The closest title race in years, but what does this show about English football?

This appears to be one of the closest Premier League title races in years with five teams considered to be vying for top spot come May. Is this a case that the smaller clubs in the league are closing the gap on the bigger ones, or is it a reflection of the way English football is heading?

Only 13 points separate the top five teams at the end of January, compared to La Liga where the same number of points only covers the top 3 clubs. This season is already regarded by some as one of the most exciting in Premier League history and many are anticipating the race for the title going right down to the
wire.

One of the reasons for this is the fact that Manchester City and Tottenham have vastly improved recently. Spurs won the battle for 4th place last season, just pipping city to the finish line after a 1-0 win over them at Eastlands at the back end of last season. Tottenham have since kicked on in Europe and flew through the Champions League group stages, finishing top of their group. However their league form has dipped at times this season, perhaps due to European commitments. Manchester City have continued to spend big in an attempt to emulate Chelsea in recent years.

Of course these two teams have taken advantage of a Liverpool side, hugely in decline, slipping down the league. Once part of the so called ‘Big 4’ in England, Liverpool now face a huge task to rebuild the club’s
reputation on the pitch.

But is English football as good as it once was? Although the Premier League is widely considered the most exciting in the world, it appears to be some way behind the technical levels of its European
rivals. After England’s disastrous World Cup campaign in South Africa last summer, should we be looking at domestic football for the answer?

The stand out club in this case is of course Barcelona. They are a side made up predominantly of Spanish players, a number of which are involved with the national squad. The style of play is also common at club and international level. They focus on passing and moving, technical ability over size and strength, speed of thought over speed of foot. The national team is prospering in the era of technical superiority. Spain are both European and World Champions, and it isn’t hard to see why.

With so many foreign imports, it appears the English national side is suffering because of the Premier League’s desire to be the most marketable. So has this finally caught up on England’s big clubs? Is this why teams like Tottenham and Man City are now seen as viable contenders for the title? The world’s biggest players don’t seem to be attracted to England’s bigger clubs any more. Cristiano Ronaldo, in his
quest to become the world’s biggest player, left Manchester United to go to Real Madrid. He felt La Liga gave him the best opportunity to showcase his talents without being kicked off the pitch. Even within
England, the big clubs are finding it hard to attract players. This has been seen in this transfer window with Steven Pienaar choosing to join Spurs over Chelsea, unthinkable only a couple of years ago!

The decline in the English game was seen in no greater way than when FIFA named their annual World XI. Not one English player or even English based player was named in the side. It was unsurprisingly
dominated by Barcelona (who had 6 players) and Italian treble winners Inter Milan (3). Real Madrid provided the other 2. The Ballon d’Or nominees for the best player in the world were all provided by Barcelona, Andres Iniesta and Xavi, both Spanish internationals, were beaten to the award by Lionel Messi.

That is not to say the Premier League can’t re-discover what made it the force it is today, but at the moment, it is hard to look past La Liga and the Spanish national side as the benchmark for footballing
standards. Barcelona encapsulate perfectly what Spanish football is about, and this link between club style of play and international style of play is something the Premier League must strive to develop
if they are to reach the same heights that Spain are experiencing right now.