Difference Between League 1 Winners & Lower-Half of Premier League

[Danny]

So one of the brains behind the 3rd best recruiters in the country (), Rasmus Ankersen the co-Director of Football at the mighty Bees was interviewed by 5live and asked what Brentford's secret behind surviving in the Prem would be and the expected main differences between the Prem and Championship.

Our lord and saviour Rasmus then said that there is often not a massive gulf in skill level between the winners of League 1 and up to about midtable Prem, citing that the main difference between most Prem teams and an ex-Championship side like Brentford is the level of athleticism that their players have. Which is an interesting thought process, obviously he's not saying every side in the Championship or every winner of League 1 can knock it about with Prem sides weekly, but that if you have a good enough Championship side (or even League 1 side) you can make the step up to the Prem comfortably.

You look at Sheffield United and Southampton who both achieved back to back promotions from League 1 to the Prem and survived the first season, then look at Bournemouth, Leeds, Wolves, Brighton, Newcastle...teams that have all gone up from the Championship and stayed up (I know Leeds have only had 1 season but it's a very good first season).

Interesting to see that the main assumption isn't that we need to massively raise the skill level within the team, but ensure that we have enough athleticism throughout it to compete at this level. It would tie into why Leeds have done so well without really improving the squad drastically.

 

[Stan]

I imagine you'll get a lot of stick for such an assertion but I don't think you're far off the mark and the clubs you've raised as an example do support it. But I think it goes beyond just 'athleticism'. It probably helps that the club is very organised or sensible off the pitch, too. In Wolves case it also helped they were backed very heavily financially. Newcastle had the status and stature to attract players.

Would the likes of Barnsley and Rotherham survive in the Premier League if they'd have come up this season? Coventry or Wycombe? Using those clubs as examples because they're the ones that came up from League One last season and Barnsley because of their amazing form that led to play-offs.

Leeds are almost an attractive anomaly really - they had the skill level as well as the athleticism and fitness. It helps having a coach like Bielsa, mind, who has the experience but also the reputation to attract players like Raphinha. 

Sheff Utd can be a good example of having good athleticism and finding a tactic that gets the best out of players that don't have much 'skill' per se, but they're also an anomaly - not many sides get promoted and finish top half. Even good Championship sides don't always make the step up to the Premier League comfortably - Leicester didn't for about 7 months of the season!  

[Danny]

43 minutes ago, Stan said:

I imagine you'll get a lot of stick for such an assertion but I don't think you're far off the mark and the clubs you've raised as an example do support it. But I think it goes beyond just 'athleticism'. It probably helps that the club is very organised or sensible off the pitch, too. In Wolves case it also helped they were backed very heavily financially. Newcastle had the status and stature to attract players.

Would the likes of Barnsley and Rotherham survive in the Premier League if they'd have come up this season? Coventry or Wycombe? Using those clubs as examples because they're the ones that came up from League One last season and Barnsley because of their amazing form that led to play-offs.

Leeds are almost an attractive anomaly really - they had the skill level as well as the athleticism and fitness. It helps having a coach like Bielsa, mind, who has the experience but also the reputation to attract players like Raphinha. 

Sheff Utd can be a good example of having good athleticism and finding a tactic that gets the best out of players that don't have much 'skill' per se, but they're also an anomaly - not many sides get promoted and finish top half. Even good Championship sides don't always make the step up to the Premier League comfortably - Leicester didn't for about 7 months of the season!  

Yeah of course there's a lot more to a club as a whole being successful, but in terms of preparing a team for what is normally considered a jump up the main point has been about athleticism rather than skill level. I guess a good example of that is Dan James, there wasn't anything about him at Swansea on the ball that made you think wow this kids class, but his burst of pace and ability to do the basics to an average level meant that it propelled him to a squad role at Man Utd.

I think that also when he says the main difference is athleticism the assumption that can be made there is that he's saying it's, a. easy to stay up and b. skill level doesn't come into it. But in reality he isn't saying that, just that the biggest difference between the teams is athleticism, not that skill level doesn't matter or that it's easy to stay in the Prem. Because you still have to play the top 8, which is where he says the big difference in first 11's and squads is in terms of quality.

[Inverted]

I've always found this an interesting idea. It seems obvious that there must be some overlap - the best Championship team surely isn't clearly worse than the worst Prem team, and this principle probably applies even more so the further down the divisions you go. 

And the biggest factor is the large degree of "unknowability" within player quality. There are so many factors that go into a player's performance that very few players can be written-off as "definitely a Championship player" or "definitely a L1 player". When put at a higher level, coached better, and conditioned better, players very often make quick jumps through the divisions. 

[Lucas]

Southampton were a great example actually following their back to back promotions with pretty much the same nucleus of the side.

As a team, they were coached to play great football which prepared them well enough for the Premier League two promotions later.

The likes of Kelvin Davis, Jose Fonte, Adam Lallana, Morgan Schneiderlin, Jason Puncheon and Rickie Lambert were the main stays in the League One team right up to the Premier League team, all impressing.

So good they were infact, that most of them moved on to higher clubs within the Premier League, Schneiderlin to Man Utd, Lallana and Lambert to Liverpool etc

[Stan]

2 minutes ago, Lucas said:

Southampton were a great example actually following their back to back promotions with pretty much the same nucleus of the side.

Kelvin Davis, Jose Fonte, Adam Lallana, Morgan Schneiderlin, Jason Puncheon and Rickie Lambert were the main stays in the League One team right up to the Premier League team.

So good infact that most of them moved on to higher clubs within the Premier League, Schneiderlin to Man Utd, Lallana and Lambert to Liverpool etc

Ward-Prowse as well who's made it up the leagues with Southampton and on the fringes of England's squad. 

[Lucas]

4 minutes ago, Stan said:

Ward-Prowse as well who's made it up the leagues with Southampton and on the fringes of England's squad. 

Ward Prowse never featured in the leagues below for them mate. He actually made his debut v Man City away on their first Premier League game back.

[Stan]

6 minutes ago, Lucas said:

Ward Prowse never featured in the leagues below for them mate. He actually made his debut v Man City away on their first Premier League game back.

Oh right. For some reason I thought they'd been in League One more recently than they actually had