The premiership - Better than the champions league?
Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:53 pmFrom 101 Great Goals
In 1992 there were 11 foreign players in the Premiership; there are now 331 in England’s top division. Newspapers such as the Daily Mail find this trend disturbing but we are finally witnessing the culmination of the promise that Sky have been telling their viewers for the last fifteen years.
The Premier League is the best league in the world.
Yet, little attention has been paid to the enormous financial clout that the Premiership currently has and what it will mean for the English game.
Newcastle, for instance, yesterday completed the signing of Spain under-21 international Jose Enrique. Until recently it was quite inconceivable that a mid-table side in England could have acquired such a player.
Besides the top four, who will always be able to attract big-name players, a number of clubs who will be fighting for Europe or even staving-off relegation have bought players who they could only have dreamed about years ago. Blackburn Rovers, who simply wanted to hold onto their best players this summer, have managed to bring in two strikers who could potentially light up the league in Maceo Rigters and Roque Santa Cruz.
The Premier League is now the first home for many top young players in the world (save for certain notable exceptions including Alexandre Pato). Nani, Anderson, Bacary Sagna, Steven Pienaar, Fernando Torres, Younes Kaboul and Kevin-Prince Boateng are an exciting selection of the young players who have been brought to England this summer.
There is no better example of the current pulling-power of the league than that represented by Manchester City - a team who finished just four points off relegation last season. Elano, the new Brazilian signing who has played fifteen times for the Copa America holders, has opted to join a team who failed to come close to European qualification. New Man City defender Vedran Corluka summed up the quality of the league when he said on joining Sven’s revolution, “I think the Premier League is in some ways better than the Champions League.”
Only the very top teams in Europe can now compete for signatures with the top four in the Premier League. The only blemish on the Premier League’s transfer dealings this summer has been the loss of Theirry Henry, but he would not have signed for another English club and so he headed to Barcelona, who still remain a global football superpower.
The quality of the players in the league should make for an intriguing spectacle in the months ahead but a number of questions stand out.
How long will it last? Football like all sports goes in cycles. Serie A was at its peak in the 80s, La Liga had its time in the 90s. For how long will the Premier League be awash with so much money?
Can English teams dominate Europe like they did in the late 70s and early 80s? There is a feeling that English teams have not punched their weight in recent years and the two successes in the Champions League only came through extraordinary comebacks. An English team surely has to make an impression on the UEFA Cup in the coming years too.
What impact will all the foreign players have on the English national team? There is currently talk of limiting foreign players in English club sides, a policy decision that Trevor Brooking rubbished today. If England do not qualify for Euro 2008 there could be some drastic changes in this regard. But presently, the theory remains that the better the players coming into England, the better our homegrown talent should be. Only when a player is good enough will they get selected to play. Therefore, if England is the home for the world’s best footballers we should witness an improvement in fortunes of both the quality of our homegrown players, and eventually in the national team.
In 1992 there were 11 foreign players in the Premiership; there are now 331 in England’s top division. Newspapers such as the Daily Mail find this trend disturbing but we are finally witnessing the culmination of the promise that Sky have been telling their viewers for the last fifteen years.
The Premier League is the best league in the world.
Yet, little attention has been paid to the enormous financial clout that the Premiership currently has and what it will mean for the English game.
Newcastle, for instance, yesterday completed the signing of Spain under-21 international Jose Enrique. Until recently it was quite inconceivable that a mid-table side in England could have acquired such a player.
Besides the top four, who will always be able to attract big-name players, a number of clubs who will be fighting for Europe or even staving-off relegation have bought players who they could only have dreamed about years ago. Blackburn Rovers, who simply wanted to hold onto their best players this summer, have managed to bring in two strikers who could potentially light up the league in Maceo Rigters and Roque Santa Cruz.
The Premier League is now the first home for many top young players in the world (save for certain notable exceptions including Alexandre Pato). Nani, Anderson, Bacary Sagna, Steven Pienaar, Fernando Torres, Younes Kaboul and Kevin-Prince Boateng are an exciting selection of the young players who have been brought to England this summer.
There is no better example of the current pulling-power of the league than that represented by Manchester City - a team who finished just four points off relegation last season. Elano, the new Brazilian signing who has played fifteen times for the Copa America holders, has opted to join a team who failed to come close to European qualification. New Man City defender Vedran Corluka summed up the quality of the league when he said on joining Sven’s revolution, “I think the Premier League is in some ways better than the Champions League.”
Only the very top teams in Europe can now compete for signatures with the top four in the Premier League. The only blemish on the Premier League’s transfer dealings this summer has been the loss of Theirry Henry, but he would not have signed for another English club and so he headed to Barcelona, who still remain a global football superpower.
The quality of the players in the league should make for an intriguing spectacle in the months ahead but a number of questions stand out.
How long will it last? Football like all sports goes in cycles. Serie A was at its peak in the 80s, La Liga had its time in the 90s. For how long will the Premier League be awash with so much money?
Can English teams dominate Europe like they did in the late 70s and early 80s? There is a feeling that English teams have not punched their weight in recent years and the two successes in the Champions League only came through extraordinary comebacks. An English team surely has to make an impression on the UEFA Cup in the coming years too.
What impact will all the foreign players have on the English national team? There is currently talk of limiting foreign players in English club sides, a policy decision that Trevor Brooking rubbished today. If England do not qualify for Euro 2008 there could be some drastic changes in this regard. But presently, the theory remains that the better the players coming into England, the better our homegrown talent should be. Only when a player is good enough will they get selected to play. Therefore, if England is the home for the world’s best footballers we should witness an improvement in fortunes of both the quality of our homegrown players, and eventually in the national team.