The Guardian just published this essay by a school acquaintance of mine about his quest to really love football. May be of interest to some.
‘I want to care like they care. I want a conversion experience’: can I learn to love football?
Yet you list Tottenham?! 
Let’s break down this relative English parity at the top (which is distinctly different than American notions of parity, of course). Leicester last year was a fluke, and I don’t think anyone really doubts that (they may get relegated this year!). In the 11 years before that, the only Champions of English Football were: Chelsea, Manchester United, and Manchester City (and City only in the last 5 years). Arsenal and Tottenham have been in the “Top 5”, but Arsenal hasn’t won since 2004 and Tottenham has NEVER won the Premier League.
Now granted, it is closer than La Liga at the top, but having 5 real challengers for the throne (and 2 of those not really reaching those heights in a while) is not that much better than having 3 real challengers. The Bundesliga definitely deserves shade, aside from the fact that it’s such an entertaining league to watch regardless of the fact that Bayern wins so much.
As others said. Pick a team and play FIFA. Were it a few years ago Id recommend picking up a football manager game but its way too complex now.
back in the day I picked Newcastle because of the kit and they had that Cubs/Red Sox/underdog vibe about them. Since then the Cubs and Sox hace won WS and the Toon have been relegated.
I’m not getting your quarrel here. Man U, Man C, Chelsea, Liverpool (as I noted, mostly on past relevance) and Arsenal (substitute them for Tottenham, please :embarrassed: ) all are relevant Premier League teams to pay attention to. In the La Liga, there are only three teams that anyone truly pays attention to outside of Spain (though Villareal at least have stepped up this year). So how was what I said about who to pay attention to “English” centric?
I think that Go_Archnid_Laser’s point is that the remarks were Anglo-centric because you spent so much time on English teams even though they tend to be rubbish in Europe. They simply aren’t as good as other high ranking teams. And even in Europa League (the secondary pan-European tournament, for the OP), English teams also fall short.
My comment was in response to the notion of the idea of relative English parity at the top of the league. Showing that really only 3 teams have been dominent in English football over the last decade, until the once in a blue moon shock of Leicester last season. Is it really worth paying attention to Liverpool, Arsenal, or Tottenham in those situations if you are a fan of another league? It seems to me that German football fans may be more interested in Sevilla, who have won multiple Europa league championshipships recently than Tottenham (they may care of Liverpool due to their manager Klopp, but that’s entirely different reason).
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It’s that supposed to be a bug or a feature? There’s loads of smaller leagues where anybody can end up winning the whole thing, because the teams on top aren’t just that good.
In the last 18 years, English teams have won or been runner-ups in the Champions League…9 times. That’s more than anyone except Spain. More than Germany. More than Italy.
May also win the European Cup; the biggest prize in Club football. Man that will make UEFA unhappy.
An interestingly specific line of demarkation. Why 2000 rather than 2010? In that regard you’ll find English teams with 2 appearances in the final (while Germany had 4 and Spain even more than that).
Anyways my main argument centered around ignoring of the Spanish La Liga rather than the Bayern dominated Bundesliga. It appears discounting La Liga, and especially Barcelona and Real Madrid, in favor of giving extra details on, say, Tottenham is a strange oversight.
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I’m certain that the teams in question consider it an important feature. I’m also certain that lots of other teams with dreams consider it a bug. 
Mostly, it’s a function of money, of course. However, more and more money is flowing into the game, and as a result, teams that previously haven’t had that much of a chance at winning the domestic title have gained the potential. The aforementioned Tottenham Hotspur FC are one example. :rolleyes:
It is, generally speaking, in the US, easier to become familiar with the Premier League and its teams, since NBCSN shows several of the Premier League games (indeed, if you have the right cable subscription, you can see all of them), whereas La Liga and the Bundesliga are limited to only one or two games a weekend. That’s the only reason I was more descriptive (uniform colors, mostly) of English teams. Get over it.
I do agree with him that Real Madrid are monsters right now. I’m not quite sure what to make of Barca since they just got stuffed by PSG. May just say more about PSG than anything.
Come on you Spurs!
That’s true, re: Barca. Not sure what to make of them this year, but they still have arguably the best current player from the countries of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay on their front line ;). That makes them still worthy of following and always dangerous.
And somehow PSG is 2nd in Ligue 1 to Monaco (Zlatan worth that much?).
Et Tu DSYoungEsq?
Kindly do not substitute the Gooners for Spurs thank you very much. The English Premier League has a really fantastic race for the top 4 this year. Chealsea have all but nailed on the top spot (:rolleyes:) but any of 5 other teams have a good shot as the final 3 champions league slots. Of those teams Spurs and Liverpool are undoubtedly the most fun to watch (stupid Liverpool :mad:) for neutrals right now. Also Tottenham are likely to make it to the FA cup semi finals which is still a BIG DEAL. And that Semi is going to be played against Arsenal, City, United, or Chealsea. The FA Cup run in is going to be great this year. Especially meaningful because there are good odds that the winner won’t make top 4 champions league spots so the FA cup may be the best consolation prize they get. It’s a darn exciting season in the Prem. Spurs, punching above their weight with not nearly as much money, but a hot young squad and a hot young manager are a good team to be following right now. They are not a flash in the pan like Leicester were.
Also, Everton are sneaky good and while they may not have a shot at top 4 this year they have a realistic shot at getting better next year and making the league top 6 teams a league top 7 teams. People are shooting down the parity of the EPL because it’s a relativly recent phenomena. But it’s pretty real. It’s exciting.
I see your COYS and raise you a OH WHEN THE SPURS
Oh, for goodness sake. Singing that as “Oh when the Saints” as a S’oton follower makes sense. Appropriating it and substituting “Spurs” is just lack of imagination. :rolleyes:
You would prefer maybe Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur?
If you take the cup right back to its origins we can see that the number of different teams from a particular country that have been finalists is as follows.
England - 7
Italy - 6
Germany - 6
France - 4
Spain - 4
Holland - 3
Portugal - 2
plus a few others here and there, but those are the main ones.
I don’t get your calculations here. There are two finalists in every final. The UEFA Champions League (formerly the European Cup) has been in existence since 1955. Thus, there have been 124 prior finalists.
Even if you are simply counting the finals beginning with the re-branding and re-organization of the competition in 1992, there would still have been some 50 finalists, nothing like your totals. :dubious:
The 7 individual English teams each may have contested more than one final.
There have been only 4 different Spanish teams in finals but as we know, Real Madrid and Barcelona have been there multiple times.