After the most underwhelming Premier League season I can remember, is this a sign of a larger trend?
I'm sure Liverpool fans enjoyed it, but that's about it.
There was no real title race, and no relegation battle. The closest thing was teams
vying to finish in the top 5 to get into the 'Champions' League. I mean come
on, this has got way out of hand. Either change the name of the competition or
make it just for the Champions of each country again. Then the Europa League
could still be a good competition with teams who finished 2nd and 3rd, rather
than a largely uninspiring one that this season concluded with an awful final
between 2 teams that finished the same season in 15th and 17th.
It feels like the magic is being drained from the game.
Which players in the Premier League are now worth the entrance fee alone?
Admittedly this is a higher bar because the entrance fee is becoming way too much,
but who even comes close? Cole Palmer is the only player that springs to mind,
but even he went off the boil in the 2nd half of this season. Sure, Salah had
an unbelievable season in terms of goals scored but he no longer has the same
flair. The freedom for individual expression has been eroded due to teams all being
influenced by the Guardiola model, and thinking it's more effective overall to
have this strict tactical approach. Well, not if it drives the fans away.
As a United fan, of course I miss the magic and inspiration
of players like Cantona, Giggs, Rooney and Ronaldo. I miss the ferocious
spirit, leadership and excellent consistency of Roy Keane. I miss the
incredible passing and shooting of Paul Scholes. I miss the excellent crosses,
goals and free kicks of David Beckham. I miss the mammoth and super human
goalkeeping of Schmeichel and Van Der Sar. I miss the impassable defending of
Vidic, Stam and Ferdinand, and I miss the excellent finishing of Cole, Yorke, Solskjaer
and Van Nistelrooy.
But I also miss watching players in other teams with magic
in their boots. Players like Gascoigne, Le Tissier, Barnes, Zola,
Okocha, Henry, Bergkamp, Bale, Berbatov and Hazard. Is there one player in the
Premier League now with the same ability to excite and entertain as any of
these? I don't think so.
The top teams in the Premier League are weaker now than the
City and Liverpool teams of a few years ago. Nobody expected Liverpool to win it
this season. Arsenal went backwards this season, and City even more so.
The amount of money in the game makes it increasingly difficult
for fans to still love their sport and their teams. It's a test of loyalty and
devotion. The players they're paying large amounts to watch get paid more in a
week than most of them earn in a year. You can understand why fans will
criticise and boo players if they're not performing.
In addition to that, the increasing number of clubs owned by external corporate or state owners adds an element of futility and randomness to the league. An owner could come in and turn your struggling club into title contenders, or turn your fantastically run club into a debt-ridden shambles. Instead, this ownership model should be banned and replaced with the 50 + 1 model they have in Germany which means the fans must have majority ownership. Club success should be based around organic growth and improvement over a number of years. Fans are too emotionally and financially invested in a football club for it to be owned by anyone else.
This ownership issue, combined with things like sports
washing and the ever-pending 115+ charges of Manchester City damages the
competitive integrity of the league greatly.
It seems that now more than ever football is relying on
hype, marketing and the unwavering loyalty of fans to get people to still pay
their money to attend matches. The reality is the quality and excitement of
their product is going down while prices are going up. In order to change these
patterns may require fans to come together in big numbers to peacefully protest
and take actions like boycotting matches and football TV subscriptions. It
would be a beautiful revolution.
