Other pre-season title candidates are even further off the mark, with Chelsea, local rivals Manchester City and Tottenham sitting 10, 11 and 16 points from the top respectively. It is really no secret that the trophy is United's to lose, and the general consensus is that they will indeed find themselves crowned champions at the end of the season.
Any team that ends any season as champions deserves credit, however, if/when United find the trophy in their hands at the end of May, they will do so not because they have had a great season, but because their season wasn't as bad as others.
It would take a brave, perhaps even foolish man to declare that the group of players who have been turning out in the famous red shirt this season are comparable in talent to some of the Red Devil's great Premier League winning sides, and it would be difficult to argue against the fact that had Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal all looked as good as they have in the past, United would not be where they are.
Arsenal's 'invincibles' of the 2003/04 season, Jose Mourinho's Chelsea side of 2005/06 and the Liverpool side that ran United so close to the end of the season just two short years ago would almost certainly have seen United finish fourth at best. Of course these things are comparable, and United's treble winning 1998/99 side would arguably still finish first.
The point is, none of the Premier League's true title contenders can currently compare to the achievements or talents of the best sides they have put out in recent history. Many already believe that the Spanish league, despite understandable criticisms of a lack of real competition outside of the top two sides, has overtaken the Premier League as the best league in the world, with players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo lighting up the world from the peninsula.
Whatever your opinions on that matter, there can be little denying that whilst Barcelona and Real Madrid break records for fun, their English counterparts do appear to be lagging behind. Whether United, Chelsea or Arsenal would be able to scale the same heights in that league is a moot point, but what can be drawn from the debate is that the Premier League has not seen anybody produce the same level of performance that the Spanish 'big two' have consistently churned out over the last two years.
The big guns of the Premier League simply need to step up their game. Granted, for as long as the big guns struggle, the 'smaller' teams stand a much bigger chance of overthrowing them, making for tighter and more interesting title races. That's great for neutrals and fans outside of the bigger teams, but it is essentially bad for the league. If English clubs continue to lag behind in their domestic performances, it becomes more and more likely that fans will convert to Spanish, Italian or German football.
With the constant disappointments from the England national side in recent years, the Premier League has become something of a safe-haven for English fans. If the clubs contained within it do not step up to the responsibilities that entails, England's hold on the sport that they are often credited with inventing will slip. Man United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham et al. owe it not only to their fans, but also to their country, to raise their level of performance, for the good of the sport.
Gareth Lowe
Source: DSG
