Will we see a Premier League team retain the title in the next 10 years?

 

The question is something which needs to be asked as I do not believe the topic is ever really discussed to its full potential? Why is it so difficult to retain the league title the following year after winning it in England.

If you are in your mid 20s or older you will have been blessed with growing up watching some amazing teams in the past such as Manchester United and Chelsea who were able to retain the league the following year after winning the league;  mounting a successful defence of their title.
It baffles me that in the premier league era we have only two teams we can associate with defending the league title since its coronation in 1992. So I ask the questions below and please give your opinions on other potential side effects to winning the league.

THE DESIRE TO WIN A LEAGUE TITLE SUPERCEEDS A NEED TO DEFEND IT?

While success is one thing, sustained success is something else completely. Whether that band ‘lost their hunger’ after their first taste of table-topping glory remains unconfirmed, but it’s certainly the default diagnosis for title-winning team.

Now Leicester are a sidenote to this due to the fairytale like story in which surrounds their title winning season; however for a team like Manchester City it has to be questioned why they falter so poorly in the title defending season. The mentality has to be questioned as to why a team with such depth and arguably the best squad in the league can not defend a title the year after. Is it bad eggs within the squad causing negative sideshow distractions off the field (ala balotelli) or is it the constant pressure of being the champions and not chasing something.

ENGLAND HAS THE MOST COMPETITIVE LEAGUE IN THE WORLD? 

We often have conversations with our friends as to which league is the best. Often the answer will be a straight shoot out between La Liga and the premier league. La Liga you would often argue in favour due to the excitement of seeing the worlds best players weekly like Ronaldo or Messi turning out for Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively. With the Premier League you would suggest that league has a more competitive edge with anyone of the ‘top 6’ now having a reasonable chance of winning the league (only three teams will challenge realistically in Spain, England it’s a much bigger story).

The Premier League has by far the smallest gap between teams who finish first and third, and the smallest gap between first and sixth However around Europe, France’s Ligue 1 has the smallest gap between the team at the top and the team in the highest spot of the relegation zone (i.e. 18th in England, France, Italy and Spain but 16th in Germany).

Teams in second and third are more closely matched in England than anywhere else except France, while English sides in third and fourth are more closely matched.

The stats give a good indication as to how teams take a lot of points from each other throughout the season which makes England such a competitive landscape to compete in, which in turn suggests how difficult it is to defend a title.

DOES TV MONEY PLAY A BIG PART IN THE COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE OF THE LEAGUE?

The Premier League earned a record £5.1 billion TV deal in 2015 for the 2016-2019 seasons, a figure that has led some to ask whether this money should be more evenly distributed across all football leagues, and whether in fact big money is bad news for the beautiful game.

Now when you look at the Spanish leagues teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid are able to negotiate their own TV deals which allows them to manage their income independently with TV networks. This is something that La Liga seem to be more then willingly to let happen to keep their top teams happy.

Unfortunately with this in mind the league loses its competitive edge as their income superceeds a team like Getafe for example who will not see a nice pot shared out from TV money.
In England we see the TV deal shared out across the league as a level playing field. Last seasons bottom club earned more through the TV deal then previous winners of the premier league earned for finishing first. Already this summer you have seen Everton pay out £30million for the young goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, Newcastle United who have just been promoted back to the premier league are hoping to spend £20 million plus on players and Huddersfield who currently sit on a transfer record expenditure of £1.75 million are hoping to pay big in signing a £17.5 million rated striker from abroad.

Now the TV deal not only gives teams a financial injection to sign the best players, it also gives them an incentive to stay in the league. This is why you see clubs like Huddersfield spend so much because they know the financial rewards are there so they will spend more (as they know other teams will around them).

Bringing this in to the topic in question, if you have teams from 20th upwards willing to spend £50 million on their squad in the summer; the defending title holders will be presented with a new challenge from everybody around them. It’s a constant needs to adapt and strength a team which is already the best in the country on paper because everybody else around you is throwing money to chase a title not defend it.

I throw this question out to you, we live in a world in which you see the title defended year on out by juventus, benfica, Celtic to name a few … which team will be the first in England to throw a marker down by successfully defending a league title three years in a row and how long will it be until it happens.

Have a great day and thanks for reading!