1. Will the Premier League’s Strength Hinder its European
Challenge?
The PremierLeague hasclaimedtobe “the bestleague inthe world”formanyyears,butin recent
yearshas appearedtolose itsgripon thisprestigioustitle. Thisismostlyputdownitscontinued
failure inEuropeancompetition.Notsince Chelseawonthe title in2012 withvictoryoverBayern
Munich hasan EnglishteamimpressedinEurope andthisrecordcontinued onTuesdaynightasboth
ManchesterUnitedand ManchesterCityfell tosomewhatsurprising2-1defeatstoPSV Eindhoven
and Juventusrespectively.
But doesthismeanthat the PremierLeague isnolongerthe world’stopleague?Otherleagueshave
certainlymade convincingcasesinthe pastfew years:La Liga hasthe mostcompellingcase,with
Barcelonawinningthe ChampionsLeague lastseasonandthe twoMadridclubscontesting the final
the previousyear;Serie A continuestoimprove withJuventusgrowingstronger,highlightedbytheir
ChampionsLeague final appearancelastseason;andthe Bundesligahasreallycome tothe fore with
the emergence of BorussiaDortmundandWolfsburgalongside ever-presentsBayernMunich.But,
despite theirrecenttravailsinEuropeancompetition,there is stillnoleague thatcanmatch the
competitivenessandintensityof the PremierLeague.
In manyleagues,the league winneriscleareveryyear,orat leastitwill be one of at mostthree
teamswhowill triumph withthe other17 teamsmakingup the numbers.InSpain,Barcelonaand
Real Madrid dominate eachyear,withAtleticocausingthe occasional upset.InGermany,noteam
has trulybeenable tochallenge BayernMunichfora numberof years,withchallengersrisingand
fallingall tooquickly.
In England,however,the destinationof the title isneverclear.The majorityof fansandpundits
backedChelseatofollowuplastyear’sconvincingtitle winwithanotherthisyear,butitis
ManchesterCitywhoare the runawayleadersafterjust5 games,withChelsealanguishingin17th
place withjust4 points.Arsenal andManchesterUnitednow lookthe mostlikelyof the richestclubs
to challenge Cityforthe title,butbothhave theirownproblems.Unitedcurrentlyhave only19-year
oldnewsigningAnthonyMartial available asastriker,whilstArsenal continue tolackconsistencyin
bothattack and defence despite theirmuchpraisedfree-flowingstyle of play.
Meanwhile smallerclubshave made more impressive startstothe season.Crystal Palace have
kickedonunderthe leadershipof AlanPardew,addingYohanCabaye,AlexMcCarthyandBakary
Sakoto an alreadysettledandexcitingsquadfullof attackingtalentanddefensive grit.Leicester
have beenrejuvenatedundernewmanagerClaudioRanieri and,inspiredbyworld-class
performancesfromRiyadhMahrezandJamie Vardy,have propelledthemselvesuptosecondinthe
table.EvenSlavenBilic’sWestHamhave made animpressive starttothe seasondespite theirearly
disappointmentinthe EuropaLeague,beatingbothArsenaland Liverpool.
There isno reasonwhysome or all of these teamsshouldnotcontinue thisformandchallengethe
ChampionsLeague andEuropaLeague placesinplace of the richerclubs.The gradual fall of both
Liverpool andSpursandthe poorform of Chelsea andSouthamptonwillhave beennotedby
Pardew,Ranieri andotheraspiringmanagersandtheywill see thatthere hasneverbeenabetter
time to pushon intheireffortstomake an impressioninthe tophalf of the table.
While the closingof the gulf in classmay be makingthe PremierLeague amore interesting
spectacle, coulditbeginto weaken the PremierLeague’sperformancein Europe?InLa Liga andthe
Bundesliga,the talentcontinuestobe boughtupby the top couple of teams,continually

2. strengtheningthose teamswhocanaffordthe bestand wideningthe gulf inclassbetweenthe top
and bottom. Inthe PremierLeague,onthe otherhand,inspite of the seeminglyconstantflow of
moneyintothe topclubs,the talentseemstobe spreadingitself out. Where inthe past, exciting
prospects suchas Mahrez and YannickBolasie wouldbe warmingthe benchforChelseaor
ManchesterUnited,theyare nowcausingthe bestdefences problems,playingforsmallerclubs.
Whilstthiswill undoubtedlycreate more competitioninthe league,itcouldendupweakening the
squadsthat enterbothEuropeancompetitions.Eachteamwill have acompetentsquad,butwith
the spreadof talentacrossclubs,theywill neverbe able tocompete withthe financial cloutand
transferdominance of the topSpanishandGerman clubs.
Furthermore,the intensityof the divisionmustalsobe takenintoaccount.The benefitsof the
Europeanwinterbreakhave beenmuchdebatedandhave givenareasonable excuse forthe poor
showingsof recentseasons,butperhapsitisnotjustthe quantityof matchesthatcontributesto
teamburnout,but the sheerintensityof matchesinthe PremierLeague thatisa farbiggerfactor.
Each match is graduallybecomingmore of achallenge foreverycluband,added tothe build-upof
matchesaroundthe Christmasperiod,the fatigueof eachteamwill continuetoincrease pastthe
groupstagesintothe laterrounds.
Howeverthe nextfewleagueseasonsturnout,Icannotsee an Englishclubputtingforwarda
realisticchallenge forthe ChampionsLeagueinthe next3or 4 years.Englishfootball andthe top
clubsinthe countryhave a choice to make:a league full of surprisesandwhere noseasonwillbe the
same,or a predictable leaguewithaselectgroupof teamscapable of challengingforEuropean
glory.Noleague hasyetfounda way to dohave both and I can’tsee it happeningsoon.