 |
| Leicester City FC Banner |
And who ever said football was boring? After years and years of Premier League dominance by the same familiar faces, we finally have a team who decided enough was enough!
Former footballer Kevin Keegan once said that the league was "in danger of becoming one of the most boring but great leagues in the world". In his fairness he was speaking in 2008, during an era that was epitomised by the complete domination of the "Big Four" clubs: Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City. In fact, these are the only teams (including Blackburn Rovers) to have won the Premier League title since it's inception way back in 1992.
There was a time where the League could be fairly accused of being predictable, with the difference in quality between the elite teams and the rest of the pack too great to overcome.
Those days are clearly gone.
Having been away from the Premier League for a decade, Leicester City finally made their return in 2014, having been promoted as champions of the Football League Championship in the previous season. It is no secret that historically most newly-promoted teams struggle in their inaugural year of the Premier League, and Leicester were no different. By early April they were 7 points from safety, with many people already condemning them to an immediate return to the Championship. An incredible run of form however, saw them win 7 of their final 9 league games of the season, finishing in 14th place and securing the greatest relegation escape in Premier League history.
And what a difference a year makes. Leicester currently lead the Premier League, 5 points clear of their closest rivals Tottenham. Their dominance of this season's race for the title epitomises just what a crazy year this season has been. The once formidable teams of Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea currently lie in 4th, 6th and 10th place respectively, something that would've been completely unheard of just a couple of seasons ago. The most successful of the "Big Four" clubs this season is Arsenal who are currently in 3rd place, although a hefty 11 points behind Leicester.
The remarkable success of Leicester, Tottenham and other so called "smaller teams", marks a notable shift in power in the Premier League. They no longer feel intimidated by the enormous amounts of money being spent by the top clubs to attract the world's best players and they no longer give an undue amount of respect to teams who have strong reputations.
I call it the FA Cup mentality. The FA Cup is notorious for match "upsets", where teams from the lower divisions are victorious over teams in leagues above them. Often, these teams are struggling in their own domestic league, but as soon as they come up against superior opposition, all the shackles of expectation are taken off them and placed on the 'better team'. So they think, "why not? Let's have a go".
That's how I see the Premier League this season. All teams from the top of the league right down to the very bottom not only strive to win every game, but they actually believe they can win every game, regardless of the opposition. The Premier League is widely perceived as the best league in the world, and is famous for a level of competitiveness that just isn't replicated in other leagues. Those leagues are often dominated by one or two clubs every year, for eg. Barcelona & Real Madrid in Spain (La Liga), PSG in France (Ligue 1) and Bayern Munich in Germany (Bundesliga) etc. This season's Premier League demonstrates just how competitive it really is, completely casting predictability, norms and footballing status quo to the wind.
And as the league quickly draws to a dramatic conclusion, with the only viable teams still in contention for the title being Leicester, Spurs and Arsenal, it is a time for the so-called big teams to ponder and reflect on why it has gone oh so wrong for them.
