As I sat watching the opening minutes of Wednesday’s World Cup semi final between Spain and Germany, easily two of the top five teams in the world battling on the biggest stage in world football, I quickly noticed a trend within the match that may go on to answer the question posed as the headline of this article.

Having caught my favorite part of the pre game introduction, the tactical lineups, I quickly noticed that each starting player (exception – 1) for the respective countries is a current product of that country’s domestic league thus lending fact to the theory that those two domestic leagues spoken of would be the two best leagues in the world. Keep in mind we are talking about a World Cup semi final here.

The Germans all (OK, let’s pretend you’re reading this pre June, 2010 as Jerome Boateng has just completed a move to Manchester City) receive their wages from the Bundesliga, a league that has oh so much right going for it – cost of admission, terraces, grab a beer at the match and financial security. The starting Spaniard’s all kick a ball in La Liga – arguably the world’s most technically brilliant league with two massive clubs.

At first glance, this moment of realization struck me as a bit odd as I pondered where all the players from “the best league in the world”, the Barclays (England’s) Premier League were. Only Spain’s Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), immortal bench warmer Pepe Reina (Liverpool) and yes now David Silva (Manchester City – is there anyone they’re not trying to buy?) represented the Premier League. Not a one of them in the starting line up.

These variables led me to ask myself if  it was now safe to assume that the Premier League in actuality is the world’s third best domestic league, a sign of the league’s waning tide. Or, is the fact that three out of four semi final teams who aren’t largely composed of Premier League players (either didn’t start or don’t have Premier League players on the roster) a simple coincidence that means little in the grand scheme of club football?

Now the point here isn’t anymore drivel about how the English players were bad playing for England. That topic has been written about in depth and change is needed, we can all agree on that. But my reason for writing this post is more of a look at the skill the Premier League continues, or for that matter doesn’t continue to draw in. How did the Premier League fall so far behind? Was it bad decision making in signing new talent, or a series of unfortunate and unforeseen events that caused the Premier League to miss out on the Mesut Ozil’s and Wesley Sneijder’s of the world?

Why now are we seeing the trend of the world’s top stars fleeing the Premier League like some petty bank robber making a get away? In recent years, Cristiano Ronaldo, KaKa, Ronaldinho, Cesc Fabregas, Arjen Robben, Xabi Alonso, and more have all either left, spoken of their desire to leave or snubbed a potential move to supposedly the world’s best league for other leagues in continental Europe – a disheartening trend in and of itself.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the Premier League is my favorite league for various reasons – a sure idea for another post – but what I’m trying to say is now, more than ever, the depth of good talent in other leagues across Europe is more transparent than ever, and the English media, pundits, TV programs and fans of the Premier League should start to show respect for these very leagues as they are due it.

Now is a time of tactics, of ball retention, skill on the ball, passing and so much more than the Premier League’s brutal physicality and full throttle style that continues to entertain all of us week in week out. For all it’s strengths, the Premier League lacks a profusion of technically gifted footballers, passers of the ball and quick passing maestros like those of the Bundesliga and La Liga.

Until England, a national team comprised entirely of Premier League players, progresses to a World Cup or Euro semi final or final, wins a major competition, or the Premier League is somehow able to pry the best Germans, Spanish and various South Americans away from the leagues and clubs they now represent, then and only then will the Premier League be able to reclaim their crown as the world’s best league. It’s just that simple.

Perfection is almost impossible to attain, but given ESPN’s performance during the 2010 World Cup, they’ve come as close as any TV network can get. Commentators, production value, some of the best analysts and beautiful HD broadcasts, it’s hard to imagine any network being able to outdo the level of quality that ESPN has provided viewers in the United States.

Not surprisingly, the TV ratings on ESPN have broken a multitude of records. And World Cup viewership is up 50 percent from the 2006 World Cup with an average of 2.94 million viewers per game.

And now, gulp, there is talk about ESPN considering the prospect of creating a dedicated 24/7 soccer network. Cue executives at Fox Soccer Channel perspiring at the thought of ESPN competing with them head-to-head.

For now, all we have is a quote from ESPN President George Bodenheimer who, when asked whether ESPN was considering a 24/7 soccer network, said Wednesday

“It’s not something we’re actively looking at right now, but I wouldn’t rule anything out given that the company likes to continue to grow.”

While the World Cup is a one-of-a-kind tournament that cannot be surpassed in terms of the scale of the event globally, the chemistry of what makes the World Cup so special is available each weekend during a typical club season. Take a weekend where you have a big clash in the Premier League followed by a top-of-the-table battle in La Liga. You’re likely to see several of the same top World Cup stars playing against each other in games that are sometimes more open and entertaining than World Cup games. Plus the stadiums are likely to be filled with as much passion and noise than you’d see in South Africa. Combine that with superb coverage, production value and analysis like we’ve seen from ESPN during the World Cup and you have the recipe for continued high TV ratings. Best of all, you can carry that across ten months instead of just one for the World Cup. Sure, the ratings won’t be as high as Copa Mundial, but over the course of the season, imagine how attractive the coverage would be for soccer viewers and advertisers alike.

The key for continued high ratings in America is one important ingredient: American soccer players competing at the highest level in Europe or abroad. If soccer fans in the United States can see stars such as Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and others playing against the best of the best, it gives ESPN renewed hope that TV ratings will remain high as Americans get behind their players. And cheer them on even if the two teams playing seem as remote and foreign as they possibly can be.

For now, Bodenheimer’s words are a tease for soccer fans. But for the head of ESPN to even consider the possibility shows you how far soccer has risen in such a short amount of time, how well ESPN has done and how soccer fans have gravitated to this tournament. The sky is the limit for ESPN, which is wonderful news for soccer fans (and ESPN). But it also means that it’ll force Fox Soccer Channel to raise its game in order to compete. Whether they will or not is not known at this time, but it’ll be interesting to watch from the touchline.

Who are the very best young players in the world?  For the purposes of this article, “young players” are those no older than 22.

First there are the obvious: Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Alexandre Pato, Francesc Fabregas, Karim Benzema, etc.  Their class has been established before this mysterious “young” label vanished, and subsequently they command enormous transfer fees, if their clubs are even willing to part with them.  They often aren’t and for good reason.  These are players who will win Ballon d’Ors, change Champions League finals in a single play, and will also sell shirts.

Then there is a second tier of young players who might becomes world class, but aren’t quite there yet: Chelsea’s Mikel, Villarreal’s Giuseppe Rossi, Werder Bremen’s Mesut Ozil, Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain, etc.  Another way of saying this is, although they wouldn’t be guaranteed a starting position on a Champions League final team, they’d at least be on the bench.

Then there’s a third tier of players who are still unpolished and generally unproven, though many people believe they have the quality to go on a to great things.  These are players like Inter’s Santon, Everton’s Rodwell, AZ’s Dembele, Palermo’s Pastore, Bayern Munich’s Kroos, or Athletic Bilbao’s Muniain (the new youngest La Liga goalscorer, or “the Spanish Wayne Rooney”).

What strikes me from these lists, which are meant to be totally cursory and by no means inclusive, is the lack of EPL representation.  Considering the league has come under fire for “luring youngsters away from the academies that developed them”, why do football’s future luminaries seem to ply their trade on the continent?

Some might say they don’t, and that the best youth in the EPL could easily match Serie A and La Liga’s best young players.  Aaron Lennon, Fellaini, Agbonglahor et al, the argument goes, have just as much class.

Teams like Arsenal, Everton, West Ham, and Manchester United have fine traditions of developing youth players into great players.  These traditions, especially at Everton currently, look like they’ll continue.

Yet despite Arsenal’s policy of youth, I see few players who will go on to be world class.  Fabregas already is, Nasri has a great chance of becoming, and for Jack Wilshire and Aaron Ramsey, it’s too early to tell.  But can anyone see Bendtner as Ibrahimovic’s heir, or Denilson as a second Fabregas (or a defensive midfielder, or whatever they want to make him these days)?

In La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, the Eredivisie, and the Bundesliga, these young players have a greater chance of getting lots of playing time and actually being stars.

Would Fiorentina’s Stevan Jovetic (in my opinion the second best teenager in the world, behind only Pato), have started for Liverpool in the match in which he scored against them?

Probably not, likely because he isn’t good enough to do so.  As exciting a prospect as Jovetic, he still could not have replaced Gerrard, Torres, Benayoun, Riera, or Kuyt because he isn’t a better player than any of them.  He does, however, have the potential to be better than the last three especially.  Yet in Liverpool he would ride the bench this season, just as he would at Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, or Manchester City.  He would get chances at smaller clubs, but he wouldn’t taste Champions League football like he does now at Fiorentina.

At the best clubs in the EPL, the competition is too great for young stars to truly break through, it seems.  I don’t mean seeing the least four minutes ten games per season, but rather the chance to play 90 minutes regularly.

With the exception of the “predestined” youngsters – the Fabregases and Messis and  Rooneys and Ronaldos – the Serie A, La Liga, Eredivisie, and the Bundesliga provide better opportunities.

It seems the youngsters and their agents realize this too.  Javier Pastore, Palermo’s 20 year old midfielder, was hesitant to join Manchester United when the rumors were flying because of the lack of minutes.  Instead, he opted to join Serie A’s 8th place Palermo.  He might have joined a team in the Champions League, but now he gets to play about 30+ games per season, ninety minutes each.  His contract lasts until he’s 25, when by then, he could be one of the premier playmakers in the world.

When the “Big Four” come knocking, the theory goes, you don’t turn down the golden opportunity in your career.  It’s supposed to be your big chance to break into the national team, to win trophies, and become an elite player.  This doesn’t seem to be the case in the EPL, with the exception of the truly greatest.

For simply the good players, let Chelsea’s Saloman Kalou be a warning.  When the Blues signed him in 2006, it seemed like the 21-year old could be Chelsea’s Cristiano Ronaldo – a winger who could score lots of goals and dribble past opponents.  Instead, he’s gone from promising star to inconsistent substitute, age 24.  One can’t help but wonder what might have happened if the Ivorian had opted to join a German, Italian, or Spanish club instead of one of the EPL’s elite and hyper competitive giants.  Would the consistent minutes have made him a better player?  It’s very possible.

So its official, Manchester United’s board have accepted a world record shattering bid of £80 million this morning from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo. I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t face another summer of every news outlet boring us to tears speculating on Ronaldo’s future as we had last season. Day after day, hour after hour, miniscule item after item of droning with ultimately no end product.

This means at last Ronaldo can get the move he claims is a dream for him, United can get £80 million for a player who is clearly nowhere near the level he was in 2007-2008 and Real Madrid can keep signing attacking players that won’t win them anything next season. I wonder if Michele Platini is about to launch a stinging attack on Florentino Perez as he clearly spends money the club don’t have. Of course not!

I’m sure some Manchester United fans will be devastated to be losing Ronaldo, there’s no doubt on his day he is a fantastic player, but last season saw his performance fall away from the level he’d set himself. Of course, Madrid’s courting of him all summer only for Ferguson to dig his heels in would have affected him and he once again failed to deliver for Portugal in a major tournament. Missing preseason with an injury didn’t help, but the Champions League final saw him completely outshone by Iniesta, Xavi and Messi.

No doubt Ferguson will be getting some criticism of some of Manchester United’s more uneducated fan base, but there’s no way you can turn down that amount of money for any player. If anything, United are probably selling him at the right time, its doubtful anything he does next season would increase his value, so Ferguson and United are right to sell him now. Ferguson has been slatted before for selling players certain fans thought were irreplaceable but three titles and two Champions League finals in the last 3 seasons answers any criticism the doom mongers may offer up.

United will now probably push on for a replacement, Franck Ribery, Antonio Valencia and Karim Benzema have all been touted as replacements, though United may take two of those with the funds they receive from Madrid. With Madrid buying Kaka and Ronaldo, it probably frees up those three to join other clubs and United will be jostling with Chelsea and Barcelona to sign them up. As for Madrid, Perez’s ill feted galactico scheme seems to have been brought back for the dead and it wouldn’t surprise me if they go after one other massive signing soon. Shame they’ve forgotten how bad the defence was at Madrid last season, so Perez would a fool to ignore strengthening the back line.

The additional aspect of this is that the transfer merry go round should begin to kick off all over Europe now, with the Kaka, Diego and Barry deals being the only 3 major transfers since the domestic season finished all over Europe. The bubble is well and truly set to continue growing in the Premiership and La Liga, and most of the major clubs in both countries yet to start spending, the silly season could be just around the corner.

As for Ronaldo, sure, it’ll be a shame to see him leave the Premiership, but Spanish football and La Liga isn’t far behind in popularity so he’ll not disappear from view. Over the time he spent at Old Trafford, he’s thrilled as many people as he’s annoyed. His performances over the years at club level have propelled him to the forefront of football fans all over the world and his superb season for United in 2007-2008 will live long in the memory. It’s been a privilege to watch him for the last 3 or 4 seasons, but the Premier League and Manchester United will survive and flourish without him.

First of all, a quick, somewhat belated, Happy New Year to the readers of EPL Talk, my fellow writers, and, of course, The Gaffer, to whom I’d like to express my gratitude for inviting me to be a member of his 2009 squad.  I look forward to sharing news, opinions, and participating in debates regarding the greatest sport in the greatest league that we all follow.

Those festive pleasantries provide me with a nice transition into my first contribution for 2009, and a hot topic for some debate.  According to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), the English Premier League is the top football league in the world for the second consecutive year.

The IFFHS generate a ranking using a statistical formula based primarily on the performance of teams from the various national leagues in continental tournaments.  The recent strong performances of English teams in International club competition, particularly the European Champions League, has resulted in the EPL dominating the ranks for the past couple of years.

Before we even take a look at the breakdown, most ardent followers of the game would not be too challenged in throwing together a list of the usual suspects from the best leagues around the world.  Off the bat, most people would guess that we could expect to see the EPL joined by the top flights from Italy, Spain, Germany, Argentina, and Brazil, but the order as ranked in this study may throw a few surprises.

Here is the list of the top ten national leagues according to the IFFHS 2008 report:

1. England
2. Italy
3. Argentina
4. Spain
5. Brazil
6. Germany
7. France
8. Mexico
9. Portugal
10. Ukraine

The complete list of the top 100 domestic leagues

The rankings may raise some eyebrows to say the least and has the potential to spark many other debates and ideas for future articles.

It is not exactly shocking to see the EPL, Serie A, and La Liga in the top four, but I must admit to being a little surprised to see the Spanish top flight fall to fourth spot behind Argentina, and the Dutch Eredivisie (one of my personal picks outside of the EPL) not even able to crack the top ten.  Many people will make the case for Serie A or La Liga to be the strongest in the world, though it is interesting to review the summary of the results to get an insight into the reasoning behind the standings.

There is no doubt that the streets of Buenos Aries and Rio De Janeiro are the breeding grounds for some of the most talented footballers on the planet, but I have always somewhat doubted the strength of the respective domestic leagues purely because it seems that the top talents jet to Europe to earn their stardom and riches.  Thus far, the elite players of South American football have had limited, or at least mixed, success in the English top flight, but there can be no questioning their influence on the Spanish and Italian leagues, dating back at least 20 or 30 years.

Maybe the high rankings of the Argentinean and Brazilian leagues are simply a reflection of the constant stream of talent produced in these countries.  After all, their respective success at the International tournament level speaks for itself.  A call-out to the Mexican league is also in order where typically it seems that not so many players are ‘exported’.

However, on the domestic front, this study really confirms what I, and maybe (or maybe not) many of the followers of this site, already realize; that the EPL is the strongest and most sought after domestic club league in the world.  The English top flight is a massive worldwide product that is ever increasingly difficult to quantify.  The reception that Manchester United received recently in Japan as they embarked on the FIFA World Club Cup mission is just an example.

Champions of the World and the World’s Greatest League

The English League Championship Promotion Playoff Final is dubbed the richest football match in the world, as the winner attains a pass to the Promised Land, albeit in many cases a temporary one.  Television rights to the EPL are unrivaled in terms of global domestic competetions.

Team for team, player for player, coach for coach, there really is nothing quite like the English Premier League.

Agree?  Disagree?  What are your top 5 leagues?  Is the EPL deserving of the top spot?  What about the MLS of the USA ranked just below the leagues of Angola, Ivory Coast, and Finland?

You know what button to hit below and we look forward to hearing from you….Cheers!

It may be just me, but lately I’ve been burned out listening to podcasts. So much so that my weekly diet of half a dozen different shows has now dwindled down to one or two. The same goes for non-soccer podcasts too. I find myself occupying my listening time with my newest addiction, Audible books, but that’s a story for another time.

When I do listen to football podcasts, I find them more enjoyable when I listen to them a couple of days after they’ve published so I can hear whether their mid-week and weekend predictions were on target or completely off-base. It helps me gain a better appreciation of how knowledgable the experts really are.

So earlier this weekend, I tried a new podcast. New for me, at least. It’s been around several months, but now is available only on the EPL Talk Podcast stream at iTunes and here. Hosted by Johnathan Starling, The Third Half is quite unique as it takes you around the leagues of Spain, Italy, England, United States and Europe all in one show.

To me, I judge the quality of a podcast by whether I learn things from it. In the case of The Third Half, I learned quite a bit about the lesser known teams in the Champions League thanks to Starling and interview guest Lonnie Smetana who was interviewed during one of the segments. I also enjoyed the analysis of Serie A and La Liga, which was a lot more well rounded instead of the brief remarks I usually find on The Guardian’s Football Weekly Podcast.

Well rounded is a good description of the entire Third Half podcast. If you’re the type of individual who enjoys learning about what’s happening in most of the major leagues around the world, give the show a chance. Try to ignore the audio quality, which I’m sure will improve on future episodes but listen instead to the knowledgable exchange of football discussion between the host and his guests during the interview portions.

You can hear the latest episode here:

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DISH customers can practically kiss their chances goodbye of seeing GolTV back on their satellite provider.

The 24/7 soccer network says that it doesn’t see any compromise with DISH being reached in the near future and is recommending that DISH customers select an alternate source such as DirecTV.

On August 1st, DISH Network dumped GolTV from its lineup after a contract dispute. DISH Network wanted to reduce the amount of money it paid GolTV based on the per subscriber fee. GolTV rightly balked, but due to no agreement being made, the network is still not available on the satellite provider.

Between August 1st and now, plenty of soccer fans nationwide have cancelled their DISH Network subscriptions and signed up with DirecTV instead. Now that both the new La Liga and Bundesliga seasons have kicked off, expect more DISH customers to make the switch to DirecTV.

GolTV leaves open the possibility of a deal being reached with DISH Network to bring the network back to its lineup, but the ball seems to be in DISH’s court. By the time an agreement is reached, if any, the concern will be that the die-hard soccer fans will have already left the network.

As of August 1, GolTV – the 24/7 soccer network – has been removed from DISH Network due to a contract dispute.

According to GolTV, “this occurs despite efforts to continue GolTV’s availability to Dish customers.” DISH Network, in retort, inserted this message when you hit the INFO button where GolTV’s channel used to be: “GolTV has removed this channel after asking for unreasonable terms to renew the contract and we’re working to solve the problem.”

In the meantime, DISH Network is offering free previews of both Setanta Sports and Fox Sports Espanol to its customers. However, even if DISH Network customers subscribed to Setanta and Fox Sports Espanol, that won’t replace the void that’s left with GolTV gone because GolTV has exclusive license rights in the United States to La Liga and Bundesliga, as well as many 2010 World Cup qualifiers and this weekend’s Emirates Cup featuring Real Madrid, Hamburg, Juventus and Arsenal.

For DISH Network, the decision to remove GolTV is idiotic. Hopefully this a short-term disagreement between GolTV and DISH Network that will be resolved soon, but the timing couldn’t be worse and soccer fans will want to make a decision soon whether to leave DISH Network before the new seasons begin. My gut instinct says that this issue won’t be resolved soon especially when GolTV tells readers on its homepage that “You can find GolTV on our current distribution partners,” which includes DirecTV.

If you love GolTV, my recommendation would be to simply cancel your DISH Network subscription and move to DirecTV where you get GolTV there instead. If you’re upset about the situtation, vote with your dollars by leaving DISH but don’t forget to send them an e-mail too to let them know why you’re cancelling and moving to their biggest competitor.

DISH Network can be contacted here.