One easy way to make the Premier League a bit more competitive

Discussion in 'Prem talk, Those Other Leagues, and International' started by HatterDon, May 4, 2015.

  1. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Location:
    Peoples Republic of South Texas
    This has been rolling around in my head for a year or two. I have no idea why it came to mind tonight, but here we go.

    Several years ago, the NCAA cut down on football squad size and limited scholarships for the top level colleges. Why? Because several schools not only recruited the players they wanted, but also those players they didn't want but didn't want their conference rivals to get. It worked … after a fashion. And then, against all odds, the NCAA did something smart.

    The same situation has existed in the Premier League for a number of years. Each summer, Man U, Chelsea, Man City, Man United, and -- to a lesser degree -- Arsenal and Liverpool, splash out the cash for the big money free agents. The two biggest bankrolls -- Citeh and The Undead -- regularly find themselves with five or six top class strikers in their squads, all of them competing against young strikers bought up at bargain wages as "future prospects." So there they are -- the "big clubs" -- with a disproportionate load of talent and a HUGE payroll. What to do?

    Loan, that's what. If you're Chelsea, you can keep your rivals from signing a top flight striker you don't really need, loan that player out to a club not likely to challenge you for European slots, and take his wages off your payroll since the borrowing club will do that. There's an added bonus also. When you play the club you loaned the player to, they have to sit him out when you meet. Five or so years ago, the Premier League featured two goalkeepers on loan from Manchester U. What this meant was that Unite and ONLY United were guaranteed to play four league matches against 2nd choice keepers. They won the league that season.

    So, here's what the Premier League can do. There's already a squad size restriction in place. Just pass a rule that a Premier League club cannot loan out a player to another Premier League club. They can loan him to a second or third tier club, but not to a top flight club. Players are not likely to sign with Chelsea if they know that they're likely to be either idle or loaned out to Blackpool. Ipso bleedin' facto.

    There's a Spaniard in the Works [RIP JWL] in the form of Man City, however. Their tie in with professional clubs in the US and Australia allows them not only to spread players out, but also to cheat the "domestic player rule." So this isn't perfect, but think about what would happen if all clubs in the Premier League looked only after filling their squad with players they had signed. Reduced sized squads filled with unhappy players who can't get the pitch time necessary to get their bonuses.

    What do you think?
     
    #1
  2. jumpkutz

    jumpkutz Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2011
    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    Love it, but it'll never happen. Makes too much sense. And the rich clubs will find a way around it anyway...or just outright kill it. But I like it.
     
    #2
    BarryWhite likes this.
  3. SoCalJoe

    SoCalJoe Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2006
    Location:
    Walnut, CA
    Would love to see it HD, hate that the Premiership is a caste system and one of the biggest reasons I haven't watched much of it this year. What can anyone do with the wealth that the Champions League gives to those Top 4 teams? The television cash they get for qualifying and advancing is so vital to their bottom lines (and gives them such a huge advantage that reaching that goal by any means necessary is paramount. The CL has gotten so big that the best players have it as their goal to play in it and are willing to sign and compete at top club rather than play and star for a mid-table side. I guess it's the yank sports fan in me that that prefers leagues that are based on how good organizations are run rather than who has 250 million more to spend than someone else.

    Another thing they could do is eliminate the $ for places (I think it's about 90o,000+ per place in the table). Chelsea will get 18-20 mill more than Burnley for no other reason that they have hundreds of millions more they can spend in the first place.
     
    #3
  4. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Location:
    Peoples Republic of South Texas
    #4
    encorespanish and SoCalJoe like this.
  5. AggieMatt

    AggieMatt Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2008
    Location:
    Alamo City, Texas
    No argument here. However, the increased tv money across the Premier League (particularly relative to the other leagues in the world) has meant an increase in top notch players choosing smaller Prem clubs where they'll feature. A couple of years ago you would have never seen Ayew, Cabaye & Shaqiri at Swans, Palace & Stoke respectively.

    And the gap is shrinking as it pertains to results on the pitch. No one has broken through the Big 5 to a Champions League spot, but the margins in the table have been shrinking. So it's not all bad. But I do agree that there should be some sort of restrictions set on squad size &/or number of loan outs.

    I don't agree with any sort of salary cap system. That only works when there's no real competition among leagues.
     
    #5
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