Why for me it just edges the Premier League
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For many years now the Premier League has been regarded as the best on the planet, with a passion and quality that no other league around the world could compete with, and after reading an article on this very topic last week – more specifically why the Premier League was better than La Liga – it got me to thinking if that was actually the case anymore.
Certain arguments get brought out time and time again in support of the Premier League – it is more competitive, more physical, there are better players, less diving and a more passionate fan base. Yes some of these may well be the case, but in other respects, La Liga can more than compete with the Premier League.
One of the reasons people claim the Premier League has the edge on La Liga is the competitiveness. In Spain it is claimed that the big two of Real and Barca sweep all before them, always have and always will, where as in England there is a much more even race for the title, and the ‘best of the rest tag doesn’t apply here.
Well sorry to bust that bubble, but since the beginning of the 90’s there have been four winners of the Premier League – United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Blackburn Rovers. In the same time, there have been five different winners of La Liga – Real, Barca, Valencia, Deportivo and Athletico Madrid. Look further back and you’ll also see Bilbao, Sevilla and Sociedad in the mix. Perhaps more winners than you might have expected?
Yes more often than not it has been Real or Barca at the top of the pile, but in England this is not so different, with United dominating since the Premier League began, having firstly Arsenal to challenge them and then Chelsea in more recent times. Anyone who will tell you the Premier League is an open race is either deluded or lying to you.
To claim that La Liga is disappointing because you can predict the top two or even four before the season has even reached half way is somewhat strange – City, United, Chelsea, Arsenal / Spurs. No I am not moonlighting as mystic meg, I am simply making the point that the Premier League is not that different in terms of competitiveness.
This season again will be a two horse race, albeit with Manchester City as the challenge to the ever present United, yet City have won nothing yet, and despite adding themselves to the mix, this does not mean the Premier League is now more competitive than before. To claim the title will be a six horse race is quite frankly as believable as John Terry claiming to be an upstanding member of society. Teams such as Liverpool and Spurs are not challenging for the title, they are trying to get back into the top four, and secure a place in the Champions League. In actual fact, there is already a bigger gap between the top of the Premier League and third place than there is in La Liga.
This brings us on to the ‘best of the rest’ argument, with Premier League supporters claiming that the English league is more competitive with the strength and depth of our Champions League teams, with the top four being an open race whereas in Spain the places are pretty much guaranteed to go to the same teams.
Again, this is a misguided assumption. Until Everton managed to pip Liverpool to the final Champions League spot the tag of ‘top four’ applied firmly to Arsenal, Liverpool Chelsea and United. Yes Newcastle may count themselves as a former representative in Europe, and may well fancy their chances of repeating this again, but despite Everton and Spurs making cameo appearances in the top four, the English ‘best of the rest’ is no more or less shocking than La Liga’s is.
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Your argument is as flawed as your sense of judgement. Your views are lax,everyone(except you,evidently) knows the premier league is the most unpredictable league in the world. The only suprise result last season was Hercules beating Barcelona. Who would have guessed that the english Champions would get beaten 6-1 in their own backyard? Or that arsenal with their amazing away record would get annihilated at old trafford? You must be a martian.
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joe Reply:
November 14th, 2011 at 9:47 pm
England is the most unpredictable league in the world? Did you even look at the numbers, which by the way are well documented and can be found easily all over the web. Look at Barca, losing to Hercules or Madrid losing to Levante. Look at teams like Athletic, or Valencia, or Sevilla, who always threaten the big two. If you base a leagues quality on lack of predictability then England is among the worst in the world, along with Spain, while leagues like the Brazilian or American MLS are some of the best leagues on earth.
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joecoxsuka Reply:
November 15th, 2011 at 1:25 am
All we have to do is look at the last two seasons – this it the league as it is now, and therefore we can clearly see how competitive the league is – La Liga is boring. Just Barca or Real given a pasting most weeks, then tripping up but still getting a 1-0 win or 1-1 draw. There are no thrashings of the big guns. And no one cares about 12th vs 15th. Stoke vs Bolton last week was a total turn up for the books and was thoroughly interesting and everyone I know watched it.
2010/11
La Liga (34 points between 1 and 4)
1. Bar 96
2. Mad 92
3. Val 71
4. Vil 62
Basically the top two lose a game and that is season over, as the other never loses. It is like Scotland. Yes Barcelona are better than Prem #1, but the overall league is just an awful competition.
Oh while we are here… let’s look at the 2009/10 season… Valencia and Sevilla really threatened then…
1. Bar 99
2. Real 96
3. Val 71
4. Sev 63
… 36 points difference from 1 to 4.
The past two seasons in the premier league has seen the title race switch round between 3 teams. Last season we has just 12 points difference between 1 and 4th place. And even with Spurs creeping into the Champions league in 2009/10, they were only 16 points off the top. As for the relegation battles in the Premier league – you can’t beat that last day as you seriously have no idea what will happen.
La Liga of two vs the 20 team Premier League. As a competition the PL wins hands down by several miles
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What a load of Tosh sure the top 2 in spain are out of sight but the rest just dont compare premiership teams position for position i.e 3rd vs 3rd etc would beat any of them except Barca or Madrid and even then City and United would have a chance of winning
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joe Reply:
November 14th, 2011 at 9:50 pm
La Liga has had greater success in europe in the last decade as well, proving you wrong. Teams like atletico, athletic, sevilla, valencia, villareal, and mallorca have all made impacts outside of spain and could handle themselves fine against the EPL, the EPL is inflated by the english speaking media so that all teams seem great while outside of la liga you only hear about real and barca, but that does not mean the other teams arent there
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I’ve always enjoyed the skill levels of the spanish and italian leagues and in the 90′s the spanish league had depth but over the last few years, the way the money has been devided Real and Barca have taken it back to a 2 horse race. Too many other clubs now sell their best players after a good season to pay their debts. Plus look how often the big 2 have won the league compared to the rest. At least here you get a new dominator every 15/20 years. Unfortunately Spain is looking like Scotland now and that is sad.
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Rebecca you forgot the part about the Enlgish league having over 20 winners in it’s history while La Liga has only had 9. Apparently this article assumes football only started in 1992.
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joe Reply:
November 14th, 2011 at 9:52 pm
She didn’t say the best ever, she said it is shifting towards La Liga now, which would indicate that she is not referring to the entire history but rather the last few years to a decade, so yes, it only started in 92
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Sorry dude I can’t watch la liga it bores me to death. Sure barca and real are good teams but it’s boring. I wish I knew more. but does la liga have big games that end in drubbing of the top sides? such as we have seen from the arsenal, spurs, man u games already? Chelsea, Citeh, Man u and arsenal (spurs soon I hope) can all be judged as contenders at the start of the season. Although it does look like the money machine that is citeh will definitely make it a one horse race. For me I like the drama, Passion and goals. I hate the refereeing and I hate the english attitude that makes players like catamole rated. The sooner the thugs are taken out of the prem the better. I for one would like to see some of the top european refs in england and vice versa so we can get some dazzling football to go with the passion. Overall prem league is still the most exciting but a long way from great football each week. Where that leaves la liga I have no idea for me it’s barca and real and that’s it. the rest is a lot of pushing the ball sideways and boring. regardless of how many teams have won the respective leagues, it’s really about value for money and being entertained. La Liga doesn’t deliver. How many countries is it beamed to around the world and how many people watch it?
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Thiago 11 Reply:
November 18th, 2011 at 8:44 pm
Does la liga have big games that end in drubbing of the top sides? Is that a fricking joke. Sure they’re not quite up there with crappy-defending top english teams, but don’t you remember 5-0 and 6-2 against Real and 5-0 against Atletico and Villeareal this season. And that’s only for Barcelona.
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I’ve always wondered about League superiority and having watched both of them I for some reason don’t find La Liga to be that entertaining, that’s how I rate it, not so much competitiveness but entertainment value. A great many PL games have been entertaining this year, and there’s an excitement to them, La Liga doesn’t lack in quality, it just doesn’t have that same excitement, for me anyway.
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The Prem is much more exciting and throws up more surprise results than La Liga. I wish there was a statto out there who could confirm this, but I think it is something that most people can intuitively tell. On a game-to-game basis it is more competitive and that is the reason millions around the world watch it. I live in Asia and no one watches La Liga games unless the big two are playing, but all Prem games are watched. This isn’t only because of the advertisers and Murdochs et al, it is because the game is better to watch and people know to a certain extent anything can happen. Spanish football is often like a precession in comparison. This has nothing to do with skill or quality, just entertainment value and competitiveness.
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Our leagues better then your league nerrr nerr . What a pointless discussion.Each to thier own I say .I prefere the Prem.But I´m sure others don´t agree.Rebecca who by the way?
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