There might be a few people surprised next season when City roll up and give them a footballing lesson...
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article7092413.ece" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 092413.ece</a><br /><br />-- Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:54 pm --<br /><br />A blip or a seismic shift in the tectonics of European football? That was the question doing the rounds yesterday after English clubs’ failure in the Champions League this season, with Uli Hoeness, the Bayern Munich president, declaring that the elite of the Barclays Premier League are paying the price for their previous financial excesses.
Carlo Ancelotti, the Chelsea manager, preferred to ascribe the absence of an English semi-finalist for the first time since 2003 to a “blip”, but even if the expectation across Europe will be for Premier League clubs to strike back powerfully next season, Hoeness undoubtedly touched a raw nerve when he cited the economic factors that restricted the spending power of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United last summer.
Hoeness has grown accustomed to seeing Bayern, along with their Italian, Spanish and French counterparts, outmuscled in the transfer market by the Premier League clubs in recent years, but not any more.
Last summer, with Chelsea intent on self-sufficiency and Arsenal, Liverpool and United compromised by their debts, the biggest spenders in Europe were Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich and, closer to home, Manchester City, bankrolled by Sheikh Mansour.
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Michel Platini, the Uefa president, plans to introduce “financial fair play” regulations to bring about a more level playing field over the next three years, but economic factors have already had an obvious effect.
The reasons for the sense of prudence among England’s “Big Four” go beyond the parochial — with the weakening of the pound against the euro and the more favourable tax rates for footballers in Spain and elsewhere, meaning that competing for salaries alone has become a struggle for English clubs.
“I think English teams will now find it more difficult more often to succeed in the Champions League because the financial crisis will lead to a situation where English football will not play the same role as before,” Hoeness said after Bayern had ended English interest in Europe’s elite competition on Wednesday by beating United on away goals after a 4-4 draw on aggregate.
“The pound is down 25 per cent and the taxes in England are going up, so that means the English clubs and their owners do not have the same money as before.
“If you ask me do the English clubs deserve this, then I say yes. With the new rules that are to come in over the next three years, the big loser will be English football. If you build all of your success on debt, I think it is not OK. In Germany, you simply do not get a licence to operate if you lose too much money in your own league. I am not talking specifically about Manchester United, but many of the English clubs have built themselves up on debt and that, for me, is not correct.”
It is an appraisal that will meet with a stern riposte from some of the clubs concerned and perhaps from Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, who has always felt that criticism of English clubs’ financial arrangements shows wilful ignorance of the problems that exist elsewhere.
What is certain, though, is that English clubs’ strong showing in the Champions League in recent years — only three winners since the European Cup was revamped in 1992 but, impressively, three semi-finalists in each of the past three seasons — was founded on wealth, or, at the very least, the illusion of wealth.
If the financial gulf is bridged, as seemed to be the case last summer when players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká, Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema moved to Real, Zlatan Ibrahimovic transferred to Barcelona, Lúcio and Wesley Sneijder joined Inter and Arjen Robben switched to Bayern, it is no great surprise that widespread English superiority on the pitch should have been challenged.
It should not come down to a discussion of financial arrangements — the tactical strength of Inter, the brilliance of Barcelona, the spirit of Bayern and the all-round crassness of Arsenal’s and United’s defending and passing over their quarter-final ties merit more than a passing mention — but the strength of the Premier League clubs in recent years has been founded on such money.
It stands to reason, therefore, that financial issues have been a significant factor in this season’s disappointments and that a reappraisal may be needed if those clubs are to ensure this is nothing more than one rather large blip.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article7092413.ece" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 092413.ece</a><br /><br />-- Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:54 pm --<br /><br />A blip or a seismic shift in the tectonics of European football? That was the question doing the rounds yesterday after English clubs’ failure in the Champions League this season, with Uli Hoeness, the Bayern Munich president, declaring that the elite of the Barclays Premier League are paying the price for their previous financial excesses.
Carlo Ancelotti, the Chelsea manager, preferred to ascribe the absence of an English semi-finalist for the first time since 2003 to a “blip”, but even if the expectation across Europe will be for Premier League clubs to strike back powerfully next season, Hoeness undoubtedly touched a raw nerve when he cited the economic factors that restricted the spending power of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United last summer.
Hoeness has grown accustomed to seeing Bayern, along with their Italian, Spanish and French counterparts, outmuscled in the transfer market by the Premier League clubs in recent years, but not any more.
Last summer, with Chelsea intent on self-sufficiency and Arsenal, Liverpool and United compromised by their debts, the biggest spenders in Europe were Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich and, closer to home, Manchester City, bankrolled by Sheikh Mansour.
RELATED LINKS
Ferguson defends decision to play Rooney
Germany celebrates the 'sweetest defeat'
‘Typical Germans’ - Ferguson blasts Bayern
Michel Platini, the Uefa president, plans to introduce “financial fair play” regulations to bring about a more level playing field over the next three years, but economic factors have already had an obvious effect.
The reasons for the sense of prudence among England’s “Big Four” go beyond the parochial — with the weakening of the pound against the euro and the more favourable tax rates for footballers in Spain and elsewhere, meaning that competing for salaries alone has become a struggle for English clubs.
“I think English teams will now find it more difficult more often to succeed in the Champions League because the financial crisis will lead to a situation where English football will not play the same role as before,” Hoeness said after Bayern had ended English interest in Europe’s elite competition on Wednesday by beating United on away goals after a 4-4 draw on aggregate.
“The pound is down 25 per cent and the taxes in England are going up, so that means the English clubs and their owners do not have the same money as before.
“If you ask me do the English clubs deserve this, then I say yes. With the new rules that are to come in over the next three years, the big loser will be English football. If you build all of your success on debt, I think it is not OK. In Germany, you simply do not get a licence to operate if you lose too much money in your own league. I am not talking specifically about Manchester United, but many of the English clubs have built themselves up on debt and that, for me, is not correct.”
It is an appraisal that will meet with a stern riposte from some of the clubs concerned and perhaps from Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, who has always felt that criticism of English clubs’ financial arrangements shows wilful ignorance of the problems that exist elsewhere.
What is certain, though, is that English clubs’ strong showing in the Champions League in recent years — only three winners since the European Cup was revamped in 1992 but, impressively, three semi-finalists in each of the past three seasons — was founded on wealth, or, at the very least, the illusion of wealth.
If the financial gulf is bridged, as seemed to be the case last summer when players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká, Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema moved to Real, Zlatan Ibrahimovic transferred to Barcelona, Lúcio and Wesley Sneijder joined Inter and Arjen Robben switched to Bayern, it is no great surprise that widespread English superiority on the pitch should have been challenged.
It should not come down to a discussion of financial arrangements — the tactical strength of Inter, the brilliance of Barcelona, the spirit of Bayern and the all-round crassness of Arsenal’s and United’s defending and passing over their quarter-final ties merit more than a passing mention — but the strength of the Premier League clubs in recent years has been founded on such money.
It stands to reason, therefore, that financial issues have been a significant factor in this season’s disappointments and that a reappraisal may be needed if those clubs are to ensure this is nothing more than one rather large blip.