Daniel DeFraiaSeptember 17, 2012 14:23

The Manchester-Arsenal dialectic

As the English Premier League turns 20, two teams present divergent paths for soccer’s future.

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Europe's best coaches pose for a family photo on Sept. 5, 2012, during the Elite Football Club Coaches Forum at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. At the meeting Arsenal's coach Arsene Wenger repeated his plea for "Financial Fair Play'' regulations. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images)

To watch the EPL is to witness a televised existential crisis. There’s a soul-searching tug-of-war going on, and nowhere is this best reflected than in the difference between the teams Arsenal and Manchester City.

Michael GoldfarbDecember 30, 2011 07:37

He's back!!!!!!! Hero Thierry Henry returns to Arsenal

All-time great will play for two months on loan from the New York Red Bulls

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Thierry Henry is already immortalized in bronze outside Arsenal's Emirates' Stadium. Will he recapture that form at the age of 34? (GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images)

All time Arsenal great returns to the club for two months

Michael GoldfarbDecember 8, 2011 04:40

European soccer: money can't buy happiness

Manchester's big spending football teams fail to reach knockout stages of the Champion's League

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It takes more than money to win: Manchester United players headed by Wayne Rooney leave field after defeat last night against FC Basel (Jamie McDonald/AFP/Getty Images)

Back in October, I reported on how billionaires were taking over England's Premier League, the most watched soccer league in the world. The article focused on how Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi had pumped billions into also-ran Manchester City in an attempt to take-over English soccer from cross-town rivals Manchester United own by the American billionaire Glazer family.