Giving up on La Liga

As I watched Swansea City demolish Valencia in the Europa League last week, I realized I had no interest in La Liga anymore. This was a Valencia that was not quite good enough last season, finishing 5^th, yet they turned around for the fourth consecutive summer and sold their best player. Not a winning formula.

The remnants of the team formerly known as Valencia lie strewn about Europe. David Villa, David Silva, Juan Mata, Pablo Hernandez, Roberto Soldado, and Joaquin now play for Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, Chelsea, Swansea City, Tottenham, and Fiorentina. The club has a little bit of quality left but no stars.

Valencia’s plight owing to their ill-timed investment in a new stadium, however, is well-documented. The sad fact is they are not alone. Malaga sold 5 first team players, Sevilla 6, and Real Betis 4. Celtic Vigo, Real Sociedad, Atletico Madrid, and Rayo Vallecano also sold their best players.

True, Atletico have reinforced wisely following Falcao’s departure and look capable of challenging for the title. This was a unanimous early observation by La Liga’s pundits, as if they agree it is the league’s only storyline.

When Swansea faced Valencia, they had more Spaniards in the side than did the La Liga outfit. In total Swansea has 8 Spaniards on their roster, including Michu, who scored 22 goals for them in all competitions last season.

The summer saw 23 former La Liga footballers migrate to England, where 10 full Spain internationals and 7 youth internationals now ply their trade. Only 6 Premier League teams don’t have a Spanish player. This bodes well for the Spanish national team, which also sources from Italy and Germany, but not for La Liga.  

Selling established stars for bank-breaking fees, as in the case of Fernando Torres, David Silva, and Sergio Aguero, is one thing. Now clubs are offloading young players they should be developing instead of selling. Jose Campaña, Antonio Luna, Jordi Amat, Alvaro Vazquez, and Alejandro Pozuelo all came to the Premier League this summer at less than 22 years of age and could be stars. Pozuelo in particular, sold for just €500,000 from Real Betis to Swansea, looks like a downright gem.

What would save teams like Betis, Sevilla, and Valencia is a true revenue sharing agreement in La Liga, like in England and Germany. Instead La Liga imposed salary caps this year – if you can even call them that.  Real Madrid and Barcelona can spend up to €190 million, Atletico Madrid can spend up to €66 million, an ‘upper middle class’ group enjoys a cap of €40 million, and on down to €14 million for the lowest tier. It’s an embarrassing perpetuation of the duopoly.

The salary caps may stave off bankruptcy but they will not ensure parity. You can’t fault teams for giving up before the season starts. And you can’t fault fans for giving up on the league.