With J Hutcherson -- Since everybody else is setting up their end of decade features, I thought I'd jump the line. The biggest surprise over the last decade? Easy, still no European Super League.
This is easy, but stay with me. There was a time when people not even remotely interested in soccer would have taken one look at the European model and wondered why they simply didn't put together a European league. Explain the Champions League, Europa League, and the various domestic league and cup competitions, and there's an obvious solution.
Eventually, it was UEFA and FIFA who got what they wanted. The major European clubs disbanded their lobbying group, got their opinions watered down courtesy of the UEFA-backed European club lobby, and the talk of a true breakaway European league died down.
That's not to suggest talk of a Super League is completely off the table. Though it's not like it was, with rumors that major components like sponsorship might already be in place, it's still Europe's great might-have-been.
Some people would substitute 'should' for 'might' in that last sentence. At least for now, 'won't someone think of the smaller clubs' actually won out. There is no Super League, the Champions and Europa Leagues are far from a Super League by another name. Manchester United and the rest of the bright lights of Europe still shows up for their league's cup.
Why am I surprised the Super League didn't happen? Because it still makes more sense than the current model. Purists exited the conversation when the English Premier League broke away from the Football League in the early 90's. What we're left with looks like a transitional system based on maximizing revenue for elite clubs. The best way to do that is to carefully define the elite.
People really running European club soccer should be all but begging for a Super League, regardless of what it does for smaller clubs, domestic leagues, or FIFA's latest point - the competitiveness of National Teams. FIFA and UEFA can make all the power plays they want, impose all the rules they want, and see how many clubs continue to nod along.
In the big picture sense, it changes nothing. The elite clubs have the power, they're paying the massive contracts and transfer fees, and they're actively creating global markets for their brands. Eventually, they'll realize they don't need suggestions of a Super League through international tours, an extra game played overseas, or UEFA's Champions League. They simply need a Super League.
Moving on, we've got two writers joining the site this week. Stefan Bondy's first article went up yesterday, and Michael Lewis makes his USSoccerPlayers debut this afternoon.
Comments, questions, solutions to problems that have yet to present themselves. Please, tell me all about it.
