La Liga v English Premier League!

Sorry guys, this had to be done after what happened in the 'fascination with real' thread and to save Skully from having to move peoples posts around.

Im going to start by answering a post by 654321.

I will start by agreeing that there is absolutely no question that Spain have better keepers. Reina, Casillas and Valdes are three of the best keepers in the world in their own right and that is something the English national team is lacking.

In defense however i think we are way out in front. Puyol is Spain and Barcas weak link, mainly through lack of height and strength and is famous for clumsy play. Pique who i rate very highly is no Ferdinand or Terry who as well as being two of the greatest defenders in the world at the moment, are absolutely fantastic leaders. Ramos is a cb playing at rb and so he lacks the attacking flair and crossing ability a normal rb would have. Ashley Cole speaks for himslef and there aren't many, if any other lb's in the world who are better so in defence i think we are way out in front.

In midfield i think that although you are right that Xavi and Xabi Alonso are two of the best in the world in their position, its a complete different position to Gerrard and Lampard. Xabi Alonso is a defensive midfielder and Xavi is a box to box midfielder. Proof is the amount of goals each player scores. Iniesta on the other hand is one of my favourite players playing today and is an attacking midfielder but does not get as many goals or assists as a Lampard or a Gerrard and he is in a far more attacking team. He isn't anywhere near his peak though and will be up there with the greatest ever before he retires.

Now strikers! Defoe is literally an old school english finisher, he doesn't get involved in the play and just smashes them in which is awesome but unlike Villa he can't play on his own up front and he isn't the best header of a ball. I will say though that Diego Forlan, a player that may i say 'SUCKED RHINOCEROS COCK', in england was the top scorer in La Liga two years running ahead of players like Raul, Eto'o and Villa himself. He couldn't get 10 league goals over here so it would be interesting to see if Villa would do better.

We could be here all night arguing between Rooney and Torres. Rooney has scored an untold amount of goals with his head this year and so i'd say it was difficult to compare the two at that. Pace wise id say they were pretty close too. Rooney might not score as many as Torres when he Torres in fully fit but his work rate is far more impressive. Rooney does a lot more work tracking back etc. I know Liverpool play with two defensive midfielders so that Torres doesn't need to and finally strength. I think you would find it difficult to find many players stronger than Rooney so he wins that one too.

but...dont worry, im nearly finished. Depth wise, there is no contest. Spain have far more quality players in every position than England and that i think, is the only reason that they are better than us.

Im done. If you did read all that then you deserva a medal.

All those players are a product of our league and so i say the Premiership is better!

I don't think any league is inherently superior to the other. Both leagues are entertaining, competitive, fun to watch and filled with world class players. I just get tired of the slavish worship of all things Spanish and football related. The top teams in both leagues are excellent, but I don't think England is vastly superior to Spain. I think we have a couple more teams of high quality than Spain does, but only a couple. Get below fourth in Spain and you're playing average teams who occasionally get a big result. Get below sixth in England and the same applies.

I've posted my thoughts on Villa in the other thread, but I'll outline them again here. I think he's a top notch striker, but top notch strikers are surprisingly easy to name. For me, Defoe fits into the bracket of top notch striker but he's been unlucky in that since reaching his peak as a player, he's never played in a side whose entire attacking plan is to feed him chances.

Diego Forlan... I'm a Man Utd fan and I loved his energy, determination and work rate, he just lacked the footballing brain to vary his runs. Luckily for him, Spanish defences part like the Red Sea against players who run in straight lines and boy did he ever fill his boots against some of the worst defending on show in any top league in Europe. I was delighted for him, as I thought he deserved success for the great spirit he showed at United.

As for depth... I think Spain's depth is a paper tiger, much like England's. Get beyond the first choice XI and with one or two notable exceptions in each team, you're looking at cut-price, low-rent versions of the players who're missing. (Cesc rarely gets a proper run for Spain, Carrick has yet to get a good run for England. Beyond that, you're pushing for truly world class players not playing for either team - Spain's widely agreed upon 'keeping superiority aside.)

Like I said previously, I don't think either league or national side is vastly superior to the other, it's a matter of shades in both cases. I just get bored of the English inferiority complex and fascination with the exotic.


-EDIT- On that basis, I've had to abstain from voting as I think the EPL shades La Liga in terms of overall strength, but Spain are a marginally better side than an in form and confident England side. Again, I emphasise my belief that it's marginal in both cases and neither is streets ahead of the other.

Dude, why can't I say it like that lol! Well said!

Where's the option in the poll for "about the same"?

I had the same question. There can't be much in it.

Judging purely by the way Barcelona are murdering Arsenal at the moment (OK maybe a bit strong considering it's 0-0...EDIT 0-1!...EDIT 0-2!)

You'd have to say La Liga by a mile

But then of course of you could say how it took them over 3 hours of football to score against Chelsea last season

Obviously it's not that black and white though

EDIT - WOW they've come back...i'll shut up now

This is the thing. The players in Spain are better. However the defending in England is quite a bit better. On technical ability alone Spain is far away the better league. Entertainment wise, u can't argue that EPL is better.
The only criticism i'd have of defenders in England is that they go to ground to quickly to tackle. This seems to be passing over to Spain as well now, as they're just clueless how to stop the likes of Messi and co.

Another thing i'd say is that in Spain, because of the way they're bought up, they play football. No matter wot league position. You can't say the same here. This is a difference in approaches. Yes teams sit back in La Liga as well, but not as much as here.

You get more spectacular goals in La Liga, but again that's down to difference in techniques.
I think even the Spanish leading journo's agree the EPL is the league that's ahead right now.

The last thing I'd say, is that for football connoisseurs, La Liga is the one to watch.
Each league has it's own benefits. Different strokes for different folks

I think people knock barcas defending too much, when thier at their best they are pretty hard to beat,last night match they were compleatly dominant Arsenal couldnt get near them for 60 mins then they let thier foot of the gas,the best form of defense is attack,if you have the ball and keep it the other team cant score

On the international side of things

englands defenders arnt better or worse their probably on a par.
Puyol and Rio are about the same
Pique is very underated imop and to be honest jhon terry hasn exactly beena at his best for a couple years.
heres the 09-10 stats
spian have let in 12 goals and scored 49
england 10 scored 31

A very close call, but I go for La Liga.

Well La Liga is stronger right now because they have the two best players in the world (Messi and Ronaldo) and Barcelona, currently the best club side in the world.

But historically speaking, The English and Italian leagues have a much better history. The Spanish league has been, and probably always will be about Barcelona and Real Madrid. Remove those two clubs from Spain and you have a bunch of mediocre clubs. 4 different clubs have won the European cup in England, three in Italy. There's a better variety of clubs in England and Italy, take Liverpool and Utd out of England, and you still have Arsenal,Chelsea,Spurs,Villa,Newcastle,Leeds etc...

In Italy take away the Milan Clubs and Juve, you have Fiorentina, Roma and Lazio.

In Spain you don't really have that. And only nine different clubs have ever won the Spanish league.