Spoiler Alert!

At the risk of a ban, I’m saying this quietly and with my hand covering my mouth, obviously.

But I think the Premier League is becoming quite a tough watch at times.

Possibly - to be fair - for the first time. Since 1992/93, it’s enjoyed almost unparalleled growth on and off the field that makes it easy to forget that, in 1990, attendances in the English top flight had dropped to incredibly low levels, especially when compared to what we see now. On the pitch, the game had become less attractive too, with the World Cup in Italy seeing the lowest-ever number of goals and an increase in defensive play that ended up with a new pass-back law and almost every league finally adopting England’s three-points-for-a-win system.

Football found a way then. And flourished in the thirty-odd years since.

Not that the Premier League is not entertaining now – it still delivers plenty of drama – but it’s in danger of being damned if it does and also if it doesn’t.

First the quality. There’s been a lot said, especially using words like ugly and dark arts. Set pieces – always important – have become almost too important. Some games have become the sum of their set pieces, with very little other quality on show while time-wasting and dreaded VAR implications have further diminished the ‘product’ on display.

Arne Slot says some Premier League games are no longer a joy to watch, while Fabian Hurzeler threw fuel on the fire before and after Arsenal bored their way to a potentially title-clinching victory at Brighton and while Mikel Arteta won’t, and probably shouldn’t, care if they do win the league, and maybe some cups too, it’s possibly a bigger and longer-term issue for the ‘best league in the world.’

As a casual observer, I rarely watch games in full as – after you’ve assessed so many - it becomes harder to do so for pleasure. On Sunday, I thought I might try, but I found the Arsenal versus Chelsea game virtually unwatchable; more NFL than EPL. Definitely not a pleasure – or joy - to watch.

Winning ugly has long been part of football folklore, but ugly really didn’t do this one justice as it felt that the beautiful game itself had been completely abandoned in favour of winning and utilising throw ins, free kicks and, especially, corner kicks. There can still be beauty in this, but not on Sunday, as eighteen to twenty players, crammed in an area no bigger than a decent parking space, lost interest in the ball and grappled like something from WWE, barely looking at the ball or even knowing where it was, and hoping that any deflection in the chaos would go their way.

Ugly Netty

It looked ugly, and all three goals were beyond ugly. The end might justify the means – Arsenal have made corners a potent weapon of choice – but that doesn’t make it any more attractive to watch. And while their fans care not, and rightly so, for the neutral and for the next generation of fans, it’s not quite so black (red?) and white.

That game wasn’t unique. The Liverpool versus Manchester City game last month was bereft of genuine quality for much of it and will only be remembered for the stunning last few minutes of drama (albeit with another unnecessary VAR spoiler) rather than the first seventy-odd of misplaced passes, niggly flow-stopping fouls and wasteful finishing.

But, as that game showed at the end, it’s not a league without merits or moments.

At the weekend, there were – on average – more than three and a half goals per game and eighteen of the twenty teams got on the scoresheet.

One game in particular stood out. It was the game of the weekend, possibly the whole season, or at least it should have been. But the problem at the moment is that, as well as the games that stink the place out, the games that do sparkle are also losing some of their allure.

This isn’t only my opinion either. Or just Slot’s and Hurzeler’s.

A Dad – a Burnley fan – called a post-game call show to say, in his words, that he and his little lad had just been to watch what should have been one of the best games ever in the Premier League but that had been completely spoiled. By VAR, naturally. Interestingly, he also said that he’d have said the same even if his team had won the game.

Long delays of between three and five minutes, an extremely questionable and accidental handball decision that was so far from clear and obvious that no one has still made their mind up after five days let alone five minutes, and yet another offside using lines that have already been proved to be wildly inaccurate because of the frame speed.

The Dad said VAR had wrecked the ‘fan experience’ entirely. He is not alone with this view.

But this frustrated father finished off with the real zinger. He was actually hoping that his team got relegated, so they didn’t have to put up with it next season. And, partly because of the VAR’s interventions, they almost certainly won’t need to.

Of course, for every Burnley in this situation, there is a Brentford who benefit from it. But, to paraphrase: VAR joy is temporary, overall bemusement is permanent.

 This isn’t about right and wrong anyway. We know that VAR gets more decisions correct but that shouldn’t be the only thing in play. If getting one thing right every game also puts hundreds or thousands off the game, even if it’s just a tiny bit, is it really worth it?

'If It's In The Game, It's In The Game' 

Especially younger fans. They are the bigger worry. Interestingly, EA Sports – the company who made the FIFA and now FC game – stayed well clear of introducing VAR into their gameplay, even though almost everything else is included. They choose to spend time making sure that Manchester City’s mascot is perfectly replicated in pixels, and that the club chants are 100% authentic but won’t go near VAR. What does that tell us? Lots from a company that knows a thing or two about a junior audience.

It's why that audience continues to grow in the EFL, where goals are celebrated properly, and where the Burnley fan and his little lad will have a much better 2026/27.

And I know it’s not VAR necessarily, but those who make the rules and those who interpret and implement them that really need to wake up and smell the Fruit Shoot. Alan Shearer said on Saturday night’s MOTD that it was ‘all messed up’ and described the current handball law as ‘not fit for purpose’ and, crucially, ‘not fair on fans’.

He could have been talking about Premier League football more generally.

Worryingly, IFAB and FIFA seem intent on increasing VAR intervention – starting at the World Cup - rather than reducing it as part of their wider fight back against time-wasting and covered mouths. Talk about not reading the room.

Ironically, the Premier League – with VARs that simply can’t keep their hands off the rewind and freeze-frame buttons – will probably opt out of these optional changes. They are clearly too busy looking for existing ways to make their games less enjoyable.

And they are doing that pretty successfully at the moment.

As usual, like TalkSport and Sky Sports, the league and clubs will just pretend that everything is rosy in the garden, and because viewing figures and ticket sales remain high, there is nothing to see here.

But when a lifelong fan, and their child, would rather get relegated so that they can start enjoying football again, that’s a potentially worrying sign that there may be trouble ahead.

A recent ticketing survey of Liverpool fans told the club that the fans think that attending – on average – 60% of games is enough to be able to renew their season tickets.

So even they want the option to opt out of games.

Makes you wonder if [hand over mouth, of course], in another thirty years from now, if they’ll be anyone left.