So the Premier League is in full flow and already after eight matches we can tell that this season is going to be a very open one with teams like Crystal Palace, Leicester City and West Ham United occupying positions in the top six.
Now this does seem like an interesting prospect, teams who last season finished 10th, 14th and 12th respectively pushing for the higher places in the league against the big boys with infinite levels of wealth. Not to be the one to run to ruin the party but is this such a big achievement?
As sad as it is nowadays, football is a financial game. The successes the teams have achieved are all based mostly on money. Chelsea’s 2014/15 title winning team featured zero players from their highly successful academy in the regular starting XI. The same applies to Manchester City’s recent title winning teams. The only possible exception to this is Barcelona who’s academy players (Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Pique) formed their backbone.
The same pattern is occurring in England this season too. Over the previous two seasons, Crystal Palace have spent over £40 million, Leicester City are over £45 million and West Ham just under £60 million. Combined that is over £145 million. To put it into perspective, Spectabilis Island in the Bahamas is worth over £40 million. So for the price of three islands you can have Premier League quality players.
With this new found knowledge, suddenly do the successes of these teams mean so much? To me there are two ways of looking at it. On one hand, the successes are meaningless. Undeserved credit awarded to teams fuelled by billion dollar businessman as a way to become even more elite. However, on the other hand, this is a good thing. For years the Premier League has been dominated by the fat cats from Manchester and London, so to see different names up there is in a way a relief to the system.
But are they ever going to really threaten to top teams who are so content sitting high up on their perches? We saw with Southampton last year how difficult it is to remain in the top four and as a result they ended up finishing seventh which is, in itself still a good achievement.
In my personal opinion, I think yes. Last season the Saints’ were a one man army, a lone rebel against the legions of the elite teams. However this season, they have reinforcements. Swansea have already troubled the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea, West Ham have beaten Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal, all in their own backyards, and Leicester and Palace have been a firm test as well.
The season is still in its foetal stages but as an avid football fan myself, I personally cannot wait what is in store for us in the next seven months.
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