Fomer Everton and Manchester United boss, David Moyes has recently taken a swipe at the league where he was previously employed. Claiming the standard has declined badly in the Premier League over the past couple of seasons.

Is he right? Is ‘the best league in the world’, simply now the most overhyped one?

The last few weeks of European competition, have put the struggles of English teams into the spotlight. No teams have managed to negotiate their way into the last eight, of either club European competition.

Rather than comparing the Premier League to the other major European leagues, we will instead compare this year’s English top flight to ones of the past.

How would this year’s teams fare against previous editions of the division?

2014/15’s runaway leaders Chelsea are by far and away the best team in the league. Six points clear with a game in hand, they look sure to win the title. In comparison to previous winners, this Chelsea team are a strong winner. A fantastic goalkeeper is protected by the best central defensive partnership in the country. Their midfield, boasts one of the best defensive midfielders in the world in Matic and one of the great playmakers in Fabregas. Diego Costa leads the line for the Blues, one of the best strikers in world football. Despite their failure in Europe, this Chelsea team could boast that they would be contenders in any era of the Premier League.

It is beyond Mourinho’s men that the dearth of quality really exposes itself. Manchester City look sure to finish second. Essentially second by default, their susceptibility to concede poor goals twinned with their periods of bluntness in attack, mean Pellegrini’s men are a pale shadow of runners up in previous years. Would they hold a candle to the Manchester Untied side that they themselves pipped to the title only three years ago?

The great Arsenal and Manchester United teams of years gone by, are both completely different animals to the ones we now see. The fact that they sit so comfortably within the top four, alludes to the fact that the decline in the quality at the top end is on the slide.

Looking outside the top four, outside the elite band of teams, there are now a group of about 10-12 teams, all of whom are capable of being relegated. Although, this year it seems that all three promoted teams will be relegated, the gap between the lower end of the Premier League and the top end of the Championship is nowhere near as wide as it once seemed.

English team’s worsening performances in Europe can be completely rationalised, football is cyclical. While these shores boasted dominance over European competitions for nearly a decade, there was still a period of relative weakness before.

The easiest way to see the decline in front of our very eyes, is on the pitches in the domestic competition.

Can any fan of a top side, even Chelsea, suggest they are now stronger than they ever have been? An Arsenal of 2004 would undoubtedly beat an Arsenal of 2015. A 2009 Manchester United, would effortlessly cast aside their modern day counterparts.

Many will argue, Moyes himself has helped to decrease the quality in the league with his poor spell at the helm at Old Trafford, but it a league wide endemic.

The Premier League of today, is a poor relative to those of years gone by.