“Top Premier League teams have seemingly had difficulties defending this season. This weekend alone we saw a goal glut in the Premier League which is great entertainment but less good for the competitiveness of the Premier League on the European stage. Manchester United of old, Chelsea under Mourinho and Benitez’s Liverpool side achieved relative successes mainly as a result of a solid back four and a strong defensive record. With Benitez this was particularly the case in Europe, as well as when the club finished 2nd in the Premier League. Managers now a days seem to put less emphasis on defensive play and spend more time attacking. Manchester United for example have struggled defensively but instead of bringing in a holding player or a defender they purchased Premier League top scorer Robin van Persie.” Think Football