With Arsenal finishing 2nd in a relatively simple
looking group (no disrespect to 3 good sides), holders Chelsea dropping into
the Europa League and Manchester City dropping out of Europe altogether,
questions are being raised about the strength of English teams compared to the
other big dogs in Europe. Even Manchester United, despite their point total,
had to rely on their resolve to pull through individual games rather than a
simple stroll like normal. This follows on from last year’s failure for English
clubs to look convincing on a wider stage. Chelsea may have won the
competition, and they deserve tremendous credit for achieving this, but it was
hardly a compelling win. So what has caused this drop in achievement for a
country which dominated the European game in the late 2000’s?
 |
| Liverpool's Champions League win in 2005 sparked a period of English domination |
The increasingly demanding schedule of domestic football no
doubt has an effect on this. With more and more upsets occurring in the league,
the big guns have had to put out full strength teams every 3 or 4 days without
rest to ensure they can fight on all fronts, or face the consequences of
dropped points or elimination. Prioritising one of the Champions League or
Premier League is a dangerous game and an impossible choice – the income and
prestige gained from a European run is huge, whilst the bread and butter stuff
week in week out in the country is often what the season is reflected on if
sudden failure occurs in the other competitions. Whilst the Premier League has
undoubtedly been improving year on year, it has still been of a huge quality
for numerous seasons when English sides have dominated the later stages of the
prestigious Champions League – and other major leagues consist of a wide range
of talent as well, such as that demonstrated by the Spanish domination of the
Europa League last year.
In theory this shows that European football on a whole is
improving, so is it just a question of other European sides, the likes of
Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus, having
better players? Or does it go deeper, into the technical qualities of the likes
of German, Spanish and Italian football, and even the less attractive leagues
like France, Portugal and Russia?
 |
| Manchester City crashes out of the group stages for the 2nd consecutive year |
The Premier League is, in mine and most other people’s
opinions, the most exciting league in the world to watch. On a technical, tactical
scale however, La Liga is superior – with the Bundesliga and Serie A (though
less so) also very strong. The clear world class talents of Juan Mata, Santi
Cazorla and David Silva have flourished in England after previously plying
their trade in Spain – and yet, despite their obvious talents before moving to
England, questions were raised about whether they could adapt to the physical
nature of our beloved game. These thoughts call into question a fickle, almost
condescending attitude – one that our game is the best in all ways.
The Premier
League might be the most exciting league in the world to watch, but is the
quality of football really quite as good as other European domestic leagues? In
recent years it was undoubtedly a no as mainly Manchester United, Liverpool and
Chelsea dominated alongside the likes Barcelona - but now the question is
raised again, with a much less clear cut answer.
