| Premier League B teams in EFL 17:00 - Oct 8 with 159 views | BringBackTheRedRoom |
Crisis may lead to Premier League B teams in EFL, says City's Soriano
Manchester City chief executive again pushes B team agenda
‘Maybe the crisis will give us the opportunity to solve issues’
Manchester City’s chief executive, Ferran Soriano, has called for a rethink of the football pyramid to consider the inclusion of Premier League B teams and has described the EFL’s business model as “not sustainable enough”.
All eyes are on the Premier League to come up with a rescue package for EFL clubs struggling for survival during the coronavirus pandemic that has deprived them of matchday income.
The government has insisted top-flight clubs should be the ones to look after the EFL, resisting calls for a state bailout. The Premier League is in talks with the EFL and it is understood they are looking for assurances over how the money is spent, with Championship clubs spending 107% of revenue on wages in the 2018-19 season.
Soriano believes this is a good time to look at the structure of English football, including how young talent at the top clubs is given opportunities.
“One of the challenges is the EFL [is] a business that is not sustainable enough,” he said at LeadersWeek.direct. “They were discussing ways to improve it, they were discussing salary caps, now they were sort of nudged, almost pushed, to solve the existing problems because of the crisis.
“It’s a good opportunity for the different elements of the football business to get together and solve these problems.
“There are other problems, the challenges of developing players in England where B teams are not allowed, we have a development gap of boys that are 17 or 18, they don’t find the right place to develop and for example they are taken from us by the German teams who try to sell them back to us for a price which is 10 times what they paid.
“This is mad, right? This is something we needed to solve and now maybe the crisis will give us the opportunity and will nudge us to get together and solve these issues.”
Soriano, who said it was extremely disappointing the Premier League had opted to revert to three substitutes for 2020-21, also defended his club’s spending in the summer transfer window.
City signed the defenders Nathan Aké and Rúben Dias for more than £100m combined, but Soriano said: “If you believe like we believe that Covid is just a period of time, and that we have to carry on with our business, then we have to carry on with our business.
“We believe that revenues will come back. The team is the engine of our business — if we don’t play good football, we have no business. We can’t negate that, we can’t avoid that. We have to take some risks and we believe the risks we have taken are very well measured.
“I know the media just portrays the gross spending on players but you have to look at net spending. We sold a player to Bayern Munich, Leroy Sané, for €49m. We then signed a player, Ferran Torres, for €23m.
“Sometimes these things are out of context. But remember, we need to continue playing good football and if we need a central defender, we need a central defender.”
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/oct/07/crisis-may-lead-to-premier-leag | |
| ‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’ |
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| Premier League B teams in EFL on 14:42 - Oct 9 with 150 views | spell_chekker |
Bad idea, no way. Not a chance.
Letting U23s compete in the Leyland DAF has opened the door for this.
What happens if City get relegated from the prem and they have to play against their B team in a league match?
Personally, before prem B teams are allowed in the football pyramid, I'd prefer to cut them loose and let them go and play among themselves along with Barca, Bayern, Juve and all those.
We can then forget about them and continue to enjoy OUR football. | |
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| Premier League B teams in EFL on 14:57 - Oct 9 with 147 views | spudgun |
Soriano is just a disingenuous t****r employed by the leaders of cruel and an oppressive regime whose human rights abuse is shameful.... | | | |
| Premier League B teams in EFL on 15:03 - Oct 9 with 145 views | spell_chekker |
A better restructuring plan would be to sack off the EPL, the EFL, and the FA.
Their world of madness is spoiling the game, not anything else. | |
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| Premier League B teams in EFL on 16:09 - Oct 9 with 137 views | BringBackTheRedRoom |
Could see a Premier League Division Two, and what's left of the EFL left to rot. | |
| ‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’ |
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