Article 75— Premier League, The Best In The World?
Is the English Premier League the best league in the world? It is a very subjective question as it depends on the parameters you place to judge a league.
Personally, a league is the best if there is a tight league competition between teams fighting for the league title, for European places and against relegation. That coupled with performances of teams from that league in Europe, getting to the semi-finals, final and winning European competition regularly. Finally, the number of world-class players and Ballon D’Or winners in the league.
The English Premier League at present is the richest league, has the best marketing and publicity, aesthetically, it is pleasing to the eye when you watch matches that are played to full crowds. The football played is open and exciting. The nasty problem of hooliganism in the stands are long gone. Families can safely watch matches in the stadium without fearing for their lives. There is also a positive culture around the support clubs enjoy from their fans. In the last decade, no team has managed to win the league more than twice in a row which makes the league unpredictable.
The issue of racism still rears its ugly head in English Premier League matches but it is not as frequent as it is in other parts of Europe. Also in cases of racism, they are dealt with decisively and swiftly. These are the positives of the English Premier League of today. Now for the negatives, in the last three seasons, the league has either been a one-horse race in two of those seasons. One horse race by a long mile I must add. In the other season, it was a two-horse race that went down to the wire but the two teams in the race were miles away from the rest in the league.
Fans and advocates of the English Premier League like to extol the virtues of it being a league where anybody can beat anybody. While that should indicate a league that is competitive and tough, it is not entirely a fair reflection if it only applies for 18 or 19 of the 20 team league. Moreover, if it was really the best and the most competitive, you would not get teams running a country mile away from the rest in the title race. It would have been a lot closer.
Credit goes to the teams that have set a blistering pace at the top displaying superhuman ability, Manchester City and Liverpool. But it is a pity and a shame that the rest of the league for all the money the clubs have, have not invested it well into strengthening their squad. They have failed as well in terms of tactics, strategy and management.
On my next criteria which is the performance in Europe. Last season was something to crow about for English Premier League fans. Both the Champions League and Europa League finals were contested by English teams only. Now if we look back at the decade, from the 2010–11 to this season, there has been twice that an English club has emerged champions of the Champions League and three times the champions of the Europa League. Three times an English club has finished runners up in the Champions League and twice in the Europa League. There has been a total of seven semi-final appearances in the Champions League and six in the Europa League by English clubs.
These numbers could be further boosted by this year’s competition. At this stage, two English clubs remain in the Champions League and two in the Europa League. The Europa League record of the English clubs has already bettered that of the previous decade, 2000–2010 where there was only one English winner of the Europa League, two runners up and six semi-final appearances. In terms of the Champions League, the remaining clubs could better the number of champions by one or match the number of runners up but there is no way English clubs can match the number of semi-final appearances. From 2000–2010, there were 13 semi-final appearances by English clubs.
Overall, I would say in Europe, that while there has been an improvement in the performance of English teams in the Europa League, in the Champions League, English teams might have fared worse than in the previous decade. Finally on the world-class players and Ballon D’Or winners. There have been zero Ballon D’Or winners in this decade. As for world-class players, there are many very good players in the English Premier League, there are players with big reputations and a lot of hype but I struggle to name players that are genuinely world-class. Again this is a subjective matter.
Looking elsewhere in Europe, in this decade the Italian, German and French leagues have all been monopolized by one team and between these three leagues, only one German team has been champions of a European competition, Bayern Munich in the all-German final of the Champions League in 2012–13. Juventus has finished runners-up in two Champions League finals and Marseille has finished runners-up in one Europa League final. None of these leagues has had a Ballon D’Or winner either.
In this decade, the Spanish La Liga can lay claim to being the best league in the world but looks to be in decline in the last two-three seasons. The winners of the La Liga have mainly been the usual suspects, the mighty Barcelona and Real Madrid. Atletico Madrid was the only club to break the duopoly in this decade. Spanish clubs have dominated in Europe. In this decade, six times a Spanish club has won the Champions League and in two of those finals, there has been an all-Spanish final. The winners have Real Madrid and Barcelona while Atletico Madrid has been runners-up twice.
In the Europa League, five times a Spanish team has won it and in one of those finals, it has been an all-Spanish affair. Sevilla has won it three times in a row and Atletico Madrid was the other team to have won it.
The Ballon D’Or winners have all been from Spanish teams although, in some years, we have raised apprehensions as to why Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo has won it when there are players in other leagues that have done much better in that year in terms of achievement. The genuinely world-class players have also been in Spain.
I reckon that at the moment, the best period of dominance for the English Premier League was from 2000–2010 especially from 2003–2004 onwards. In that decade, Manchester United dominated but only in one did they run away with the league title, 2000–01. There were the Invincibles of Arsenal and the emergence of Chelsea. Liverpool and Manchester United emerged winners of the Champions League while Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United have finished runners up in consecutive seasons.
Liverpool won the UEFA Cup/Europa League while Middlesbrough and Fulham finished runners up in that competition in that decade. Michael Owen and Cristiano Ronaldo were players that were playing in the English Premier League when they won their Ballon D’Or. In the case of Ronaldo, the first of many. However, it was still not a period where there English Premier League was the best. There were periods where they were dominant but not totally.
It looks like the new decade could belong to the English Premier League but the teams in the league have a lot to do to ensure strong and tight competition in the league all the way to the end. It is not like in other European leagues where there is a financial disparity between teams or teams that are trying desperately to balance their books. Let’s see how English teams do in Europe and if they can start winning European trophies regularly or at least getting to the final. Let’s see if there is a fairer distribution of the Ballon D’Or winners as well.
