Sky are starting a new channel and calling it the European Football Channel. Sky have got the Spanish football and I think they've just signed up, somewhat desperately, the Dutch zzzzzzz league. Meanwhile BT have got the Italian, French, and German leagues. Sky also have the Champions League but they're losing it next year to...... BT.
Yeah precisely. And BT has hit back with a pretty simple but effective advertising capaign aslong the lines of "European football channel? We've got ****loads more than you plus the Brazillian league". It wont work though, Sky have conditioned people in England to think all foreign football that isnt Spanish is ****. See how much they suddenly talk up the Dutch league and everyone will now think it's the 3rd best in Europe.
The other day Van Gaal said, now he's at Man Utd, he's managed the biggest club in each of the four biggest leagues in Europe. From that we have to take that he thinks the Dutch league is one of those four big leagues. Come on Louis. With respect to Ellewoods, if Jozy can score 40 goals in one season in that league, then it's not a strong league.
One of the four biggest leagues? Bigger than the Italian which Van Gaal left out? His Ajax were obviously strong or they wouldn't have won the Champions League but that doesn't mean the Dutch league as a whole was strong or that it was stronger than the Italian league. Also Van Gaal used the present tense. He thinks the Dutch league is, and was back then, one of the big four leagues.
It was one of the big leagues back then. In fact I think I remember his Ajax team were ranked 2nd in the world. Italy hogged the top country ranking for ages, so no the Dutch league was never as big as the Italian league, but it was a big league, and ranked ahead of England and the premier league for bloody years, just to put some context into it.
Interestingly Sky advertise this as a free channel, however the cost of the sports package increases by £4 per month. I smell a rat from Australia!
I get the full sky package and the whole bill is going up £4, on the back of the letter it gives a breakdown, and basically £1.50 is for movies and entertainment packages and £2.50 is for sport. I am now going to be reducing my packages because paying almost £70 a month is getting too much
Same here. I pay for the all singing, all dancing package. I will be likely removing Movies, will just start BUYING them of Piratebay
I presume you've never watched it then. It might not be one of the stronger leagues in Europe, but it's good to watch.
Any game potentially can be enjoyable. I can enjoy watching a park game. As Van Gaal said himself the Dutch league is "tactical". Tactical often means like a game of chess. Yes in a way that can be interesting but it doesn't mean excitement.
I'm pretty certain all leagues are tactical. Eredivisie more goals per game than the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and La Liga.
I think he meant the Championship. Remember he has a long term contract at Man U. and will be managing them in the Championship next year.
Serie A had until recently (I havent checked last year, might still be the case) more goals per game than the EPL for six years straight. I always used that stat when everyone told me it was boring and then magically it changed to "well that's cos all the teams are ****e". I'd argue with anyone that the EPL is the most defensive of the top leagues in the world. Nearly every single team lines up with 1 striker, the fact that we were identified as 'naive' for playing 2 strikers tells its own tale.
I personally believe that the Dutch league is one of the best in the world and you can really see some great football there. Sure. It doesn't compete with the Spanish, German, English and French league for millionaire football clubs with vast and endless pots of money but it has a great infrastructure of grass roots football which consistently produces some of the bed players in the world and other good players. Dutch league is a real league that hasn't been completely devalued by billionaires money. There are some great leagues in Scandinavia, Belgium, Russia, Holland etc that get overlooked.
