Tuesday, January 21, 2014

How long will we stay interested if the gap continues to grow?


City smashed West Ham 9-0 over two legs in the League Cup, and it's not just West Ham who have been put to the sword this year.

I could slaughter Allardyce and his team as they were woeful (and have been most of the season), but the real issue is the strength of Manchester City, and to some extent, Chelsea, Manchester United and even Blackburn before them.

Winning isn't easy. It's much easier when you can buy everyone as your owner is so rich that he just doesn't care about money. I presume it's like playing a football manager game on the easy mode. If Aguero, Negredo, Kompany etc, can't beat a team including Matt Taylor, Roger Johnson and Carlton Cole, then they don't deserve their 200k+ a week.

West Ham have loads of free transfers, average players and maybe 3 'stars'. Even those aren't top level stars, if they were, then one of the bigger teams would have signed them already - even just to be a sub, as it means no one else can have them.

Financial Fair Play is a nice concept, but if teams can pay fines to avoid it, then they will. There's no way FIFA or UEFA are stopping Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea or Man City playing in the top tournaments because they don't balance the books. They just won't. And if they do, the big teams will set up their own competitions.

And it begs they question 'How long will we keep watching?' if there is no real competition.

The fact everyone is losing their mind over Manchester United being average is amazing. Fans of West Ham, Stoke, Newcastle etc, would love to be as average as Manchester United are this year. Not every team can be owned by a multi-billionaire, but those that are will continue to win everything. Youth teams are almost pointless as the bigger clubs will just poach the players when they want them.

It may just be a bitter rant, and new owners do emerge which allows the power to shift a bit, but it's not much fun to watch anymore. Beating a team in your division 9-0 over two legs isn't just dominance, it's an unfair fight. There may be the occasional upset, but are we just watching year after year for the chance of an upset?

A level playing field isn't possible anymore, and it takes some of the fun out of being a fan - and this post isn't about being a sore loser. I'm sure City fans love winning, but I bet some of them miss the days when they actually thought they may be made to work for it.







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