For years and due to the lack of a hard salary cap, the same European soccer clubs have been dominating their domestic and European leagues. That list of clubs is quite short and includes:
•English Premiership – Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Aresenal
•La Liga in Spain – Barcelona, Real Madrid
•Bundesliga in Germany – Bayern Munich
•Serie A in Italy – AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Outside of these 10 clubs, no other team has truly had the chance to hoist a Cup Trophy of any sort. Although some fans enjoy this sort of dominance, the lack of parity found in European soccer makes for a lack of suspense and drama.
It’s like Nascar – you know that Jimmie Johnson is going to take home the title at the end of the year.
But due to a number of factors that have occurred in the past several years, parity is slowly creeping into European Soccer – and none too soon. Following are a few reasons why the playing field is slowly leveling itself out.
Economic Downturn
With the drop in the economy since 2008, clubs are quite as wealthy and well-off as they have been in the past. With less money, the big-time clubs have become somewhat more conservative with the way they spend their money on big-time players.
Not only that, but many dominant clubs have gone on selling sprees in order to improve their bottom line. Liverpool got rid of Fernando Torres last season and didn’t replace him with a big name, and Arsenal likewise, has cleaned house this season by getting rid of Clichy, Nasri, Fabregas, and more big names that have helped the club to success in the past without signing players to replace them of the same caliber.
Because clubs are cutting back on their spending habits, injury and depth concerns have also played a bigger role in the past few seasons. One or two key injuries have meant that managers have had to replace their star players with mediocre, second-string talent at best. Whereas in the past, substitutes off the bench were just as strong, if not stronger in different areas of the game, than their starting counterparts.
New players
It should come as no surprise that the fate of a club, at least financially, depends on the wealth of their owner(s).
If you’re owner has tons of money just sitting around, waiting to be spent on top-notch players and coaches, you’re obviously going to field a strong side.
In the case of several teams which were formerly very average on the pitch, like Manchester City, their sides have become significantly stronger due to new and richer ownership.
Lets take Man City for example. Always the “little brother” club of Manchester United, the team was bought by the ruling family of Abu Dhabi in 2008 – making City the richest club in the world.
Consequently, City’s fortunes on the pitch began to change drastically as the team went on a spending spree to get the best players available. By becoming the richest team in the world, City has quickly supplanted the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, and even Chelsea in the top tier of the Premiership.
Better Academies
Lastly, teams are always improving their youth academies in hopes of bringing world-class “homegrown” players up through their ranks.
Teams are signing kids at a younger and younger age, and scouting of young talent has become more and more sophisticated in the past decade and several years.
Consequently, teams are hitting the jackpot with more and more youngsters who are going on to become star players once they hit the senior ranks.
This phenomenon is allowing for poorer clubs to counteract the financial might of the aforementioned “big-time” clubs. Now, instead of having to compete on the transfer market for the best players, clubs are turning to their own farm systems and ranks to find the best players available.
What The Future Holds
Bayern Munich has already lost their foothold on the Bundesliga, and Juventus has basically fallen from the ranks of top dogs in Serie A. Likewise, Liverpool and Arsenal are struggling mightily to remain among the elite in the Premiership as teams such as Tottenham and Aston Villa are beginning to take their places.
Hopefully, we’ll continue to see a shift towards more parity in European Soccer. It’ll certainly make for more meaningful games week in and week out, and tighter title races to be had in the future.