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Soccer

Jacquouille

Ravens Ring of Honor
Supporter
So, since I'm asking a lot of questions about baseball I figured I should give back and so if any of you want to talk or learn about soccer (which is the sport I know best), feel free.

Btw the club I support is Stade Rennais, and I absolutely recommand you to NOT do the same. Simply put, we're the Eagles or the Bills of the French Ligue 1, haven't won anything in the last 40 years and haven't done much to change that. But somehow we always manage to stay in the first division which is why I won't qualify us as the Browns of Ligue 1.

Anyway, since a lot of topics are being brought up here I figured I'd try one where I can really help.
 

Somerset Ravens

Pro Bowler
So, since I'm asking a lot of questions about baseball I figured I should give back and so if any of you want to talk or learn about soccer (which is the sport I know best), feel free.

Btw the club I support is Stade Rennais, and I absolutely recommand you to NOT do the same. Simply put, we're the Eagles or the Bills of the French Ligue 1, haven't won anything in the last 40 years and haven't done much to change that. But somehow we always manage to stay in the first division which is why I won't qualify us as the Browns of Ligue 1.

Anyway, since a lot of topics are being brought up here I figured I'd try one where I can really help.

How does the level of play in the French Ligue 1 compare to that of the Premier League ?
 

Jacquouille

Ravens Ring of Honor
Supporter
How does the level of play in the French Ligue 1 compare to that of the Premier League ?
Ligue 1 is the supermarket of players. It is a pretty meh league in term of overall level but a lot of talents come from Ligue 1 before being bought by the ridiculously rich clubs of EPL (some prices are laughable for below average player). There are always up and coming players and a few nice teams to follow but we don't follow money-wise so every good player leaves after a year or two.
 

Somerset Ravens

Pro Bowler
Ligue 1 is the supermarket of players. It is a pretty meh league in term of overall level but a lot of talents come from Ligue 1 before being bought by the ridiculously rich clubs of EPL (some prices are laughable for below average player). There are always up and coming players and a few nice teams to follow but we don't follow money-wise so every good player leaves after a year or two.

Thanks for the information. I am a soccer novice who just started watching the Premier League last year.
 

Jacquouille

Ravens Ring of Honor
Supporter
Thanks for the information. I am a soccer novice who just started watching the Premier League last year.
You're right to do so. I guess PL is the easy way in. It's competitive, it's tough and very passionate, and you feel like there's not a big margin between the top teams and the bottom teams, which makes every game interesting to watch. And there's the boxing sunday, which is great.
 

mc_red23

Pro Bowler
So glad somebody started this thread. I can't wait for the start of the season!

Somerset, is there one particular team you liked to watch the most last season?
 

Somerset Ravens

Pro Bowler
I enjoyed watching Arsenal play, their fans really support their team, they sang almost all game long. I probably saw Manchester United play most often, they seem to get more television coverage.
 

Jacquouille

Ravens Ring of Honor
Supporter
Man U is so annoying since Sir Alex left. It's exactly what I hate to see in terms of team-building (gneeee we have money let's overpay for every flashy name) and Mourinho is an asshole, straight-up. Glad they can't win.
 

Tank

Hall of Famer
Man U is so annoying since Sir Alex left. It's exactly what I hate to see in terms of team-building (gneeee we have money let's overpay for every flashy name) and Mourinho is an asshole, straight-up. Glad they can't win.

IDK......United seem to be on the upswing since Jose replaced van Gaal. Yes, he is an asshole but he gets results. I wasn't too fond of him either when he was at Chelsea. lol

Big market teams spend big money. Can't really blame them. Barca, RM, PSG, Chelsea all had higher payrolls than United last year. And they always have a decent amount of homegrown talent in the fold, probably one of the best youth/player development programs in the world.
 
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rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
IDK......United seem to be on the upswing since Jose replaced van Gaal. Yes, he is an asshole but he gets results. I wasn't too fond of him either when he was at Chelsea. lol

Big market teams spend big money. Can't really blame them. Barca, RM, PSG, Chelsea all had higher payrolls than United last year. And they always have a decent amount of homegrown talent in the fold, probably one of the best youth/player development programs in the world.

I'm not sure that strictly that's been true the last few years - I think united have had everyone in England beat in terms of spending and a lot of their "homegrown" talent at this point is bought in from other clubs

Ligue 1 is the supermarket of players. It is a pretty meh league in term of overall level but a lot of talents come from Ligue 1 before being bought by the ridiculously rich clubs of EPL (some prices are laughable for below average player). There are always up and coming players and a few nice teams to follow but we don't follow money-wise so every good player leaves after a year or two.

Except for PSG who just spent all that money on Neymar... lol
 

Tank

Hall of Famer
I'm not sure that strictly that's been true the last few years - I think united have had everyone in England beat in terms of spending and a lot of their "homegrown" talent at this point is bought in from other clubs

They've spent a bunch, no doubt. They've been searching for "that guy" for a while with a few misses along the way. But I think if you look City are usually the biggest spenders in the PL transfer market and Chelsea are always big players as well.
 

Jacquouille

Ravens Ring of Honor
Supporter
IDK......United seem to be on the upswing since Jose replaced van Gaal. Yes, he is an asshole but he gets results. I wasn't too fond of him either when he was at Chelsea. lol

Big market teams spend big money. Can't really blame them. Barca, RM, PSG, Chelsea all had higher payrolls than United last year. And they always have a decent amount of homegrown talent in the fold, probably one of the best youth/player development programs in the world.
I mean, I don't know the whole team but it's been like 4 years where they've had terrible defense and kept on signing offensive players. They keep on going to fancy shiny guys like Pogba and spend crazy like they did for Martial, and I can't appreciate teams that opperate like that. I have much more respect for teams like Arsenal, Bayern or Athletico that recruit smartly and in a healthy way. Winning or losing I can't support a team that is fully dependant on big transfers.
 

Jacquouille

Ravens Ring of Honor
Supporter
I'm not sure that strictly that's been true the last few years - I think united have had everyone in England beat in terms of spending and a lot of their "homegrown" talent at this point is bought in from other clubs



Except for PSG who just spent all that money on Neymar... lol
I don't think you know how much my Facebook feed was blowing up from everywhere during that time lmao
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
They've spent a bunch, no doubt. They've been searching for "that guy" for a while with a few misses along the way. But I think if you look City are usually the biggest spenders in the PL transfer market and Chelsea are always big players as well.

you'd be surprised by how little comparatively chelsea have spent compared to the other big PL teams the last couple of years until this summer - financial fair play was one of the best things to ever happen to them
 

Jacquouille

Ravens Ring of Honor
Supporter
you'd be surprised by how little comparatively chelsea have spent compared to the other big PL teams the last couple of years until this summer - financial fair play was one of the best things to ever happen to them
What I was thinking. I don't remember them spending big, Morata felt like a complete exception. How much did they pay for Kante?
 

Tank

Hall of Famer
you'd be surprised by how little comparatively chelsea have spent compared to the other big PL teams the last couple of years until this summer - financial fair play was one of the best things to ever happen to them

Chelsea have been fortunate in that they have sold a bunch and have had solid pieces in place that have remained healthy and performed consistently well the past couple of years. Good on them, but they still remain big spenders as needed.

With Jose coming in at United you knew he was going to be given free reign to sign as he sees fit. There were some misses and losses during the Moyes/van Gaal period and obvious holes existed. I think much of the "turmoil" was of no surprise as they adjusted to the departure of Sir Alex. If anything they really didn't prepare well at the beginning to cope with losing his touch. Those were awfully big shoes to fill.
 

Tank

Hall of Famer
I mean, I don't know the whole team but it's been like 4 years where they've had terrible defense and kept on signing offensive players. They keep on going to fancy shiny guys like Pogba and spend crazy like they did for Martial, and I can't appreciate teams that opperate like that. I have much more respect for teams like Arsenal, Bayern or Athletico that recruit smartly and in a healthy way. Winning or losing I can't support a team that is fully dependant on big transfers.

I kind of agree in a way, but I've been a United fan a long time and can't dump them just because they are adjusting to losing what was their heart in Sir Alex. Hoping they get back to who they were at some point.
 

Tank

Hall of Famer
you'd be surprised by how little comparatively chelsea have spent compared to the other big PL teams the last couple of years until this summer - financial fair play was one of the best things to ever happen to them

What I was thinking. I don't remember them spending big, Morata felt like a complete exception. How much did they pay for Kante?

here you go........ http://www.talkchelsea.net/news/che...-in-premier-league-history-having-spent-1-7b/
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
I kind of agree in a way, but I've been a United fan a long time and can't dump them just because they are adjusting to losing what was their heart in Sir Alex. Hoping they get back to who they were at some point.
it always looked and felt like a mistake for them to put david moyes in as fergie's successor - mourinho was the obvious guy then and all he took was a 2 year detour to the job via chelsea again
 
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