English sport in 2010 - The good and down right ugly, part 1



At first I was going to do a review of a multiple of sports in one blog, but that was going to be too long. I have split it into different part to make it a lighter read.

So here it is my multi-sport review for England in 2010 and I am going to start with the football just to get the 'down right ugly' out of the way in part 1.

Credit 

English football was looking good in 2009 and at the start of 2010. England  had a good World cup qualifying campaign and Wayne Rooney was scoring goals.

As for the premier league the standard did not look too bad, but I think what we saw in the Champions League changed that. Liverpool went out of the group stage after a very poor showing. Chelsea were not good enough to beat eventual champions Inter Milan. Arsenal were victims of the shift in power to La Liga  when thet were taken a part by Barcelona and Lionel Messi at the Nou Camp. Manchester United were knocked out on away goals by Bayern Munich in the Quarter-Finals.

A poor showing in comparison to the last five seasons that saw an English team in the final each year. The first evidence of the decline in quality of Premier League teams. This has continued this season in my opinion and the league is more competitive for it.

Teams have caught up with the old big four with Liverpool down and out. You may say its more exciting, and I can see why but the league is a poorer quality now and the style of football is nothing to shout about. Then you consider the players.




Credit

  The World Cup in South Africa showed England for what they are. Overrated, under-skilled players who talk the talk but could barely walk in South Africa. This isn't helped by the media, but the point is the standard of English players is average.

It finally exposed the cracks in the development system in England, however no change was made until the game against France.

Again outplayed, outpassed and were made to look silly. Finally it was announced that the Burton Academy will be built to try and improve the standard of English football.

After the World Cup the attention was on Rooney who continued his poor form. He announced he wanted to leave the Manchester United and then quickly change his mind, another bad sign for English football that agents have more control over players than managers. Tevez did the same and the fans were proven fickle and forgave them both.

The biggest worry is the amount of teams in financial trouble and other problems Owners bring. This season has seen Sheffield Wednesday come close to administration only to be saved by Milan Mandarich, and Plymouth Argyle are close to being the first professional team since 1992 to go into liquidation.
Owners have caused problems in the top flight aswell. Mike Ashley became Public enemy number one yet again when he sacked Chris Hughton and the new owners of Blackburn did not waste much time after they sacked Sam Allardyce.

It really has been a poor year for English football and depressing. Football has become a business English football is paying the price. Our youth system, in fact football in England full stop, is poorly run and the cracks continue to show. No longer "the best league in the world" and the "home of football" is in a bad state.

We even failed in our bid to host the 2018 World Cup, however the contraversy surrounding that opens up a different can of worms all together. I won't go there.

The Burton Academy has been given the go ahead though, the only silverlining on this very dark cloud. Hopefully 2011 will be a better year, but I doubt it.