Over the last decade, the Premier League has been characterized by talk about the big four and the gulf in resources they have to attract the best talent available. However, since the last season, Manchester City’s financial muscle has dwarfed that of the traditional big four while lesser weights have apparently been motivated to have more fight by the new financial reward structure of the league. This has yielded unpredictability and performances of courage to keep fans on the edges of their seats for the full 90 minutes game after game.
If we needed any reminding that a gulf in financial resources still remains, Man City were on hand to demonstrate during the Manchester derby with a time wasting substitution to bring on £25 million Adebayor during injury time. Amazingly though, cash strapped Bolton who have recently been contemplating selling some of their best players to stay afloat are currently breathing down Man City’s neck in the battle for fourth place.
This season the league has been served with a breath of fresh air courage by especially some of the younger managers at teams like Bolton, Blackpool, West Bromwich and Sunderland. This has yielded them some unexpected results, often referred to as bonus points against the traditional heavy weights.
Mancini on the other hand despite the embarrassing wealth of attacking talent at his disposal is very cautious often preferring to play with two holding midfielders. Given that he has spent over £135 million on new players with in his less than one year tenure, Mancini’s hand has probably been forced by the pressure to meet minimum goals. Hopefully today’s efficient display at Fulham will liberate him for a more adventurous approach against heavier weights or else brave Tottenham will be on hand to snatch that fourth place again and Mancini’s Man City job will be history.
For all the ruthlessness demonstrated by title favorites Chelsea at the beginning of the season, it is now starting to increasingly appear that heart is not shared by all their sergeants. Terry, Essien, Lampard and Drogba are the crop that never seems to accept defeat but in their absence the rest seem to be simply folding. It is acknowledged that together with Man City, Chelsea boasts the deepest squad in the league but with already four losses registered for the season, they could do with more heart in the rest of their ranks.
Strangely, it looks like the time for teams to summon all their courage is when they have a 2:0 lead, a score line that seems to consistently inspire the loosing opposition. Everton and West Bromwich demonstrated against Man United who in turn did the same to Aston Villa that until that final whistle is blown, 2:0 is a very fragile lead. A cruising Arsenal was punished even more severely than Man United and Aston Villa when from a position of a 2:0 lead they ended the game empty handed against bitter rivals Tottenham.
Events at Portsmouth last season are still so freshly engraved in our minds for us to naively ignore the importance of money. The right combination of money and courage will be critical for especially the teams that are looking to do more than just survive in the English top division. That more teams have demonstrated heart to fight in every game has made it harder to predict matches and relegation candidates. With the exception of West Ham, all 19 teams in the league look like they are not about to easily relinquish their place in the top flight. I will need to summon all the courage I can to make predictions for the relegation candidates in my next column.
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