Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea. For the majority of the new millennium they have dominated the landscape of the Premier League. Across the history of the Premier League these teams have dominated the top four, with the likes of Blackburn, Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham aspiring to join them. The Sky Blue side of Manchester seem to have secured their place. But the Premier League’s traditional elite all face an uncertain future, as they drift towards an abyss Liverpool have sat in for over 25 years.
Liverpool dominated for years, and entered the 1990’s the premier force in English football. But since the beginning of the Premier League itself, they haven’t won a single title. This is a direction the current elite risk heading with their current trajectories.
United’s predicament is clear. They have fallen apart since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson, with David Moyes almost single handedly destroying the image of the club Ferguson had spent decades building. Legends of the club were ushered out quickly and performances on field were not that of a classic Red Devils side. They slumped to 7th in the Premier League and Moyes was sacked less than a year after being hired.
Louis Van Gaal was brought in after the former Everton man was let go, and was declared as something of a saviour after a very successful World Cup with the Dutch National team. However, his reign at Old Trafford has been disappointing, and at this point his exploits since taking charge have been comparable to Moyes. If not for Ed Woodward’s own incompetence, he would likely have been given the sack already.
Herein lies some of the biggest problems currently at United. The club currently operate as more of a commercial entity than anything resembling a football-first club, and it isn’t hyperbole to say the fans feel their club is treated like a business with a company football team.
Woodward’s complete lack of football knowledge is one of the biggest factors in the club’s downward trajectory since he took over the job from outgoing business guru David Gill. He has overseen not one but two failed managerial appointments, and five transfer windows where commercial gains in signings has taken priority over footballing needs.
The fallen giants now sit sixth in table, with very little chance of hauling in Manchester City or Arsenal for the final Champions League spot. That means two years outside Europe’s premier competition in just three years. It’s a slippery slope if United don’t right the ship this summer, and that starts by fixing their vast number of off-field issues before they can even consider addressing their on-field woes.
Meanwhile, Arsenal find themselves in a position quite similar to what United did towards the end of Ferguson’s reign. Arsene Wenger may finally be at the end of his tenure in North London, and the “Wenger Out Brigade” cries ever louder with every bad result. For many the missed opportunity to win the title this season (barring a catastrophic collapse ahead of them) will be the final straw for many of the club’s fans.
The Gunners drew the short straw yet again in the Champions League despite miraculously escaping their tough group draw, and will need a miracle this week to win at the Camp Nou and overturn a two goal deficit against the world’s best team. Their title campaign has been derailed by constant bad results in 2016, and their FA Cup back-to-back-to-back dream fell apart with a shock elimination at home to Watford on the weekend.
It was once thought that Wenger would get to decide when he left Arsenal, and that he’d earned the right to decide when enough was enough. Unfortunately it now seems as if he cannot coax what is necessary from his squad to push them back to the top of the Premier League.
This season was supposed to be the year for his team, to finally end their title drought. Now though that seems as if it will carry on, with a big unknown as to when the team will finally break through. It will now be twelve years since they last tasted Premier League success.
Who to replace the Frenchman though? It’s easier said than done. Targets like Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola are already in other jobs at rival clubs, and there is a great uncertainty as to who is available and who is worthy of becoming the next manager of the club. The uncertainty around the club’s short and long term future is not a good look, and the atmosphere at the club is reaching toxic levels with every bad result.
Across the city, Chelsea face unknowns of their own. Whilst Antonio Conte (according to reports) is set to be named Chelsea manager after this summer’s European Championships, the team is currently languishing in 10th place in the league. There is clearly something not right at Stamford Bridge, despite Guus Hiddink’s attempts at salvaging their season.
There have been flashes of the title-winning side from last season, but the reality is that this will go down in history as the worst ever title defence by a defending Premier League champion. Eden Hazard has had an equally disastrous season which makes it surprising he was named Player of the Year just last season. An amicable split that nets the Blues a giant transfer fee may be best for all parties this summer.
Diego Costa has been a man reborn under his current Dutch manager, but rumours of a return to Atlético Madrid refuse to go away. It seems as if a summer of transition awaits in London, but like when Van Gaal arrived at United after a summer with an international squad that is not always that easy when the summer is forced to start late.
It also does not help that Chelsea’s good transfer worl has faded in recent times. Whilst great deals have been negotiated in players departing the club, the signings of Pedro, Falcao, Pato, Papy Djilobodji, Juan Cuadrado and Filipe Luis have not worked out despite considerable expenditure. It’s an issue that has flown under the radar but needs addressing.
Amongst all this, the three club’s division rivals go from strength to strength. Leicester City are on the fairytale of a lifetime, frontrunners in the world’s most competitive football league. Tottenham have built a strong, young and exciting core and the future is bright under Mauricio Pochettino. Manchester City have a rebuild of their own to undertake with Pep Guardiola joining in the summer, but have the funds and pulling power to make an easy transition.
Uncertainty clouds the Premier League’s traditional elite. A changing of the guard potentially awaits, and with television broadcast money pumping into the game these clubs risk drifting into the footballing abyss if they don’t make the right decisions heading into the biggest summer in English footballing history.
