The Premier League... Has It Really Declined?

Former Spurs and Chelsea midfielder Gustavo Poyet has recently come out and spoken about the decline of the Premier League. Speaking to Reuters Poyet said,

"I'm a bit critical of the Premier League this year, I know people may not agree with me but I don't think it's one of the best Premier Leagues in the last few years -- to be honest I think it's one of the worst. Maybe it's more competitive and interesting but at the same time I would say there is not one team that is really better than the rest. Some say the other teams are getting better but in my opinion the top teams this year have got worse."

So what about Manchester United this season? They've gone into the year unbeaten and are through to the second stage of the Champions League without losing a game, where do they stand in Poyets opinion?

"Look at United, they are not even playing well but they are top. They deserve to be top, don't get me wrong, but if they are top without being at their best what's happened to the rest?

There is also a comparison to the major European leagues and a critique of the matches between the "Big Four" this season from Poyet.

"Look at any other league. If you go to Spain, Barcelona are top because they are absolutely fantastic. If you go to Italy, the same, the teams that are top there it's because they are doing so well and playing good football."

Poyet also said some of the matches between the leading clubs in England had been poor.

"I've been very disappointed," he said. "Apart from Arsenal v Chelsea, all the rest including the Manchester derbies and Arsenal v Manchester City, were awful.

"You expect more but it's even difficult to pick the best player in England. The Premier League has to be careful.

"I think the best players in the world give you something every week to be happy about. In Spain you watch Barcelona and Real Madrid every week and (Lionel) Messi and (Cristiano) Ronaldo are always, always giving something," added Poyet.

"The fans will think the money they paid for their ticket was worth it. If I go to Manchester every week it's difficult to pick a player ... the same at Chelsea, and I could go on.

"Only (left winger) Gareth Bale at Spurs has been exceptional."

Now it's all well and good making statements about the demise of the big four, but where is the proof? Have they really dropped off? Well I'm going to have a look if this is a case by comparing Chelsea and Manchester United this season so far and from the 2007-2008 season...

At the end of the 2007-2008 season English football was at its zenith, Manchester United were European Champions after beating Chelsea in the final of the Champions League. Out of the semi-finalists in the Champions League that season three out of the four sides were English. At the end of that tournament none of the English sides had been beaten by foreign opposition...

2007-2008 Reserves: Foster, O'Shea, Pique, Park, Nani, Scholes, Fletcher, Nani, Anderson, Saha

During this season Manchester United had their strongest squad in the last twenty years and this showed in their achievements winning both the Premier League and the Champions League. Its obvious from the reserves that there was plenty of quality cover for rotation or in case of injuries. There is also room for tactical switches, for example Saha was an alternative as a direct centre forward instead of the "false nine" role Cristiano Ronaldo player. Or if Alex Ferguson wanted to play a convential 4-5-1, Rooney and Tevez could go off for Nani and Park. This was a great squad as well as an exceptional first 11.

Current Reserves: Kuszczak, Fabio, Rafael, Evans, Smalling, Gibson, Giggs, Scholes, Valencia, Hernandez, Berbatov

This season only Rooney from the attacking triumvirate is at Manchester United, with Ronaldo and Tevez being replaced by Nani and Valencia or Park. Now the first team is still made up of players from the 2007-2008 squad. Those players who are now in the first team weren't able to get in the side in 2007-08 so this either is a decline or the players have now developed to the stage where they are now good enough for first team football. The only changes have been the loss of Ronaldo and Tevez.

My next case study is Chelsea the side who finished runners up in the PL and CL in 2007-2008 season.

2007-2008 Reserves: Cudicini, Belleti, Bridge, Alex, Mikel, Ballack, Kalou, Wright-Phillips, Anelka, Pizarro

If you look at the current team in comparison to the one in the season under Avram Grant, just like Manchester United there has been very little change to the first team.

Current Reserves: Turnbull, Ferreira, Bosingwa, Bruma, van Aanholt, Ramires, Zhirkov, Benayoun, Kalou, Sturridge

The only changes from the side in 2007-2008 is that Carvalho, Makelele and Joe Cole have left and been replaced by former squad players Mikel, Alex and Anelka. With Chelsea, their reserves have diminished noticeably this season, in 2007-2008 their reserves were made up of established internationals. This season they have Turnbull, van Aanholt, Bruma and a declining Paulo Ferreira. These players wouldn't have got near the first team in previous seasons.

This season Chelsea's decline can be seen through their results - they currently lie fifth in the table having already lost 6 games out of twenty one. Two seasons ago having Chelsea or Manchester United lose six games in a season was unthinkable, but this season they have both looked beatable on numerous occasions.

2007-2008 League Table

If you look at the table from 2007-08 there is a clear gap between the big two and the rest of the Premier League with there being a massive 20 point gap between Chelsea and Everton. Arsenal and Liverpool as usual pushed them close but failed to upset the duopoly.

Current League Table

The current table shows how close the current league is. There doesn't seem to be such as gap between the big four and the rest. Why is this? Have the rest improved? Or have the big clubs declined? Well I think its a bit of both but the one overriding factor I feel is that Chelsea and Manchester United have both stagnated. What I mean by stagnation is that their decline has followed the frugal spending of their owners. They have both sold players but have failed to replace them and improve their squads.

Spending Figures 2006-2011

If you look at the spending figures for the Premier League for the last five years the three biggest spenders have been Spurs, Man City and Sunderland. Two of those are now the top four and the third is 6th compared to 15th where they finished in 2007-2008. Chelsea and Manchester United are 10th and 14th in the spending figures respectively and this can be seen in their performances...

One thing that does point to a lowering of standards in the Premier League overall is how easy the promoted sides have found it. In past seasons the promoted three would steal points off teams around them and write off the games against the big four. Blackpool have beaten Liverpool twice this season, Newcastle have beaten Liverpool, Arsenal and grabbed a respectable draw against Chelsea and finally West Brom have beaten Arsenal and drawn away to Manchester United.

Conclusion

I personally feel that this season the Premier League is weaker than it has been in the previous 5 years. I think the money has dried up at clubs like Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea. The likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona have also done a good job of hoovering up talent from various clubs leaving very little for the English sides. This was reflected in the nominees for the Ballon D'or where hardly any British based players were given any sort of recognition.