RUFFHAUS 8 wrote:Danivon likes Fulham, and has even embraced (shockingly) their previous American players like Brian McBride and Clint Dempsey.
Criticising America, and in particular the politics, is not the same as disliking America or Americans. Mind you, it was always Bocanegra rather than McBride that I rated (just found Brian a bit ploddy for a forward).
He seems to have contempt for my Newcastle, even though the two teams are not specifically rivals.
Contempt? Where do you get that from? I'm not a great fan of theirs, but it's pure ambivalence. I just don't think they are all that good, and find the hardcore fans a bit gullible at times (the owners are the ones that show contempt).
I don't agree that the German league is better than the EPL (I would put the Spanish league top). I remember a few years ago, when top English teams were outperforming the to German teams in Europe you made the same claim, and that mid-tier teams from England were not as good as their German equivalents. That was before, of course, we beat Wolfsburg and Hamburg to get to the Final of the Europa League. Given that Fulham are mid-table if not narrowly avoiding relegation and their opponents were usually top-half finishers, I was quietly satisfied with that.
Where Germany has a big advantage is in the structure and culture - domestic players thrive, fans flock to cheaper games, and strict ownership and financial regulations apply to avoid the problem of foreign owners coming in and creating massive piles of debt that we have in England. However, the reason for German players doing well is that wages are comparatively low, meaning that some of the top talent leaves but more importantly the best players from outside are not attracted in.
The German and English games are similar - higher tempo, more physical - while the Spanish and Italian games are slower and more skillful (Italians concentrating on defensive skills while the Spaniards tend to the attack).
Wenger - 10 years ago the guy was a genius. Now? Not so much.