Quote:
Originally Posted by Undertoad
Hey King, I was just looking at the Premiership and it's really amazing to me that only 4 teams have won it since 1992. And only three teams really compete for top position. Do you think it'll stay that way? Was it always that way, or is this a more recent thing, with different rules about transfers?
|
Nowadays, it's a 'Big Four', Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal. This is probably down to how qualification for the Champions League has been run for the last few years; the top four Premiership teams qualify for the Champions League, and these teams consistently finish in the top four positions. Teams earn a huge amount of money from playing in the Champions League, and so this helps them to stay on top. It wasn't always this way; after Arsene Wenger arrived at Arsenal, it was generally a top two of Manchester United and Arsenal, which Liverpool later broke into, and then Chelsea with the huge investment from Roman Abramovich. It looks like staying this way for the forseeable future. It's difficult to break into the Big Four, but it's not impossible; Everton finished fourth two years ago, and Tottenham were only one game away from doing so last year. It's possible that Bolton or Reading could get in there this year, but it takes more than one good season to shift the balance of power.