Five Ah Side

Remember the good old days of a team looking at their youth teams and promoting from within? They would then supplement this with one or two talented players to not just lift the profile of the team but to fill the skill gaps within the team. Now it seems like the converse is true. Teams seem to ignore the in-house talent that they’ve spent years investing in, in lieu of the glamour that they get from the foreign big names. But is this the right model for success? And more than that, is this what success looks like these days? The biggest spenders over the past year have all been a mixed bag of results. At the time of me penning this, the top four biggest spenders in Europe have been Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Liverpool. Bar Liverpool’s Premier League victory last season and Chelsea’s victory in the very shaky Club World Cup, the other two teams prove that throwing bags of money at teams and leagues doesn’t automatically equate to success. Manchester United finish...

The Premier League season is upon us once again, and with it the usual anxieties that accompany it. Depending on who you support, those levels of anxiety vary, but for me, a Tottenham fan, the feeling is one of dread. The transfer window, the new season buzz, is all overshadowed by the gut feeling that despite having a good team, Lady Luck rarely shines on us. That being said, I’ve gone against my conventional wisdom and decided to re-enter another pit of eternal despair, the one called the Fantasy Premier League. This sickening cesspool of anguish and eternal pain caused by the 15 players that you choose from week to week can never be classified as healthy, but in some sick way, it gives us something to look forward to. Last year, I took a break from this self-torture and decided to just enjoy the football. This was great, but oh so boring. Game weeks came and went, and there was no Jeopardy, no angst, no major investment in player performance. As a passing fan, it almost felt empty. ...