FC Barcelona Fans?

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Nah, pretty average league. Bundesliga all the way,

I enjoy Bundesliga too but would hardly call La Liga an average league. Real Madrid and Barcelona are The 1st and 3rd most valuable sports teams in the world. No where in the Top 10 will you find a German football club.

Real Madrid Tops The World's Most Valuable Sports Teams - Forbes

Barca and Real have a roster of great talent and huge world wide support, that means that La Liga is in the Top 4. With all the Football Leagues through out the world, I would not classify Spanish footie as "pretty average".

I have pics of Bono wearing a Barcelona jersey at a 360 show I attended during that tour. Apparantly as an Irishman he feels the club is worth a look

Perhaps German heritage or other personal tastes are clouding your views....
 
Don't really follow La Liga. But I do support Real. :wink: Getting tired of Barca's tiki-taka. When Barca get in front, they make the match unbearable to watch. Just endlessly passing it around in midfield.

I only follow the Premier League, aside from the Belgian League of course.

Also, you can't judge a league on the best two teams. The gap between Barca, Real and the rest is enormous. You can say the same of Bayern. The worst part is that they just buy the best players of the only team that can rival them.
 
Don't really follow La Liga. But I do support Real. :wink: Getting tired of Barca's tiki-taka. When Barca get in front, they make the match unbearable to watch. Just endlessly passing it around in midfield.

I only follow the Premier League, aside from the Belgian League of course.

Also, you can't judge a league on the best two teams. The gap between Barca, Real and the rest is enormous. You can say the same of Bayern. The worst part is that they just buy the best players of the only team that can rival them.

Kompany is a Belgian player I have always respected and enjoyed. I hope to see Belgium succeed on the world stage as they are a under-valued country in Football terms..

Premier League suffers from the same problems that La Liga, Bundusliga and Seria A suffer from. 1-4 big clubs always dominating.

Man U and their band wagon supporters have been the worst since 1992 when the Premier League first opened. Almost every year it's the same club winning or maybe Chelsea and in the late 90's Arsenal. I really enjoyed seeing Man City take it a few seasons ago in such a dramatic fashion.

A few years ago my friend and I were in Manchester to see Oasis in concert. We were at our own table and talking football. He started talking smack about Man U and some guy overheard him. He comes over to our table grabs my friend by the shirt pushing him up against the wall and demanding that he apologize for putting down "the greatest football club in England and the world!".

I took the guy from behind and pushed him away. He then pulled out a knife and tried to stab at us but by this time was grabbed by security and held for the Police. We were told to leave and not show our faces in their Man U bar again.

Now, I did not know it was a "Man U Bar" and freedom of speech entitles us to our opinions without the threat of violence. Since that day, my dislike of Manchester United has grown so that they are the one sports team I really loath. I can respect the skills of their last manager-Ferguson but the ignorance and arrogance of the fans drives me crazy.

When I converse with many football fans on various sites and on-line communities I find most Man U supporters are very unaware of the history of their team. They don't even know who was the previous manager to Alex Ferguson before he joined (Ron Atkinson was his name) or even more shocking "Munich Air Disaster"!

They regularly express comments about their club being the "Best and Greatest In The World". Their main trophy success is: 3 Champions League Victories (Liverpool who are their biggest rivals have 5, AC Milan have 7 and Real Madrid have 9!).

The other "big bragging rights of Man U fans" is their 20 League Titles.
(Real Madrid have won the league 31 times, Barcelona: 22 Times, Bayern Munchen: 23 times) Even Liverpool is only two behind them at 18.

Now that the numbers are clear. It means Manchester United are not the Greatest Football Club In The World but Real Madrid are. It is hard for me as a Barca fan to admit it but it's true.

Real Madrid recieved the award for the "Most Successful Club of the 20th Century" and the fact they top the Forbes list as the "Richest Sports Club" in the world means Man U supporters need to wake up and smell the coffee!

You "Red Devils" have had your years of success under Ferguson BUT will never see that again. Just like Liverpool was in the 70's and 80's. I am hoping for a more open ended Premier League this year with teams like Tottenham Hotspur or others be able to gain more ground in the League and not just all those horrid Man U wagoneers.
 
I happen to be a huge Man United fan. :sexywink: But I'm not a bandwagoner. Well I am, in an innocent way. I became a fan when I was 6-7 years old because one particular tv station always showed Premier League matches just when I came back from school. They often showed United and they always won. So that's how I became fan. I can't say I know too much about the history though (I do know about the crash). But who cares, I'm not a diehard fan. I just watch some of their games on shitty streams.

And Man City winning the league was horrible. Talk about an artificial, yes bought, top club. You've at least got to admire how Ferguson built a top team with not a great amount of money but with mainly youngsters.

And about the titles, the most impressive feat is that the majority have come during the last 20 years. They've dominated English football during that period and they're also among the top 5 (definitely not thé greatest) European clubs of that time. That's where all the jealousy comes from I guess. You're either a fan or you hate them.
 
La Liga has only two competitive teams, which makes it a monumental waste of time. A league cannot be judged on it's elite, obscenely "valuable" or rich clubs. It also needs to be assessed on some kind of competitiveness and sportsmanship.

And Bundesliga did produce officially the two best European teams of last season, Champions League is the scale of that.
 
Well I guess that settles it then. All other leagues are monumental wastes of time.

Ha ha well said. It seems the Germans are thrilled at having success again since 2008 Euro Cup it has been solid Spain in charge.

Barcelona completed the greatest triumph in 2009 ever when they took home every single trophy they could for a total of 6 in one season! That has never been done by any other club - German or English included.
 
La Liga has only two competitive teams, which makes it a monumental waste of time. A league cannot be judged on it's elite, obscenely "valuable" or rich clubs. It also needs to be assessed on some kind of competitiveness and sportsmanship.

And Bundesliga did produce officially the two best European teams of last season, Champions League is the scale of that.

Bayern is #12 on Forbes list of wealthiest sports teams so they are a "rich club" like Barca and Real Madrid too.

Don't you think with all the $$$ being spent by Bayern and also some $ by Dortmund? This is the same situation with Bundusliga as in Spain, and many other leagues that are made up of a two horse race.

Think beyond the German pride for a moment to realize professional sports and especially Football are all very $$$ driven at all costs. So whatever of the "big leagues " you choose to watch. It's all about the money being spent to attract viewers.
 
But surely the competitiveness of the J-League, A-League and MLS have a lot more to offer the week in, week out football fans? The gap between trophy-purchasers like Man Shitty, ManUre, Real Madrid, Bayern and Bar$a and the rest of the clubs in their respective leagues just seems both unsporting and grotesque?

The Bundesliga is admittedly not much better (although it has shown some admirable competitiveness spanning the last decade compared with England and Spain).

I personally think that the most inadequate measure of how good a league is is by using Champions League success as a yardstick, but if one is to use this as a measure (because it ignores that there are usually 19 other clubs in the league), surely Germany wins based on last year's Champions League final?

Most hideously of all is what is happening to Ligue 1, with Qatari money turning PSG into a shopping trolley full of talent. Sad days for French football. They'll purchase some Champions League Titles sooner rather than later. Poor Sochaux, Evian and Nantes will never again get a look in
 
But surely the competitiveness of the J-League, A-League and MLS have a lot more to offer the week in, week out football fans? The gap between trophy-purchasers like Man Shitty, ManUre, Real Madrid, Bayern and Bar$a and the rest of the clubs in their respective leagues just seems both unsporting and grotesque?

The Bundesliga is admittedly not much better (although it has shown some admirable competitiveness spanning the last decade compared with England and Spain).

I personally think that the most inadequate measure of how good a league is is by using Champions League success as a yardstick, but if one is to use this as a measure (because it ignores that there are usually 19 other clubs in the league), surely Germany wins based on last year's Champions League final?

Most hideously of all is what is happening to Ligue 1, with Qatari money turning PSG into a shopping trolley full of talent. Sad days for French football. They'll purchase some Champions League Titles sooner ributes rather than later. Poor Sochaux, Evian and Nantes will never again get a look in

Well put. I fully agree with you and since I live in Vancouver, Canada. My Whitecaps are in the MLS so yeah it has more diversity but not as much as you think....LA Galaxy keeps pushing their weight around and have won the league a number of times. Here in North America they do a "Play- offs" idea which contributes to the variety vs just strictly point basis.

Overall the football in North America is second rate and played on turf pitches so I still like Europe the best.
 
Remember when underdogs Wolfsberg took the Bundusliga? That was one of the coolest things I have seen in years!
 
Well put. I fully agree with you and since I live in Vancouver, Canada. My Whitecaps are in the MLS so yeah it has more diversity but not as much as you think....LA Galaxy keeps pushing their weight around and have won the league a number of times. Here in North America they do a "Play- offs" idea which contributes to the variety vs just strictly point basis.

Overall the football in North America is second rate and played on turf pitches so I still like Europe the best.

Considering the last serious attempt at pro soccer/football in the US failed due to teams like the Cosmos buying up all the talent and small market teams going out of business... I think the MLS style of keeping teams as equal as they can in is vital to the league's long term success. Eventually Garber will take off the training wheels, but the growth of the league thus far has been strong.

I do disagree with their insistence on putting a second team in NYC so soon... I think it'll eventually lead to the Red Bulls going out of business.
 
Considering the last serious attempt at pro soccer/football in the US failed due to teams like the Cosmos buying up all the talent and small market teams going out of business... I think the MLS style of keeping teams as equal as they can in is vital to the league's long term success. Eventually Garber will take off the training wheels, but the growth of the league thus far has been strong.

I do disagree with their insistence on putting a second team in NYC so soon... I think it'll eventually lead to the Red Bulls going out of business.

Me too. Why does New York always think they need two teams for every sport. !
 
I do disagree with their insistence on putting a second team in NYC so soon... I think it'll eventually lead to the Red Bulls going out of business.

It's risky. I was adamantly against a second team in Melbourne, but have been pleasantly surprised that they have been able to develop a support base. I thought the timing was far too early and that they would fold within two season. 3 seasons in, their average crowd sits at 9000 per match, while foundation club MV sits at 22000.

Meanwhile in Sydney, last season, foundation club SydneyFC average 14,300 while brand spanking new club West Sydney averaged 14,500. A resounding success for a new club.

You never know. If they get the brand and engage the right target market (especially geographically), NYC FC and New York RB could coexist. Hopefully, they can.
 
It's the league's decision, not the city.

And when you have double the population of the second largest city in the US, you get an extra sports team.

Headache In A Suitcase, you have just answered Question #22 on my life long list of odd questions. Thanks. Of course that makes sense due to population size .

That is the reason why I don't give as much credence to the Brazilians and their bragging rights of 5 world cups. Here is the formula for this.

Brazil has the 5th biggest country population in the world ( 200 million approx) + biggest football following nation for population size = more top players and more international success.

You see China ( # 1 population at 1.3 Billion) and India ( # 2 population 1.2 Billion) don't have the same fantastic ism as Brazil and neither does USA ( #3 at 316 million in Population) who puts their own sports ahead. Indonesia ( #4 at 247 million in Population) doesn't have the same passion as Brazil either.

One final point is the 1994 World Cup Final ( what a snooze fest!) featuring Brazil vs Italy that ended 0-0 in extra time and so then went to the crap- shoot of "penalty kicks" which can go either way very easily .

This means that Italy today would have 5 world cups and Brazil 4. Considering Italy is 23rd in world population with only 60 million vs Brazil's 200 million, that shows favour to the Italians who have less players per population base in which to draw talent. Yet the Italians have 4 world cups!

I have noticed a trend that shows a countries focus on the game + population size in which to draw talent = success.

So Brazil and others need to check their gigantic attitudes at the door for the next World Cup and realize this formula.
 
But you're only as good as the eleven blokes on the field, not an entire population.

Those "eleven blokes" on the field are there because they represent the best of a nations "football population". Therefore, the larger the number of "footballers" in any given country = more talent in the pool to draw from= success.

Very simple formula.
 
That assumes that everyone plays football. Some countries are quite apathetic to the sport, and the quality of a national side is also dependent on the level of investment in and quality of development programs. India, for example. They invest money in cricket and hockey, not necessarily or primarily football.
 
Only tangentially related to the topic at hand, and not sure where/who to address this to...but since all the other major sports threads are year-round mega-threads, it seems to make the most sense to me to have two year-round soccer/football threads instead of a bunch of smaller threads. One for club football (Champions League, Premiership, Bundesliga, La Liga, MLS, A League, whatever) and one for international football (World Cup qualifiers/finals, Euro, Copa America, Gold Cup, Confed Cup, friendlies, etc).
 
Kompany is a Belgian player I have always respected and enjoyed. I hope to see Belgium succeed on the world stage as they are a under-valued country in Football terms..

Premier League suffers from the same problems that La Liga, Bundusliga and Seria A suffer from. 1-4 big clubs always dominating.

Man U and their band wagon supporters have been the worst since 1992 when the Premier League first opened. Almost every year it's the same club winning or maybe Chelsea and in the late 90's Arsenal. I really enjoyed seeing Man City take it a few seasons ago in such a dramatic fashion.

A few years ago my friend and I were in Manchester to see Oasis in concert. We were at our own table and talking football. He started talking smack about Man U and some guy overheard him. He comes over to our table grabs my friend by the shirt pushing him up against the wall and demanding that he apologize for putting down "the greatest football club in England and the world!".

I took the guy from behind and pushed him away. He then pulled out a knife and tried to stab at us but by this time was grabbed by security and held for the Police. We were told to leave and not show our faces in their Man U bar again.

Now, I did not know it was a "Man U Bar" and freedom of speech entitles us to our opinions without the threat of violence. Since that day, my dislike of Manchester United has grown so that they are the one sports team I really loath. I can respect the skills of their last manager-Ferguson but the ignorance and arrogance of the fans drives me crazy.

When I converse with many football fans on various sites and on-line communities I find most Man U supporters are very unaware of the history of their team. They don't even know who was the previous manager to Alex Ferguson before he joined (Ron Atkinson was his name) or even more shocking "Munich Air Disaster"!

They regularly express comments about their club being the "Best and Greatest In The World". Their main trophy success is: 3 Champions League Victories (Liverpool who are their biggest rivals have 5, AC Milan have 7 and Real Madrid have 9!).

The other "big bragging rights of Man U fans" is their 20 League Titles.
(Real Madrid have won the league 31 times, Barcelona: 22 Times, Bayern Munchen: 23 times) Even Liverpool is only two behind them at 18.

Now that the numbers are clear. It means Manchester United are not the Greatest Football Club In The World but Real Madrid are. It is hard for me as a Barca fan to admit it but it's true.

Real Madrid recieved the award for the "Most Successful Club of the 20th Century" and the fact they top the Forbes list as the "Richest Sports Club" in the world means Man U supporters need to wake up and smell the coffee!

You "Red Devils" have had your years of success under Ferguson BUT will never see that again. Just like Liverpool was in the 70's and 80's. I am hoping for a more open ended Premier League this year with teams like Tottenham Hotspur or others be able to gain more ground in the League and not just all those horrid Man U wagoneers.


You open a thread about barca fans, and proceed to slaughter United,United fans all the way through it, not a bindipper by any chance are you!
 
When I converse with many football fans on various sites and on-line communities I find most Man U supporters are very unaware of the history of their team. They don't even know who was the previous manager to Alex Ferguson before he joined (Ron Atkinson was his name) or even more shocking "Munich Air Disaster"!

[/QUOTE]

Instead of conversing with "fans" online, why not actually try conversing with match going fans, people who do have knowledge of their club, the vast majority of United fans I know, are well aware United are not the greatest club in the world, success wise, thats not the reason they support the club.
I accept there are a lot of idiots out there who spew out that drivel of "we're the greatest" but United fans aren't the only ones guilty of that.
 
They regularly express comments about their club being the "Best and Greatest In The World". Their main trophy success is: 3 Champions League Victories (Liverpool who are their biggest rivals have 5, AC Milan have 7 and Real Madrid have 9!).

The other "big bragging rights of Man U fans" is their 20 League Titles.
(Real Madrid have won the league 31 times, Barcelona: 22 Times, Bayern Munchen: 23 times) Even Liverpool is only two behind them at 18.

Now that the numbers are clear. It means Manchester United are not the Greatest Football Club In The World but Real Madrid are.



Supporting a football club ain't about winning cups fella, I first went to OT back in '74, check your history books, United were in Div. 2 that season, I was a 10 year old kid, and was hooked before the game even kicked off, we were playing Hull City at their old Boothferry Park ground(what a shithole!) but the atmosphere inside the ground was electric, United fans filled almost 3/4 of the stadium and created an atmosphere which still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and that was it, over 30 years of attending matches both home and away, through good times and bad, and by the way nearly always being the best supported club in the land, until the glazers took over, last match I attended was just 2 days before those c*%&$ took charge, & I haven't been since, nor will again whilst those b$%^&*ds "own" the club!

Another point about your supposed best clubs in the world, do in your wildest dreams think Real Madrid, Barca, B.Munich or any of these other so called giants would have had such support through the turnstiles United were getting, if they had had such spells of lack of success as United did through the '70's & '80's, not a fucking chance!
 
You "Red Devils" have had your years of success under Ferguson BUT will never see that again.

Even if that statement comes true, we'll still be UNITED! & I very much doubt someone like you will ever understand that!
 
A few years ago my friend and I were in Manchester to see Oasis in concert.


Guess I should have read your post more thoroughly, anyone who'd leave their house to watch those fucking chimps must need round the clock supervision!!!!!:wink:
 
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