Why the arrogant Premier League is no longer the best in the world?

There was a time when we could say, without much fear of being contradicted, that the Premier League was the best football league in the world. Unless things change, and change fast, it is becoming increasingly obvious that that time is coming to an end.

There is still much that is beautiful about the football our top flight produces. The 1-1 draw between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield last month was a spellbinding display of quite sublime skills from two teams that are among the best on the planet. There have been many other clashes this season that have lifted the soul, too.

But, despite the vast financial advantages our clubs enjoy over their competitors, there are no English sides in the last four of the Champions League, there are no English club sides in the last four of the Europa League and only Aston Villa, who are having such a fine season, have made it to the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.

But that is not the main reason for the disquiet about the direction in which our top flight is heading. The problems, in a league that has ceased to be something we can be proud of, run way deeper than one season of under-achievement in European competition.

Can we really be proud of a league where two clubs are owned by repressive nation states, where obscene player wage inflation runs rife, where the league punishes clubs for PSR infringements but where the punishments appear worryingly random, where supporters are asked to pay more and more money for tickets, merchandise and food in return for being treated like an irritating inconvenience?

The Premier League in the spring of 2024 is a leaderless shambles, in thrall to a cabal of dessicated club owners, that is no longer even attempting to disguise