Wenger predicts 'inevitable' European super league

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Wenger predicts 'inevitable' European super league

 

Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal vs Burnley - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - May 6, 2018 Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger waves to the fans after the match Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs

 

(Reuters) - Outgoing Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says a new European competition will revolutionise the sport in the next few years and force Premier League matches to be played midweek instead.

 

The Frenchman has guided Arsenal through a fair share of changes throughout his almost 22-year reign in north London and believes that a European super league will be the next major development.

 

"The next evolution... in a few years you will have a European league over the weekends," Wenger told British media.

 

"A domestic league will play Tuesday-Wednesday. That is the next step. It will happen and it will be soon because it is a way for other clubs to fight against the Premier League."

 

The 68-year-old said that a new elite competition was imminent as big clubs across Europe were unhappy with the current distribution of revenue from domestic TV income with their smaller counterparts.

 

"It is inevitable... Why? Because the big clubs will say that if two smaller clubs are playing each other nobody wants to watch it. People want to watch quality. So we have to share the money but nobody is interested in you," Wenger added.

 

"If you want to make it (Premier League) more attractive you have to go down to 16 (teams) and make a real competition of it. It will be smaller if it (the big teams) goes to Europe."

 

Wenger, a member of the UEFA Elite Coaches Forum, says the change will also help European soccer's governing body tackle the issue of shrinking Champions League audiences.

 

"It will be soon because it is a way for other clubs to fight against the Premier League," Wenger said. "There's a contrast there because if you look at the audiences of the Champions League it is not fantastic.

 

"But if you have Real Madrid v Barcelona, or Real Madrid v Arsenal, or Manchester United v Bayern Munich every week the audiences will be good."

 

Wenger will lead Arsenal for the final time in Sunday's league match against Huddersfield Town.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-05-12

[stephenterry]

Good riddance to the elite. It would make the EPL more entertaining, IMO.

[champers]

On current form, what makes him think Arsenal would be part of any super league?

The ECL has become dull, dull,dull for neutrals. The group stages are barely worth watching, last 16 less so, last 8 on it really gets interesting.

I miss the likes of Ajax and Benfica being real live contenders. They are no more than feeder clubs now.

[tso310]

Does Wenger seriously believe that the top leagues in Europe will only play mid-week ?  And he's left the current Arsenal squad in a total mess. As has been discussed in the UK press he may have raised the standards when he came in but in the last few years the standards have overtaken him due to his failure to adapt. 

[Jonnapat]

The gulf between the top few teams in the 5 main European leagues and the "rest" is obvious for all to see.

Especially in the EPL the games between the top 6 and the others are often painful to watch with one team having 75% possession and find themselves against a 10 man wall. Not entertaining for most neutrals.

Only Serie A has been competitive this year in terms of winning league and I imagine that Wenger will probably prove to be correct in a few years time.

The European elite playing each other regularly is a great idea.

[SantiSuk]

Makes sense only to the marketing and money men. A f*** u moment for the fans of all the big league countries, other than the champagne-quaffing set who can afford to make a couple of handful of weekends away on the firm to watch their team and entertain clients in admittedly attractive locations like Rome, Munich, Marseilles and Barcelona.

 

Despite the fact that I might have had the opportunity to be one of those lucky wallahs (had I not found a much more productive and interesting lifestyle raising a family in paradise in my dotage) I do hope that the national leagues fight against it long and hard.

[MrMuddle]

I can't see any other way forward other than to have a European league. The Championships of France, Germany, and Italy have one club winning them almost continuously, while Spain has 2 (or very infrequently 3) clubs that are their League Champions. This has now extended to the local cup competions too, most of these sides are now winning the double or even treble in their domestic countries.
England is the only major League that isn't yet dominated by one or two teams. What other solution is there ? I imagine the fans of the other teams in most countries are sick to death of their sides having no chance of winning anything. Any attempt to restrict the financial power of the likes of PSG, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, Juventus, Man City, Chelsea, etc is quickly circumvented by the legal teams that these clubs employ.
I would have thought though, that the European League would be more exciting under lights, than to be played on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.