Are Premier League standards slipping?

[C-man]

Fergie reckons the Premier League is getting harder. Or at least that's his excuse for Manchester United's shaky season (particularly away from home) so far.

Man Utd were beat by Leeds. Liverpool held by Reading. Teams from a division or two lower beating the countries top 2 teams from last season. I don't think this would have happened 3 or 4 years ago. You could argue that teams from lower leagues always raise their game against the best and maybe that's all it is.

Although he's made a fantastic start at Man City, Mancini has brought back Patrick Vieira - a 33 year old who when he was disposed of 5 years ago by Wenger, was considered past his best. So if he wasn't good enough now, why bring him back to a League that the pundits call the best in the world?

With some of seemingly the best players to have played in England in recent times disappearing off to Europe and being replaced by shite like N'Gog, is it any wonder that the big 4's dominance isn't as inpenetrable as it was in previous seasons.

I don't want to turn this into a 'England vs Spain; who's league is best?' argument because they're boring and we've had enough of them in the past.

But what d'you think? Is the fact that Birmingham are sitting in 8th place and Stoke in 10th in January an indication of falling standards or just that the non-big-four teams are closing the gap?

[Edmund]

You may have a point.

You just have to look too the big four who are all weaker than in recent years :

Man Utd : Lost their best player and haven't replaced him with the same level of class. Other signings have either flopped or been mediocre by Man Utds standard.

Chelsea : Looks like the silly spending has stopped, before they were bringing players in such as Drogba now their bringing in the likes of Sturridge.

Arsenal : Seem reluctant to spend any money at all and are concentrating on bringing players through the youth setup. Players like Henry, Bergkamp etc have never been properly replaced.

Liverpool : Poor signings, last big player to come in and make an impact was Torres.

I think normal service has resumed after a boom in the league in the last four years. We've been accustomed to big money being spent which seems to now have slowed down.

Yes you have Man City spending big but lets face it their only paying over the odds as they have rich owners. The only real class players they've signed are Tevez and Given.

On the other hand I think teams like Tottenham have become stronger. They've pretty much possessed the same squad so not sure wether it's down to players improving over the years or the manager.

Saying that we still have 3 clubs in the Champions league who qualified without too much effort so it's hard to tell in comparison against other leagues, but I certainly think there has been a slight drop in standard.

[milans_son]

Good pole C-Man - I believe the Premier League is improving in quality, with non-top four teams closing the gap

[Simi]

If the top four does start to break, it'll be very interesting to see how the chairmen of the big clubs react.

Perhaps the idea of a Super League will start to look more appealing to them now they're not guranteed their place.

[dandannieldanok]

No, there have been peaks and troughs of standards throughout the 18 or so years the premier league has been about, but I don't think you can really argue standards are slipping noticeably. The league has lost it's best player though.

[Matt]

Could you perhaps add the option of the Top 4 are weaker than in previous season.

I wouldn't say - Yes: it was better in previous seasons, because I don't think it is, I just think Top 4 clubs are weaker, thus the gap seeming less.

I wouldn't say - No: non-big-four clubs are just improving, because I don't think they are, I still think there are some poor, non-descript, boring teams in the Premiership.

[Guest ttfn]

Generally there are next to no top-quality footballers in the Premier League.

There's maybe 10 top, top players out there at the moment, compared with many more in previous years.

Just look at United. They're a one-man team these days. Just think about their team 10 years ago - Valencia-Fletcher-Carrick-Park is not a midfield fit to shine the shoes of Beckham-Scholes-Keane-Giggs (although I do rate Valencia).

Chelsea are an aging side, and without Essien appear to lack any oomph.

Arsenal are largely dependent on Fabregas to make them tick.

Liverpool are TOTALLY dependent on Torres and (decreasingly) Gerrard.

Man City are looking like one of the more balanced and well put-together sides in the league at the moment.

Basically what seems to be happening is that the players just below the top level (the likes of Ashley Young, Aaron Lennon etc) are too expensive for the likes of United, Arsenal and Liverpool to go out and buy, as they would have done in the past, and as a result teams like Villa and Spurs have had the opportunity to go out and build a proper team around them.

It saddens me that players like Darren Fletcher are seen as top footballers. They're not - there's just a dearth of talent in the top 4 at the moment

[lildave3]

Standards slipped the day Ronaldo went to Madrid. But teams like Spurs and Man City have obviously improved, and would love to see one of them break into the top 4.

I think it makes for an all round more entertaining league though.

[Sparky]

Standards slipped the day Ronaldo went to Madrid. But teams like Spurs and Man City have obviously improved, and would love to see one of them break into the top 4.

I think it makes for an all round more entertaining league though.

Yeh been excellent viewing this season

[CosbehFox]

I'd agree with the big four getting poorer but it's no bad thing.

[C-man]

It's no bad thing entertainment wise but when you see that Sol Campbell is close to signing for Arsenal again you really do wonder where the game is heading nowadays...

[potter3]

Reckon it's a mixture of both options. Chelsea are the only team in the big 4 that haven't sold important players over the past few seasons.