masster Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 I know the tournament is a bit of a joke but I still like it. No question it could be improved though. Here is a great article by Martin Samuel with his thoughts: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/martin_samuel/article5354668.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 quote:Originally posted by masster I know the tournament is a bit of a joke but I still like it. No question it could be improved though. Here is a great article by Martin Samuel with his thoughts: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/martin_samuel/article5354668.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1 He's right. The hosts should definitely not gain automatic entry. But in the end it doesn't really matter. The CWC is essentially the Confederations Cup for clubs and therefore very limited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 I am sorry, but how else can you have a format, in this age of match congestion, to decide a global world club champion? The fact that it is limited is a necessity. It is typical English arrogance tdismiss either the concept or the format without coming up with a practical alternative. Can it be improved? Yes, of course. But should it be criticized? No way. So the final is decided with one match between the only two teams of quality, so what? That is exactly what is done with revered competitions such as the Euro Champions League, the UEFA Cup and the FA Cup (where the concept of a small club from nowhere technically being able to knock out a giant is treated as a noble and romantic idea)? Montreal could theoretically be a World Champion in less than a year`s tiem, isn`t that great? What is the problem? The refereeing was good in this tournament this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Agreed on the need for the tournament to be short, but you have to admit that representing the host nation with a team is stupid. Eliminating that need would make the tournament one game shorter. And what a scar it would be on the record-books should the host team win this thing someday (imagine if Spain hosted and Real Madrid were world champions despite sucking in the Champions League for some 5 years and counting). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 It is an important competition for South America, who have pretty well split the wins with Europe over the decades (what is it, 24-23 or something). It also suggests that the typical Golden Ball and FIFA World Player awards, which only nominate players in Europe, are terribly biased: are you telling me that just because someone has not yet been transferred to a European club they can't be one of the top couple dozen in the world? When S American clubs are obviously very competitive? And even the rival Man Utd faced this time, from a minor league and with no history at all, showed with great dignity and proved to be more competitive than any of the other sides from any other continent? The only way to really solve the question of who is better would be to set up a short tournament like a Eurocup with clubs, repeat it for a half dozen editions until 2022 or something, and then decide if it is a decent way to determine the best club in the world. Without that, I'll take the added colour of the other continents, agree that the host should not be in, and leave it as is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Agreed that the host should not be in. It should be enough of an honour to host it. If they could tweek it so that the UEFA Cup champs would be in it, then the great idea that every club in the world, from the weekend pub team on up, would be eligible would be a step closer, so that at least European country open cup competition winners could be included. Of course, it would still leave the small clubs in countries like Canada and Argentina, which do not have open cups, ineligible, out in the cold. I remember in the 70`s watching a match in a dusty vacant lot in Marseille where some celebrating Arabs who were in a garbage collectors union told me with delight and pride that they had now taken their first step to to the French Cup! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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