On Sunday afternoon, Thomas Reis spoke to a group of coaches who are asked to fight with both legs tied together. The VFL Bochum manager said that it should have been more stable in the second half. We haven’t been able to minimize the damage.
The motto against the superclubs is “Minimise the damage”. VFL Bochum walked into a storm in their first season back in the German top flight. They lost to them in September and August. They were down by five after an hour, at which point they brought on two summer signings and Serge.
According to FiveThirtyEight, an American website that uses statistical modelling to offer predictions on politics, economics and sport, there’s an 88 per cent chance of the club winning the league. They would fail to win the title once if they played eight times this season. They are due an off year, I suppose. They’ve won the last 10.
In France, Paris Saint-Germain has slightly higher odds than Lyon, who have won both of their games so far. The only team that has finished above them in the last five years is the one that scored after nine seconds on Sunday evening.
The dominance of the two teams in the domestic market is nothing new, but it is getting a little silly. They have scored 31 goals in their six league matches, which includes the German Super Cup and Trophée des Champs. In their last five games, they have had over 120 shots. This is a nine-month race and not a title race.
There were doubts, as silly as that now sounds. Their eight point cushion last season was their smallest since they won the title. Their departure came with accusations of broken promises, after they lost their goal scorer. In Paris, the circus is always going on: Kylian Mbappe politics, Neymar departure rumors, and an attempted shift in transfer policy. The five new players are all between the ages of 20 and 25.
Context is still a demand of their uncertainty. The spending by the clubs in the German league was higher than in the French league this summer. The dominant clubs are allowed to increase their dominance. The construction of a reinforced concrete floor on your performance is the greatest privilege of being on the fortunate side of wealth inequalities. It won’t get bad.
What this means for the league structures in which they operate is up for interpretation. If match-going, legacy (urgh) supporters demand competition, they can still delight in humiliating the giants on occasion, and ignore that the rest are playing for second place. New fans enjoy watching a dynasty of high-profile, star players dominate as much as they do absorbing title races, according to some research. Even if it is a little depressing, the argument that the gold-plated super-project has raised interest in Ligue 1 as a whole is what holds some weight. Great masters, thank you for our crumbs.
There are doubts about the viability of monopoly leagues. Donata Hopfen, the new chief executive officer of the German Football League (DFL), believes that the league would be more attractive to investors if there was more competition at the top. The end-of-season playoffs are popular in some quarters and would decide the champion. The alternative is a continuation of the procession model, but the cynic might think that it is simply manufacturing a different method for the same likely end result.
The satisfaction of the supporters of the monopolies is intriguing. If a league’s health does not rely on competition, a supporter’s experience does. The enjoyment of victory is dependent on the strength of the fight. Fans can enjoy one or two processional title romps, but the reverence must decrease without competition.
When the league title was confirmed in April, supporters left 15 minutes early because they were still angry at the players and coach. It was called a “star that does not shine” by L’Equipe and Mauricio was fired. To supporters and to the rest of Europe, it felt like title winners.
After a title win, the mood is less perfunctory than before, probably because their dominance is founded upon historic success rather than state ownership. There is a football culture that runs far deeper than at the Parc des Princes. But the titles are still too common. Fans clamor after European success as a replacement for domestic trophies because they don’t provide the same dopamine hit.
That makes a fascinating dichotomy. The glory that is really worth celebrating is the European trophies that supporters crave. It’s the competition vacuum in their domestic matches that makes it more difficult for them to win the league. Money really hasn’t been able to solve the problem. There is always the league table to provide solace.
