Premier League 22/23: Paying the price for a lack of passion

Does it get annoying listening to Gary Neville’s voice all the time? Absolutely. Can you question his genuine passion for Man United? Absolutely not, and the latter is exactly what the current game is missing.

I may be biased, growing up in an era where big battles between Roy Keane and Patrick Viera took place, but there is no doubt that the new era of football is severely lacking any ferocity. Understandably, players want to get the most out of their short careers but at what cost to the beautiful game?

Paycheck > Passion

Over the last 20 years, football has evolved in every sense of the word. It’s faster, it’s more tactical, and it’s incredibly business-minded.

Nowadays, you’ll find that players aren’t dreaming of following in the footsteps of their idols and playing for their favourite team; instead, you are better off searching for the latest odds on whoever is offering the biggest paycheck!

In turn, we are left with teams built up of superstars. While this is ideal for shirt sales, exquisite touches, and remarkable moments, it is less than ideal for wage budgets, finding the best football betting odds, or for when a minor inconvenience occurs - just look at Mbappe last week for PSG!

What does this mean for the Premier League going forward?

With little passion comes little care for the end result. UK bookmakers will have already been shocked by some of the results coming out of the 22/23 season, making it incredibly difficult to predict outcomes of fixtures going forward.

For some, this will no doubt add a little extra excitement to each match; however, it could soon see the Big 6 become nothing but a distant memory. As we’ve already seen from the first three games of the season, so-called superstars are throwing tantrums, missing chances, and costing teams matches, meaning guaranteed European football is slowly falling out of reach.

If players are simply going to teams offering the biggest pay packet, then the divide between the National League and Premier League will begin to get wider and wider, too.

RIP: The Beautiful Game

Of course, there will always be some exceptions to the rule. Although, based on what we have seen from the 22/23 Premier League season so far, superstars aren’t performing and we can’t help but feel that a genuine passion for their current team has a role to play - could you imagine Roy Keane or Tony Adams giving anything less than 100%?

It’s a sad sign of the times when we see players behaving like petulant children, broadcasting their thoughts to the media, putting in sub-par performances in training or matches, and holding little respect for the rest of their team, fans, or manager. Unfortunately, it’s also something that we can’t imagine is going to go away any time soon.

Has the game changed for the better or worse? Let us know in the comments!