Cybereagles

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Has 'micro-managed' Premier League become boring?

Bruno Fernandes and Kevin De Bruyne embrace
IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES
Image caption,
Manchester United v Manchester City was the 28th 0-0 draw in the Premier League this season - there were just 11 last year
Emma Smith
BBC Sport journalist
Published
6 hours ago
891 Comments
Despairing at the end of a dire goalless Manchester derby, Gary Neville railed against not only the poor performances of the two teams but the state of Premier League football in general.
"This robotic nature of not leaving our positions, being micro-managed within an inch of our lives, not having any freedom to take a risk to go and try and win a football match is becoming an illness in the game," lamented Neville. "It's becoming a disease in the game."
His comments wiggled a finger in a wound which has been festering for some fans of top-flight football this season - the idea that the Premier League has become boring.
That sentiment is in stark contrast to another epic week of dramatic Champions League knock-out football.

So how true is this 'boring Premier League' claim?

….

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/arti ... 4zkrx7zzgo

BBC Sports journalist. The same - take the game by the scruff of the neck - school of football thought that have hardly shifted from the street rugby roots of the game.

I wish these British commentators would just stfu.

Having hyped the game up with a D*ckensian tale of two cities prelude, filled the studio with a star studded panel and reserved 3 hours of air space for the main event, they needed something to talk about. The very same wanton disregard for risk pined for would be pillared by the very same jury were it erroneous in its employ.

The game has grown all the more pragmatic as the gaps between the frontrunners and chasing pack has contracted. The league table reduces such statement to conjecture but a holistic assessment begs to differ. Liverpool have not been imperial, they’ve been good in a season where all else were bang average.

The Brightons, Brentfords, Bournemouths and alike have slowly, through shrewd recruitment, on and off the pitch, closed the once gargantuan gap. Returning to Neville’s HG Wellian warning of a rise of the robots, it becomes all the more obvious this remark is not only as naked as the emperor, but as equally unimpressive in an artic breeze.

The game has evolved in such a way, the risk is riskier than the chance of reward. The body of guaranteed 3 points shrinks by the season, the margin for error much the same. Slowly the beautiful game is transitioning towards a science. The helter-skelter days are done, almost. Once in a while the Time Machine dials in to the 70s and the audience are treated to a throwback. Reducers, 50/50s, afters and some.

If one desires the golden age, flick on the Championship, blood, thunder, two-footed tackles and every man steaming in. Proper.

See the EPL fan boys.

@coach, as the article pointed out, the Champions league is way more fun.

The Champions’ League is a knockout tournament. Fantastic theme tune aside, it’s as micromanaged as any other, when it comes to the crunch. Few throw caution to the wind, most things are well rehearsed.

Coach wrote: ↑Sun Apr 13, 2025 7:32 am The Champions’ League is a knockout tournament. Fantastic theme tune aside, is as micromanaged as any other, when it comes to the crunch. Few throw caution the wind, most things are well rehearsed.

Will history repeat itself? 4 points for a win? (Recall the days when 5 goals in a game would have been a major headline.)

And a lighter ball that swerves in the air more.. maybe slightly asymmetric, too? Anything to get that goal rate up. That's what matters. It creates the excitement and yet frees up managers to "deploy resources" without fear of creative flair intervening. Imagine how bored managers would get if the board pieces started moving on their own.