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The Premier League is High in Entertainment – But What About Quality?

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United meanwhile have progressed through a straightforward Champions League pool, although none of the four victories which opened their challenge were convincing.  Qualification will be a relief however, to a club who despite only missing out on being crowned as England’s best by virtue of goal-difference in 2011/2012, simultaneously failed to negotiate a European group containing, Benfica, FC Basel and Otelul Galati of Romania.

In the familiar and comfortable surroundings of home, the Manchester United name is enough to intimidate some opponents.  That mental edge, in conjunction with the team’s force of will and array of attacking talent is enough to maintain the Red Devils’ status as perennial title challengers.  Despite heading the league, and for all that striking threat, this is the weakest United outfit for some time.  The presence of the name Michael Carrick in Sir Alex Ferguson’s first eleven offers hope to the most humble of league adversaries.

United’s lack of presence in an injury-stricken defence and the absence of an authoritative goalkeeper have been punished recurrently this term.  The Citizens’ defensive rock, Vincent Kompany, and ‘keeper Joe Hart are the sticking plaster covering up gaping holes during many of their side’s league encounters.

Like City, it is in the pivotal midfield area where United are repeatedly found wanting against the continent’s best.  That is where matches at the very apex of the game are settled and where an abundance of the stellar performers are employed.

Progressive opponents take control by firstly swamping the middle of the pitch to win the ball before moving it quickly and positively to all points – with any player in possession enjoying a range of passing options thanks to their colleagues’ bright movement.  Conversely, our teams often look pedestrian and bereft of cohesion.

Never was that more evident than in Chelsea’s two encounters against the technically wonderful Shakhtar Donetsk, as well as in their European Super Cup mis-match with Atletico Madrid.  Tellingly, the lessons handed to the Blues in Ukraine and Monaco occurred while they were contemptuously swatting aside all-comers in their homeland.

None of this is deemed as unduly important to the television companies or many millions of viewers who, for all the technical flaws and deficit in quality of even its strongest teams, have an insatiable appetite for the frenetic, bewitching and undeniably irresistible on and off-field Premier League dramas.

The associated forensic analysis that comes with being the highest profile division in the world has brought some negative side-effects for its combatants.  It is in this environment where at least four clubs at a time are deemed to be ‘in crisis’ – Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Sunderland, Southampton and QPR have already been tarred with that status this campaign – and managerial life expectancy is not much longer than that of a tin of baked beans.

Any professional or private activity of any individual lucky enough to be an employee of a Premier League club, be they player, manager or even previously unknown directors and chief executives, is at risk of becoming national news.

For these minor inconveniences, the majority of participants are magnificently rewarded and those who perform each week primarily keep their side of the bargain.

As the public’s thirst for football continues to grow, the standard at the highest levels of the game across the continent is evolving at some pace.  All three German entrants into this year’s Champions League have progressed to the final-16, newly-moneyed Paris St-Germain are making their mark in Europe while lying only fourth in Ligue 1, and Juventus have re-emerged as an authentically fearsome  force.

Spain’s La Liga boasts the eminent names of Real Madrid and Barcelona in its ranks, although their familiar hegemony is being disturbed by Atletico Madrid.  Crack outfits such as Shakhtar and Porto point to the sound health of less traditionally strong domestic settings.

The proliferation of exhilarating and gifted football team’s across our continent is something to be celebrated by all genuine fans of the sport.   For those of us in England, rather than indulge in too much navel-gazing concerning current perceived failures, we should be truly grateful for the fact that our excitement isn’t limited to sporadic high-profile clashes and midweek European tussles.  Every week – in fact every day – we are treated to the most captivating spectacle and storyline of all.

Gone are the days when football mad schoolboys would sit agog watching Serie A on their television sets, only able to admire from afar the world class individuals of the day, as they strutted their stuff in sparkling modern stadia.  Now it is our very own league which attracts its share of galacticos and exhibits a host of playing arenas which are the equal of any competitor’s.  For all this we should be grateful.  Nothing lasts forever, so let’s savour all that the Premier League presently has to offer.

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