Unherd - Thomas Piketty and the decline of football Inequality is corroding the once-democratic game"In his exploration of the Rawlsian nature of much of Piketty’s analysis, Martin O’Neill observes that his argument against financial inequality is not only that it “undermines equality of opportunity in the next generation and… undercuts the political equality needed for a well-functioning democracy” but that “inequality is often counterproductive in terms of growth and economic efficiency”, which perhaps helps explain why, complacent on their own success, the likes of Juventus and Bayern can lose their grip.
It’s a more straightforward tactical point to note that when teams are much better than their domestic rivals, winning most games easily, they lose the capacity to defend, which perhaps explains the tendency for high-scoring games and dramatic comebacks in the latter stages of the Champions League in recent seasons (although that may be beginning to change).
Leverkusen are the exception, just as Leicester were in England in 2015-16. But one freak winner does not change the fundamental picture. This is football’s Belle Epoque moment. It is fashionable and popular, glamorous and at times thrilling. Crowds, at least in England, are bigger than they’ve been for 60 years, and yet player wage inflation means that debt is a permanent state for most of the league. The sense is of growing inequality creating a mounting tension; the big becoming so big that the pyramid that has sustained football for almost a century and a half is crumbling under the strain. Leverkusen’s success and the joy it provoked in an unremarkable mid-sized town on the Rhine is a reminder of what football can bring, and what it is in danger of losing in the superclub era. It’s a sport in desperate need of the modern equivalent of that £10 Victorian levy."
Interesting article looking at the finance problems in football that avoids the silly "anti-modern football" ressentiment.