EPL: The Death of the Competitive Dream

I am perhaps overdoing it with the headline, but there is a definite feeling of deflation amongst many football fans of clubs outside the Premiership's "Top Four". The season started with very high hopes with Liverpool and Arsenal looking less than invincible. Add to that the less than perfect start by Manchester United and there is a feeling that a golden opportunity has been missed. This year seems a very strange one, indeed, with points dropped by the mighty champions league quartet more readily than before, and some spending clubs failing to achieve anywhere near enough. I firmly believed that Aston Villa would have been more consistent, Everton the same. Tottenham of course are a very great disappointment but that may now change and Portsmouth have their own problems. Thank goodness for Hull and their remarkable start, although I suspect their high watermark has now been reached. My own club Manchester City were always going to struggle this year, but next year may well be ... (link)