The European Super League is Undoubtedly the Worst Idea of All Time

If you haven’t heard, over the last week some news broke about multiple big-named European soccer clubs agreeing to join together to create a Super League. Apparently, these clubs are willing to pull a Kevin Durant and ditch their current domestic league for the Super League and leave the rest of European soccer in obscurity. The clubs that have been tied to the report include: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, PSG, Juventus and AC Milan (LOL). As you can see it’s all of the biggest and best clubs from each of the top leagues in England, Spain, Germany, France and Italy.

I have a few gripes with this incredibly dumb idea but the first is how in the hell were AC Milan included? In what world are AC Milan one of the best clubs in Italy, let alone Europe? They’re kind of like the New York Yankees in the fact that they have all the history but haven’t exactly done much as of late. AC Milan have failed to crack the top 5 in Calcio A in the last 5 years. Good thing this new Super League wouldn’t have a relegation system for the founding members otherwise AC Milan would be like a Kentucky freshman, one and done. What a slap in the face to Tottenham, Atletico Madrid and Napoli.

But in all seriousness, I cannot begin to fathom why anybody thinks this would be a good idea. To start, this pretty close to the exact concept of Champions League. Taking the clubs that finish in the top 3 or 4 in their respective country in the previous season and putting them in a competition the next year to see who is best. So essentially the super league is currently taking place right before our eyes, just in a different format.

If this every did come to fruition, it would end soccer as we know it. The beauty of the current system in soccer is that any team can win. In a span of about 8 years, Leicester City went from 3rd division soccer to winning the Premier League. Not only were Leicester able to get promoted twice but they were able to hang on the entire season and win the Premier League in 2016 against other would be Super League teams in Chelsea, Arsenal, the 2 Manchester clubs and Liverpool. With the current system you could literally start a team yourself and in a number of years make your way to the top division. That’s exactly what RB Leipzig in a matter of 7 years starting from the bottom and making to Bundesliga, albeit they were flush with cash. The current system is perfect. It’s almost too perfect. There’s a reason that these leagues keep signing massive TV deals and that the game is seeing more money than it ever has. A Super League would cripple domestic leagues and there’s just absolutely no need for it. If something like this ever happened, I believe I would stop following soccer as closely as I do. Give me Chelsea vs some mid table team like Burnley any day of the week.