So we are 10 games into the season and let’s be honest, we can see from a mile away that there are some big differences between what we have experienced in the Premier League and the Championship.
The difference of the quality between the Premier League and the Championship is clear. I’ve heard and read a lot that “if we were in the Premier league we would’ve lost that”, I guess that is somewhat true. During our 10 games, there have been so many times where our defence has been opened up with ease and the opposition are through on goal, only to either miss the chance to score or be saved by Mads.
Premier League quality strikers like Haaland and Salah would have a field day and easily gobbled up plenty of those chances. .
So, the Championship isn’t like the Premier League and that’s fine. In fact, the Championship is like no other league. Team 1 can lose to team 22 on any given day, whereas in the Premier League it’s rare that a shock result happens and it often tends to be business as usual for the top teams in that division.
The gulf in class can be seen all over the place. Defenders are stronger and faster, they’re harder for strikers to get past. Midfielders can slide a ball through and cut defences up in a heartbeat and goalkeepers will play blinders and keep clean sheets. (But in our recent performances, it’s nice to see Leicester City bringing a little slice of this to the Championship in our own performances.)
Look, I’m not shi**ing on the Championship (well a little) but we all want to see great players week on week showing us what they are capable of.
BUT one of the biggest perks of being in the Championship? No VAR!!
It’s bloody beautiful not having VAR right? We have that sheer immense instant joy of celebrating goals, hugging or high fiving your friends after a last-minute wining goal in the Championship without worrying that a VAR will rule it out for someone’s toe nail being off side. The controversial decisions in the Premier League have been aplenty, and we’re only 7 games into the Premier League season.
We will need to expect that the gap between the leagues is something we will have to get used to for at least another 36 games. We will learn, we will adapt and hopefully will succeed. Let’s be honest, with 27 points from 10 games I think we’ve taken to it pretty well!
Yes, the Premier League is where we ultimately want to be, but we as fans know how hard each weekly game can be.
We are proving now that we can play in second gear and still crunch out results and get the 3 points. In the Premier League if we play in second gear we would get torn apart. Last season certainly proved that to us.
Just look at the newly promoted teams – Burnley, Sheff Utd & Luton – 21 games played between them and only 2 wins between them. All performed superbly last season, but that’s the difference between the Championship and Premier League played out in front of us.
The Premier League can be seen as a few different mini leagues in itself. A mini league racing to win the league, a league mini battling for survival, and another mini league to qualify for Europe.
If Leicester City were back in the Premier League and not fighting a relegation battle, we would be aiming to finish top 6/7 and do well in the cup competitions.
In the Championship there is only one goal – PROMOTION. Not cups runs, not relegation, but PROMOTION. I’m not even bothered how we get promoted, truth be told. Ok 9 wins from 10 at the top of the league is fantastic, but if you gave me a choice I’d take a Wembley play off win for sure. My nerves might not thank me for it, but it’s the most fun way to go up. Unless we can break Reading’s points record, I think I’d settle for that too.
Words by Gogs Gogna
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