Originally Posted by
pineapple stu
Well that's not a very logical viewpoint. The league was better in the 2000s than in the 2010s because it did provide players for the national team. However, to provide players for the national team while they were still with LoI clubs would have meant the league being even stronger again, which it wasn't. But we need it to be.
I'm not saying that. I'm saying a drop of 17 places is pretty sizeable.
I'm also not saying that the Norwegian league is equal to the Austrian league - just that it's not that far behind that it accounts for Haaland's improvement. I'll say it again - Haaland would have continued to improve at Molde. I am not arguing against the idea that he needed to move abroad to improve - my point all along is that you can start domestically and move abroad at 20-22 sort of age (Haaland was 19 I think) into a first-team squad (not an academy). I'm arguing most players in fact do this and it is to our detriment that Irish players don't really have that option.
(a) that's 35th, not 37th and (b) that's the ranking two seasons before the season I quoted, not the season before.
What are you talking about? No points are taken away for losing games.
It is far easier to qualify for the EL group stages now, starting from 2011/12 when CL qualifying round teams could drop down to the EL. I've shown you the evidence that the LoI is weaker than now in showing you the ranking. Your counter-argument is to entirely ignore the wholescale format changes which made it easier for champions of smaller leagues to reach the groups. That's not a valid argument.
Why are you happy to ignore last season?
Derry are not the club they were ten years ago, and they will probably be the first to acknowledge it.
It's a lovely sentiment, but not borne out in reality. There's footballers turning pro at 16, so if you want to be serious about having a shot of joining them, you have to be taking the game seriously at 16.
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