Is the "big four" dead?
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
There is no football concept more abhorrent than the so-called Big Four. It's disheartening enough that we have to put up with the Champions League creating a four-strong closed shop, but it's made even worse by the media - in particular Sky Sports - nauseatingly and emphatically endorsing the idea. Grand Slam Sunday: ranking football clubs by last season's position so you don't have to!
The referees favour them, the authorities favour them and the media favours them. It all adds up to make football far less enjoyable than it should be.
But the hidden danger is to the hallowed quartet themselves. Tom's post refers to the clubs' possible reliance upon the Champions League's dizzying financial rewards and adds to a discourse which questions whether they factor this money into their accounting. If they do, failure is not an option. Sadly for Liverpool, they seem the most likely to be writing cheques on the back of assumed success.
They also look in danger of failing to qualify this season. Beaten four times in the Premier League already this season, they have doubled last season's loss column by the middle of October. Manchester United offer a formidable next challenge. Saturday's defeat to Sunderland has been amusingly overshadowed by the fact that the winning goal was scored by a Liverpool-branded beach ball, but there is no masking the team's weaknesses.
Perhaps most worryingly, the defeat did not come as a surprise to anyone - even a miserable cynic like me had Sunderland down for a win. It highlights Sunderland's abilities but also exposed Liverpool's inability to be anything more than average without Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. Yes, all teams would suffer if the two best players were unavailable, but none so dramatically as Rafael Benitez's men.
85 toothless minutes after Glen Johnson and Pepe Reina were beaten by Darren Bent's beach ball strike, Liverpool's title challenge was again questioned. For me, even fourth place is now wide open.
Even if Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool do comprise the top four, the Big Four as inspiration of fear may be dying. They look increasingly bearable on any given day. Liverpool's four defeats demonstrate this, as do Chelsea's losses to Wigan Athletic and Aston Villa, and Manchester United's to Burnley. They're still impressive, but they're not as intimidating as they once were.
If they can be - and are - beaten more regularly, then the trapdoor is open. Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City are more than willing to stride into the void, with a clutch of clubs not far behind.
Is the top four as a concept dying? Could it be broken up as soon as next May? Let me know what you think.
(Pic via smh.com.au)
2 comments:
For the big 4 to die - they need to struggle 2 or 3 seasons in a row, Everton finished above Liverpool a few years ago - but Liverpool still sneaked into the Champions League. Everton, Tottenham have been close in recent years, Villa are also consistently up there too and now Manchester City have the money to do so.
Maybe the big for will just desolve into a top 6/7/8?
Hi Martin, thanks for your comment.
I often think a dissolution into a top 6 might be what's happening, but I think the big four is too closely tied to the Champions League. FWIW, I think whoever drops out of the "big four" (and as you rightly say that means more than just one season) will struggle to get back into the CL spots in the short term.
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