Postecoglou gives his take on ‘detached’ idea of a European Super League

Ange Postecoglou has said that while he is not surprised at the European Super League proposal, he accused those who proposed the idea of not understanding what makes the game so special.

Tottenham and the other members of the ‘Big Six’ signed up for the controversial European Super League in the summer of 2021. All six were eventually forced to withdraw from the proposed competition following a spate of fan protests (ESPN).

Just when we thought we might have heard the last of it, it emerged a few days ago that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that FIFA and UEFA had “abused a dominant position” by threatening the Super League clubs and their players with sanctions (BBC Sport).

Within hours of that rule, a new European Super League proposal had been released, but many clubs across the continent, including the ‘big six’ in England, have rejected the new proposal (WION).).

Postecoglou was still at Yokohama Marinos when the initial ESL proposal was made, and the Australian has now expressed his concern that the product would be diluted if more matches and competitions continue to be added to the footballing calendar.

Postecoglou is not a fan of the Super League idea

When asked if he was surprised when the initial proposal was made in 2021, the Spurs head coach told Football.London: “You’re testing my memory, mate. Was I at Yokohama or Celtic? I don’t know! That’s a reflection of where I’m at! Maybe it surprised some people. It didn’t surprise me.

“I often think these decisions are made in a room with some people who are fairly detached from what the real footballing world is about. They think it’s a great idea and then they walk outside that room and they’re faced with reality.

“The one thing that whole period showed us, because we were just coming out of Covid at the time, was that without fans you’re struggling. You’re struggling for anything.

“It was still being shown on TV but no one can tell me it was the same product. We were trying to artificially create atmospheres so it felt like a real football game. It’s kind of a throwaway term that ‘without the fans, football is nothing’ but it does ring true in many respects.

“You’d like to think before they make any of these decisions or ideas come up again, they get a better feeling for what the people who are most important to the game are feeling. Not just the supporters. But even the players.

“That’s my biggest concern at the moment – the saturation of the product we have will deteriorate because we’re putting so many demands on players. Ultimately performances will suffer. Ultimately you’ll get more players missing out because of injury or fatigue.

“We keep coming up with competitions that we think are going to be great. For the most part, money-spinners. Which I understand because that is kind of what grows the game but if the punters don’t like what they see and don’t turn up, it ain’t going to work.”

While Postecoglou acknowledged that the game must be open to change and evolution, he suggested that those who are making these decisions are failing to take into account the ground realities of the sport.

He continued: “Tradition is not always going to win. We know that. That’s not how it works. Sometimes the game does need to move on to keep up with the pace.

“You should test the temperature of the room before you make those kinds of decisions and I don’t think often that is taken into account. Any idea that comes down to numbers in our game where there is so much investment and emotional attachment is always going to struggle to get up.”

Spurs Web Opinion

If there was one positive from the whole ESL debacle, it is the fact that fans demonstrated the power they still hold in the game, with the footballing community (which is often split due to the tribal nature of the game) coming together like never before to fight to preserve the game’s traditions.