there.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

You can do what you want. I'm telling you why I wouldn't watch it even if the best 100 players in the world all played there. I'm almost certain that hardly anyone will watch it even with all the big names there.

You'd be wrong. NA supporters aren't watching for the fans lol...

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

You'd be wrong. NA supporters aren't watching for the fans lol...

Most NA supporters are watching PL and at this point are pretty attached to the teams etc. Sure, you got the rest who will watch 'anything', and I'm sure of that a % of that will watch Saudi league like they watch any other league, but that's a negligible crowd especially once you subtract the people who hate Saudi Arabia's regime etc.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Most NA supporters are watching PL and at this point are pretty attached to the teams etc. Sure, you got the rest who will watch 'anything', and I'm sure of that a % of that will watch Saudi league like they watch any other league, but that's a negligible crowd especially once you subtract the people who hate Saudi Arabia's regime etc.

They didn't wake up and choose Chelsea, City, or united becuase of their rich history and fan devotion. IF there is a hostile take over gradually the rest of the world will flock. Provided other variables align. In any case this will never happen and thus moot. Seeing the bizarre reaction is amusing however.

 

[Evilo]

It's not bizarre.
Football is traditionally South America and mostly Europe.
They're synonymous with it it'll take a decade before SA is taken seriously.

 

[Power Man]

I don’t have a problem at all with the Saudi League, change is good

However it’s gonna be interesting to see what happens with the 34 WC bid.
Saudis have a bid for the 2034 World Cup, that may be the main reason they're spending dollars.

We'll see if they keep at it after that's decided.

 

[Corto]

I don’t have a problem at all with the Saudi League, change is good

However it’s gonna be interesting to see what happens with the 34 WC bid.
Saudis have a bid for the 2034 World Cup, that may be the main reason they're spending dollars.

We'll see if they keep at it after that's decided.

2034 is 11 years away.
That's enough for all the Gabri Veigas of the world to go to Saudi and finish their career there.

If this thing lasts long enough, and Saudis change their limits on foreigners (it's 8 now, and I'll bet you it'll be changed before next summer's tranfer window), they'll just get an extra 2-3 star players for the top-4 clubs.

It could, quite literally be an 11 basically star players for each of the 4 sides.
Plus the other sides, while not as stacked, manage to get their hands on some well known players, be it past their prime (like Henderson), or perhaps not stars, but certainly capable players (like Denayer).


And the whole Gary Lineker or those fools from ESPN FC approach of "this is just for pensioners", doesn't really apply. There's loads of players now who went there still in their prime.

Ask Fulham if they'd be happier if their best player stayed, or if they want the 50m they got for him a week before the summer transfer window ends.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

 

[Albatros]

It's not bizarre.
Football is traditionally South America and mostly Europe.
They're synonymous with it it'll take a decade before SA is taken seriously.

Al-Ittihad for one is a club older than most French league champions of all time.

 

[Evilo]

Al-Ittihad for one is a club older than most French league champions of all time.

Yipee.
And?

 

[Albatros]

Yipee.
And?

Just find Arabian football tradition and culture by default as valuable as any other, these are clubs with relatively long histories even by European standards.

 

[Evilo]

Just find Arabian football tradition and culture by default as valuable as any other, these are clubs with relatively long histories even by European standards.

Yay, you're taking the example of a team born in the 70s.
What if I said a promoted side is something like 50 years old older than any saudi team?

Let's be serious. As I said, it would take at least 10 years before it's relevant, regardless of money.

 

[robertmac43]

 

[Evilo]

These guys are just training, so the results won't be there. They're just having some nice retirement time.

 

[Albatros]

Yay, you're taking the example of a team born in the 70s.
What if I said a promoted side is something like 50 years old older than any saudi team?

Let's be serious. As I said, it would take at least 10 years before it's relevant, regardless of money.

Sure there are even older teams in Europe than in Saudi Arabia, but a lot of successful European clubs that are considered fairly traditional aren't any older establishments than the Saudi giants.

Al-Ittihad was established the same year with AS Roma (3x Italian champions) in 1927 and is older than Wigan Athletic (English cup winners), Real Zaragoza (6x Spanish cup winners), FC Sochaux (2x French champions), Stade de Reims (6x French champions), and AS Saint-Étienne (10x French champions).

Al-Ahli was established in 1937 and is older than FC Nantes (8x French champions) and Lille OSC (4x French champions).

Al-Ettifaq was established in 1945 and is older than UC Sampdoria (Italian champions), 1. FC Köln (2x German champions), and Olympique Lyonnais (7x French champions).

Al-Nassr and al-Hilal were established in 1955 and in 1957 respectively and are older than Toulouse FC (French cup winners) and Paris Saint-Germain (11x French champions).

The Saudis are investing in clubs that already have long and successful histories, not everyone will be joining them but that's no different with the clubs mentioned above. If anything, the Saudis are already ahead and that's being ahead most of European football.

 

[gary69]

Sure there are even older teams in Europe than in Saudi Arabia, but a lot of successful European clubs that are considered fairly traditional aren't any older establishments than the Saudi giants.

Al-Ettifaq was established in 1945 and is older than UC Sampdoria (Italian champions), 1. FC Köln (2x German champions), and Olympique Lyonnais (7x French champions).

While techically true, I'd leave 1.FC Köln out of that list, as it a merger club from two successful Köln teams (who won titles before) following the turmoil created by WWII.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Football has long been the worlds favourite game so its weird to now suggest its only for SA/Euro. That's some damn fine gatekeeping. Especially given that some Arab states own football teams....

 

[Evilo]

Football has long been the worlds favourite game so its weird to now suggest its only for SA/Euro. That's some damn fine gatekeeping. Especially given that some Arab states own football teams....

Only?
Where?

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

Does anyone know where to watch/stream the Saudi League in the US?