As we near the winter third of the season, we are provided an opportunity to review the English Premier League standings thus far. Right now, Manchester City leads the table with Manchester United and a host of others, in chase. However, it looks like a two team race with City the clear favorites.
So you ask, why should I care if City wins? If you’re not a strong fan a particular team, you should take note that since the induction of the Premier League in the early 90s, only one team (Blackburn) outside of Manchester United, Arsenal, or Chelsea has won. One of the beauties of this sport is keeping every team competitive through relegation; one of the blemishes is that parity is still tough to come by because money is such a factor.
Over the summer, Manchester City continued its buying ways by acquiring talents like Samir Nasri and Sergio Agüero to add to its already mounting artillery of talent. These moves have helped them overcome past obstacles that stopped them from truly challenging the title. They have not only gelled into a top team but one that has embarrassed respectable teams. This was capped off by a 6-2 humiliation of a befuddled Manchester United squad at Old Trafford a couple weeks ago.
Now, after this break is over, winter comes and teams must adjust for this crucial run. Teams tend to stumble during this period for various reasons. Last winter saw defending champions Chelsea stumble from a strong start to an unsuccessful chase of a stronger Manchester United side. Both City and United started this season by obliterating teams, but United has faltered because of a mysterious decline in team cohesion.
Nevertheless, Sir Alex Ferguson will find a way to re-energize his players in his 25th season as manager. Whether Roberto Mancini is able to keep his team motivated at a high level all season remains to be seen. What we do know is that if they do take the title, City will break a longstanding run of championships from the almighty three.
Will it really mean all that much though? Yes, it will break a streak of Yankees-like squads from winning, but when you break it down, City has simply joined the ranks of these high-spending clubs. If they win, it will be refreshing for some fans to see a different face on the podium of champions, but it will only strengthen the notion that money is the key to success in professional sports.
This idea transcends almost all professional sports leagues around the world, and has proven to be the reason that so many leagues have lockouts, greedy owners, and disgruntled players. If anything, the ever-growing financial gap in sports is a representation of the financial gap in society. We have come to a crossroads in both, and future actions will decide if money or sport will prevail.
While it would be great for the EPL to have City as champions for a change, I am hoping for a different result. If it can’t be my beloved Red Devils, then I hope and root for a team on the lower rungs to surprise. This is currently too rare an occurrence, and owners and executives of all professional leagues must realize that money is not as important as true competition. For the sake of all athletes and fans, let’s hope they make changes to preserve the love of the game.
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