La Liga is in fine fettle - the arguments against
There is, of course, a strong case to suggest there is no need to be concerned about the health of the Spanish league.
There is, of course, a strong case to suggest there is no need to be concerned about the health of the Spanish league.
For a start, Javier Tebas stated that he is confident of a resolution to the television deal. Currently, Real and Barca enjoy a 49% share of the money from broadcasting, although Tebas is optimistic that their portion will diminish to 34% by the 2014/15 season.
Tebas said: “We’re working towards a similar situation to that in England.”
In England the governing body, the Premier League, deal with the money from broadcasting rights and then distribute the monies in a more even manner. “In three or four years it will be like that in Spain,” Tebas affirmed.
Mind you, Tebas would say that. No lawyer would admit to having little chance of winning his case. Acknowledging the chances of victory are slim would only hinder his argument.
The former LFP vice-president also claimed that this period of dominance from the big two is nothing new. Historically, they are Spain’s two most successful clubs with 51 La Liga titles between them.
Tebas said: “It’s been 60 years that these two clubs have been at the top in Spain so it is not just because of the television money. Even throughout these years there have been occasions when the competition has been good and that someone else (other than the big two) have been at the top.”
Their supremacy is nothing new, but the distance between them and the rest has reached an unprecedented level. Never has the gap been so wide and it is showing no signs of abating. In the 2009/10 season they both recorded a record points haul and last season was more of the same.
In addition, they both reached the last four of the Champions League and, arguably, would have met in the final had they been kept apart in the draw. Of the three major trophies on offer to the top Spanish clubs (the Champions League, the Copa del Rey and La Liga), all ended up in the hands of Barcelona or Real Madrid.
Phil Ball, author of Morbo: the story of Spanish football, argues that Tebas will succeed as the rest of Spanish football demands it and, therefore, Barca and Real will have to respond to that demand. In turn, the fans will demand it too.
He said: “I think Tebas is right. In three or four years from now the money from television will be more evenly spread.
“Barca and Madrid can argue that, given that they generate all this (TV) money anyway, that they should have that amount (49%) of the pie. (But) I don’t see how you can sustain that argument over a long period because if the league continues, if the bridge continues (to widen), then by the nature of logic the league becomes less competitive and it messes up those who are at the top of it – Barca and Madrid. In the end they have a vested interest in the league being competitive.”
This would ring true in most other countries but in Spain things are a little different. Not least because the fans tolerate the dominance of the big two far more than in any other country due to what has been termed ‘second club syndrome’. This is where many Spaniards support one of Real or Barca in addition to their local club. And this devotion is evenly split which enables them to tolerate the lack of competitiveness within La Liga.
When asked to confirm the theory of ‘second club syndrome’, Grimsby fan Ball concedes: “That’s an interesting point. I had not thought of it like that because that’s definitely true. You can go to any pueblo (small town) in Spain and knock on the door and say: ‘who do you support – Barca or Real?’ and they’ll give you an answer. And the answer they give you is not always football based. It is a political, cultural answer. A lot of Spanish people won’t accept this argument but a lot of them do.”
Ball recognises that things have changed in recent years. He added: “Since the whole ‘galactico’ thing at the beginning of the century the face of Spanish football has changed. It was never like this (the gap between the big two and the rest) before. There was a feeling of democracy before but not now. You’ve got a three-tier league. There’s Barca, Real. Then there are those teams who aspire to reach the Champions League placings. Then there’s the rest.”
There is an equally strong argument that suggests it is just two tiers – Barca/Real and the rest. It is more conceivable that any of the other eighteen Primera Liga clubs reach a Champions League spot (finish in the top four) than it is that Real or Barca fail to finish in the top two. This is quite a statement. Could you imagine Norwich City or Wigan Athletic qualifying for the world’s most prestigious club competition? No? Well this illustrates just how unlikely it is that Barca or Real will finish outside the top two this coming season and for the foreseeable future.
Tebas argues that it is only the last two years. More importantly, he adds, Barcelona are dominating with an exceptional team that has been made largely through an astonishingly successful youth scheme and good management, not through spending huge amounts of money on transfer fees.
He said: “Looking at Barca, their big stars were not bought, they were made in Barcelona.”
However, this is ignoring the massive signing on fees Barca pay and a world record in the history of sport on wages.
For the first time in history a football team, or make that two football teams, have topped such a list. The average wage for a first team player at the Nou Camp is £4.94m annually, and at Madrid £4.6m. The average Yankee earns £4.2m a year. So it is not just impeccable grooming that keeps Barcelona on top.
Finally, Barcelona crushed Manchester United at Wembley this year to be crowned Kings of Europe. Surely this augments the belief that Spanish football is in rude health.
However, Pep Guardiola is constantly linked with a move to English football due to a craving for the competitive nature of the football and Mourinho regularly refers to the Premier League in wistful tones. In addition, Arsene Wenger urged Cesc Fabregas to ignore the overtures of the Spanish giants if he is a competitive footballer.
No comments:
Post a Comment