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Gap closed or Big Clubs just not that good ?

  • 21-12-2009 6:53am
    #1
    ROCKMAN
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,247 ✭✭✭


    After the last few weeks Wolves ,Fulham ,Portsmouth etc all get surprise results and putting pressure on the top teams .And the way the season has been panning out so far ,has the level of the league even out or has the performances and standard of the so called Top teams dropped ,

    Yes the league has a very similar look to the top 3 .But the current top four sides have lost 15 games between them so far this season .

    When is the last time one of the leading club look really good ,awesome ,that you could honestly say that was a league winning performance. A team ,squad good enough to win the league.

    As a UTD fan I can honestly say I have not seen such a display this season so far and I am talking about before the injury crisis , But the same can be said about Chelsea or Arsenal both have been far from convincing but is this down to their standard dropping or the gap really closing .

    Yes Villa , City and Spurs have good squads and managers and have raised their games so far this season. But has the rest of the league improved . Is it a case of the top teams just not performing or that they are just not that good ?



    ....


Comments

  • #2
    CHD
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 6,956 ✭✭✭CHD


    Gap is closing but the cream will rise to the top.


  • #3
    CR 7
    Registered Users Posts: 3,709 ✭✭✭CR 7


    CHD wrote: »
    Gap is closing but the cream will rise to the top.

    Where does this leave Liverpool so? The rest of the teams are improving, United and Chelsea seemingly stagnating, but Liverpool regressing?


  • #4
    eddiehead
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,493 ✭✭✭eddiehead


    I think going to the Emirates and winning 3-0 is as close as you'll get to a League winning performance. I do agree that this season the big teams don't seem as efficient though.


  • #5
    G1032
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,141 ✭✭✭G1032


    The standard has dropped over the last number of years - 10 years or so. I think that the United team of 99/00/01 would wipe the floor with any of the top 4 teams today. Likewise the Arsenal teams of 98 and then the invincibles would also be too strong for any of the top 4 today.


  • #6
    MementoMori
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,492 ✭✭✭MementoMori


    ROCKMAN wrote: »
    When is the last time one of the leading club look really good ,awesome ,that you could honestly say that was a league winning performance. A team ,squad good enough to win the league.

    Chelsea had a few performances at the end of October when they in three game patch beat Blackburn 5-0[League], Bolton 4-0 [Carling Cup] and Bolton 0-4 [League] where they looked awesome. They have been a bit inconsistent in other patches. No other team has really had put together any sort of consecutive peformances that had me thinking they looked like a side capable of challenging for the league. I think only the fact that Chelsea have had some poor performances in December and perhaps been a bit unlucky picking up 5 points ouf a possible 12 (P4 W1 D2 L1) has meant there is still something like a title race.


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  • #7
    Het-Field
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,350 ✭✭✭Het-Field


    I frimly believe that the PL's ability to attract top foreign players has wained. Between 1995-2006 I think the league was aflush with great foreign players, who were gagging to play English. In recent years, the league has lsot that edge, and has lost its top performers like Henry, Ronaldo, Diarra, Robben etc.


    Equally, many of the top signings have been down to personal relationships, and other factors (Deco to Chelsea, with Scolari/ Torres to Liverpool with Benitez), Mascherano and Tevez to the PL on the football equivalent of bogus immigration documents.


  • #8
    mike65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 88,972 ✭✭✭✭mike65


    I think the ability to organise a tight formation and find players who will run and tackle to the last whistle has become more important than "pizzaz", add in the greater resources at clubs like Sunderland and Villa, the loss of certain players at the big teams and a tightening up is what you get.

    Brum are no-ones ideal of a flair side but they are proving damned hard to beat, Fulham likewise (but with more flair!) while City despite not loosing many games look quite brittle as do Arsenal without a muscley midfield or VP up front. Liverpool are just brittle.


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