[dfwgator]

And yet look at the Bundesliga, which is about to put two teams in the Champions League Final....They mainly develop their players and don’t go on the wild spending binges, that their English and Spanish counterparts do.

[1rudeboy]

There's a reason for it, basically, the Germans have had much more time to develop their "system," and their central location on the Continent helps. A good discussion can be found here (but feel free to dispute the conclusions):

Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Why Germany and Brazil Win, and Why the U.S., Japan, Australia, Turkey--and Even Iraq--Are Destined to Become the Kings of the World's Most Popular Sport.

[1rudeboy]

I'm a big fan of Stefan Szymanski (if you haven't figured it out, yet). If you haven't read him, I recommend:

National Pastime: How Americans Play Baseball And the Rest of the World Plays Soccer.

He basically argues that the Europeans were thinking, "hey, let's build a brand," and the Americans were thinking, "hey, let's build a monopoly." Sad, in a way, because the world might be playing baseball right now (exceptions excepted).