Is The Premier League The Best League In The World?

Yes. In my opinion, the Premier League is the most competitive, exciting, and enjoyable. In my previous post I talked about how the Premier League wasn't that clear ahead and that was the point.

It's not that the league isn't the best, it is that when it comes to comparison, it shouldn't be treated like the Premier League gets a ten out of ten while the rest get a three or four out of ten.

Enter Pep Guardiola

There were two separate crowds before Pep Guardiola joined Manchester City, those who thought he was the best and those who thought he was lucky and money made. Those two sides were the loudest.

Six years and four Premier League titles later, Pep Guardiola at Manchester City put things in perspective.

Humbling The League

Yes, Manchester City humbled the league, period. If it wasn't for Jurgen Klopp, then the league would have been an even more of a one-club show, even more than La Liga during prime Barcelona Pep years. That's just a fact.

Add in Klopp and you will the fact that the Premier League has been dominated by two foreign managers rather quickly. Three if you add Conte.

And even if we discredit Pep and take him out of the equation, doesn't that leave Klopp and Liverpool's data team owning the league for the past five years or so?

So, yes. The Premier League was dominated the same way La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, and Bundesliga could have/did.

Humbling Pep

It's almost two years ago that I wrote a 1.5K words post defending Pep Guardiola's expenditure. That post also came out before Manchester United and Arsenal started outspending Manchester City and giving us a masterclass in mishandling funds.

I still stand behind Pep's expenditure. In fact, I feel that my opinion was validated when comparing City's spending and results with that of Manchester United or Arsenal, hell even Chelsea.

However, yes, Pep did spend a lot of money. Just because Arsenal or Manchester United spent more and failed doesn't mean Pep's City didn't overspend. Yes, Guardiola did dominate the Premier League in the last five years and looks to do it for the sixth as well but...

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And that negative net spend of €984 million was before calculating this summer's arrivals and departures. There's no other way around it, Pep did spend too much to achieve what he achieved because England was more difficult.

England being more difficult doesn't necessarily mean that football there is fancier or that it is more tactically complicated. It could be more difficult due to randomness.

Pep was also humbled on the pitch as well. Ever since he arrived in England, we have seen Pep resort to time-wasting, coming back to defend, giving the ball to the opponent, hell, we even saw him park the bus for an occasion or two.

Pep did win four league titles but he did need to spend money and did resort to actions he'd not resorted to before he arrived in England. Yes, Pep and money will continue to be a valid argument along with how much control he has over the club and its signings because those are two qualities that no manager in the world has, not even Klopp has half the authority Pep has.

No New Reasons

No one should have to come up with a new reason for why Pep was so ahead just because readers are bored of the same old reasons. As long as they're valid reasons, there's no need to dig for fake reasons.

Pep does owe money credit for his success and he did change a lot of his convictions after he joined the Premier League. On the other hand, the Premier League did get dominated by Pep that Klopp is breaking record points tallies and still coming second.

What's The Problem Then?

Well, when it comes to Pep Guardiola specifically, people don't like these answers. They prefer black or white. Guardiola is either made by money or Guardiola is the best manager. No one likes to take longer than two seconds to judge Guardiola.

In Conclusion

Pep Guardiola and the Premier League present us with an example of how simple matters can be complicated by bias and binary thoughts. Pep Guardiola and the Premier League might as well be the best, but they also show us that no entity can be the best at everything.

Success, especially in football, will always be an imperfect story. That's just life.