How the media view the top 6 Premier League sides
As the Premier League season draws to a close, certain top 6 sides this season have performed well, whereas some have performed poorly. Additionally, one’s perception of how a team is performing and how good they are can be determined by the media perception of the team, so let’s look at how the media portrayed the top 6 sides this season.
Framing Effect
The framing effect is a cognitive bias of which people come to different conclusions based on the way something is presented. The media can use the framing effect by presenting news in a different manner, changing how people come to conclusions after reading a certain segment of news.
Confirmation Bias
The confirmation bias the tendency to search, favour, and recall information that supports one’s beliefs & opinions. The media can filter out the news they want to report, and as a result, this could affect the information that people listen to and the information that they ignore.
Availability Heuristic
Availability heuristic is a mental shortcut of which one relies on immediate examples to come to certain conclusions. The media could portray a certain image repetitively over time, and as a result, whenever someone may think of a team, they might immediately assume that team is good or bad.
Manchester City: Cosmic football
Cosmic football was term used by lifelong City fan Noel Gallagher as a way to describe the way Manchester City are playing.
Manchester City have undoubtedly been one of the best teams in the league this season, winning both the Premier League and the Carabao Cup. However, even though they were eliminated in the FA Cup and the Champions League, the media are definitely in awe with Pep Guardiola & Manchester City.
But why are they in awe? Because of the football that they play. While last season Manchester City drew loads of criticism, this season they have not. From the way they’ve ripped teams apart to scoring 5 or 6 per game, the media simply have very little to complain about. Also, the media’s normal scapegoat, Raheem Sterling, has had undoubtedly one of the best seasons in his career and is banging in the goals. All in all, Manchester City have simply been too good this season for the media to criticise.
Manchester United: Party poopers
“Party poopers” was a term used by many of the British media following Manchester United’s comeback at the Etihad stadium. The term is also a negative connotation, and can be referenced to the way that both teams have performed this season.
It’s Manchester United’s best season since the Fergie era as they will be playing Champions League football next season, and they also have the potential to win the FA Cup. However, United’s season hasn’t been as bright as City, as because of that, United seem to receive less praise than their city rivals.
Most of the media’s spotlight hasn’t just been focused on the field, but also off the field, with lots of coverage around Luke Shaw & Paul Pogba’s relationship with Mourinho. Furthermore, another reason why Manchester United haven’t been receiving as much praise is because the style of play isn’t as attractive as their top 6 counterparts and also because of the money they spent in the summer.
Liverpool: Heavy metal football
Heavy metal football is a term that’s been repeatedly used by Jürgen Klopp and the media to describe his intense pressing style of football.
If you told a Liverpool fan at the beginning of the season that they would be finishing this season in 3rd and are in the Champions League final, they would slap your hand off. It’s been not just a remarkable campaign for Mohamed Salah, but also for Liverpool Football Club as a whole. But because they sold their best player and didn’t spend as much as their top 6 counterparts, Liverpool’s achievements this season seem far more remarkable relative to the money that they spent and also the fact that they sold their best player.
Furthermore, what also makes Liverpool the media favourites is the fact that they such an attractive, attacking brand of football and have no national media scapegoat. While for United it’s Pogba and for City it’s Sterling, when Liverpool lose, the media rarely criticise them to the extent that they criticise the Manchester clubs. Not only that, but also Jürgen Klopp is a very charismatic person with the media, and his relationship with the media is also a reason why Liverpool have such a positive connotation in the media.
Spurs
Spurs will most likely finish the season in 4th and are still progressing under Mauricio Pochettino, however, Spurs haven’t received too much criticism relative to their top 6 rivals.
This has to do mainly with the fact that Spurs didn’t spend much in the window and also because the core of the Spurs team is English. Also, like Liverpool, there aren’t really media scapegoats in the team and that definitely plays a pivotal factor in terms of how the media portray Spurs throughout the season.
Chelsea
Chelsea will most likely be playing Europa League next season, quite a fall from their title winning season last year.
Antonio Conte and Chelsea have mainly been perceived in a negative manner throughout the season. This has to do with their poor recruitment and Conte’s feuds with Costa & David Luiz. Furthermore, not only have Chelsea been poor on and off the pitch, but Conte started an unnecessary feud with José Mourinho, and he lost that one. All in all, because of the amount of losses Chelsea have taken on and off the pitch, the media have portrayed Chelsea in a negative manner.
Arsenal
Arsenal will be playing Europa League football next season and will have a new manager. It certainly hasn’t been a good season for Arsenal, as this season is Arsenal’s worst performing season in the Premier League since the appointment of Arsène Wenger.
Most of the media’s perspective of Arsenal has been about how far Arsenal have declined and the players at Arsenal, with Arsène Wenger and Mesut Özil both getting criticised a lot. Even though Wenger announced his departure at the end of the season, the media have still very much enjoyed reporting the decline of Arsenal.
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