Indeed, and there's the argument that a less competitive League is a less attractive product to market.
Sometimes, I just wish all the rich clubs would finally bugger off and do this EuroSuperDuper League that keeps getting brought up, and leave the rest of us to get on with the proper football.
People like Ayre and others only look at the revenue clubs like Barca, Real and Man U are pulling in - but they don't look at it in terms of a
system of leagues. You can't just pull the most popular clubs out of their league context and attribute their earnings to the club alone. The top Premier League clubs are still league clubs, within a league system. They don't make all that money in a vacuum. In the long term, they are not bigger than the league - just as no player is bigger than a club.
Big clubs find ways to advantage themselves even within a more controlled league like the Bundesliga or MLS - in both cases there are teams with bigger markets and more money than others, and they tend to have more success on the pitch - but the rules prevent the kind of domination we see in La Liga and the Premier League. This setup is much better for everyone except for owners and agents out to make unlimited profits on their investments. And if that is what JW Henry is after he can go straight to hell.
Financial rules should not favor bigger clubs. Otherwise, you might as well adopt
sporting rules that favor bigger clubs as well (they've
earned it, right?). Perhaps Man U's opponents should always have to start with ten men. Or Real's opponents should have to play with an open goal. Or Chelsea's opponents play with a goal that is 1 foot wider and taller. Or Liverpool gets to kick their opponents without repercussion. Or the Argentinians get to handball- oh.
UEFA BS - two match ban plus the one game Hate Tariff.
I have not read any official explanation for why a
three match ban was imposed, but I find it hard to believe that the player, the FA, or even the ref can find any mitigating factors in Wayne's favor. He wildly barged into Dzudovic and then kicked him on purpose. He looked crazed. I can understand why England fans will not want to lose him for three matches but it was a flagrant, violent (if not particularly dangerous) foul. He obviously deserves a ban, but I don't know enough about UEFA's disciplinary precedents to argue for a specific length.
