The Premier League: A Force in Decline
Football, soccer, calcio, futbol – call it what you want (no, please don’t call it soccer), but football is a truly global game. Through a combination of exciting football, astute marketing, and an organization that understands the advantages of having a global audience, the Premier League has become the most widely watched football league in the world. With this worldwide popularity comes a windfall in revenue, that English football teams used to their advantage in the first decade of the 21st century. Liverpool managed to win the Champions League (widely recognized as the pinnacle of club football competition) in 2005, and Manchester United followed suit in an all-English final against Chelsea in 2008. Between 2007 and 2009, there were 3 English teams in each semi-final round of the Champions League. In the last three years however, only Chelsea has made it that far, on just the one occasion. Even more surprisingly, no English team made it past the round of 16 in last season’s Champions League.
Where did it all unravel?
The ascension of first Barcelona, followed by Bayern Munich as superpowers in European football has coincided with – and to an extent contributed directly to – the decline of English teams. The recent success enjoyed by both continental giants can be attributed to flourishing youth academies that churn out top quality players every year. In contrast, the last truly world-class player to emerge from an English academy was Wayne Rooney, from Everton in 2003. In a bid to address this problem, the English FA have introduced the ‘home-grown player rule’. This states that a minimum of 8 members in each squad must have been playing for a team attached to the English Football League for at least three years between their 16th and 21st birthdays. Rather than boost the quality of young talent, this rule has proved counterproductive. In much the same manner as a developed country imports goods from a poor nation at a fraction of the cost, rich teams can simply buy such players from other clubs to meet their quota rather than develop them. This results in ‘home-grown players’ having massively inflated market values. For instance, 20-year old Raheem Sterling’s recent sale to Manchester City was priced at £49 million – more than what it cost to build Atletico Madrid’s 2014 La Liga-winning starting XI. Desperate to meet these quotas, the big clubs are often left with no choice but to overlook foreign youngsters who are considerably better.
The other problem with English academies lies in their methods of development. Most academies still subscribe to ridiculously outdated guidelines, such as rejecting players who are “too short to play football”. If 11-year old Lionel Messi had come to England rather than Spain, he would have been dismissed by most top Premier League clubs, for not looking the part of a footballer. How many more Messis, Xavis and Iniestas has England failed to unearth on account of archaic recruiting principles? While it is true that English academies have produced some great athletes over the years, very few great footballers have come through their ranks.
The style most English clubs seem to employ is that of fast-paced, attacking football. A direct approach, with open free-flowing football, has made the Premier League the most entertaining league in the world to watch. On the European stage, though, this system falls short. Despite playing the same general 4-2-3-1 formation as most continental teams, English clubs do not give as much importance to possession, build-up and off-the-ball play. As a result, they are more often than not outmanoeuvred by more technical opponents. It is no surprise that Chelsea, adapting their game for Europe, is the only team that has done well in recent times. Jose Mourinho’s men act as a compact unit and work tirelessly off the ball, defending deep and hitting opponents on the counter. The other English teams would do well to take a leaf out of their book, rather than go in all guns blazing.
The last major hurdle in the path of English progress in the competition is the lack of a winter break. English teams play more fixtures in December than their counterparts in other European leagues, often extending to as many as three competitive games in the span of a week. Once the Champions League knockout rounds begin in February, the players are aching with fatigue, while their Spanish and German counterparts are rested, refreshed and raring to go. Unsurprisingly, English teams do well in the group stages, only to falter at the knockouts.
It’s been a while since the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool struck fear in the hearts of opposition players and fans. Yes, Barcelona and Bayern are riding the crest of a wave of extraordinary production from their youth academies, and Real Madrid are keeping pace as a result of Florentino Pérez’s second Galactico army, but football is a cyclical sport. There will come a time when these teams will slip up. It may not be anytime soon, but it will come. Buoyed by a lucrative new TV deal, if English football clubs can restructure the way they invest their money with an eye towards the future, in addition to reassessing their coaching methods we might just be able to witness the second coming of the British Invasion.
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