Best League In The World?

Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrates his second goal against Zaragoza during their Spanish first division soccer match at La Romareda stadium in Zaragoza, October 23, 2010. REUTERS/Albert Gea (SPAIN - Tags: SPORT SOCCER IMAGES OF THE DAY)
FIFA have today announced the shortlist for the Ballon dOr award, and as promised it has revealed just how much England underperformed at the World Cup, but perhaps surprisingly it suggests a power shift away from the Premier League.

In all honesty nobody could say they are surprised to see not one English player nominated for the award. There were easily twenty-three better players at the World Cup, and while Wayne Rooney starred for Manchester United during the first half of the year, his form has drastically deteriorated since. Rooney aside there have been no other stand-out English players this year.

But it is certainly surprising to see just three players nominated from the Premier League, when you compare it to 11 nominated from La Liga, five from the Bundesliga and four from Serie A. Didier Drogba, Cesc Fabregas and Asamoah Gyan all received nominations, but were there any other players who deserved a mention?

Carlos Tevez and David Silva at Manchester City could perhaps count themselves unlucky not to get a nomination, as could Rafael van der Vaart and maybe even Gareth Bale is thinking he could have sneaked amention after a stunning year. But them aside I cant see any other stand-out candidates.

Lastyear the Premier League made up a third of the nominees with ten players in the final 30 man shortlist. To fall to three in a year certainly would indicate that the other! Europea n Leagues have overtaken the England in their ability to attract the worlds best.

Not necessarily so, because the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona have always had greater pulling power then any English. In truth the only thing that has managed to attract the big names to England has been money.

While Manchester City have been feely splashing the cash, until they make it in to the Champions League they will never attract the worlds very best to Eastlands, and in the mean-time Chelsea and Manchester United have looked to slow down their investment.

This has lead to the big players looking elsewhere for their moves, and with other European leagues starting to experience the boom that the Premier League created with increasing television revenues; they can easily afford to pull in the big names.

Next year, Id imagine the gap to have closed with Citys expected Champions League qualification. This might also encourage the likes of United and Chelsea to dig deep and spend once again, so while this year might have seen the Premier League fall behind in terms of expenditure and big name signings, I cant see this been the end of the Premier Leagues tag as the Best League in the World.

What do you think? Is the Premier League losing its appeal to the big names?

Related posts:

  • The Premier League Has a Hold on Me
  • Is It Now Safe to Say That Englands Premier League is the Third Best Domestic League in the World?
  • Is the Premier League The Best In The World?


    • Football Betting Tips, Odds, Asian Handicap, Picks, Preview & Prediction

    Comments

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    Mr. Hodgson Or: How We Learned To Stop Worrying And Blame The Manager

    Image
    The manager has risen from club secretary to official face of the club since the creation of football teams worldwide. He has moved from the man that kept the record books to man that is larger than the football team he manages. Commentators and pundits refer to Fergusons United or Wengers beautiful, passing football. He even has books written about him. The Manager by Barney Ronay, an excellent book that discusses the rise of the manager into the modern game, unearths some of the origins of the managers image and attempts todiscuss what kind of person the manager really is. While the book wasnt ever intended to be an academic study of the merits of various tactical thoughts of managers, it does address some of the often listed character traits ofsuccessfulmanagers. When all these traits are put together, to many the manager appears to be a father figure, a scary headmaster, a politician youd like to have a beer with, or somecombination. Yet despite all this popularity, he is little mo...
    Keep reading

    England World Cup camps need to lose doomsday siege mentality

    Image
    One day last week, near the junction of Maude Street and Rivonia Road, in the Johannesburg suburb of Sandton, a line of smiling young men in shirts and shorts strolled along the pavement towards their hotel. Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Robin Van Persie, Dirk Kuyt, Mark Van Bommel and the rest of the Dutch squad waited at the lights until there was a break in the traffic and then ambled across the road. These were some of the best known players in the world, superstars of the game, walking along city streets on their way back from training and looking as though they did not have a care. There was no security with them. None to speak of, anyway. There were no photographers running in front of them and taking their picture. There were no girlfriends tottering along beside them. None of them wore headphones. They did not insulate themselves. They seemed at one with their surroundings. It was only a snapshot of the way the Dutch are living their lives at this World Cup but ...
    Keep reading

    How an American Influence Is Rubbing Off On Manchester City

    Image
    Manchester Citys match day experience is becoming more and more American with each new season. While Maine Road was what you could expect a typical British experience of what it was like to see an English football match in the 80s, the City of Manchester Stadium experience seems as American as apple pie. In previous seasons, City have tried to focus on improving the match-day experience. Theyve added buskers, i.e. public performers, around the ground to add to the atmosphere. And recently theyve adopted American entertainment methods such as turning down the house lights before kick-off and trying to get everyone excited for the big match. Theyve also been a pioneer in English football in their usage of American social media sites such as Facebook, Foursquare, Flickr and others to create a bond with supporters. And now for their first home match in the league for the 2010-11 season, against Liverpool tonight, theyre set to unveil two new features. Both of them have a uniquely American...
    Keep reading