The Toughest Premier League

We all know the regular formula for a Premier League season. 2 excellent teams, 2 excellent but inconsistent teams, 2-3 good teams, 4-5 awful teams, and then the rest in the middle.

This season however there are no excellent teams. There are however, at least 9-10 very good teams. I've been amazed at how well the likes of Everton, Stoke, Leicester have played at St.Mary's. Spurs look very good, and Liverpool are bringing it together. And that's all without even mentioning the usual big four. What with ourselves and Palace looking non-too shabby either, I genuinely wonder if this could be one of the most competitive seasons ever. Top 6 and even top 8 will be a much bigger achievement than last year.

Haven't read any other threads recently so sorry if this has been discussed.

 

I think that this season will be unpredictable. I thought City could run away with it, but all the top clubs are losing matches. The next tranche of teams are strong this season....be nice if one broke into the top 4 (as long as it is us )....suspect it could be Spurs though . Important for us to keep in the mix at the beginning of 2016....then anything could happen.

 

Everyone says this every season though. You could well turn out to be right but be interesting to see how the league is shaping up after the new year.

I still think that City, United & Arsenal will make up the top 3. Then Spurs, Liverpool & Chelsea will will be fighting for the last CL spot. The only place where it might be more competitive is the spots below that. I reckon a lot of teams will fancy their chances of being 'the best of the rest' including Saints, Leicester, Everton, West Ham, Palace & Stoke.

 

Don't forget West Ham either! I think we can all agree that the general standard is at its lowest for some time, which can only be a good thing for clubs like ourselves looking to smash the glass ceiling.

On a related note, Saints posted a Pahars highlights reel on Twitter a few days ago. I love the guy, but its amazing how much worse the defending and goalkeeping was in the PL just 15 years ago:

 

Some of Pahars' goals made me think of Tiss....and that's some accolade.

 

Is it though? Maybe the top teams aren't amongst Europes best like they have been at times in past decade but I actually think from say 5th/6th down is stronger than ever thanks to the way tv money is going up.

 

And not too sure the PL is weaker. If you judge by the top teams and how they do in Europe, yes, but if you judge by the teams below them, no. All the teams now attract good players....not everyone can play for the top four...and players want to be in decent PL teams as opposed to decent teams in other leagues abroad. I think the standard generally has gone up...just not at the top.

 

^^Basically what I was trying to say but explained better

 

I think this is the first time in a PL season where almost all the teams are half decent. Bournemouth are 18th and good with the ball. Only the bottom two at the moment look poor sides. Chelsea being 15th says it all.

Manchester City and United are both top of their groups in the CL. Chelsea 2nd. So it's not like the English teams are a shambles in Europe.Arsenal may have had a nightmare, but they did beat Bayern Munich.

 

It is a very interesting PL this season. Could end up being the first time in decades that Spurs finish as the highest London team. On the other hand, Arsenal could finally win the league.

I think Chelsea have dropped so far off the pace they'll struggle to make the top 4 now.

And then there's Leicester. They must be starting to think they're on for a top 6 finish now; if not top 4.

I'll be happy with any top 10 finish for us, but wouldn't rule out European qualification yet either.

 

You're absolutely right. I didn't phrase my original post very well

What I meant to say was that the "elite" PL teams have weakened compared to 5 or 10 years ago when English teams were dominating the Champions League. The league has undeniably concertinad in terms of the gap in quality.

Having said that, though, teams like Sunderland, Newcastle and Villa are still dogshite and drag the standard down.

 

No, I don't agree. The pundits will tell you the PL is the weakest it has been for some time simply because they see that the top teams in the PL aren't dominating Europe. There may be quite a few variables pertaining to that without suggesting the PL overall is weaker. Outside of the top 4 the teams are stronger than they've been for years. Competition is now much closer, due in no small part to the previous TV deal, in my opinion. It doesn't suggest to me an overall weaker PL, just that the top teams aren't as dominating as they used to be.

The next TV deal could well redress the balance, as it is an even bigger amount of money to each club, or it could shift the competition even closer. It depends on how clubs use it.

 

You're spot on. See my 2nd post above.

 

Ah OK. Looks like I was typing away while you posted your second message. Yes, it is just the top teams that are finding the overall competition a problem. We could discuss the various reasons why that might be. I've made a few suggestions on this subject before, based upon the previous TV deal. My opinion basically breaks down into this:

The previous TV deal was a major injection of money into the PL clubs. The money was such that it allowed clubs to become profitable and still improve their squads/infrastructure, etc.. Depending upon various parameters, size of outgoings overall in salaries, costs etc.. the relatively similar amounts of money allocated to each team made either a large difference to their potential or a smaller difference. On bigger/biggest clubs, with the bigger/biggest costs, the allocated money tended to make the least difference. If that allocated money was used wisely, and not squandered on gambles, then certain well positioned/organised clubs could make big strides up the league table.

I base that opinion purely on what I've seen from the league tables over the past few seasons, and the changes to the various clubs. Those that have behaved well, invested and recruited sensibly have tended to improve. This all changes next January, when the latest TV deal kicks in. This deal will dwarf the previous one. Will it redress the balance in that it will be big enough to make big differences to the biggest clubs, or will it make the competition even closer.?

As to the elite English clubs not doing quite so well as they have done.? I'm not sure. I would say that the mainland elite European clubs have improved while the elite UK clubs have stood still or even gone backwards slightly. There is also the fact that elite English clubs are now playing in an increasingly competitive league. That can't be said to the same degree of the leagues on the continent, in my opinion. It takes a toll on player fitness and mental toughness, and I think there might be a degree of fatigue in the players of elite English teams. These are just suggestions. They could all be just lazy mercenaries.! [I jest] Or they could be too old [Chelsea.?]. There's not a ultra simple answer, in my opinion.

 

I sort of agree, or at least I think that we will see a lot more games like that in the future. Stoke did to us exactly what we did to Sunderland and Bournemouth in the two games before that, and when a team is professionally set up and gets the first goal, it's simple for them to control the game. Without one of those bits of luck or excellence that doesn't come around every game, the losing team can't do anything about it.

It's about as entertaining as Strictly Come Dancing, but it gets results.

 

Oh qwerty wish you'd told saints that at half time in the Leicester game.

Isn't it easy to type qwerty.

 

I remember Pahars as being right footed, but having seen so many great strikes with his left foot, in that compilation, am I wrong? Or was he a genuinely two footed player?

 

Yes fair point. I didn't watch that one, but I bet Ron was not happy.

It's easy to type and I'm really unimaginative.

 

No worries!

I have no idea how it's going to pan out with the forthcoming TV money, but it's an exciting time for sure. The introduction of FFP seemed at the time like it would make breaking into the top 4-6 even more impossible - though things don't seem to be panning out that way; the chasing pack tend to be run almost immaculately whilst the "bigger" clubs could be accused of being quite poorly managed in many respects.

All in all, I'd much rather be in a league where anyone can beat anyone - rather than being cannon fodder for one or two teams who win the league by dozens of points every year. If that means our clubs do a bit worse in Europe than so be it

 

I always thought he was a lefty! Some player..