I spoke with some of the Italians I work with on this. They do get frustrated by the money advantage of English clubs but they respect the Premier League as a competition and the fans of the clubs. That’s the fundamental difference.
It’s great that the Inter, AC Milan and Juve fans now pay an interest and know what’s going on with SAFC. One of the lads has a season ticket at Como so has promised he can take me to a game which will be fantastic.
Signing Xhaka genuinely shocked them: The AC Milan fans would have happily had him there.
Funny, bet they weren’t complaining when they had all the money in the 90’s.
That said, that era set Italian football back years and the PL needs to remember that.
Mind, the PL is the best marketed and developed league in the world, could argue one of the best marketed businesses full stop.
The reason the PL bubble isn’t gonna burst, like some say it will, was obvious during Covid when other leagues started early and we had to watch them.
It IS the best top league to watch by a distance (not as good to watch as the championship overall), and it will always be watched worldwide.
Spanish football is slower with less goals, Bundesliga is like PL at a slightly slower pace and level, French is too defensive, Italian is rather predictable.
Also, we complain about a big 6 at times but it does have shock moments. Spain is Real & Barca with one team possibly joining Athletico for a flirt every few years.
Germany is just Bayern. Leverkusen had their year.
France is a closed shop.
There are 4 genuine shouts for the PL this year, with United and Spurs improving, clubs like Forest having a right go, then anywhere up to 10 clubs that can go down, maybe more.
The PL is a genuine competition and that’s why it’s loved.
If us and Leeds stay up, that will only enhance that by stopping the ‘closed shop’ question.