The ManicaPost
PREMIER League may well be the most exciting competition in the world of football, but it looks like it may be drifting away in terms of quality in comparison to other top leagues around the world.
How? Literally, how can that be? Premier League sides spent big in the summer. Manchester United broke the world record transfer fee to bring in Paul Pogba, Manchester City spent almost £150m, while Leicester splurged on the likes of Islam Slimani and Ahmed Musa and Arsenal spent high amounts on Granit Xhaka and Shkodran Mustafi.
The top five Premier League teams are currently separated by just one point, but while that’s awfully exciting it doesn’t bode well for English sides hoping to succeed in Europe. City, Spurs and Arsenal all drew over the weekend, showing a distinct lack of clinical edge and failing to pull away at the top of the league, even if it could have been just a few points.
Essentially, they all choked. Liverpool and Chelsea both succeeded in recording wins, beating West Brom and Manchester United respectively and closing the gap on leaders City, but they too have showed they are susceptible to a blip.
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool lost 2-0 at Burnley a week after blowing Arsenal away on the opening weekend of the season, while Chelsea have already suffered draining defeats to Arsenal and Liverpool.
It’s not hard to see why English teams can no longer challenge seriously in the Champions League. Take this year’s crop for example. Leicester have shown great form in Europe but are yet to rediscover that flair they carried last season.
Tottenham have been frustrating in front of goal, while Manchester City were humiliated at the Nou Camp last time out. Arsenal have started the group stage well, but if you look at the history books it’s easy to see why many people will opt not to back the Gunners against Europe’s elite.
On the other hand, Spain’s best are an intimidating bunch. On Saturday Barcelona were facing the prospect of losing at Valencia, but had the likes of Luis Suarez to turn to in order to bail them out of trouble.
Real Madrid displayed the same resilience on Sunday, with Alvaro Morata netting a late winner to keep Real at the top of the table. Atletico Madrid may have lost to Sevilla, but they’ve already proved their exceptional quality this season when they triumphed over Germany’s best, Bayern Munich.
While Spain’s top clubs aren’t faced with extraordinary difficulty every week, they have a way of pulling through when times get tough. Barcelona are a team renowned for their attacking panache, but they’re just as capable of grinding out a result.
It may be an unfair question, but would any Manchester City player make it into either of La Liga’s most famous side’s starting line-ups? With the mega-bucks arising from new television deals, many fans were expecting a higher level of Premier League football this season, and in some ways it has delivered.
Teams who weren’t backed to do incredibly well at the beginning of the season, such as Watford and Bournemouth, invested their cash wisely and picked out quality players to help them deal with the difficult demands of England’s top flight. Modest, sensible, well thought out.
The longer the season goes on, the more atrocious Manchester United’s spending looks. Paul Pogba doesn’t seem to know what he is doing, looking anonymous in matches against City, Liverpool and Chelsea, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic hasn’t scored since United’s defeat to City. You would hope the players start to gel quickly, but right now they’re a team of individuals.
And where on earth is Henrikh Mkhitaryan? Recruited as one of the most exciting talents in the Bundesliga last season the Armenian has disappeared, having reportedly suffered an injury. He hasn’t featured in the Premier League since September, but you can bet Mkhitaryan would be raking in the goals and assists if he was still at Borussia Dortmund.
While this season’s Premier League looks like it may be the most exciting edition ever, don’t expect too much from our sides in the Champions League. We’re behind in terms of quality, and we may never get back to the top. – Yahoo.com.
