Premier League: Who needs Champions League more?

About eight years ago the top four in the Premier League would be the same every year. Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea, they were the dominant forces in England’s top division. However, it is now very different and them four Champions League places are more important than ever.

It all changed in 2008, when Manchester City had a massive takeover and automatically became one of the richest sides in world football. Their strong money investment took place straight away with the huge signing of Robinho from Real Madrid.

This changed the competitiveness of the Champions League places, Tottenham Hotspur had been knocking on the door for a few years and now with Manchester City in the mix, it started to put pressure on the original top four.

Money is a huge factor within the modern game and it is even bigger in England than it is in other countries. English clubs rely so heavily on buying talent for huge amounts of money. Look at the likes of Andy Carroll going for £30+ Million, it has changed the game massively and clubs at the very top like Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal all rely on reaching the Champions League to ensure they have the funds for the players wages and to buy the type of players they want in their teams.

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However, with the added quality within the Premier League in the last few seasons it has put pressure on some of the original top four to reach the Champions League spots. For example, Liverpool and Manchester United have been on decline and the negatives of not having Champions League every year is have a serious affect to their league position. Over the last few seasons, Tottenham, Everton, Southampton and even Newcastle have pushed towards the top four, and this season Leicester have already sealed Champions League for next season.

This has left only three more spaces up for grabs and five teams are still up for the spots. Tottenham on are the border of qualifying, then there is Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and outsiders, West Ham. However, who needs the top four more than ever?

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham are long overdue some success for their fans, and they might just yet still claim the biggest prize yet in the league. However, after years of flirting with the top four it seems that they have finally broke through that finally barrier to be up their with the best. Since the departure of Gareth Bale in 2013, Tottenham have spent a large amount of money on useless players, but, Pochettino seems to have cemented his place as manager of Tottenham and really made the team his own. After going so far this season, it would be a huge disappointment not to make the top four now. It is the next step the North Londoners need to take in order to step up with the best.

Manchester City

You would expect that with the amount of money Manchester City flood into their squad, they would be winning everything possible and this isn’t the case. They have obviously achieved a lot in the time of money, but, not enough to make the owners happy. With a possibility of not getting the Champions League for next season, could be awful for the financial aspect and footballing aspect of the club. With big name players and big spending, they will need to be in the Champions League to be able to keep and attract new players. It would be a nightmare for them not to get top four.

Arsenal

It happens every single year for Arsenal. They get their hopes up so high that they even set a title parade date, and it all comes crashing down, as usual. It seems like season after season Arsenal have got a magnet pulling them to fourth or third place and Arsene Wenger is now under lots of pressure from every single Arsenal fan. It is fair to say a club like Arsenal should be challenging for the trophy every year and should be winning a trophy every year. But this season has disappointed for their fans just like every other. With their title race collapsing again this year it is fair to say Wenger isn’t the most popular man at Arsenal right now. If they weren’t able to secure Champions League now it would be awful for the club and most players such as Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil will be looking to leave and all fans would probably start a riot on Wenger.

Manchester United

Once called the best team in English football history, until obviously Sir Alex Ferguson retired and since then it has been awful, no trophies, three managers and a couple of failed Champions League campaigns. At Christmas time this year it seemed that it could be worse than before, but it all honesty they have been very good and have worked their way back up into contention for the top four. They need to get back to their best soon to continue to attract the best players otherwise it could continue to be downhill for them. This season it might now be a tough ask, but it is still possible for United.

West Ham

A surprise possibility for the top four this season, West Ham United have shocked a lot of people this year and have put in some fantastic performances and fully deserve to be up there in and amongst the top six. They have really played well this season and the fourth spot could yet be theirs, however, it will be a big ask and I certainly have them down as outsiders for the Champions League spots. It maybe is too early to call West Ham to get European football, but this is just the start of their development and they will only get stronger. This is saying they aren’t desperate to get top four this year as they are growing stronger.

In all honesty missing out on the top four will be awful for any of these teams, however it will happen to two of them and this could affect them in the future. Even further depending on the outcome of Manchester City and Liverpool’s Champions League campaigns the team that finishes fourth could cruelly miss out on the final Champions League spot for next season.

A very exciting end of the season awaits us!

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