Why Is the Premier League So Tough and Difficult to Win?

Have you ever asked yourself the reason why the Premier League is considered to be the toughest domestic league to win in the whole world? It is a proven fact, especially when we take a look at other first-tier European leagues. Bayern Munich are on their eighth Bundesliga title in a row now. Juventus have been piling up Serie A Scudettos since 2011, to mention just a few.

The same doesn’t happen with England, as since the 2009-10 Premier League season, only once has a team succeeded in defending the title.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the main reasons why the PL is so tough and difficult to win. Get ready and come along!

High-end competition

Some leagues are a two-horse race, or there’s a club that is highly superior to the rest of the league. PSG in the French Ligue 1 and Juventus in Italy's Serie A are good examples of that. In the Premier League, though, it’s quite the opposite. The fact is: every PL side is a potential title contender, or can give big-six clubs hard times.

A recent example of that is the Aston Villa 7-2 Liverpool game in October. Villa have struggled to stay up in the Premier League last season, saving themselves on the final day through a hard-fought draw at West Ham. On the other hand, Liverpool won the Premier League handily, with seven games to go, setting a new league record.

Early in this season, however, Villa went on to inflict a tough win on the reigning champions. This proves our point that every PL side is a potential challenger to any team, which doesn’t seem to be very common in other leagues.

Premier League clubs’ financial power

Modern football has taught us that money can build world-class teams out of nowhere. Over the last few decades, Premier League clubs have experienced stellar ascensions, with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City being the best examples.

Such financial power, not only from the aforementioned teams but from every Premier League side as a whole, leads them to be in a condition to recruit the best players from each and every corner of the world.

Nowadays, Premier League sides have almost 80% of players called up to their national teams when it’s international break time.

Some still think that there’s controversy at this point and that players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi step into the discussion. It is a valid objection, though, given that this duo bossed the football world, dominating individual awards nominations and leading their teams to massive conquers.

Although Ronaldo played for Man United for three seasons before becoming the record-breaker CR7, his career peak was at Real Madrid. Messi, on the other hand, has been a Barcelona player throughout his career. Both La Liga sides dictated football’s rhythm in Europe over the last decade.

This generated the impression that La Liga was the most valuable league in Europe, leaving the English Premier League sitting second place. But as soon as Ronaldo left Real Madrid and Messi’s football performance levels dropped down, La Liga went from the greatest league to just a normal European league.

The point is: Ronaldo and Messi ran a two-man show in Spain, attracting the spotlight to themselves. It has never meant that the whole Spanish League was quality, as both Barcelona and Real Madrid won 90% of the last 10 league seasons.

PL clubs, on the other hand, signed rather great players for every position. These players can fit in as a group. This would lead, consequently, to better overall teams than Spain’s La Liga or any other major European league.

Take this fact, plus the amount of money PL clubs get directly and indirectly from broadcasters--which can get up to £2.4 billion per season split amongst the 20 clubs--then you have the second reason why English clubs form the toughest league to win in the world.

If you can make it there...

There’s that famous saying that goes, “New York: if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.”

The same can be said of the Premier League, as if a player can make it there, he will probably be amongst the best players in the world.

These were the reasons why we think the PL is so tough and difficult to win. Will English clubs be able to keep this dominance for much longer? Well, that’s hard to say, as COVID-19 uncertainties can make a sore impact on a club’s financial life.

However, under normal conditions, Premier League standards should be seen as the main goal of every top-tier league in the world.