The level of the Eredivise is going downhill, and fast. If you look at the performances of the Dutch teams in European comps (Champions League, UEFA Cup etc) the teams from Holland (Ajax, PSV etc) are doing very poorly. In my opinion the dutch and french leagues have always been close in quality. However that is changing. PSV came last in their group in the Champions League and never looked like doing anything better. Bordeaux, the team that came 3rd in that group, are not even the best team from France, that honour would obviously go to Lyon. PSV are, I'm sorry Tim, the best team in Holland and being dominated by Bordeaux, arguably in the top 3 teams in France, shows the decline in the quality of the teams from Holland. This is not to say that the quality of the Dutch players is worse, some of the best players in the world are from Holland, however all these players are in leauges scattered around the world and there are very few top quality players in Holland. Thus as a result the level of the Dutch league will begin to decline.

but you must look at their resepective pools. PSV had Atletico Madrid, Liverpool and Marseille for company, whereas Bordeaux had Chelsea, Roma and CFR Cluj from Romania

They are not that differant to be honest. Chelsea, one of the best EPL teams, Roma one of the best Serie A teams and Cluj... who surprised everyone.

Then PSV had Liverpool (One of the best in EPL) Athletico Madrid (Up there in La Liga) and Marseille, supposudly of a similar quality to PSV.

However PSV did not get anywhere near qualifying.

You cannot honestly say that Bordeaux and Cluj were equal. Name one player (apart from Cullio) who plays in the Romanian League

No i wasnt saying that. I was saying the groups were fairly equal.
Chelsea=Liverpool
Roma=Athletico
Cluj<Marseille
Bordeaux=PSV

Roughly equal apart from Cluj, but then again Cluj were the surprise package and did very well.

In my opinion the fact that PSV did so poorly in a pool with a French team that is not the best in the French leagues and PSV being the best Dutch team, shows that the Dutch league, represented by PSV are getting worse than the French league, represented by Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux, not to mention Monacco etc. waiting in the wings. More depth in the French leagues, more quality, and better performances on the European stage means that they are the winners in the Dutch vs French league battle.

Eredivisie < Ligue One

psv ISNT the best team in the eredivise god.

the dutch league is in a transition period at the moment where other teams (breda, az, twente and some others) are starting to become better than the typical top 3. this means that instead of bloody non-dutch from psv, ajax, and even feyenoord aren't being the stars of the eredivise any longer. which gives room for more dutch talent to rise up.

there may be a slight down-turn on the european front right now but give it a few years...

Fair call Tim. I'd agree with that. However, I would also say that my previous statements are true.

And as the Eredivise and Ligue One are similar in quality and transfer/player growth (the good players are nutured in these leagues until they are taken by better leagues), the quality of both immeadiatly affects the quality of the big leagues. Look at players such as Van Nist, Henry, Robben, Evra, the list goes on. So if indeed The Eredivisie are in a transitional phase, this means that a new crop of talent is about to surface. Good for Holland and Real Madrid.

Hey now, you cannot say Ajax is on the decline, it's youth academy is producing more superstars each year. Where do you think Wesley Sneijder and Ryan Babel popped up from?

I have not said that Ajax are on the decline, have I? I said that the league is on the decline, and this is as a result of the fact that their players are taken away, to clubs like Madrid and Liverpool. And besides, Babel is hopeless.

Max wrote:Hey now, you cannot say Ajax is on the decline, it's youth academy is producing more superstars each year. Where do you think Wesley Sneijder and Ryan Babel popped up from?

actually those two players and the recent good talent from ajax was a few years back. im not too sure about this these days but in holland everyone is really mad at how crap ajax youth academy has gotten (and improving it was the mission statement of van basten when he became manager). its a very big issue over there and obv. cruyff and van basten had a big falling out because they dissagreed on the methods of how they should return to the 'good days' of the amsterdam youth system.

also bryn what the hell. babel has a marvellous goal ratio when benitez actually starts him and when he plays he is ALWAYS the main danger for the opposing team.

seriously.

I don't like him for some reason, i just don't rate him as a player, i know there is evidence to the contrary but i am just not a fan.

i do agree that its hard to swallow that a player with such attacking inclinations could be seen in a liverpool shirt

oh man i love my suave defoe avatar

oh well at least Babel will be able to teach Keane how to be mis-used by your manager