THE DECLINE OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE: A LEAGUE AND A WEAK CHASING PACK.
So much was said about how Leicester City won the 2015/2016 Premier Legaue title against all odds, against all expectations.
They won the League ahead of teams like Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham who certainly have a bigger, better squad and "a bigger pocket".
In between Leicester's city "one in hundred Seasons" league Triumph shows a DECLINE in the level of competition for the league Title in England as the foxes won the league Title with a whopping 10 points more than their nearest rival Arsenal, an indicator to A WEAK CHASING PACK.
When Chelsea won the League in the 2014/2015 Season, they did so with 8 points ahead of their nearest rival Manchester City, due to a WEAK CHASING PACK.
So much for a league that the promoters and supporters brandish COMPETITIVE.
Fastforward to the 2016/2017 Season, Chelsea are clear of the chasing pack by 11 points( having played one game more) and this is only February, this is also indicative of a WEAK CHASING PACK, it does not look like there would be any stopping Chelsea for now with the drive and passion of their manager, CONTE, it looks as if Chelsea would go on to win the title in ruthless fashion, some 8, 9 or 10 points if not more ahead of their nearest rivals by May.
What has happened to the Premier League?
Here is a league that used to be highly competitive until the last day, here is a league that does not get decided until the final weeks, looking at the 2013/2014 Season when Manchester City won the league with just 2 points ahead of Liverpool.
In the 2012/2013 Season, Manchester United stormed to the league Title with a massive 11 points ahead of their nearest rivals Manchester City. Where was the Competition from the CHASING PACK?
The decline in recent Seasons is not showing in the league alone, it also reflects in EUROPE.
It is clear that the Competition in England is now between the average teams, and while just any team can beat any team in England, they don't have any stand out team in the Premier league that can go toe go toe with other teams in Europe.
There was a time when 3 English teams made it to the Semi Final of the UEFA Champions league, and 2 English teams did make it to the 2008 Final.
Fast forward to this day, it appears as if it's only Manchester City that would make it to the Quarter Final of the UCL, Spurs left at the group stage, Arsenal lost the first leg against Bayern 5-1, although Leicester City have faint hopes given that they lost 2-1 to Sevilla.
The last time an English team made it to the final of the Champions league was 2012 and that was Chelsea, between then and now, Spanish teams like Barcelona, At Madrid and Real Madrid have made it to the final like it’s their Birthright with Real Madrid winning it last season, and to add more salt to injury, Sevilla won the Europa league 3 times consecutively.
The last 3 Champions league Trophies have been won by Spainish Teams: Real Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Taking a look at the last FIF Pro world 11 will tell us more story about the Decline of the Premier league, no single player from the League in England made it to the Starting 11 with the Spanish La liga having 9 players.
The last players based in England to make the FIF PRO world 11 were Wayne Rooney and Manchester of Manchester United And that was in 2011.
According to Squawka, Points gap between 1st and 2nd place in Europe’s top 5 leagues:
Premier League = 10
Serie A = 7
#Bundesliga = 5
Ligue 1 = 3
#LaLiga = 1
In England as it is, there is only one oustanding team at the moment and that is Chelsea while the others constitutes A WEAK CHASING PACK.
The weak Chasing pack in England has given room for mediocrity.
English teams can certainly do better than they are currently doing In Europe
While there is competition between the teams on 2nd, 3rd, 4th 5th and 6th positions, no team is really pushing Chelsea for the title and this is purely disappointing.
For all the noise about the league having Top managers like Mourinho, Guardiola, Wenger, Pochetino, and Klopp, the chasing pack is WEAK AND THIS IS PATHETIC.
English teams should be all conquering and dominating Europe.
The English league generates more money than any other league in the world because of the level of equality amongst the avegrage teams.
For English teams to do well in Europe next season, there is a need for a stronger chasing pack.
The strength of the chasing pack in the Spanish L.A. liga is reflective of their Performances in Europe, At Madrid, Sevilla and Real Madrid all won the first leg of the Round of 16 UCL Fixtures and they all have a bright chance of making it to the Quarter Final of the Champions league.
English teams love to spend and they do spend big, Hopefully, the CHASING PACK would spend big and wisely in the Summer, it would be nice to have a COMPETITIVE chasing pack in the 2017/2018 PL Season just as it used to be.
AS WRITTEN BY:
ADEKANYE OPEOLUWA SAMUEL
08085552449.
Images Sourced from Google.
