The Barclays Premier League 2014-2015 season is moving into its last and most intense phase. With almost all the teams having played 30 matches out of a maximum 38, the remaining couple of months will see a frenzied jockeying for positions not only at the top but also at the bottom, where the three unlucky finishers will see their Premier League sojourn come to an end for the time being.
How it all stacks up
The season has been long and hard and not without its fair share of ups and downs. A prodigal son returned Chelsea to its staggering heights. A series of clinical but high tempo performances mean that they have a clear lead of 6 points with a game still in hand. Jose Mourinho, "The Special One" has managed his team excellently – and Chelsea has been a formidable outfit despite not having any mega stars.
Just behind Chelsea are three teams, all raring to go. Defending champions Manchester City have gone through a mixed season with some fantastic wins interspersed with some eminently forgettable performances. While they have managed to hold onto the No. 2 spot, such is the pressure on this team, fuelled by unlimited millions from its West Asian owners, that manager Manuel Pellegrini’s expression is getting grimmer with every passing day.
A point behind are the evergreen Gunners, Arsenal, managed assiduously by the implacable Arsene Wenger for so many years. Their season has been mercurial as always – some stupendous wins and amazing displays of individual talent, combined with outstanding team work. And then, like every other year, a few really subpar performances which mean that they find themselves fighting for a place in Europe for the rest of the season.
And a point behind Arsenal, we have the golden boys of not so long ago – Manchester United. Such was their dramatic fall last season that the climb back this year has been long and arduous – at times slippery and with more twists and turns than a F1 race track! With a new manager in Dutchman, Louis Van Gaal, the team is still a work in progress and nowhere close to the champions they were under the stewardship of Sir Alex Ferguson
Behind them are Liverpool, Tottenham and Southampton – the first two had great starts before losing their way and the last had its best run in years under another their dynamic new Dutch manager at St Mary’s. But the gap widens mercilessly between the top seven and the rest, and unless there is a dramatic meltdown, the toppers will be impossible to dislodge at this stage in the richest soccer league in the world.
Dark clouds over Europe
But Europe is a different story altogether. While the English League is undoubtedly the richest, attracting the megabucks from broadcast sponsorship (domestic and international), team investments, player salaries and the like, in the past four seasons English clubs seem to be losing their sheen in the UEFA Champions’ League – the Holy Grail of European soccer supremacy. From 2007 to 2011, English teams contributed at least three out of the eight quarterfinalists in the Champions’ League, with the exception of 2010 where United and Arsenal were the only representatives. Such was the impact of the Premier League that in 2008 and 2009, four out of the eight quarterfinalists were English teams, and Europe was shaken by their collective roar!
But that’s firmly in the past now with the rise of the Spanish clubs after 2010, and, more recently, the slow and steady investments made in German and French clubs beginning to pay off. With Bayern Munich and PSG butting their way into the space where Barca, Atletico and Real Madrid normally jostle for glory, suddenly the English giants are nowhere to be seen.
So steel has been the fall in the past four years that only Chelsea have made it to the quarters twice and Manchester United, once. In 2013 and, now in 2015, English clubs were unrepresented in the Champions’ League from the quarter finals onwards.
This has not gone unnoticed. Analysts and commentators are now asking questions about the quality of players being brought into the EPL on exorbitant contracts. There are worries that British-born talent is seriously suffering from the effects of the so-called foreign invasion which has run unchecked for many a year.
For many, the miserable run of the England team at FIFA 2014 epitomised the dearth of talent at home. Some even claim that the lack of a winter break has become crucial as players fall prey to fatigue and injury.
The traditional home of soccer stands threatened like never before. While the top four EPL teams will keep their spots in Europe for the time being, unless the teams start delivering victories at the knock out stages, a lot of valuations will go haywire. The number of Champions’ League slots awarded to each country or league depends on how their qualified teams perform over a fixed number of seasons – if this drought continues, the Premier League could see a downgrade in representation as well.
But that will be a story, if at all, for another day.
Rathindra Basu lives, breathes, sleeps sports and is forever waiting for the next Indian sporting triumph. Since this usually takes much time and infinite patience he also listens to music, reads voraciously and eats almost anything that moves!
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How it all stacks up
The season has been long and hard and not without its fair share of ups and downs. A prodigal son returned Chelsea to its staggering heights. A series of clinical but high tempo performances mean that they have a clear lead of 6 points with a game still in hand. Jose Mourinho, "The Special One" has managed his team excellently – and Chelsea has been a formidable outfit despite not having any mega stars.
Just behind Chelsea are three teams, all raring to go. Defending champions Manchester City have gone through a mixed season with some fantastic wins interspersed with some eminently forgettable performances. While they have managed to hold onto the No. 2 spot, such is the pressure on this team, fuelled by unlimited millions from its West Asian owners, that manager Manuel Pellegrini’s expression is getting grimmer with every passing day.
A point behind are the evergreen Gunners, Arsenal, managed assiduously by the implacable Arsene Wenger for so many years. Their season has been mercurial as always – some stupendous wins and amazing displays of individual talent, combined with outstanding team work. And then, like every other year, a few really subpar performances which mean that they find themselves fighting for a place in Europe for the rest of the season.
And a point behind Arsenal, we have the golden boys of not so long ago – Manchester United. Such was their dramatic fall last season that the climb back this year has been long and arduous – at times slippery and with more twists and turns than a F1 race track! With a new manager in Dutchman, Louis Van Gaal, the team is still a work in progress and nowhere close to the champions they were under the stewardship of Sir Alex Ferguson
Behind them are Liverpool, Tottenham and Southampton – the first two had great starts before losing their way and the last had its best run in years under another their dynamic new Dutch manager at St Mary’s. But the gap widens mercilessly between the top seven and the rest, and unless there is a dramatic meltdown, the toppers will be impossible to dislodge at this stage in the richest soccer league in the world.
Dark clouds over Europe
But Europe is a different story altogether. While the English League is undoubtedly the richest, attracting the megabucks from broadcast sponsorship (domestic and international), team investments, player salaries and the like, in the past four seasons English clubs seem to be losing their sheen in the UEFA Champions’ League – the Holy Grail of European soccer supremacy. From 2007 to 2011, English teams contributed at least three out of the eight quarterfinalists in the Champions’ League, with the exception of 2010 where United and Arsenal were the only representatives. Such was the impact of the Premier League that in 2008 and 2009, four out of the eight quarterfinalists were English teams, and Europe was shaken by their collective roar!
But that’s firmly in the past now with the rise of the Spanish clubs after 2010, and, more recently, the slow and steady investments made in German and French clubs beginning to pay off. With Bayern Munich and PSG butting their way into the space where Barca, Atletico and Real Madrid normally jostle for glory, suddenly the English giants are nowhere to be seen.
So steel has been the fall in the past four years that only Chelsea have made it to the quarters twice and Manchester United, once. In 2013 and, now in 2015, English clubs were unrepresented in the Champions’ League from the quarter finals onwards.
This has not gone unnoticed. Analysts and commentators are now asking questions about the quality of players being brought into the EPL on exorbitant contracts. There are worries that British-born talent is seriously suffering from the effects of the so-called foreign invasion which has run unchecked for many a year.
For many, the miserable run of the England team at FIFA 2014 epitomised the dearth of talent at home. Some even claim that the lack of a winter break has become crucial as players fall prey to fatigue and injury.
The traditional home of soccer stands threatened like never before. While the top four EPL teams will keep their spots in Europe for the time being, unless the teams start delivering victories at the knock out stages, a lot of valuations will go haywire. The number of Champions’ League slots awarded to each country or league depends on how their qualified teams perform over a fixed number of seasons – if this drought continues, the Premier League could see a downgrade in representation as well.
But that will be a story, if at all, for another day.
Rathindra Basu lives, breathes, sleeps sports and is forever waiting for the next Indian sporting triumph. Since this usually takes much time and infinite patience he also listens to music, reads voraciously and eats almost anything that moves!