Will 2018-19 (on paper) be the weakest PL ever ?

dogwithabone

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With the teams that have stayed up and those coming up I think this coming season is the weakest the PL will ever have been. Of course every team starting in it next year is there on merit and deservedly so but basing it purely on name, tradition, recent history, fan base etc it looks very weak. Look at a lot of the teams ....
Bournemouth
Watford
Huddersfield
Cardiff
Wolves
Palace
Brighton
Possibly Derby or Fulham ....

Bar Palace who perhaps might be deemed an established PL club in some eyes the rest look really weak in PL terms. I mean Cardiff v Huddersfield really doesn’t have a PL ring to it ! Southampton are more PL than Swansea but it could easily have been even weaker ! Wolves are undoubtedly a big club but not really in PL terms.
 

Tommy

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You can't list name, tradition & fan base as your criteria & then have Wolves on the list, in my opinion.
 

Damien

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You can't list name, tradition & fan base as your criteria & then have Wolves on the list, in my opinion.
Agreed. Wolves have also got a good manager and financial backing so depending on how they approach the transfer market and how hamstrung they are by FFP they could do well.
 

charlenefan

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Top 6 aren't looking great at this early stage either,

Arsenal new manager with a shit squad
Chelsea new manager with a shit squad
Tottenham new stadium, so expect a season similar to this
Man Utd on a knife edge at the moment
Liverpool do appear to be on the rise, just hope Karius and VVD's form during this second half of the season fools them into not strengthening further in the backline.
Man City obviously far ahead of all though they'll find it hard to be as good next season
 

Van Gaalacticos

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You can't list name, tradition & fan base as your criteria & then have Wolves on the list, in my opinion.
Could make arguments for Bournemouth and Warford being established PL sides as well. Plus Derby certainly can argue to be a big club and even Huddersfield have history, fair while ago though.

I think personally the standard of players is going down. We're certainly not as good as our previous sides were. Arsenal have had far better teams, so have Chelsea and I think midtable sides used to be stronger than this. I honestly think Man City's great point haul has been taken way out of perspective this year as everyone other than Spuds and Pool have been far better in previous campaigns and those two are general underachievers anyway. I think most Fergie United teams, Mourinhos (1st) Chelsea team, Arsenals double winners and invincibles and maybe even Liverpools CL winners would give this city team a run for its money.
 

Giggsy92

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Depends who comes up in the play-offs really. On paper Cardiff are worse than all three of the relegated teams but Wolves have a fair few good players and with their dodgy Mendes links you'd imagine they'll bring in plenty more. Would be nice if Fulham come through the play-offs, players like Sessegnon and Cairney are too good for the Championship.
 

Austria-Red

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If Aston Villa joins Cardiff and Wolves then the teams who go up have bigger names on average than the teams who go down.
 

Marcky411

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No, as how many of the top 6 have lost or drawn to these teams you mentioning.
 

MikeKing

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I don't agree with the sentiment of the OP. It is a little bit silly to mix history in with it this way to suggest the league is going to be weak. If i misunderstood then i apologise in advance.

The only thing thats changed is the teams who went down didn't go up again immediately, because they are worse than the teams that did. Obviously. I actually think more "new teams" is good for the PL instead of the likes of Aston Villa, Sunderland, Stoke and Fulham just barely staying up each year when clearly something is not right. Some of the "new teams" that manage to stay in the PL play good football, and it might suggest they are ran better, so will be more exiting for the PL. The natural order of the 2 leagues sort of decides that the PL will be good no matter what, i don't think history has much to do with it in this instance.
 

el3mel

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Maybe these promoted teams gonna be better than the relegated ones. How do we know ? I don't think the likes of WBA and Stoke were playing awesome football that made the league great, were they ?
 

Seven Seas Sardines

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Maybe these promoted teams gonna be better than the relegated ones. How do we know ? I don't think the likes of WBA and Stoke were playing awesome football that made the league great, were they ?
WBA and Stoke have been the most boring teams for years(Pulis effect). PL will be a lot more exciting with Wolves, Cardiff and hopefully Aston Villa in their places.
 

T A

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Nah, the quality of Big 6 is still there and will even be better after upcoming transfer window.

In fact 2015-2016 will always be remembered as the weakest PL ever. All the big teams failed miserably, the others bar Leicester were average as usual
 

Frank Grimes

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You can't list name, tradition & fan base as your criteria & then have Wolves on the list, in my opinion.
Fair point, it's a strange one that when a club is big or not. It's just a time thing, I wonder will United be a small club in a hundred years?

Of course we won't, we're the fecking daddies.

daddies
 

Green_Red

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Looking at the other thread about TV money its hard to say that the Premier League will be weak, some of the mid table clubs will have more money than the champions in other leagues.
 

Decomposing In Paris

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If you look at managers, and the quality of the players, I really think it'll be amongst the best "on paper"... I think discussing history while discarding anything before 1992 is a bit daft.
 

JamesB__

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Definitely. There will be something missing next year that the last decade of the Premier League has had.

Can’t quite put my finger on what it is.
 

Lawman

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I think the league has declined massively in the last 5 years as seen in Europe. City are half decent and way and above anyone in our league regarding squad quality. Liverpool are a good cup team this year but don’t yet have the sustained quality in numbers (their passage through to EC final is no harder than some passages to FA cup final imo) although that’s cup competition for you and no credit should be took away from them. The league is a better marker and we are second and we are a mile off. Then look at the bottom 11 many with one game left and all under 41 points.
The money is pouring into the EPL so I have no doubt with the fluctuation of the top managers over into the league it will be followed by the top players all looking for the best wage. So the standard will be on the rise the next season or two and that will be a good thing for the EPL.
 

Treble

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I guess that if someone had made such a thread prior to the 15/16 season, Leicester would have been listed as a rubbish team.

Stupid thread.
 

POF

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Not sure if it will be the weakest but if all 6 top 6 clubs get their act together, I think a season is coming where the gap from 6th to 7th will be bigger than 7th to 20th.

It's strange with all of the money the weaker EPL clubs have now but when you see how poor teams like Everton and West Ham are now, the gap between the top 6 and the rest is getting bigger every season.
 

Mr Smith

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Very snobbish and ignorant thread. Especially given that United have lost to Brighton and Huddersfield this season, who you have branded as supposedly sub-par for the premier league.
 

SilentWitness

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I kind of understand what you mean when you look at clubs such as Burnley, Bournemouth, Brighton, Huddersfield etc. I honestly wouldn't be able to name most of their players as the core of the side is still players that have moved from the lower leagues with the side or have transferred due to the model of the clubs transfer policy. That doesn't mean that the league is weak per say, just a testament to the managers and the players who are probably playing a level or two above what their natural ability is, especially in terms of a side like Burnley. If you are going to suggest that the PL will be weak next season due to teams like this then you're also going to have to consider the ability of the top sides as they've all been beaten/competed with easily by the sides which you suggest are making the league weak.

Consider Arsenal for example. They've lost 13 games this season. Southampton who were very close to being relegated (still could technically) have lost 15, but Arsenal also made the last 4 of the EL. Liverpool have made the final of the CL, could still win it. United won the EL last season etc. Although we haven't had a strong collective showing in european competitions lately, various individual team performances in the last few years in my opinion show that the next cycle of english sides being very competitive in europe again could be around the corner.

I think it's getting to become pretty strong again, our top sides are getting more competitive in Europe, City just broke the points record, a side like Tottenham has established itself as becoming quite strong and the traditionally smaller sides are reaping the rewards of the big tv money, not to mention someone like Wolves next season who have utilised Mendes perfectly. We just need the middle of the range teams like Everton, Newcastle and West Ham to up their game now.
 

FootballHQ

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I just noticed checking the table the other day that every team outside the top 6 has a minus goal difference, is this unusual or the norm?
Talk used to be of prem being split into two divisions.

I honestly think now you have a standalone top 6 and the rest is much of a muchness hence the results.
 

FootballHQ

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It's subjective to when you grow up tbh, they'll always be weak or small teams in the top division.

Late 90s when I was growing up Bradford-Wimbledon was a top flight meeing in 1999 which seems incredible now. Anyone following Football in 2005 would've had Wigan in the premier league which at the time was a great example of a small supported club coming out of nowhere to make premier league.

Suppose the problem is the decline of the traditional top flight teams. Started following football in 1996 and Leeds, Forest, Sheff Weds were all mainstay top flight teams in those days. Mad to think neither Forest or Sheff Weds have played a top level match since 2000 and Leeds been down since 2004 so you're talking generations of fans who've never seen them play in the top flight.

Guess if we don't go up this year we could find ourselves in that group with the parachute money starting to reduce a fair bit.
 

Acole9

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It can't be any worse than this year. From 8th to 20th, all the teams have been crap.
 

Bojan11

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You do realise West Brom, Swansea and Stoke were not established prem teams when they came up.

I’m glad all 3 are down.

Swansea were a decent team. But then they moved away from what made them different and they turned out like any other team around the bottom.