On November 5th 2015, we did a page on ‘A Guide To The Barclays Premier League’, now nearly ten years later, it’s safe to say that a lot has changed.
Now, the core of the league itself has been kept as it is, so if you are looking for a basic guide on the rules of the league, we suggest going back and reading that page.
However, if you are interested in the rules that have been changed and introduced and what teams have dominated the league in the last ten years, this is the sole purpose of this page. We are doing this because a lot has changed and although the fans of the league will know the changes, the outsiders who aren’t interested in football, or the Premier League specifically, this page should clear up any questions.
Liverpool and Man City Domination
Over the last 9 years, we have seen some dominant forces in the league with City and Liverpool being the biggest mainstays in the top portion of the table. A month before our last page came out, Jurgen Klopp joined Liverpool and turned them into one of the best teams in the world, and a year after that, Pep Guardiola arrived at Man City and made them one of the best teams of all time.
Manchester City and Liverpool have had a rivalry that will go as soon as the best in Premier League history, it may not have the pure hatred that rivalries should have, but for pure skill level, none will come close to these two. This was reflected in the Premier League betting odds at the same, if you bet on Premier League football over the last 5 years, you would have seen how close they were as a duo, a ridiculously high level.
VAR
The biggest change in football over the last 20 years has been the introduction of the Video Assistant Referees. The rules for VAR are simple but often are made confusing by referee choices that make very little sense.
How VAR Works
The key rules are simple, the VAR team has the video assistant referee, assistant video assistant referees, and a replay operator, their jobs are to closely monitor the game and chalk for any decisions that the referee may have missed or got wrong.
These incidents include:
- Checks for offsides, handballs, or other issues that could happen when a goal is scored.
- Checks on penalties to make sure they are correct, for example, if the foul was inside or outside the box
- They also recommend decisions on red cards, if the referee missed a red card incident or if they gave a red card for a decision where a yellow was sufficient
- Finally, they check for mistake identities to see if the player that was penalized was at fault for the decision
On the surface, this feels like a good change, but the time each decision takes and the errors that still slip through the cracks, have a lot of fans and teams rallying against VAR and the system as a whole.
Fan Outreach
In the last nine years, the Premier League has become far and away the biggest and best league in the world. The overall connection with the fans has become larger and people from all around the world tune in to make each fan feel welcome, no matter their location.
The Style Of Football
The English have a reputation for playing one-dimensional football and this has massively changed over the last decade. When Pep Guardiola came into the league, everything changed, and now English football is more possession and press-heavy.
No matter the league you are in, whether it’s The Premier League or League Two, this type of football is played, and played well, this is arguably the biggest change and one that will stick for a long time.