Has English Soccer lost all credibility?

Question

I have followed all the premiership action this season and im a loyal fan of the english game, my team is Portsmouth :)
But... with the fate of so many games being decided by players cheating, or bad decisions by the officials and with all the corruption in the game, has it lost the main aim.... To be a game of Football !! Seems to be more about celebrity, money, and scandal. Is a profesional game yet it is very unprofesional! With no television replays in important desisions that end up costing games, points, and even status in a leagues it just seems one big farce. Im going off the game fast, as it is now. Especialy seeing some of the decisions in the recent Sunderland games, the forever diving Ronaldo's and games being decided by cheats acting like superman or wounded soldiers. I love the game, but its turning into a joke !!!!!!!!!!! Anyone agree, you'de be unrealistic not to !!

Answer 1

yes definetley
i must add that i support wolves, a championship team
and you do get people diving all over the place
but i see a lot less of it
i must say i think it is because the premiership has so many foreign players
and im not being racist if anyone thinks it
i also think the referees are at times forced into decisions because of certain players and managers bullying them
and chelsea are the worst for it
AND ITS NOT SOCCER
NOT ENGLISH SOCCER
its football
stupid americans just making up a new name for it

Answer 2

Spoken like an American!

Lost credibility? You must be losing touch. Not one in your examples is an English player. Foreigners bring both good and bad to the Premiership, and that doesn't make the Premiership as a whole bad.

And don't talk like all players dive all the time. In football (soccer), there are fair tackles and bad tackles, unlike in American football where any tackle is legal, in fact the object is to tackle. So, you could really get hurt by a 'fair tackle', and not even get a free kick. The definition of a foul is a tackle made on a player to stop his progress without getting contact on the ball. They HAVE to go down if they are tackled and the defender gets nothing on the ball, whether it hurts or not, because otherwise that foul is never seen unless someone falls!

The referee has to run with the players and can't keep up with long balls, so there will be some wrong decisions. Nobody is perfect. It's Sunderland's bad luck that they've been at the wrong end of some dubious refereeing decisions and that will change. Did you see what good luck Everton saw after the refereeing debacle at Goodison Park against Liverpool that cost them the game?

Wake up! Fates of games are ALWAYS decided by referees and their decisions. Give me a good example of a game in which the referee had no impact. Don't you think the referee's decision to give a free kick won Bolton the game against Manchester United?

I always knew you Americans were easily influenced by the anti-Ronaldo and anti-(club) posters here. There are many posters in other soccer sections you use such claims and say the Premiership is crap. Your claims have no credibility. Why watch soccer in the first place if you didn't like and understand the game?

Unless you understand the game and accept that decisions and divers are part and parcel of the game, you will never fell that it's good.




Do I have the right to say American athletics is crap because Marion Jones did drugs? People would pelt me with stones if I said that!

Answer 3

Yeah, because in the past football matches never had close decisions?

The only reason you think it is an issue now is because it is highlighted more than it used to be. The ultra slow replays, the advent of the internet just makes this info more readily available with then creates the allusion that it is a problem before.

English football is just fine, at least from the domestic side, in my opinion. Only real issue I have is the fluidity of teams. In the past teams could come from nowhere and do well or even win the league nowadays its just impossible for a team beyond Man utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool to win the league unless they are backed by some billionaire.

However that's the same as any league or professional sport nowadays, 3-4 realistic challengers, the rest filling up the numbers.

Answer 4

Football has been ruined by Money.

Look at the state of the Italian leagues. Grounds left half empty because its cheaper to watch it on tv as the right were carved up by TV companies.

The Premier league is where the Italian league was 10 years ago.

Swings and Roundabouts, as soon as attention switches back to Spain or Italy, the Premier league will be in trouble and clubs will end up like Leeds and Forest. Remember them, if you think it can't happen to your club guess again.

So yes, football has lost all credibility. Follow a lower league team, its a lot more exciting, with a lot less corruption.

Answer 5

English football is getting more predictable and boring with each passing season. It is only a matter of time before the bubble bursts and fans of teams outside the top three 'see the light' and spend their cash elsewhere. This is already apparent at EPL grounds up and down the country in places like Blackburn, Bolton, Middlesboro', Reading, Fulham, Birmingham and several more.

A recent study done for the FA, showed that less than 9% of all fans attending EPL games are under the age of 24. That figure only rises to 14% in the Championship. If that doesn't give concern for the future of English football, what will?

Answer 6

English football is a good league with many talented players but the English fans are boring like when theres a goal in the english league all you hear is "yeaaaaaa!!" and the chants are really lame EPL needs a major upgrade on there fans..... take the turkish fans there crazy never stop chanting always active! =D

Answer 7

As a Sunderland suppporter I should agree with you, but I hope we manage to hang on in the Premiership.
I must need my head seeing to, it was much more fun when we won most of our games in the Championship. Still, we live in hope of getting 3 points against Man Utd.

Answer 8

Money has spoiled the game and because the players are on so much money they think it puts them above the game.

Every footballer cheats, sad but true !!!

Answer 9

those probs are minor compared to other big leagues in italy and spain.Compare to italy with all the bribing went on amongst their biggest clubs - ac, juve etc.. and their problems with rioting among rival fans and half empty stadiums...and to spain with its racism problems, and worse diving problems i think.
Hopefully tho they will introduce video replays like they have in rugby, so if a ref missed something, they have an opportunity to re-watch it before making a decision.

Answer 10

You Woman
It's called Football