There's a lot to unpack. At a competition level, there's a real dearth of quality striking and netminding these days. Two decades ago, United would have had two prospects ready to roll in net when Onana faltered. Now, Amorin has to sit and defend Onana to the media while he seethes.
It's hard to win titles without those things, and as City has proven this season, they're not enough if the other ducks aren't in a row. The financial chasm between the Prem and the Championship now yawns so wide, promoted clubs mostly go straight back down without even putting up a fight. On the plus side, the financial and recruitment mismanagement of some of the "haves" are making it possible for traditional powers to have another day in the sun. I hope that's us, soon.
I don't know what it's like over there, but over here everything is paywalled six ways to Sunday. If I wanted to watch the Prem, the Champions League and the cups, I would need to spend about $35 a month for all four major networks' add-on services, in addition to the $100 cable subscription. Fifteen years ago, the $35 alone bought me satellite TV with half the Prem games every week, the big cup games, every single Champions League game broadcast and most of the outer court Grand Slam tennis matches, along with the traditional American sports diet. Nicotine and alcohol are probably cheaper addictions, these days.
So, I think it's a combination of factors. I do think the quality has slipped some. In conjunction with how expensive it has become to watch, a lot of long-time fans have tuned out. You could take "It's boring" as code for "It's too expensive" if you were so inclined.
