We're the Prem de la creme
By TONY LITTLE
Published: Today
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THE Premier League is officially the strongest competition in the world - with HALF of their players a current full international.
And almost two out of every three top-flight stars have played for their countries at some time, a major FIFA-backed survey has found.
The Professional Football Players' Observatory, a Swiss-based research body, has just published its census of the top leagues in 36 leading European football nations.
The PFPO analysed 12,524 players at 528 of the continent's biggest clubs.
It found 48 per cent of Premier League players are currently part of their countries' full national squads, the highest in Europe.
And 65 per cent of England's top-flight performers have been capped, a figure that outdoes Germany (53 per cent), Italy (40), Spain (36) and France (34).
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore will be delighted that England also has the highest ratio of serving internationals to players capped at any time.
Figures suggest the Prem attracts the most players in their prime - whereas Italy and Spain are seen more as rest homes for ageing stars.
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2834587/Were-the-Prem-de-la-creme.html?OTC-RSS&ATTR=Football#ixzz0eMBOOs3X (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2834587/Were-the-Prem-de-la-creme.html?OTC-RSS&ATTR=Football#ixzz0eMBOOs3X)
That being the case I wonder why Kamara has swapped the Fulham bench for the Celtic one? The Scottish Premier has all the class and style of a game of subutteo. Perhaps there was something going on behind the scenes that we aren't privy to and he had to get away. Good luck Joe. He and BZ should have been our pairing up front.
I am not convinced our league is stronger than the Spanish or even Italian top divisions.
Quote from: OldBrownShoe on February 02, 2010, 06:34:00 AM
I am not convinced our league is stronger than the Spanish or even Italian top divisions.
Well, the term is used solely in reference to the criteria laid down, e.g. the highest proportion of current serving international players. I guess you cannot argue with the numbvers, but you are correct in that the term '
strongest' is quite subjective in itself.
There is something terribly wrong in the write-up, that brings the conclusions into question..
The opening paragraph states .." THE Premier League is officially the strongest competition in the world - with HALF of their players a current full international. "
Further down is states " The PFPO analysed 12,524 players at 528 of the continent's biggest clubs. "
This brings two questions forward ..
1. Initial mention is of the World, then they mention " the continent's " which I believe indicates a single continent (where is CH when I need him?)
2. If it does mean ALL the continents, then the sample rate of 528 clubs might seem a little small when looking at all the FIFA-sanctioned leagues. Then again, I still haven't had a coffee yet, so I'm likely thinking too far into it. ???
I make you right, Mr Logicalman. The article explicitly states its a census of European clubs - the underlying assumption being that European Club football is the pinnacle.
My first thought is that the results are influenced by the money available. If you assume that the highest honour a footballer can have is to represent his country, then he's likely to seek the highest remuneration possible. Hence, the PL would be first choice owing to the silly amounts of money sloshing around. It will be interesting to see if those figures change over the coming years given the fears about the relativey weak sterling and this 50% tax band that comes in in April
Kind of reminds me of the old "My dad is stronger than yours" conversations back in school