Is the 09/10 season set to be the most exciting ever? Or is it merely the season the Premier League lost its new-found dominance in Europe? After a weekend wherein 2 of the “big four” have been battered by lesser opposition, it seems appropriate to question whether or not the league in general is getting stronger or whether the cream of the crop are just in decline…
The 07/08 season can be heralded as the year of English Football’s domination. Following stellar performances by all the English-based teams in the Champions League knock out stages, an all English Final beckoned – the flagship event to showcase our supremacy… But things have changed.
Last season saw a Barcelona team usher in a new era with the Catalan giants are now being viewed as the best side in the game. Considering they have collected a haul of 6 trophies this season; not only is it hard to argue otherwise, but it places a certain treble in ’99 into perspective too.
It’s not just Barcelona’s (short) climb to the pinnacle of the game which has taken the sheen off of our domestic game though. The return of a certain Mr. Perez has cast the spotlight once more on another Spanish powerhouse. Not long ago it would have been a well rounded statement that there was a distinct lack of appeal to the Spanish Capital’s Royal Club. A team struggling in both European and domestic competitions, with an ageing side and a new manager every 6 months… not top of the destination wish-list for an established star.
But with him Perez has brought back an air of greatness which has washed over the club, attracting the world’s greatest stars to the second coming of the “Galacticos”. The impact has been detrimental to every league other than the Spanish. The best players in the French, English and Italian leagues have all answered Madrid’s rallying cry and the Spanish fans can now claim to have all of the Top 5 players in FIFA World Player of the Year Awards.
It is easy to argue for how heavily this migration of talent has impacted the Premiership – Manchester United’s lack of quality this year is often cited as a direct result of losing Ronaldo, Liverpool’s fall from grace is blamed upon their inability to replace Alonso, Arsenal’s supposed pursuit of Benzema was ill-fated in the face of Real’s millions – as is the apparent case for Chelsea’s interest in Ribery. Not only have Madrid stripped the league of some of our biggest names, but they are hampering our ability to attract others. Everyone wants to play for the Spanish leaders – whether their preference is white and gold or blue and maroon, it’s just not London or the North West at the moment.
Coupled with the allure of Spain’s new dominance is the fact that in Spain; players get to keep a lot more of their wages. The UK’s new 50% high-earner tax is a daunting prospect for the next eligible starlet to hit the European football scene. A 25% foreign executive tax in Spain sounds much more appealing…
However, it is possible this doom and gloom may all just be misery brokering on my part and in fact the cause of so many unexpected results this year is simply that the clubs at the bottom of the premiership are getting better. Anyone who has watched Portsmouth’s recent matches will know that their performances on the pitch belie their table position and everyone now knows how hard a task it is to win at Burnley’s Turf Moor. On Sunday afternoon West Ham showed the bravery and guile Zola craved and they got their just rewards for such a resolute performance, with many commentators suggesting they deserved all the spoils.
Either way it is becoming harder than ever to predict the league table and with more upsets potentially in the pipeline – neutral fans are in for many more festive treats. Long live 4-3 Manchester-derbies, long live 1-0 Burnley upsets and long-live Liverpool going down 2-0 on the South Coast.
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