- May 12, 2010
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It's about as sustainable as that mad city that's just a 20 mile long line or something. Just further insanity brought on by limitless wealth.
I’ve never watched any of it and have no idea how good the Saudi players are but as the foreign players go he probably has one of the poorer squads, Al Hilal probably the strongest.Who’s got the best team is it Gerard’s?
Nunu managed the winning team last season.Who’s got the best team is it Gerard’s?
Saudis probably realised they signed the wrong JotaApparently, Jota is already leaving
Saudis probably realised they signed the wrong Jota
More ageing players...Mitrovich/Laporte going and United are in talks to sell Varane, shit is getting real.
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I bet they are trying. This needs to be blocked.
Clearly the key to motivated footballers is Tubby custard then.Nunu managed the winning team last season.
I always wondered what happened to Jan Mølby.
Prob will interest a lot of people in Asia/ME/AfricaStill honestly can't see myself being greatly interested in a Saudi match for years and years, if that, and not until the individual clubs form some sort of identity. As of now I just think of players 'going to Saudi', I see the club mentioned and forget it 5 seconds later. I may watch clips/highlights of games to see what certain individuals may do (like Messi in the MLS) but never a full match.
Would rather watch a Championship match and I can't see that changing any time soon.
Do any of these kids actually watch football though? I know that sounds like a silly question, but my gut says that they’re more than likely completely absorbed by FUT and so don’t really care about where a player is playing, so long as they get them in a pack.(Posted this in the Veiga thread but also here since it's much more relevant)
For the international or FIFA-obsessed young football fan that cares more about individual players than teams or football culture they'll happily switch to the Saudi league without too much thought.
(Posted this in the Veiga thread but also here since it's much more relevant)
For the international or FIFA-obsessed young football fan that cares more about individual players than teams or football culture they'll happily switch to the Saudi league without too much thought.
They're clearly going all in on the recruitment and no-one can compete with them in that area so I think it will live or die by the lifestyle and overall product.
Was listening to a podcast the other day and apparently the games are all played in obscene heat and the attendances are largely pretty pathetic (half full 30k stadium for Jordan Henderson's debut at 35+ degrees).
The real test will be in a year or two when the novelty wears off for the first wave of players that have gone there. Do they all start coming back to Europe after 1 or 2 seasons of tax-free millions? Do they complain about the conditions, lack of fan culture and lifestyle? Or do they re-sign and just ride the Saudi money train for the remainder of their careers?
Right now we're only seeing the appeal of the money, but it's hard to sustain a league or generate long term excitement if players are only willing to sign short-term deals and/or start complaining about the league and leaving Saudi clubs at the first opportunity.
And if that starts to happen what do the Saudi clubs do in response? Start only offering longer deals and refusing to let players leave? Then players start to get wary of signing for them as they don't want to get trapped in Saudi for 4-5 years...
It gets complicated.