The most over-rated player in Premier League history

Stevie G audio blog

Still the best league in the world

Despite the poor record of English teams in Europe this year I still do think the Premier League is the best league in the world (although, how would I know? I don't watch any others).

Chelsea and Arsenal played poorly in the home leg of their respective round of 16 ties and lost for that reason; it's not that they weren't good enough to win, it's that they didn't play as well as they can do. Obviously Manchester City were beaten by a superior team, but although both Barcelona and Real are currently far better than any English team at the moment, the Premier League is still far more competitive and has more strength in depth than La Liga. 

I also think that recent poor results in Europe are just a blip. Chelsea won the Europa League as recently as 2013, remember?! And Manchester United were extremely unlucky to get knocked out by Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League that year.  Chelsea were also unlucky to come up against an exceptional Atletico side in 2014.

It hasn't helped that English clubs don't alway seem to take the Europa League too seriously. I'd really like Everton to go all the way this year and show the likes of Spurs and Villa how it's done

And I'm sure that English clubs will do extremely well in Europe next season.

Fergie was bigger than Manchester United itself

Fergie was a genius who contributed greatly to making the Premier League the success it is today. He nurtured Cristiano Ronaldo (the greatest ever player to have played in England, in my view) and helped make him the force of nature he is today. Fergie created an exciting and very attractive brand of football which people wanted to watch. Fergie is bigger than Manchester United itself in that any club he had managed would have enjoyed the phenomenal success that Manchester United had. If he had joined Ipswich or West Brom they would have won lots of trophies and now be a gigantic and hugely successful club. United in some ways have been nothing more than a shell or a vehicle for Fergie to work his magic with.

United fans have deluded themselves into thinking they have a divine right to win things, that delusion is now being exposed as United struggle (much to many people's delight). But Fergie was literally a talisman who turned one of the best clubs in England into the best in the world. Before the Premier League (and Fergie's unprecedented success) started Manchester United were a big club, but not that big.

Here is a list of the biggest clubs in England from 1992.

Liverpool: 18 League titles, 4 European Cups

Arsenal: 10 League Titles

Everton: 9 League Titles

Aston Villa: 7 League Titles, 1 European Cup

Manchester United: 7 League Titles, 1 European Cup

Sunderland: 6 League Titles

Here is the present day list with Fergie included.

Liverpool: 18 League Titles, 5 European Cups

Fergie: 13 League Titles, 2 European Cups

Arsenal: 13 League Titles

Aston Villa: 7 League Titles, 1 European Cup

Manchester United without Fergie: 7 League Titles, 1 European Cup

Sunderland: 6 League Titles

So, in 21 years he won more League titles than any club in history but Liverpool and Arsenal, and more European Cups/ Champions Leagues than any English club bar Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

I rest my case!

Red is the new Black

Chelsea are the new Manchester United

Manchester United under Ferguson were unpopular because they were winners, but they did also have some scumbags in the team over the years to make them extra dislikable (I'm thinking in particular of Cantona, Keane, Giggs and Rooney, but I could go on). The manager may have calmed down in the later years of his reign, but he was still a genius at influencing officials, mind games and generally rubbing people up the wrong way. Lastly, Manchester United fans had an infuriating sense of entitlement and of superiority over fans of other teams.

But now the magic talisman has retired, United have been replaced by Chelsea as the club everybody else loves to hate. The manager and John Terry are clearly the two major problems but Diego Costa is also a major controversy waiting to happen. And what can you say about the fans? The recent incident on the Paris subway made them seem like over-privileged, upper-class yobs and has seriously damaged Chelsea's reputation. 

Manchester United are the new Liverpool

Liverpool in the 90s, that is. I think Manchester United will go through a very long period without winning a thing, just like Liverpool did after a long period of success. United may be only one or two percent below the level they were under Ferguson, but the big difference is psychological. Just as they did against Liverpool, other teams raise their game against United now thinking they can get a famous result whereas before they were intimidated by United and just wilted. 

Manchester United may never be the same again.

Arsenal are the new Nottingham Forrest

Forrest under Brian Clough once went eight without winning a trophy (1980 - 1988)  and were a shadow of their former selves in 1993 when he retired. Just as Arsenal have never been quite the same since Viera left in 2005, Forrest were never quite the same after they won their second European Cup and Clough's drinking started to become a problem.

Incredibly, Clough actually got Forrest relegated from the Premier League in his final season; he was also lucky not to have been charged with accepting backhanders from player transfers (called bungs) after he had retired. 

But nobody remembers those things. Instead we remember the European Cups he won with Forest, winning the league with Derby County and the incredible charisma he had. I'm sure that Wenger will be remembered for the Invincibles, not for the decade of injuries and underachievement since then.