Ben Chu in his Independent blog thinks that I am a ‘cheerleading Panglossian’ for the Premier League. Well, there is so much criticism of the Premier League that someone has to make the case in its favour. If its so bad, why are so many people watching, and why is it attracting large overseas television audiences? One clear reason is that the quality of the football is generally high, at least at good as what was on display in the World Cup with its rather cagey
Ben Chu in his Independent blog thinks that I am a ‘cheerleading Panglossian’ for the Premier League. Well, there is so much criticism of the Premier League that someone has to make the case in its favour. If its so bad, why are so many people watching, and why is it attracting large overseas television audiences? One clear reason is that the quality of the football is generally high, at least at good as what was on display in the World Cup with its rather cagey games.
Ben Chu points to the eight foreign owners in the Premiership (that partly depends on how one counts Irish owners). We have been consistently critical of the regime at Liverpool and there is much to criticise about the Glazers, although I am not convinced that their debt mountain has had that much impact on the pitch. However, just focusing on two out of the eight is to generalise from particular examples, what is known as the individualstic fallacy.
Everything is not for the best in the best of all possible worlds in the Premiership. We have been critical of the content and application of the fit and proper person test. But there will also be much to enjoy in the season ahead.