I am pleased to say…

By: dan_c | August 18th, 2011

Thank god. Thank god. Thank god.

My Offside account has finally been restored and so I can now begin posting and updating. Fear NOT! This site will not die so long as TheOffside doesn’t prevent me access to post publishing.

So: Today’s analysis is on the plan for La Liga players to strike and stay away from matches on the opening day of the La Liga season, scheduled for August 21, a tantalising few days away.

Now while in a way I feel desperately unhappy due to the ‘cold turkey’ that is football off-season that I’ve had to endure, and the fact that this strike will prolong it, I must say that I back the players on this one.

The problem for the players is that they need assurances. Like in any job, the fear of losing one’s job due to bankruptcy of employers is a a real thing. La Liga is notorious for its clubs who ruin themselves with ambitious spending of money that they just don’t have. One only has to look at Hercules, who caused waves by beating Barca last year, who have been forced to lose players that they simply can’t afford, and Zaragoza who are in an estimated 100m euros of debt, to see this situation. La Liga has to take some of the blame for this. The ridiculous manner in which 50% of tv rights go to the Old Firm (who are simply becoming more and more galling to watch with each Clasico. Barca dive, Madrid bash and break. What a despicable set of circumstances) the other clubs have to take huge risks, many of which end badly.

La Liga is also at fault for allowing clubs to take these risks and be so unviable as businesses. In any other context businesses wouldn’t be allowed to make the sorts of financially stupid decisions that football specifically allows, but La Liga is particularly bad. If only they could follow the model of the two up-and-coming and soon to be superpowers of european league football, Germany and France.

They have usurped Serie A (well, France is about to) and will soon close in on Premier League and La Liga, and this is because their sound policies and principles are paying off. The focus on youth development and extremely good marketing means that Germany and France gain huger amounts of money through tv deals, sponsorship and the selling of quality players THAT THEY HAVE NURTURED FOR VERY LITTLE. While they used to be feeder leagues to the european giants, this is starting to change as they get their own influx of billionaire owners and also their good decisions take effect. Germany for example is the highest monetary earner of sponsorship money in the world.

This is all rooted in the fact that in both nations clubs are forced to operate effectively from a financial point of view. In France every year every club undergoes an assessment and if they are deemed to be financially precarious or even on the bad side, they simply will not be allowed to compete in any competition.

In Germany you aren’t even allowed to be in debt.

Imagine that. If you’re a supporter of Serie, PL or La Liga I bet you can’t.

The argument used to be that this way of running things restricted clubs too much but now that the recession is forcing football to stop its honeymoon period of cash splashing for the most part, France and Germany are developing and getting better and gaining quality at a steady, reliable rate.

The poor players contracted in Spain must be looking across the border wishing that this was the case.

And that is simply why I back the players, because for La Liga to continue without having to rely on a multi-trillionaire sheik buying every single club and wiping the debt slate clean, La Liga needs to make some changes.

So good to be back and posting again!

AMUNT VALENCIA