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Fewer goals take luster off U.K. soccer
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-21 15:23
Goals per game in Spain, Italy and Germany are all above the Premier League,
which is averaging 2.1 compared with 3.0 at the same stage last season and 2.8
the year before.
Graeme Souness, who won five English league titles and three European Cups as
a Liverpool player and now coaches Newcastle, says Premier League managers are
out to avoid defeat rather than win games.
"Within five years we will be like Italian football," he said. "Teams are
becoming successful by not chasing games."
There were an average 7,000 empty seats at each of last weekend's nine
Premier League games. Bolton had 10,000 empty seats for its first European game
and Middlesbrough drew only 14,191 — 18,000 below capacity — for a UEFA Cup
game.
At the same time, ticket prices have gone up to a
league-high $126 at Tottenham and $108 at Chelsea — way out of the range of
average fans, who are staying at home and watching games on TV.
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