Transfer Market and Soccer's Disparity Issue:
As I've been getting more and more into soccer, the one most common difference I've noticed is the trade/transfer capabilities of players and clubs. Aside from the obvious difference between trades in North American sports leagues like hockey and basketball and transfers in soccer, one of which is the differences between involved money and their respective windows or lack thereof, it's shocking how much turmoil permeates in soccer due to the high wages of players verse the inability to offload contracts because of the increasingly diverse economic landscape in European Soccer. As a Tottenham Hotspurs fan, the whole dilemma of "Harry Kane to Manchester City" is telling of how the Premier League works and how inefficient it can be.
Harry Kane is an elite striker, England's Captain, and one of the best players in the world. His driving motivation is to win championships, which is completely understandable. He feels like he has been with Tottenham long enough to understand that he doesn't have the best opportunity to win and wants to get transferred. With regards to his high cost of acquisition, he can only be transferred to, at most, 3 teams. One of those teams, Manchester City, is the only team he wants to go to. What makes this crazy is that the Premier League consists of 20 teams and only about 7 of them have the financial resources to compete for the Premier League title every year. This means that the best players, making the most money, will almost always go to the highest revenue grossing teams. It creates disparity between the league members. A 2-0 win for Brentford against Arsenal opening week was considered one of the biggest wins in club history shows that not all premier league teams are created, or more importantly funded, equally. Especially in a depressed market, having a slight revenue sharing pool or something might be the best option for the league to create a more vibrant and interesting schedule of games every week.
UEFA European Conference League:
I might be the only Spurs fan to think this at all but I really enjoy that the UECL was created. For weaker or less seen European teams, this offers an opportunity to compete with other European teams they would not compete with typically in a competitive environment. For a select few, they get to play against some of the best teams and most recognizable teams in the world, which only could help their fan engagement and corporate sponsorships. For the few household names like Tottenham or Roma, this league offers a good opportunity to showcase and play their youngsters in competitive, first team matches while also competing for a decent prize pool and a chance at a trophy (the lack of which is why Kane wants to leave in the first place). I think it's all around just a good idea, even if the qualifications, play ins, and seeding are the most confusing I've ever seen.
Comments