Has Premiership standard dropped

[worcestersauce]

I have been watching SSN and their hook yesterday was how wonderful and exciting the Premier league is because of the number of goals that have been scored this season what with five nil’s and six two’s etc.
Does this mean that the English Premier League is a higher standard now than ever before?
I remember Martin Jol’s assessment of the EPL a few years back, being of a higher standard than other leagues because in other leagues the top sides would thump the lower sides 5-0 whereas in this country even the top sides vs bottom sides were tough games so it’s pretty clear to me that overall standard has dropped, no doubt about it?
Let’s face it does anyone think that any of the bottom clubs are going to trouble the top sides on a regular basis? It’s not going to happen is it? More likely the drubbings will continue surely?
Anyone want to argue with Martin?

 

[Rocksuperstar]

I don't think the overall standard has dropped but the gap is getting bigger between "them" and the rest of us, clearly evident in the transfer market.

There will be the odd upset, yeah, but with each year that passes, until the FA wake up and realise that the league promoting four teams above the others is unfair competition and just drives a wedge even further between the clubs, this chasm will just get bigger and bigger.

It's a bit like the Scottish Prem, though twice the size. Up there they have 2 clubs vastly superior in every way, who fight for the title each year, attract all the best talent locally and have the draw to attract overseas players. Often one other team might make a fist of it and push them with good results (Hearts a couple of years ago, for example) but will inevitably be squashed, unable to get the recognition required to take their game up a level and really compete.

Prem's going that way too now, with players sulking, pissing and whining until they get a move to one of the four and, if they can't get one of them, they won't come here at all. It's f*cking rubbish for 16 clubs, brilliant for four as they get the pick of the bunch and they know that their rivals, the ones that could topple them from that perch, are going to lose out.

 

[Cicada]

fact remains that there's a distinct divide now between the good teams and the bad teams..

the Sky 4, Us, Man City, Aston Villa, Everton and maybe Sunderland..

all the rest are no better than championship teams really..

it never used to be like this.. ofc some times a team has a good or bad season, but the spending power of those clubs is just so much more than the others

in the race for the 5-10 teams to match the sky4, it's created a massive divide

 

[Kyras]

fact remains that there's a distinct divide now between the good teams and the bad teams..

the Sky 4, Us, Man City, Aston Villa, Everton and maybe Sunderland..

all the rest are no better than championship teams really..

it never used to be like this.. ofc some times a team has a good or bad season, but the spending power of those clubs is just so much more than the others

in the race for the 5-10 teams to match the sky4, it's created a massive divide

I take it that you don't watch either a lot of the championship or the Premiership itself because the divide is huge.

At the moment, Hull, West Ham and Portsmouth are in the bottom three. Newcastle, West Brom, and Boro are the three teams directly below them in the football league. (Also, the three teams who competed in the premiership last season.)

The difference in standard is huge, and the three relegated teams are good teams in themselves. Apart from those three some of the teams are shocking; obviously when they play against Prem opposition it's a cup final for them so play out of their skin, whilst Prem teams are often seemingly undermotivated. The technical level of the Championship is shocking, to be perfectly honest, it's all about speed or power. It's long ball football from most teams, teams worried about losing rather than pushing for the win, it's often horrible to watch.

 

[Kyras]

I think the standard is higher than ever, as the bottom teams haven't gotten any worse, but the top teams just keep getting better. I also think it's a shame that Ronaldo left, he had his bad points but he was good for this league. He's lighting up La Liga, and part of everything good that Real Madrid do, and making the title race (along with Kaka, Benzema, Guti etc.) even more interesting.

Also, although I understand, and somewhat agree with the point about competitiveness.. The Championship is one of the most open leagues ever, you can go from relegation zone to promotion in about 7 games at the end of the season.

 

[SpurSince57]

I think the standard is higher than ever, as the bottom teams haven't gotten any worse, but the top teams just keep getting better. I also think it's a shame that Ronaldo left, he had his bad points but he was good for this league. He's lighting up La Liga, and part of everything good that Real Madrid do, and making the title race (along with Kaka, Benzema, Guti etc.) even more interesting.

Also, although I understand, and somewhat agree with the point about competitiveness.. The Championship is one of the most open leagues ever, you can go from relegation zone to promotion in about 7 games at the end of the season.

Yet in Spain things are even more polarised, with only Sevilla looking seriously capable of challenging the Big Two.

 

[Kyras]

Yet in Spain things are even more polarised, with only Sevilla looking seriously capable of challenging the Big Two.

Yeah I'm not saying the premiership isn't polarised, quite the opposite. I just think that it's a result of the top teams getting better faster than the worse teams are.

 

[millhouse]

I went to see Wolves Vs Pompey last Saturday.

Its dropped believe me

 

[Brewster]

The better teams are better, the worse teams are worse...

And the new ball means more goals

 

[Green Valley]

I went to see Wolves Vs Pompey last Saturday.

Its dropped believe me

You went to see most probably two of the worst teams in EPL history and you are going to judge the whole league of this game?

 

[spursman85]

I wouldn't be so harsh on Wolves and Pompey, over Premier League history we have had some absolutely dire matches. I remember Southampton and Coventry having some truly appalling encounters at The Dell, while Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswitch and Watford have also contributed to some horrible football. It's not so much the gap between top and bottom that's getting bigger, as the gap between top half and bottom half. It's getting to the stage where anyone challenging for Europe really has to win virtually every match against opposition lower than themselves, and its a result of hefty investment from many new owners.

A few years ago, there's no way we'd have had a squad as good as ours and not been guaranteed a top 4 finish, but now the Premiership and La Liga have vacuumed the majority of good players out of virtually every other league. So in all, we have a better standard than ever before.

 

[dontcallme]

I don't think the overall standard has dropped. For a team like ourselves to have players like Modric, King, Woodgate, Gomes, Palacios, Lennon, Defoe, Keane, Crouch and then have players like Bentley, Gio and Hutton not getting a look in is a massive step up.

Teams like Villa and Everton are stronger than ever and Man City's money has them possibly competing with the top four who in my opinion are all included in the best 10 teams in Europe and have been for a long time.

The bottom teams standards do vary a lot. We've seen teams from Sheffield Utd to Derby to Sunderland to Wolves all finish bottom in the Prem and looking nothing short of awful. The quality of the promoted teams is largely about how well organised they are rather than the quality of their players.

I think there's more quality in the top 10 teams in the Prem than ever before and the bottom teams are slightly better than the were 5 years ago.

 

[fieryjack]

Yet in Spain things are even more polarised, with only Sevilla looking seriously capable of challenging the Big Two.

I think you`ll find that it`s only since they signed Zokora :grin:

 

[millhouse]

You went to see most probably two of the worst teams in EPL history and you are going to judge the whole league of this game?

Yes :grin:

It was THAT bad.

Now I know why my mate at work gets to the boozer for 11 a.m :beer:

 

[kcmei]

I actually think epl standard has risen and the majority of teams have strengthened. The reason for the amount of goals i think is to do with teams wanting to win more and not just park the bus. A draw (1 point) is no longer enough and you have to go all out to win games to survive

 

[Caco]

Don't think the standard required to win the league has dropped. Utd and Chelski are streets ahead of the rest. I don't think Arse and pool are that far ahead of the rest, if at all. The difference between the Premiership and every other league, with perhaps the exception of Germany, is that there is not an amazing gulf in class between the top and bottom teams.

Bottom feeders in the Premiership have a pretty good representation of International players. There is no other league in the world with this.

So I think if anything the standard of the lower teams is improving.