Opinion | Attack is the English Premier League's best form of defence
Critics say teams are losing the art of defending, but they certainly make up for this weakness by scoring a lot of goals
Towards the end of last season and the start of this, numerous doomsayers declared the English Premier League was heading towards the buffers.
They declared the European leagues - chief among them Germany's Bundesliga - were poised to squash the arrogant English competition and all its boorish pretentions into the turf.
Smoke, went the collective sneer, was rising over Babylon. Splurging English clubs were steeped in debt and awash with foreign owners, many shady oligarchs stuffing their dodgy oil and gas billions into a Saturday plaything.
Only Chelsea's manager Jose Mourinho possesses the know-how to set up a team to kill off a game and win on the counter
Overpaid foreign imports were favoured over home-grown talent and the hackneyed "Best League in the World" claim was but the hollow boast of hype and aggressive marketing; the ludicrous price of TV rights and sponsorships contrived to suspend belief the EPL was the only one to watch.
Add to the excesses was the need to thrill the millions of spectators and keep sponsors happy.
The breakneck pace of domestic football - borne out of desperation to entertain - was holding back English teams in European competitions, the critics claimed.
The game's tempo had been increased and though this made for pleasing attacking football on the eye, the end-to-end mindset undermined the way the game should be played.