With the culmination of another round of top-flight football fixtures comes the arrival of the third instalment of Sheridan Lifts’ football blog.
It’s as you were at the summit with wins for City, Liverpool and Chelsea whilst things are still looking bleak for poor old Rafa Benitez and David Wagner, who can’t buy wins or even a goal!
Wembley was a right old mess last night after being used for 3 matches of American football as City continued their fine start to the season with a win against Spurs. But wowsers that pitch was terrible! Just ask Eric Lamela!
Should Spurs be fined for it, what do you think?
Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but Sean Dyche has definitely got a point – the chasm between the top 6 teams and the rest of the league appears to be getting wider. OK, so Burnley have just been walloped 5.0 and 0.4 so there be some sour grapes in there, but still, you do feel a gulf is forming. OK, so you might say there has always been a gulf, but is it getting wider?
This season, so far there are less surprises in games involving the current occupants of those positions and there’s a strong correlation there between the vast sums of money spent by those sides compared to the rest of the league (with the exception of Manchester United – who may yet challenge and are hitting some form)
It’s just so tough for those other teams, competing against sides who have spent millions and millions on quality players. You can’t help but feel slightly sorry for sides like Cardiff and Huddersfield, even though you do have the likes of Bournemouth and Watford excelling in the league’s top ten.
The result this season is more concentrated competition, at least for those coveted Champions League positions. You can never write off United but at the minute its looking like City, Liverpool and Chelsea plus one.
But does this mean we have a better league? I’m not so sure.
One thing I am a keen advocate of with all these vasts (and frankly ludicrous) sums of money swishing around in the game, is a compulsory salary sacrifice for the league’s top earners. This idea was mooted on TalkSPORT and its one that I am a keen advocate of.
But how would it work? Well, if you happen to earn in advance of say, £30,000 per week, that a percentage of that, lets say 0.1% should be automatically deducted from your salary and go straight into a fund for grass roots football. Put it to the vote and lets see how generous these footballers are? Nobody actually needs that kind of money.
I think that’s fair, do you?
The game must be protected for our children and theirs, and top-flight footballers these days have wealth that lets face it, is scarcely believable. This, as they say, is the perfect way to protect the game.
Do let us know your thoughts below.