The Premier League’s “Big Six” have all distanced themselves from fresh plans, but Spurs’ manager maintains that the sport is nothing without supporters.
Ange Postecoglou, head coach of Tottenham, claims supporters of a European Super League are “detached from the real footballing world” and expresses admiration for the “power to the people” dynamic that led to the proposal’s initial collapse.
Just hours after a European High Court ruling found that FIFA and UEFA had “abused a dominant position” in their treatment of clubs that formed the first 12-team breakaway competition in April 2021, new Super League plans were unveiled on Thursday, backed by Spanish powerhouses Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Nevertheless, the new plan lost steam very fast, and by Friday lunchtime, all six of the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ teams had distanced themselves from it.
The original Super League scheme, which involved Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Manchester United, was hatched 32 months ago. However, following intense opposition from supporters and widespread criticism from leaders of the Football Association (FA), including Prince William, the then-president, and the then-prime minister, the parties quickly withdrew.
When asked about the influence that supporters had in the plan’s cancellation, Postecoglou, who was in charge of the Japanese club Yokohama F. Marinos at the time, stated, “I love the fact that [it was] ‘power to the people’, mate.” People’s ability to voice opinions is a good thing. That’s the main purpose of existence. It was excellent.
“Perhaps some folks were taken aback by the proposal. I wasn’t surprised by it.
“I frequently believe that these choices are made in a room with individuals who are not really aware of what goes on in the actual football world.
“They go out of the room thinking it’s a brilliant concept, only to be met with reality.
“Since we were recently out of Covid at the time, the one thing that the entire period demonstrated to us was that you struggle without fans.
“You’re having trouble with everything. Nobody could confirm that the product was the same even though it was still being shown on TV.
“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.”
The Australian described himself as “conservative and a traditionalist” when it comes to making changes to the game but insisted he was not “a fatalist” about football’s future.
“Ultimately if it’s destroyed or broken, and no one turns up,” he said. “People are going to find something else to do.
“I’m not an expert on the subject and I understand that progress is inevitable one way or another as the game grows and the interest grows.
“But I think you’ve got to take all factors into account and not be dismissive of something that doesn’t come down to just numbers.”
He added: “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.
“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”
ANGE POSTECOGLOU
“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.”
Postecoglou, whose Spurs squad has been decimated by injuries since the start of winter, is concerned about the impact on player welfare and the quality of the product of adding more and more competitions.
This week, FIFA announced that the Club World Cup would be expanded to 32 teams from 2025.
“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,” Postecoglou said ahead of Saturday’s visit of Everton. “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.”
