Rio Ferdinand Slams Premier League's 'Worst Standard' of Football in 15 Years

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand believes the Premier League's current standard is the worst in the last 15 years and none of the top clubs would be able to beat some of the great teams of the past.

Appearing as an analyst for BT Sport (h/t ESPN FC's Miguel Delaney), Ferdinand noted the top players in the sport all ply their trade outside of the Premier League, before comparing the current group of title contenders to some of the top teams of old:

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The teams aren't as good as what they had been for the last 15 years.

This year is the worst standard of Premier League football teams I've seen for a long time.

All the best players in the world don't play in the Premier League, for one. The second tier of the best players in world don't play in the Premier League. When has that ever been?

And another reason, as well, not one of these teams here playing this year would beat the 2008 Man United team, they wouldn't beat the 1999 Man United team, they wouldn't beat the first Mourinho Chelsea team, they wouldn't beat the Invincibles. That's a fact.

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While the comments as a whole are sure to spark a wide debate, Ferdinand's claims none of the top players in the world are currently under contract with a Premier League club stand out.

It's hard to argue with the former England international if you only consider the very best players in the game today, with the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar all playing in La Liga and Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski defending the colours of Bayern Munich.

Per Sky Sports (for Fox Sports), this year's shortlist for the FIFPro World XI contains just 10 players from England's top division:

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The number of Premier League players considered among the world's best has halved in just three years.

The 55-strong shortlist for the 2015 FIFA FIFPro World XI was announced on Thursday and contained only 10 players from the English top flight.

Back in 2012, the Premier League boasted 20 names on that list, with that sharp tail-off raising fresh questions of the current quality within the English club game.

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Then again, just about everyone will mention the likes of Sergio Aguero, Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Eden Hazard as some of the best players in the world, and at the very least, they can be classified in the “second tier.”

Whether the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea could beat some of the top teams of old is a different matter. Fans may defend their club as best they can, but when a feisty Leicester City squad leads the Premier League standings after 13 matches, those top clubs may not be as dominant as they once were.

Ian Horrocks/Getty Images

The Premier League's UEFA coefficient has been steadily falling after a handful of embarrassing European campaigns the last couple of years, and as things stand, the league is dangerously close to losing its fourth Champions League spot to Serie A, per UEFA.com.

So perhaps Ferdinand is right and the standards of the top clubs in the league have indeed fallen. But is that such a bad thing? Numerous storylines have already developed just a few months into the season, ranging from Leicester's superb start to Chelsea's struggles.

Parity has reigned so far, and neutral fans in particular must have enjoyed the early goings of the 2015-16 campaign. Per sportingintelligence, foreign networks are throwing more money than ever at the TV rights:

Football has always been cyclical, with leagues rising and falling all the time. La Liga has dominated the last half decade, as evidenced by its UEFA coefficient, but given the massive amount of money English football generates these days, the Premier League should be able to catch up before too long.

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