England vs Spain

It’s a long running argument, who has the better league, England or Spain. Naturally, most Premier League followers believe it to be them, whilst followers of La Liga reckon that nothing beats the skill seen across the continent. Ok, so Spain have Ronaldo, Messi, Kaka, Xavi & Iniesta, officially now ranked as the five best footballers on the planet. But what else do they have? They don’t have the unpredictability of a team like Wigan beating Chelsea, Liverpool’s slow decline down the league table and champions Manchester United crashing out the cup to a League One side. There were glimours of that in Spain this season when Real Madrid were miserably beaten 4-1 by third division side Alcorcon, but in Spain, this is a very rare sight. It is so uncommon that the big sides like Madrid and Barcelona drop points to teams near the bottom, whereas in England nowadays it is becoming more and more common that top sides are being beaten by teams you wouldn’t usually expect them to lose to.

The second part of my argument is the fans, yes the fans of the so called “big four” aren’t the greatest but beyond that the passion and flare that runs through them beats anything ever seen in La Liga. An atmosphere over here can have such an effect on a game, in August, Burnley had their first ever home game in the Premier League, and of all teams it was at home to Manchester United. The support of the home crowd has seen them through that game and many other matches at Turf Moor, whilst away from home, with a small support, the team has stuttered and failed to win, showing just what effect an atmosphere can have on a match. Even down to the depths of League 1 & 2, fans come out on the terraces, usually in freezing conditions every week to follow their side. Even Leeds United, who have fallen down the Leagues in recent years still turn out higher crowds than most of the bottom teams in the Premiership. Even the Millwall fans, yes we don’t condone violence but it definitely adds something different to the atmosphere when the Londoners’ turn up to play, an extra spice to the match which is sometimes from missing from places like Old Trafford and the Emirates.

There is no doubt that technically, the La Liga is a lot better. When players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo turn out on the same pitch, you can guarantee tricks, flicks and plenty of spectacular football. With the loss of Ronaldo last season the Premier League probably lost its best and most controversial player, which certainly gave La Liga some bragging rights for the summer, as Real Madrid were out spending over £250m worth of money on new talent to take over as the best team in the World. Manchester City tried a smaller version of that, but with nowhere near the same reputation as Real, they had no chance of grabbing such superstars.
Over here, I believe our league is much more physical, crunching tackles week in, week out, add an extra something to the game which always gets the crowd riled up. Sometimes though, the referees are easily capable of ruining this, too many times now a player is sent off for a good, hard tackle or a wrong decision. The play stops so much now it’s difficult to get a good passage of play going, perhaps the refs in Spain let play flow more, allowing better football and probably a better spectacle for the fans.

Overall, after many years of enjoying English football, I would have to say our league is better. Yes, we don’t have the players that Spain do anymore, but they don’t have our passion. But if it’s any consolation Spain fans, you probably have a better chance of winning the World Cup than we do!