Why I'm falling out of love with the English Premier League (EPL) - a nuanced take

I was (and still am) a Man Utd fan since 2002, what has changed so much now that I can hardly stand to watch the EPL anymore and I'd even prefer Liverpool to the win the title over Man City?

I’ve followed the EPL/European Football and have been supporting Manchester United since 2002, more than 2 decades. Man United have been more than a source of entertainment to me, its been a source of pride, a fellowship with fans, a source of inspiration and off late, a source of frustration and embarrasment.

So what has changed in the last 20 years and why does a Man United fan like me prefer Liverpool to win a PL Title over Manchester City?

At the very core, the theme throughout is that I have increasingly felt that the EPL has lost its soul to commercial interests and does not have common fan’s interest at heart. The DNA of the EPL is corrupted in multiple ways. This video of Ajax fans in Madrid how clubs and fans should be - that is what football and clubs should be all about.

1. The obvious one - the downfall of Manchester United. I’ve already written a blog on this earlier on an neutral perspective on why United have fallen like this. However emotionally, I cant stand being associated with a circus of merceneries and abysmally run club. Its better to associate with a mediocre but well run team which punches above its weight than a top team which is consistently underwhelming and never seems to learn from its mistakes. I have spent too many seasons pining my hopes on United and I’ve just realized its not worth it anymore - one does not need to be irrationally fanatic at this stage of life if it doesnt bring them some positivity and happiness in life. United rarely do.

2. Fantasy Premier League. Sounds surprising right? How can a mere “fun” game make me dislike the EPL? So FPL was a niche thing once it started and was not a “tool” for the EPL to increase its commercial viability and visibility. But now, there are a. Hundreds of blogs and websites, tens of thousands of FPL dedicated Twitter handles and millions of FPL players. There is even extensive data mining and AI done around this.

   What really irks me about FPL? Folks care more about winning FPL points even if its scored against their own team?
   "I hope United win this game against Arsenal 4-3 but Aubameyang scores hatrick”
   “United may have lost 5-0 but at least I captained Salah and got 40 points!” Cringe man.

   The Premier League and broadcasters tap into this dopamine addiction well and incentive and promote FPL just so that folks watch even games like Burnley vs Southampton just to see if Nick Pope kept a clean sheet.

   Cringes again

   

   I have played FPL since 2009-2010 but gave it up mid way last year and have not made a team this year. I dont want to keep checking scores just to see how many points Kane scored or if TAA got 3 bonus points or not.

3. The insane amount of money power that the EPL specifically has and encourages. Despite its lopsidedness, the Bundesliga and La Liga do what it takes to keep the league equal and not let money power and foreign ownership affect its fans. The premier league on the other hand is moneyball league with Russian, Gulf, American and even PE money. Russians buy the club as a source of entertainment, Gulf states like Saudi, Qatar and Abu Dhabi buy clubs as a signal of power and for improving PR (to cover for extensive human rights abuses and totalitatian regimes) and Amercian owners are like leeches which maximize the commercial output of the club and suck its soul dry.

   The EPL is almost SOLELY responsible for the insane amount of transfer money that is thrown around where even mid table clubs like Everton and Aston Villa have an upper hand over top 4 La Liga teams on transfers due to money power.
   The concept of a “European Super League” is a testament to the money power and commercial core of fotoball.

   FFP (Financial fair play) is an absolute joke and its amazing how UEFA and EPL let the Gulf teams get away with ultra shady transactions as seen below.

   

   

4. There are far better leagues and sports out there - which are far more equal and well run. The NBA is by far a superior league than the EPL. Seriously, beyond my bias, it really is-

   • The league keeps salary caps for all teams (there is some leeway but its not much)

   • The league allows the worst teams to draft the best young players and go competitive again

   • There is not truck load of transfer money thrown around, especially sourced from shady Saudi/Gulf/Russian owners - its all about trades and signing free agents

   • The league genuinely tries to keep the game itself as the core offering

   Beyond all that, while I have watched the NBA almost equally regularly too since 2002-2003, I’ve grown a LOT more fond of it. Basketball is not just a far more fast game, its also a geeks delight -the amount of stats you can nerd over is near infinite - forget points and assists, I dont even get many of those even now “Defensive win shares” “offensive efficiency” etc etc. They even track shit like “Curry is the first player to get 40 points, 10 rebound and 7 assists in game 4 of the NBA finals since Shaquille O’Neal back in 2001” (made that up)

   Even F1 has re-emerged as a mass entertaining sport off late with global appeal after the boredom of the Hamilton dominated years

   I’ll stretch this a little by saying that even the IPL is a better run and more equal league than the EPL despite mota bhai’s inordinate influence.

5. I feel that the English media and their ex players (and also the fans) rate the English Football team way too highly - almost nauseatingly so. I was actually supporting Italy against England in the Euro 2021 Finals.

6. Finally, Youtube fan channels. Arsenal are the team I’ve watched the most after United. Why? Not because of their so called silky football DNA but because of AFTV (also called Arsenal Fan TV earlier).

   In the pretext of “being a voice for fans”, I feel fan TVs like AFTV, Mark Goldbridge and others genuinely bring an strong air of impatience and toxicity in the fans which gets amplified over time. While I do not doubt that they want their football clubs to win and succeed, I think they do whatever it takes to milk reactions and views and often go against what is good for the club while doing so. Unfortunately, they also yield an inordinate amount of influence on the club and even the players.
   If you have ever noticed AFTV closely, you will notice that they bring their biggest viewership (by 5x more) when Arsenal loses and Robbie Lyle (Don Robbie) milks this to his advantage.
   This cult like mentality that fan channels bring is not too different from religious fanaticism (maybe falling short of being lethal)

   Some videos:

   Why Arsenal is the most toxic club in the league
   Ray Parlour (Arsenal Legend) vs “Robbie Lyle” on how AFTV is making Arsenal worse

   AFTV Fans - most angry moments

   

   

   

   So why did a United fan like me prefer Liverpool to win the league title over Man City last year? Wont that let them go equal with United in terms of titles (and take away our bragging rights? Arent Liverpool our most bitter rivals?

   Firstly, in my mind, living here in India, I’ve “hated” Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona far more than Liverpool. I have been the the Allianz Arena and Camp Nou but have not watched a game in England. I dont associate with the antipathy the locals might feel towards one another (which btw is in itself quite tribal).
   
   
   

   More importantly, Man City, PSG. Chelsea etc are an abomination - an epitome of what money can buy (yes, money can buy success!) and being okay with them winning titles (with their blood and oil money) is accepting what football is losing at the very core - its soul.

   

   

   I’ll leave you with this little article that exemplifies my last statements.