Whos's your favourite football (soccer) team

[Curse]

How could you.

I like the concept of success.

Not only success in soccer as a game, more the philosophy and the financial health. The whole concept of Bayern München is something I extremely respect and what makes Uli Hoeneß to one of the best managers in the whole country.

[Dasha]

I actually agree with that.

Bayern is a team that have gone big on their own strength. Good, solid policy, whereas most English and Spanish and Italian teams are debt ridden or owned by wealthy people. Same story with most Russian and Ukrainian teams, they're all 'bought together'.

So in terms of that, I really like Bayern as well and Dortmund as well.

My favourite team is Spartak Moscow though. We got the best stadium in the world (Luzhniki) and we used to have a pretty decent coach as well.

[Seattle]

Nah, even though I'm from Europe I appreciate Portland Timbers-Seattle Sounders rivalry and the level of passion "soccer" has seen in the Pacific-Northwest. Just earlier this week Sounders Fc scored this beauty http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZVu-fOq_dM against top Mexican club.

So IMHO Sounders do matter.  

Recognition from a European! We've made it to the big league!

And that was an amazing game! Of course, consistancy problems (like every other sports team in Seattle) are an issue. We ended up tying the Timbers yesterday. 

[mrose]

Manchester United 

[jamier]

Leeds United

[AIRmoe]

CHELSEA!!! 

[SuriProf4]

feijenoord rotterdam

i also like watching fc bayern, eintracht frankfurt, and fc barcelona

[unsaid]

Galatasaray.
It's not over until Galatasaray says "it's over".

We had to come up with this 'cause the team almost never starts good in tournaments.

[[SC] - King Kong]

feijenoord rotterdam

i also like watching fc bayern, eintracht frankfurt, and fc barcelona

Well, again no championship for you!

I'm supporting SC Cambuur

[SuriProf4]

Well, again no championship for you!

I'm supporting SC Cambuur

i know...hopefully second place is reached.

cambuur?? are you serious?   

[swiftus27]

Question.  Are there salary caps in European football?

Most American sports have them in one form or another to prevent the buying of talent

[AIRmoe]

Question.  Are there salary caps in European football?

Most American sports have them in one form or another to prevent the buying of talent

As of now, there is no such procedure in place, although they are introducing regulations called FFP (Finanacial Fair Play), which basically puts a "cap" on the club's finances in general.

[SuriProf4]

it isnot necessarily a 'cap'. financial fair play is more towards teams having a large debt, and their ability to keep their finances straight. it doesnot restrict the amount of money teams can spend like american sports.

fc bayern is a good example of a club running good finances. man city, real madrid are good example of clubs running bad finances.

but the 'bypass' to this is having a large sponsor (emirates, ethiad, etc) basically clear the debt for the clubs that are unable to generate the funds to take care of the debt themselves.

[AIRmoe]

This ^ (I admit, I was little lazy in my earlier reply) ... but a correction, Real Madrid are not in a bad financial situation, neither is Man City. Teams that spring to mind with regards to FFP are teams like Malaga, which have been made an example of by UEFA. Teams like PSG, Man City, and Chelsea are safe for now. Other teams that could possibly be in trouble in the near future are teams in massive debt, even with their huge revenue, like Manchester United, and I believe it's only a matter of time before they themselves got a "sugar daddy"! I'm afraid that's pretty much the way forward, even teams like Barca are getting pampered by the Qataris. The only exceptions I see are the German teams, especially Bayern. A lot to admire, and I wish them Champions League success this year.

[SuriProf4]

maybe bad financial situation is wrong term.......but those two teams donot have the 'best' finances when it comes to the amount of debt they have. i think i saw man city had ~300m in debt at the last winter transfer period and were looking to sell off players and reduce debt before the ffp kicks in.

from a british paper this morning:


Here is the top ten and what they are worth:

1. Real Madrid £2.18billion
 2. Manchester United £2.09billion
 3. Barcelona £1.72billion
 4. Arsenal £880million
 5. Bayern Munich £860million
 6. Ac Milan £624million
 7. Chelsea £595million
 8. Juventus £458million
 9. Manchester City £455million
 10. Liverpool £430million
 
Now here is the debts those teams seem to have:

1. Real Madrid £600million
 2. Manchester United £359.7million
 3. Barcelona £369.5million
 4. Arsenal £104million
 5. Bayern Munich- NO DEBT they have been in profit ever since the 2011-12 season.
 6. AC Milan £298.8million
 7. Chelsea- NO DEBT they made a profit of 1.2million dated April 10th 2013
 8. Juventus £48.65million
 9. Manchester City- NO DEBT but have yet to release their profit margins
 10. Liverpool £237million

[Pilot Oatmeal]

FFP will fix broken teams like Man City and PSG, and hopefully return to the game much needed player development.

As for me...

20 times, and that's a fact!

UNITED!

[AIRmoe]

FFP will fix broken teams like Man City and PSG, and hopefully return to the game much needed player development.

As for me...

20 times, and that's a fact!

UNITED!

Broken teams? ... So going by your own definition, Man U has been broken since the 90s, breaking transfer records and buying everyone! It's a good ol' case here of "if it's us it's fine, if it's someone else then it's wrong" 

[swiftus27]

Talking USA only for a second.
Only in baseball does one find a semi-equivalent to this in the USA.  If you exceed the "cap" set by the league you pay a massive penalty that actually divided among the teams that don't bust the cap. 
Our American "Football" (of which I am a licensed referee for) has a HARD cap you can not exceed.   It doesn't matter if you are a big market team or small, you get the same from the TV contracts and can only spend so much.   
Basketball has a small "soft" cap and a "hard" cap that a team can not exceed. 

Sorry to have to say this but I am very underimpressed by the European system used for the football leagues.  You can go and 'buy' the talent you want if you have the financial resources to do so.  The Yankees in American Baseball can only do this because they have their own cable network and more (but are now unable to fill the stadium on game day)

[LemonButt]

Sorry to have to say this but I am very underimpressed by the European system used for the football leagues.  You can go and 'buy' the talent you want if you have the financial resources to do so.  The Yankees in American Baseball can only do this because they have their own cable network and more (but are now unable to fill the stadium on game day)

I have a degree in applied mathematics and did a research project on team salary versus wins/performance.  The bottom line is the correlation is so weak that it is impossible for a team to "buy" a championship, although I hate the Yankees with a passion.  In 2012, the Oakland A's won 94 games with a $55 million payroll and the Yankees won 95 games with a $198 million payroll.

When it comes to soccer (European football), I would think it is even harder since it is "more" of a team sport than baseball.  In baseball, you have a batter versus a pitcher.  In soccer, you have a team versus a team.  Therefore, it doesn't matter if you have a $40 million striker if the rest of the team sucks whereas in baseball it doesn't matter if A-Rod makes more than the entire Miami Marlins team because no matter what, only one player can bat at a time.

Do those European football clubs own their own stadiums (which would increase the team value)?  I know when I was in Barcelona there was a $30 charge or something outrageous just to go inside when they weren't even playing.

[Pilot Oatmeal]

Broken teams? ... So going by your own definition, Man U has been broken since the 90s, breaking transfer records and buying everyone! It's a good ol' case here of "if it's us it's fine, if it's someone else then it's wrong" 

Nope... Because Mac City and PSG are clubs with invested money from outside investors, they haven't earnt the money to buy the playes, and in essence buy the premier league last season in Man Cities case.

And Manchester United did earn it, through success and wins after Sir Matt Busby/SAF found football talent, developed, and won with them .