Problems of the English Premier League

BY SAMUEL KOKOETTE

The World’s most  watched league – premier league based in England has imperatively become an international league in recent times. The majority of shareholders, coaches, players, and worldwide fans have emerged from foreign boundaries. The premier league that has and continued to excite its international fans and supporters is witnessing an unprecedented reactions from it supporters as the league continues to evolve an ever-changing rate. Compared with other leagues like the Bundesliga, La-liga among others and the performance of the premiership teams in the champion league, it is apparent that the English league has a series of problems that has rocked the league in recent times.
Top problems of the English premier league are:

Ticket prices
The extravagant and extortionate ticket prices in the premier league are a big pitfall to the league. The premier league’s cheapest tickets are the most expensive of the four major leagues in Europe according to guardian research. The premier league has been flayed for the high prices of tickets by supporters. High cost tickets in teams of premier league has resulted to protest in clubs like Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool. The protest at Liverpool was incited by plans to charge €77 for some tickets in Anfield’s new main stand next season and the supporter’s reactions have propagated a heated argument on the issue. Joe Anderson of the times reports that “Liverpool fans have led the way; they need to be congratulated for what they have done.” It is an issue about the greed of football clubs who don’t understand how the ordinary man, woman and kids in the streets are affected.

Bad signing
The premier league is crashing for reasons such as bad signing of players which has depleted its performance in the champion’s league. Indeed, eye brows were raised when the immediate Chelsea boss, Jose Mourinho signed the Colombian player, Radamel Falcao following his woes at Manchester United. Falcao, who was once rated one of the world’s best strikers before suffering an acute knee injury that sent him out of the 2014 world cup, finds himself pursuing another move to rejuvenate his career. He has done little or nothing but drains cash from Chelsea treasury upon his arrival and his recurring injury menace makes that likely to continue in times to come.

Memphis Depay the Dutchman of Manchester United is only 21 years old but it is as if his move to Manchester United has come too immediate than expected. He blaize the trail in a champion’s league qualifier against club Bugge but he now seems to be regressing as months passed by. A dreadful outing against stoke city recently saw him hauled off at half-time while he was equally dropped from the Netherlands equad thus fear for not being a team player. Indeed, his £25m (€34m) move is appearing more profligate by the weak. These are two of the many cases of bad signing that has rocked the premier league.

Lack of home - grown players.
The money invested in the premier league is huge and enormous. As a result, this mount great pressure on owners, players, coaches and everyone that has a part in the premier league football clubs. One of the demoralizing aftereffects of this has been the lack of privilege given to young homegrown English and England players or talent in their home top performance. League teams are scared to give their 18 or 19 year olds into first squad action, sometimes, irrespective of their impressive and tectonic potential. However, few teams insist on giving their young players opportunity in the first squad to excel in the first team, most especially, Southampton has benefited from the rewards of such policy and should be a good example for other teams. One thing is certain, in as much as premier league teams refuses to give homegrown genius the opportunity to play for the first team football, the England national team will no doubt continue to suffer.

Truthfulness and integrity of players
Honesty and integrity of players in premier league is dwindling. Before now, the premier league was able to preserve a more truthful approach. British football supporters would watch other European and South American league and despond at the regular cessation as players rolled around on the pitch occasioning only trivial contact and cheating seemed another element of the game. This is slowly, but surely infiltrating the premier league. The tough tackling is being abated out of the game as deception and chicanery flows in as the football governing body has refused to punish cheats, there is no hope that it will stop anytime soon. Notably, many players have imbibed this deceitful art which sometimes earn them undue chances or reward on the pitch. The aesthetic of tough tackling in premier league seems to decrease with each passing week.