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| No | 50% | 6 votes | Total: 12 votes | |
| Yes | 50% | 6 votes |
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Add to FavoritesWhen you compare the MLS and the English Premiership, the one significant difference is the draft system. By ensuring that the best clubs don't usually acquire the most talented prospects there is an even playing field going into the start of a season. It also garauntees that money has no influence in the final standings (unlike in England where financial powerhouses like Manchester United and Chelsea dominate). On the basis of it there is a good case for introducing a draft system into English football. However, in reality it will never happen nor would it be beneficial if it did.
There are a number of reasons for this. The first is infrastructure. In north america, most of the development of young players is done by high-schools and universities. There are plenty of well structured and well funded tournaments and institutions that allow for talented youngsters to get a high quality of training. In England such a system doesn't exist. The majority of development is done by professional teams. Here the players recieve absolutely excellent training. Introducing the draft would remove all incentives to produce talented young players, as the team would have no garauntee of signing that player to their first teams.
The second reason is the standard of the English league. It is the best in the world and English fans are proud of it. Introducing a draft system would only serve to weaken such a league, where most of the best players would leave to join foreign clubs if the money left the league. Also, in the absence of a draft/exchange system in other european leagues, clubs would only be able to sign the best of foreign talent when those players were out of contract. European clubs very rarely do straight swaps, and so english clubs would have no way to trade with the rest of the world.
Finally, a draft system in England would have to be very complex. If draft picks were decided solely on final league position, teams that competed in europe and that progressed far in the FA cup would be disadvantaged. Therefore, a draft system would have to incorperate these performances or risk negating the value of cup competitions. These are held in great esteem in England, and serve as the only realistic chance for small clubs to win silverware
In conclusion, although this system works well in the slightly money-starved MLS, it would never work in England, and because of this the league would be no more or less competitive than it was before.
Learn more about this author, Jon Greengrass.
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Yes
I am aware that it would be almost impossible to introduce such a system in what is already a well-established transfer system. What I hope to achieve here is to provide a hypothetical discussion as to whether a draft system can provide parity to the level of competition in the Premier League.
Having been an avid fan of both Premier League football in England and also the NBA in the US, I have long been intrigued by the differences in the nature of competition between these two world-renowned sporting leagues. Other than the obvious fact that these are two different sports, the two leagues also manages the players based on completely different systems. Seeing the level of competition in the NBA, I have long been an advocate of the draft system.
In the Premier League, players are basically traded like goods. Every player has a price attached to him. In the NBA, a draft system is adopted whereby young college players are assimilated into the NBA teams at the end of every season. Basically, the lowest ranked NBA teams get to pick first. The basic premise is that the weaker teams should be able to get the better players this way, which presumably allows for better spreading of talent among all the teams in the league.
Many have longed complained about the dominance of the "big four" in the Premier League. Every season, there is speculation about which of the less fashionable clubs can break into this "mini league" of sorts. This kind of discussion would forever be just fodder for the media as long as the financial dominance of top four clubs is maintained. In the world of football, success would naturally bring more success. Monetary gains from winning competitions can be used to buy better players. Winning competitions can also lead to greater world-wide appeal, which translates to greater shirt sales. As a result, there is an increasing financial gap between the top four and the rest of the league.
The NBA always tends to throw up surprises. Even if there are a few favourites, there will always be dark horses that manage to challenge the big boys. More importantly, instead of a "big four", there are quite possibly up to eight or nine top quality basketball clubs challenging for the title. This has to be attributed to the success of the draft system.
Of course, people might point to the decade long dynasties of the Boston Celtics and the LA Lakers, not unlike their football counterparts in Liverpool and Manchester United. However, one cannot help but think that a draft system would iron out these disparaging levels of quality and truly provide a level playing field.
Learn more about this author, W.H. Garcia.
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