No to Rosell's European Reforms!

Barcelona President Sandro Rosell has put forward reforms that would change the English Premier League forever. His ‘vision’ is for the Premier League to be reduced to only 16 teams, […]


Barcelona President Sandro Rosell has put forward reforms that would change the English Premier League forever. His ‘vision’ is for the Premier League to be reduced to only 16 teams, which would therefore allow fixture space for Champions League games to take place on weekends, or perhaps even space for more European friendlies. “We could perhaps play Barcelona versus Manchester United on Saturdays” were the wise words of Mr Rosell when speaking at a conference in Doha, Qatar.

The man with the 'plan'

My fear, which i’m sure is shared by other’s is that this would devalue the Champions League. The excitement involved in watching European’s elite is derived from it’s infrequency. Games such as Chelsea v Barcelona, Liverpool v AC Milan, Manchester United v Real Madrid and Inter Milan v Bayern Munich would lose their appeal if they were played on a monthly basis.

A sight we could be seeing more frequently on our televisions. Would this be too much of a good thing?

The idea of watching the best teams play football more often is one which is attractive perhaps on the face of it, but at what cost will it come? Mr Rosell’s proposals would involve reducing the Premier League and other domestic Leagues to just 16 teams. I can’t help but think Rosell’s comments stem from the boredom of watching his team literally destroy their opposition week in, week out. Barcelona have already recorded 5-0 wins over Villarreal, Atlético Madrid and Mallorca this season, as well as an ‘entertaining’ 8-0 victory over Osasuna. Perhaps if the Spanish La Liga wasn’t deteriorating into the likes of the Scottish Premier League in terms of competition, then Rosell would be satisfied with his own domestic league and stop attempting to sabotage ours.

The English Premier League is the best in the world, and that is why it is the most watched. I feel as though reducing the teams in it, and thus the fixtures would have a negative effect. Would season ticket holders of non champions league teams still get their moneys’ worth? Would increasing the amount of ‘friendlies’ really make European football more exciting? The idea of tampering with the beauty of the Premier League is not a fresh one, due to the obsession with making football more ‘global’. NO! it’s my Premier League and I don’t want it changed in order to make Europe seem more ‘connected’. It’s bad enough now there is a Welsh team in it…….

In all seriousness I would say no to the proposals put forward by Mr Rosell and any other proposals put forward by Sepp Blatter and the other idiots involved in FIFA who are intent on ruining European football as we know (and love) it. For me there is nothing better than sitting down on a Tuesday and Wednesday night to watch Champions League football, with a cold can of whatever beer are sponsoring the competition that year. It is isn’t broke, then don’t fix it!

Heineken, this years sponsors of the Champions League