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| Radio Australia News |
By Joe Schackman
The search for a team to guide my education. The latest in a running diary about breaking into the world of football. The previous piece can be found here.
If I’m going to be respected as a football fan, I have to have a team to follow. It sounds simple, but it’s the most important decision I’ll make as part of my indoctrination into the world of European club football. I need to find a team, somewhere on that vast continent, that will guide my education and give me a window into the sport’s culture. Through this team, I’ll learn about strategy, player development and transfers. And most importantly, it’ll give me a reason to be passionate beyond just a basic appreciation of the game.
I’ve noticed that with sports like college basketball or college football that I’ve had trouble sustaining my interest because I don’t have a specific team to root for. I didn’t go to a large university, and neither did my parents. I pull a bit for Rutgers, having grown up near the school, and I have a soft spot for Michigan, as my cousin just graduated from there. I enjoy watching USC too, but don’t consider myself a fan.
As a result of those scattered allegiances, my interest in the game varies. Some seasons I’ll get really into college basketball or football, while other years I’ll remain a casual observer. Without one team to focus on, there’s little that will keep me coming back day after day. And so this football experiment will certainly fail if I don’t fall in love with a club.
“Picking” a team is an odd concept. Having grown up around sports fans and lived in the New York area, there has never been a shortage of teams, and so my passion for a particular sport grew out of my passion a team, rather than the other way around. I love the Mets; the logical next step then was to fall in love with baseball as a whole.
Unfortunately, there’s no La Liga team based out of New York. So I will have to do this the unorthodox way and literally a choose a team. The process is difficult for many reasons, but one main issue is that there is not one football league to rule them all.
For example: If you want to watch the best basketball in the world, you turn on the NBA. But football doesn’t work that way. Thanks to massive global interest, the player pool is huge and teams have sprouted up everywhere. In Europe alone, there are multiple high-quality leagues, each with their own flavor, style and culture. Yet out of all the football played on the continent, the general consensus is that the four major leagues are La Liga in Spain, the Bundesliga in Germany, Serie A in Italy and The Premier League in England.
Logic says that I should look no further than La Liga. The two best players in the world play in Spain, and for two of the best teams in the world. One of those squads is in the running for the title of greatest ever. The rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid is also unlike anything else seen in sports, running far deeper than anything we see stateside. The two teams are woven into the history and political landscape of Spain, with El Clasico referred to as the modern embodiment of the struggle between Franco and the people, Catalonia versus the Capital.
However, the power at the top of the league is extremely consolidated. To have any chance of seeing a league title in the next few years, I’d have to jump on a massive bandwagon already packed with fans, and I don’t think I can bring myself to do that quite yet. Picking a team is hard, but it seems like cheating to go with one of the top four teams in the world.
Then there is Serie A, which has been described to me as the most tactical league in the world. I can appreciate a classic defensive struggle as much as a wide open high-scoring match, and this league would probably be a great place to take my strategic understanding of the game to the next level. But I don’t think I can handle another sport riddled with controversy, and the match-fixing scandal of 2006 continues to ripple through Serie A. I’ve had enough controversy in my sports orbit of late, thanks to steroids, the Saints and Tiger Woods.
Now, I know very little about the Bundesliga, but from what I’ve heard, this is a league after my own heart. The teams in Germany’s top division have largely stayed out of the current escalation of the transfer market. Instead, they’ve invested heavily in their development academies and relied on those homegrown players to carry their teams. Whereas the big clubs across Europe have taken on mountains of debt, Bayern Munich is still making money while continuing to compete at the highest levels. From the outside, the league reminds me of what I love about Major League Baseball. Its structure promotes shrewd moves and development over flashy signings.
But despite everything that intrigues me about the Bundesliga, it just doesn’t draw me in. It doesn’t excite me. Which leaves....
The Barclays Premier League. The most famous league in the world, the Premier League counts teams like Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City among its members. America’s best players are, for the most part, consolidated in England, with Clint Dempsey at Fulham (for now), Tim Howard starting in net for Everton and Landon Donovan joining him on loan for the last two seasons.
It’s also a league I already have some experience with. I lived in London for a brief time, and spent many a night in the pub trying to keep up with the locals as they rambled/slurred on about the teams and history of the Premier League.
I won’t shun the other three leagues completely, but the majority of my time early on will be spent on the Premier League and whatever team I choose to follow. The beauty and curse of club football is its sheer volume, but whittling my quest down to one particular league should make it a bit more manageable.
Joe Schackman is an editor and co-founder of Began in '96.
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