Just noticed this morning as the Prem results rolled in that contests between the "big four" and the rest are getting increasingly predictable and you have to wonder how much longer they can keep this going before people start to vote with their feet and wallets.
Look at these scores, these are all games that 10-15 years ago would have been considered "tricky" for the away side but these days you just so rarely get an upset.....
Birmingham 0 Chelsea 1
Fulham 0 Arsenal 3
Reading 0 Man Utd 2
Its just so depressing, don't you agree? In some ways I dread going back up because you get the feeling that playing the big four home or away is a bit of a waste of time.
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I can't wait for OooAaar's comment on this - it'll be as predictable as the premiershit is these days (I still see his point though, the champs is exciting but a relatively poor standard - our situation is catch 22 IMHO though).
yeah in an ideal world everyone would have a chance but i recall liverpool being dominant in the late 70's and eighties with the odd touch of arsenal and man utd and arsenal in the nineties so in all my life there's only been a few clubs capable of winning it , the problem is a villa, everton or a forest may never have a chance of breaking the mould as happened previously...
but i know i'll watch ALL of match of the day and only odd bits of the championship round up program
I've said it before and I'll say it again - Sky have utterly ruined football in this country.
Man U in particular have been playing some amazing stuff of late, destroyed Newcastle with a footballing lesson last week for example. Arsenal and Spurs always play good football, and Chelsea are a bit more entertaining to watch now post-Jose. Pompey play with a lot of pace and power, Villa have rose a level, and even Boro were playing some good attacking football yesterday.
west ham 3 spurs 4
this season spurs 4 villa 4
spurs 2 birmingham 3
arsenal 1 chelsea 0
and there has been plenty of excitement in other matches
goals galore and excitement, maybe not the greatest quality but there's plenty of dour quality available in serie A and i know which league i'd rather be watching ....
sky have turned the game into a big money thing but that's led to better players coming to the premiership admittedly at the cost of home grown players progression being slowed down (the cream will rise to the top, eventually anyway) as vancouver says above it's a catch 22 situation...
i'm pretty sure the average amount of goals per game in the top division of english football has risen since the beginning of the premiership as have average crowds
The European Superleague break away will never happen. To make up a 18 team league you would take EPL (4), Spanish (3) Italy (3) Germany (2) Portugal (2) France (1) Holland (1) Scotland (1) Norway (1). Some teams that are used to finishing top 3 in their domestic leagues will have to finish, at minimum in the 10th position and that would not be acceptable. Fewer away supporters would travel to away games, creating Lutonesque type atmospheres and traditional domestic rivalries will always out score fabricated european league games. Sadly we are saddled with the money bag top 3 plus Liverpool, who exploit our game and artificially look good.
BTW if Liverpool do get taken over by Dubai Investment Company, will they then officially have a board room ful of dics
But name me a major league around Europe which isn't predictable?
Spain - it's going to be Barca or Real.
Italy - Inter are currently streets ahead of everyone.
Scotland - Celtic and Rangers
Portugal - Porto always stroll it.
France - Lyon always stroll it
Holland - PSV or Ajax
Germany is about the only league right now. Bayern cocked it up majorly last season but reacted by spenidng about 50-60m in the summer so will be right back winning it again pretty soon.
At least with our league the quality of football is generally better and more exciting to watch than in other countries.
Ive also seen plenty of great games this season and have no complaints against what Sky have done, just hope we can have our 50 mil next season.
And this season I've yet to watch any Premier football whatsoever on the telly.
It's completely passed me by and I've had no interest at all since Charlton were relegated.
But while the Championship is an interesting enough diversion for a season, I've spent more than enough years watching Charlton tread water in League backwaters - so promotion at all costs has to be my target. And evidently the club's too.
So fingers crossed, I'll be following the Prem media circus next season - and looking forward to 2 mins of Charlton at the end of Match of the Day.