Is The Premiership The Hardest League To Win?

[fw1]

A few years back, Sir. Alex Ferguson was saying that you can't lose more than 5 games and win the league. Bearing in mind that Arsenal didn't lose once last season and Chelsea have only lost once this season, that means the champions of England have only lost once in two years, since Man.Utd last won the league.

If you compare this with other major European Leagues you can't find a single team at the top that has lost less than three times, most five or six.

So does this mean that the Premiership has become the hardest major league to win in Europe? Or does it mean that it's the easiest because just doesn't have the strength and depth that other leagues have, and any strong European championship side would have little trouble against the likes of Boro', T.H.F.C, Fulham, Portsmouth and so on... .

What do you think? I vote its the hardest on the basis that though a lot of the teams are mediocre, most teams can battle out a victory when they need it.

[gburns57au]

from what I have seen it is the team with the most spending money that wins...

[johnh101]

from what I have seen it is the team with the most spending money that wins...

   

Man Utd tried for years to buy the title, to no avail. A good youth policy, a canny manager, mixed with some inspired purchases, Cantona, Strachan, etc was the key.

Real Madrid are trying to buy the spanish league with little success.

Chelsea may have spent $200m on foreign imports but would not have won the title without Lampard, Terry and Cole.

My tuppence worth FWIW.

[Sunderland]

No. The Wallsend and District Under-7's league is the hardest league to win.

Seriously though, the Premier League largely depends on financial clout. But to say that a team with limited resources can never win the league is blindly daft. The team which gels the best will generally win their respective league. Chelsea have been lucky in that respect. Real Madrid haven't.

So, it's Sunderland for the number one spot next season

The crystal ball never fails

[kayo]

but optimism does.

[fw1]

So it must be one of the easiest then. I've got my money on at least two of the three coming up from your league going straight back down. Is there any talk of buying new players at your club over the Summer?

[lampard10]

from what I have seen it is the team with the most spending money that wins...

   

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Same in life Burnsie old mate,man with the most money wins.

[kayo]

From:

Satisfaction

Dramatic finish

The game was on a knife-edge now, with both managers on their feet almost constantly and the crescendo of noise unabated. A goal for either side now would clinch it: a Cissé header was held on the line by Cech, then Eidur Gudjohnsen arrowed a shot across the face of goal deep into added time. In the end though García's early effort was enough and another famous European chapter was written for Liverpool.

[fw1]

Fergie sets three defeat limit

Sir Alex Ferguson estimates Manchester United will not be able to lose more than three games next season if they are to reclaim their position as England's top dogs.

United suffered their fifth defeat of the Premiership campaign - and their first at home in 12 months - when Chelsea cruised to a 3-1 triumph at Old Trafford last night.

The victory extended the new champions' lead over United to an incredible 20 points, raising huge question marks over the ability of Ferguson's men to mount any kind of sustained title challenge next season.

Unlike the vast majority of Red Devils' fans, who headed for the exits early enough to leave their team to complete a customary post-season lap of honour to a two-thirds empty stadium, Ferguson is not suffering from any sense of inferiority to the Stamford Bridge outfit.

The Scot is convinced man for man United are Chelsea's equal. However, it has not gone unnoticed in the Old Trafford camp that after Arsenal's historic unbeaten campaign 12 months ago, Jose Mourinho's men will head into the final game at Newcastle having suffered just one defeat all season, against Manchester City in October.

Those combined efforts leave Ferguson to acknowledge that a repeat of the early trauma that saw United collect just six points from their opening five games cannot be tolerated.

'Over the years Manchester United have become well known slow starters,' he admitted.

'It has never particularly worried me because we have always seemed to have the capacity to come back strongly in the second half of a season, and, if necessary, catch our rivals.

'We always say it is a marathon not a sprint, but now I have to question that kind of thinking because Chelsea this season turned it into a sprint from start to finish.

'It is harder to win the league now. Maybe we are getting to a point where you cannot afford any more than three defeats in a season, which makes it a ###### of a league.

'There is no doubt Chelsea have raised the bar. It is up to us to accept the challenge and do something about it.'

Ferguson has been very careful not to downplay Chelsea's achievements this season and refuses to join the army of critics who have condemned the London outfit for the amount of Roman Abramovich's cash which has been spent securing a first championship for 50 years.

Given the vast transfer budgets Ferguson has enjoyed down the years, he is probably wise to steer such a route.

Nevertheless, he does wonder whether the good fortune he believes Chelsea enjoyed, similar to that United have benefited from in the past, can hold.

'You cannot dismiss Chelsea's points total and they deserve all the credit,' he said.

'But sometimes, you do have a season when everything goes right, just as we did in 1999.

'Chelsea have had 16 1-0 wins this season and they have not conceded a penalty kick. It is a fantastic record, but can it happen again? Next season, who knows, it might be us who get the breaks they have had this year.'

Looking back, Ferguson has already identified the opening day defeat at Stamford Bridge as the day when his side's championship challenge died.

Some may suggest it is a simplistic approach but there is little doubt United had no chance of pulling back the nine-point gap which opened up within those troublesome first five games.

One of the major reasons for the sluggish start was a cramped pre-season programme that saw some senior figures within the Red Devils squad rushed to the United States with barely no training behind them following complaints from organisers about the sub-standard squad Ferguson had taken on tour.

This summer, nothing is being left to chance. With the exception of Gabriel Heinze and Tim Howard, who will be required for international competitions, the United squad will report back for pre-season training on June 27.

It gives them three weeks preparation before a couple of domestic friendlies and a four-match Asian tour which come ahead of a crucial Champions League qualifier on August 10 and the start of the Premiership programme three days later.

'Some people might think, after putting so much effort into their game, Chelsea will pay for it next season. I doubt that,' said Ferguson.

'Anyway, I am not prepared to take the risk.

'I am determined we are going to be more physically ready to hit the ground running at the start of next season.

'We must be better prepared, not simply because we will be involved in an early qualifying.

Surely Fergie has got it wrong here, as this would not have got him the title this season or last season. What he needs to do is beat Arsenal and Chelsea home and away, and then lose 1, perhaps 2 other games all season, scoring around 80 goals in the process -simple right?

[nev]

we did the double over both arsenal and liverpool,and the first game against chelsea we were very unlucky to loose with half a team out,in fact mourinio even admitted that.

its the losses to the lower teams that costs us fergie putting out weaker teams,&lt;deleted&gt;,he messes with the team to much should play the best team week in week out.

[Plus+]

Chelsea and Arsenal (last year) proved that the rest of the Premier League is not as tough as it appears. Germany, Italy, Spain - nowhere you can go through the season unbeaten with 10 points over the second, and 20 over the third team.

It's just another myth along with "Man U should be comfortably seeded to go straight into the final of the Champions League". I mean every game they play in knock outs is "worth the final", every time they say this. They beat Bayern six years ago by sheer luck and now what? Still the biggest club in Europe?

How can you compare one league to another? Arsenal was flawless last year, but it didn't get them anywhere in Europe. Chelsea lost to lowly Liverpool, for all their prowess. Is Liverpool the best team in Europe this year? They might win the Champions League, good for them, but we know how they screwed up their domestic campaign.

Maybe we should look into the pressure put on players and teams day in and day out. Them some leagues will appear easier than others, but how can we measure that?

[lampard10]

Fergie sets three defeat limit

The Scot is convinced man for man United are Chelsea's equal.

Surely Fergie has got it wrong here, as this would not have got him the title this season or last season. What he needs to do is beat Arsenal and Chelsea home and away, and then lose 1, perhaps 2 other games all season, scoring around 80 goals in the process -simple right?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When I first looked at the two teams on Tuesday night, I thought we might be in for a thrashing. On paper United's looked far better. As I said in a previous thread, United are like Holland; bags of talent but not worth a light. I remember a match halfway through the season,United had Van Nistleroy,Rooney,Smith, Saha,Ronanldo and Scholes on and the match ended 0-0. On Tuesday their will to win was not there. Passes going astray, holding the ball too long,giving it away needlessly. I honestly think you need two changes to make you competative again: Manager and Goalkeeper.

[fw1]

Chelsea and Arsenal (last year) proved that the rest of the Premier League  is not as tough as it appears. Germany, Italy, Spain - nowhere you can go through the season unbeaten with 10 points over the second, and 20 over the third team.

It's just another myth along with "Man U should be comfortably seeded to go straight into the final of the Champions League". I mean every game they play in knock outs is "worth the final", every time they say this. They beat Bayern six years ago by sheer luck and now what? Still the biggest club in Europe?

How can you compare one league to another? Arsenal was flawless last year, but it didn't get them anywhere in Europe. Chelsea lost to lowly Liverpool, for all their prowess. Is Liverpool the best team in Europe this year? They might win the Champions League, good for them, but  we know how they screwed up their domestic campaign.

Maybe we should look into the pressure put on players and teams day in and day out. Them some leagues will appear easier than others, but how can we measure that?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Granted it is difficult. A couple of years ago the French league had 9 different winners in 10 years. Many people said that it was not only the most interesting but had more depth than any other league, but I don't remember French teams doing particularly well in Europe then.

Most foreign managers that come to our league do often say, though, that the Premiership is the most competitive league they have managed in.

Edited May 15, 2005 by fw1

[fw1]

Additionally, two records have been broken in two successive years now by the champions of England (going undefeated&conceeding the least amount of goals in a season). I doubt whether their are any other leagues in Europe which can make such a claim. Still not entirely sure what this says about the state of our league though. Perhaps all we can say is that recently it has been won in a more impressive manner than any other league.