Where did the Premier League's excitement go?
The Premier League is famous for it's storyline, but this season seems devoid of them all
Perhaps it’s because I’ve spent the first 10 games of this Premier League campaign buried in the bottom half of the table so forgive me for thinking not much has been making headlines this season besides Erik Ten Hag. With that story finally coming to a close, I’m looking around the rest of the league and… is anything happening?
Nottingham Forest have quietly risen to third place after 10 games. That’s a big deal but also not a big deal. They’re not going to keep this pace up all season, though that defense is legit. Seven goals conceded in 10 games with an expected goals against of 9.5, both are second best in the league. This team is legitimately hard to beat and are going to cause problems for plenty of teams. A top half finish is very much in the cards.
There are some other stories. Arne Slot admirably filling the giant shoes left by Jurgen Klopp at Anfield. Enzo Maresca has taken what should have been a complete circus at Chelsea and has them already sitting in the top four. These are all nice stories happening but it seems to me this league campaign is lacking a compelling narrative.
Don’t get me wrong the matches still slap. Every week we’re getting thrillers and unexpected results. Matchweek 9 alone saw half the matches have their outcomes changed with a goal that came after the 90th minute. The games are certainly delivering.
But the beauty of the Premier League has always been that it’s more than just the games. The drama on the pitch is matched by the drama off the pitch.
The Premier League isn’t so much a football competition but a 10 month telenovela with parallel and intersecting narratives playing out before our eyes on a week to week basis. The matches are played, we consume them, and then start building up to the next ones, with the clubs, players, and managers serving as the major characters in the center of it all.
This season seems to lack any major character and as a result any juice.
The internet is still rife with buzz and analysis of the weekends matches every Monday but by Tuesday everything quiets down. Anticipation for the weekends matches used to build as we progressed later in the week, with managerial press conferences often making juicy Friday headlines.
Perhaps it was always like this but you didn’t notice because of the buzz around the Champions League filling your midweek dinner plate. The League Phase of the revamped Champions League has killed the buzz there, as it offers up far too many dull matches that have hilariously low stakes.
But even on Mondays, regardless of who played at the weekend the focus always seems to be on the same thing. The referees.
There’s two reasons for that. The first is that this season the Premier League has made an effort to be more transparent regarding big decisions, especially with VAR. The only problem is the refereeing has been as bad as it’s ever been.
The bigger reason though is because, when it comes to the on-field product, there hasn’t been anything for the Premier League to sell!
Ask any television or film writer and they’ll tell you the plot is only as good as it’s villain. The Premier League was never lacking in villains. Ferguson, Wenger, and, of course, Mourinho (among others). Every week mind games were played in the media, adding to the allure of the upcoming match. Everything felt personal.
The clubs featured players who were such strong characters they seemed to embody the spirit of their clubs. Cantona, Keown, Sheerer, Keene, Vierra, Ferdinand, Terry, Gerrard. They played like they hated each other, and whoever didn’t play for your team you hated too.
Today’s stars are as talented as ever but lack that brashness. De Bruyne, Salah, Saka, Palmer1 are far more quiet, unassuming, and non-confrontational generation. Erling Haaland has all the looks of a super villain and the talent to actually back it up but he’s just a quiet low key guy.
Sporting leagues are at their best when there’s a team to hate. It’s good for business to have a Yankees, a Cowboys, or a Duke. The Premier League had Manchester United, a club so successful you could still tell which pundits’ childhood they ruined.
If you weren’t a Manchester United fans you hated them, you celebrated every loss. But the thing about hated teams is whether you want them to win or lose you still watch them. Even when Sir Alex Ferguson retired United maintained that status as fans reveled in their newfound misery. But that’s faded away now as United have gone from struggling big club to just plain old bad. West Ham have won five of their last seven home fixtures against United. Beating the former giants isn’t an event anymore, it’s routine.
The league now has a team that’s won four titles in a row and six of the last seven but the only emotion Manchester City seems to stir up is apathy.
So it’s left to the guys who can frame the story the most. The ones who speak every Friday and have a platform to lodge their complaints or go on the attack. The managers.
The level of coaching in the Premier League has never been so high but there is definitely been a tradeoff in terms of drama. The league used to be centered on managerial rivalries. In recent years we had Pep vs Klopp - which may have lacked animosity but offered conflicting ideologies and most importantly thrilling matches whenever the two sides met.
From that lens Arne Slot could be the worst thing to happen to the Premier League. He’s taken over at Anfield and is just quietly going about his business winning football games. He’s not complaining, he’s not making any enemies, he’s not stirring up any drama.
The title race may appear closer than ever but it also feels like we’ve seen this movie before. City might be playing worse then they ever have, but we’re just waiting for them to win 17 of their final 19 games to win a fifth straight title. Apathy.
The bottom of the table seems no better off. After eight games this season the bottom three teams had combined for just five points in the table. That’s the joint fewest after eight matches in the last 10 years since the 2020-21 campaign. Only Burnley managed to stay up out of that group2.
It’s still early but if nothing changes it looks to be getting late quickly at the bottom. If Southampton insist on sticking with Russel Martin they’re all but assuring themselves of relegation. Ipswich Town should be commended for the fight they put up every single week but they’ll ultimately be undone by a lack of talent - that’s not a surprise for a team that went from mid table in League One to the Premier League in just 18 months. And both of those teams are ahead of Wolves.
The top four race provides the potential for drama with three teams level on 18 points and five teams within two points. It also features three teams that are local rivals so there should be plenty of drama yet it’s still hard to see it here.
If Arsenal can tread water it’s easy to see Arsenal pulling ahead of the group once Martin Odegaard gets back. Tottenham and Chelsea are both filled with young new faces, who are the players leading these two teams against each other?3
You’re not getting anything from the managers either. Unai Emery hardly speaks English. He’s not going to be starting anything in the media. Ange Posticoglu has charisma and is competitive but he’d rather be everyones friend. Like Arne Slot, Maresca is far too busy minding his own business cleaning up the mess that is Chelsea. There was once some promise for Mikel Arteta but he’s become the butt of jokes as we’ve all realizes he’s just a madman.
The Premier League continues to serve up high quality matches, but it feels like something is missing this year. The off pitch drama, the narrative, the buildup to the weekends all seem to be lacking.
Weekends are great but in-between, this feels like the most boring Premier League season we’ve ever had.
I don’t mean this as an insult, there’s just no other word to describe Cole Palmer other than “dweeb.” Incredibly talented football player, but a dweeb.
Due to COVID they had played one fewer match at that point
Besides the aforementioned dweeb Cole Palmer