It isn't really Torres leaving that would make people think about ceasing interest in football.
The money that has poured into football was an opportunity exploited brilliantly by the champions league. The CL has demonstrably fucked up the parity within the major leagues in Europe, and we've benefited from that, in fact it, along with our past success and associated strong brand, were the only things keeping us punching above our gate receipts. But, who could argue we didn't deserve that? We should if anything have been capitalising more on that, not less.
The CL has created a league within a league, and it becomes stronger year after year, as evidenced in its expansion of format, its expansion of scheduling, and the increasing value placed on finishing fourth or better in the league as an means to an end. The battle for fourth gets mentioned a month into the season now.
Compounding this economic reality is the proven fact (thanks Abramovich) that you CAN buy entry into this club, and that any club that doesn't have entry, especially those which aren't located in large population centres, will suffer, and if they were denied entry for years on the trot, they would slowly fade from significance.
One club has already bought their way in, and now another is doing it. If Man City did it at our expense, and then took our most valuable player asset simply because banks required funds, it wouldn't be wholly financial - some of it would be Rafa's fault. The chief factor however would be down to their having no need for a sensible business model, while we strain under the yoke of debt.
So there you'd have the most storied club in English football consigned to history, largely irrelevant, perhaps permanently, not chiefly because they were bested on the field, not because rivals had built themselves up year after year with good management, but because of a poor take over by owners that saw a financial opportunity, a calamitous economic environment, a corrupt Russian oil baron, and an Arab celebrating the shifting axis of wealth with a new fucking toy.
I'd forgive someone for wondering whether that's what football should all be about. Even some short term analysis that the FT has done recently has the most explanatory value concerning football, and that's fucking sad.
