Has the Premier League become harder to win? Is the Premier League becoming boring? These are the two questions running through many Premier League lovers’ minds. Imagine if Arsenal had managed to win the 2022–23 PL season.
How interesting would that be to worldwide fans? I bet there would be some Gooners who would have still been stunned by their league win. Unfortunately, Manchester City won it. The Citizens winning the 2022–23 league title now means they’ve lifted five of the last six league titles (only Liverpool has prevented them from doing so).
To some, that could be them becoming dominant. Still, to others, it is the PL losing its hype and turning boring, like the German Bundesliga, where Bayern Munich have won the last seven league titles, or the French Ligue, where PSG have also won 5 of the previous six league titles (Lille won it once).
The Premier League was interesting between the 2012–13 season and the 2017–18 season. Anyone could win it. In that run, Chelsea won it twice, Manchester City twice, Manchester United once, and Leicester once.
The Premier League needs to return to such exciting days. For it to be so, Arsenal must end the Citizens’ dominance next season. Why Arsenal? Last season, the Gunners had the best shot of stopping them.
the Gunners failed to maintain momentum throughout the season, and it became obvious that Arteta needed a quality bench. With blockbuster deals lined up to support Arteta’s project, the Gunners may have the best shot of ending Manchester City’s dominance and making the Premier League enjoyable again.
If anyone can do it, Arsenal can!
Darren N
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It will probably be the Premier League that breaks City’s dominance when the 115 charges against them are finally resolved in a couple of years’ time.
Hopefully they will be punished before next season starts. If Guardiola is gone, Arteta would likely dominate EPL
Not next season or the one after or the one after that if City’s lawyers manage to drag this out.
If we are relying on court charges and pep leaving to win the league then God save us
We need a level playing field, and right now most of the rest of the PL are being cheated, and if this is the only way to achieve it then make City answerable in court.
GAI, wishful thinking on a number of counts.
And they have done this dominance after selling some of their best players and acquiring more than 150 mil in transfer. Clearly this has been one of the best transfer season done by any team in history of football. Arteta was the one who helped city strengthen their squad by buying their deadwoods. And we Arsenal still want to buy more deadwood from city. Clearly city has high visionary management and they wont sell player if they think it will weaken them. The only way we can end their dominance is hitting the jackpot in transfer like we did with Saliba, we should target players who have absolutely potential to be top 3 in the world, not players who are coming cheap. We have cleared lot of deadwood since Arteta arrival but agony is that we have again collected that many deadwood and this seems like endless cycle which should stop if we want to be anything like city.
“And they have done this dominance after selling some of their best players and acquiring more than 150 mil in transfer. Clearly this has been one of the best transfer season done by any team in history of football. Arteta was the one who helped city strengthen their squad by buying their deadwoods”
seriously !! City have one the league 7 out of the last 12 seasons and this season was one of their lower points total in recent years, yet we have got the most points since the invincibles season 🙄
Also you said they have done this by selling some of their best players, but then it changes to their deadwood 😂😂
Deadwood doesn’t mean they are bad players. Deadwood are players who does more harm strategically, quality wise or financially by keeping them rather than getting rid of them. Jesus, Zinko or Sterling couldn’t be guaranteed starting line up, that means mancity had better players ahead of them. So mancity actually made profit in transfer by losing players who were not guaranteed 1st team without compromise on their quality, instead they bought players who strengthened them significantly. And in 7 seasons how many times mancity sold their star players to make a profit? Do you remember any season than this one? We also got get rid of our important players like Auba, Ozil, Ramsay, Martinez, Leno, Guendozi, and several others who were still good players but without making any profit. And do you really think having Jesus or Zinko change it all at arsenal? They spent most of the time in treatment room. For me the increase in squad harmony, emergence of Odegard and Saliba and fitness of Partey were key contributors for our achievement. So rather than going after mancity players and providing them loads of fund to strengthen them we should try to find the players who could be absolutely star at that position. Only way to end their dominance is to get the best players there in the market but not by providing them opportunity to get the best players.
TBH – I didn’t really care who won the CL, but Milan lost my support with the amount of play acting and simulated fouls going on – Fiorentina were similar against West Ham, I thought the refs would get wise to Italian antics.
Add Roma to that list and one might say “a plague on Italian football”.
Premier league does triple of play acting done in the Italian league, I watch both league and no one can tell me otherwise, and westham were the one’s instigating all forms of play acting falling like bunch of babies.
We need a new CF, CM and RW (to take the load off Saka). We’re very close, but we need a shrewd transfer window.
Agree on the shrewd window, but from what I saw from Reiss Nelson this season, it looks like he’s taking his game to another level and finally has the confidence to go with it. I’d like to see him given a chance to be our second to Saka. But definitely CM and CF (different type) and a fullback too, though I’m really interested to see Norton-Cuffy in preseason.
👍 Drayton.
I can’t understand the comment(s) about Fiorentina’s gamesmanship against West Ham. If anything West Ham were the team diving most of the time. I don’t like all this foreign player bashing. It’s time we cut out the xenophobic remarks in this country and brought some balance into our perceptions before knocking everyone else.
I didn’t watch the M City game because I can’t take the club seriously. The fact they have gone from mediocrity to the world’s best team at the same time as being taken over by a hugely wealthy owner whilst (apparently) not breaking FFP rules is a bit too far fetched for me. However, did you hear the commentator, last week (I wish I could remember who it was) saying the great thing about the premiership was that it was so open. What universe is he living in?
Bravo, Wayne! Bravo! Not identical circumstances because the Yankees are one of the old school baseball teams, but in the 90’s, spending in baseball got so monstrous that it was basically “richest owner wins” and nearly ruined the game. In an admirable step, Major League Baseball decided to protect the game over greed and capped spending. Now the Yankees are exposed and rarely win a title. Now the Atlanta Braves win, small markets win, et cetera.
This sensible approach for fair play hasn’t caught on in soccer because of green-eyed greed, and Financial Fair Play quite literally does nothing because it allows—by intention—so many loopholes. They know we the fans will never give up attending or viewing, and they’re unscrupulous in greed. The penalty imposed on Chelsea was clearly effective! Ugh. I hate to say it because I have so much respect for the players on these teams, guys like De Bruyne and Kante and Grealish, but these multi-billionaires using football for their enjoyment or profit are absolutely killing the great game we love, and I don’t put any value to these titles or “trebles”.
Until spending is capped to SOME degree, the great game we love is compromised.
Good points.
The favouritism shown in comments in relation to West Ham are particularly dishonest as they were amongst the more negative, cynical teams on their way to winning a cup.
MC have simply bought their way to the CL.
I’ve also never valued City as a club to be taken seriously (football achievement-wise). I only wonder when this spending spiralling out of control will reduce. Average players are now bought for £70m. FFP is a joke. PSG is more guilty than City and yet nothing is said because they’re UEFA’s darling. EPL is officially a farmer’s league (I made this statement some days age on this site). Serie A has four different winners in the last five years(That’s competition for me, no matter what anyone says). English players are mostly over hyped. If Martinelli was English, he would be rated higher than Saka cos he’s more explosive and productive.
To be fair juventus have one the league 9 times in 12 seasons and that was 9 times straight 🤔🤔
Also the majority of managers in the premier league are not English and they are the ones who judge (generally) a player’s worth in terms of how much they want a “English player “ because they can always say no to outrageous demands….
And another thing!!
When you say “English players are mostly over hyped “ who are you comparing the players to,? oh yes that’s right the entire footballing world!!
Won*
And they have won 1 in the last 4 years
The point is in recent history they have been more competitive and exciting league….
@Wayne
Have you ever interacted with football fans from those countries too? Do you know the things they say about the England and the EPL as a whole? They too are rivals to basically people will try to find anything negative about them or just absolutely make up stuff about them.
I will give an example. What do most of Spurs, Man United, Chelsea, City, Liverpool, West Ham etc fans say about Arsenal FC and us gooners? They label us with all sorts of mocking, degrading and abusive names.
And in turn how do we react? We also retaliate with equally the same venom and call them all sorts of names. You have not been to a Spurs / Arsenal game in the last 25 years?? The venom, bigotry, homophobic chants, antisemitic chants, peedophilic chants towardd wenger, racial chants towards Sol Campbell etc.
Have you visited any Chelsea, Spurs, Man United, City, Liverpool, fans forums recently or in the last 20 years or so years? I think you would faint if you read the things they all say about us and other rival clubs / fans. For example when attacking Liverpool, The Arsenal, Man United, City, Spurs, Chelsea fans etc will label liverpool as a dump, bin dippers, crime ridden, a Northern Sh!t-hole, attack the scouse personality, history and accent etc. People even make fun of the Hillsborough disaster. That’s how football rivalry goes. Group think mentality.
Each and every club does it to their rivals. But it’s all because of tribalism / rival mentality where people lose a sense of rationality. That’s all..
This is competitive sport, it will get tribal and critical though goes out of the window.. Most people lose their sense of rationality, logic and critical thought when it comes to their in group (tribe). We get defensive and rationality goes out of the window. The Italians and all the other nations are also the same towards the EPL and England as a whole in football or politics.
But with all that said, the same old so called xenophobic English will flock to Spain, Italy, France, Portugal etc on holiday each and every year in their millions. Likewise the many Spanish, Italians, French, Portuguese etc will visit England at some point.
The same Northern clubs that call London an overcrowded, crime ridden city that is filled with dirty immigrants will flock to it for work, as tourists, or go sightseeing and all that etc.
Then those from the South will visit the North at some point in time.
😊
👍 Goonster, congratulations on an excelent post.
Celtic and Rangers are the worst, yet the Scottish FA does nothing about chants, signs, flags etc at grounds.
By the way Arsenal supporters aren’t innocent in this, given the comments on Spurs and other clubs, which go far beyond banter.
The commentator was probably Martin Tyler with all the crap he comes out with.
Arsenal must get world class defenders and a front muscle man to push through the bus wall of the opposition, only then they can compete. Inter Milan had this in their team last night, and was unlucky not to beat Man City in the European final. Arsenal lack technical with strength. Think back to petit and veira, Adams, keown, bould,campbell, berkamp, henry. All players that could read the game well and was over 6ft and strong.
Common sense Daveg. We must have been watching the same game. Inter were a patched up side of bits and pieces whose coach was able to take to a higher level. As for the nonsense being written above about Italian gamesmanship, get real. It’s the old Jimmy Hill one eyed jingoism. Have you been watching Premiere League recently? I am not an Inter fan but their performance against City was exceptional.. If it had been Arsenal you would have swollen with pride. Which brings me to the next point. Arsenal just weren’t good enough. Our midfield was terrible, panicking away and just collapsing in a heap in those final games against Everton, Liverpool, Westham, Southampton etc, while not even being able to tie Manchester City ‘s shoe laces. And don’t mention wing backs. Inter had two very good ones. We had Tomiyasu, Ben White, overplayed Zivchenko and failed to use Tierney. Poor recruiting or poor game management. As for Arteta, the glass is half full but he has to learn and grow up. Too much micro management ant too much stubbornness.
joe
i think you are being a bit over critical on AFC
no team was good enough to lace City boots this season. the cups in the cabinet now prove it.
we were closer then most to be able to give them a run for there money.
agreed, our midfield isnt the best and i think everyone one on here will agree to that.
MO is the stand out and would walk in to most
teams
TP had a decent season but prone to injury and on his day is as good as anyone in the league but the problem is he carries to much baggage with him off the field and maybe it is effecting his games and head at times. he cant remain the number one choice through out the season and i see the club are trying to address that area
GX had a blinder this season and we all know he is not the answer for us long term or going forward.
i am or have been one of his worst critics in the past but no one can doubt his commitment this season. done a great job for us. well done to the manager and coaching staff in getting the best out of him this season
our wing back havent been terrible
before injury plagued us at the back we looked solid. 2nd best defence record in the league
still scoring going forward as well
its not all doom and gloom Joe
we have more green shoots coming through then dead ones.
i as always am very optimistic for the forth coming season
now the season is closed off and the dust has settled. you can evaluate with a clearer view on how we got on
if a school report.
tries hard
get distracted at times
very talented but just needs to concentrate and upgrade in certain areas to be able to flourish and fulfil potential
expect better things to come from them in the future
overall, have great value for money entertainment
8/10
Thanks for the chin up AB108, as I mentioned Atrtasy class is a bit more than half full but he also has to take responsibility for the collapse, which is what it was. His big chance was half time at Anfield where our midfield fell apart. He failed to motivate the players and we were lucky with the point. Then came Westham and it got worse from there. I agree with a lot of what you write but not about the immovable Granite. He had some moments but was ineffective when it counted, ie break down the opposition attacks, win the fifty fifty balls, protect Odegaard and so on. All that is history now, so like you I’m looking forward to a new page in what is going to be a much tougher season.
We need a world class CF to mask arsenal nd not ammature like G. Jesus, a standby CM, a righ back and a LW
It’s funny how we criticise City for “buying” the league yet are asking our owners to splash out hundreds of millions on Caiseda, Rice and others which could effectively result in the same thing. Anyway, at least the rumours about Tielemans will stop now as he has signed for Villa.
I was just looking at the net spend of clubs in recent seasons, and city aren’t top of that particular list. They made a net profit this season, and since 2015 (arbitrary date, I know), they have the third highest net spend behind Chelsea and utd (we’re fourth). If we sign caicedo and rice, we could easily overtake them in that list.
Financial fair play might punish them for spending more than they make in revenue, but for people to say they’ve bought the league is a bit ridiculous considering they objectively haven’t been the biggest spenders.
Exactly. I have pointed this out since the second half of the 2020/21 season.
We always criticised Kroenke for not spending. But then turn around and criticise Chelsea, City, Man United etc for spending.
That they are all buying trophies. But then turn around and complain that why aren’t we signing £60-£100 million players and paying the going rate in wages on top (£200,000-£300,000 a week range). Pay this and that player whatever they want. Then we start to complain that our wage bill is bloated and how did the club let this happen.
Then we hear, “We should start to act like a so called big club that we claim to be. Spend the money and show that you are a big club. Everyone else is spending big and winning big trophies so why don’t we?”.
But then when the manager goes out and spends, the same people will then turn around and start saying; “He is a cheque book manager. Can’t get the best out of the players already at the club. Can only look good if he is given a lot of money blah blah.” Then they will make sure they remind you about the amount he has spent since becoming the manager. But but, since he joined he has spend nearly half a £billion (£480 million). The likes of Chelsea, City, Liverpool, United, Spurs etc have not spent as much as him in the last decade. 🤭
👍 Goonster, spot on. It is not about how much you spend, but the value for money, as demonstrated by player performance and improvement to the team overall.
If we don’t spend then we need to give our youngsters chances in the main team or buying potential players from the championship but sadly the players will be bought out from top clubs after they became good.
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Arteta should learn how to rotate the team. I also think in the europa league Matt Turner should have been left in goal. Also our players need to be ruthless and stop thinking they have won the game when 2 goals up.
Can’t argue with any of those points.
Matt Turner is not good enough to be Arsenal number 2
Pep does this to every league he joins, Barca Bayern, and now City. I just hope he plans on another move to France or Italy and then we meet him in the CL