I disagree. PHP isn't actually slow...at least not compared to other scripting languages. The "PHP is slow" take mostly comes from really old benchmarks or bad setups.
It's true that it's not asynchronous by default, but that's also by design and there are upsides to that simplicity. Besides, if you do need async, the ecosystem has you covered: event-loop solutions like ReactPHP and AMPHP, or server-level tools like Swoole, RoadRunner, and FrankenPHP (which is now part of the official PHP org BTW) make async execution totally possible.
As for "no standard," that's just not accurate anymore. PHP has PSRs (PHP Standard Recommendations) that cover things like autoloading, logging, HTTP messages, caching, event dispatching, and more, and nearly every modern framework follows them.
A lot has improved with PHP over the years. But unfortunately, the old stigma still sticks because many people base their opinions on outdated information or what they were taught years ago.
php has gained a reputation for being slow, and the team doesn't seem to care about that. It is not asynchronous by default. The nomenclature is confusing, it seems that there is still no standard. These things drive people away and they don't even try to get to know it.