What's wrong with the Premier League top teams?

[Kippax.]

Re: What's wrong with the Premier League?

I think it just goes in cycles a bit, next year could see 3 pl teams in the semi final. Probably not but it would not shock or surprise me.

This is spot on, English clubs have been a force in the CL for years, Its time for the German and the Spanish. The PL will come back.

 

[supercrystal7]

Re: What's wrong with the Premier League?

I think it just goes in cycles a bit, next year could see 3 pl teams in the semi final. Probably not but it would not shock or surprise me.

This is spot on, English clubs have been a force in the CL for years, Its time for the German and the Spanish. The PL will come back.

This does not address the question what's wrong with the Premier League. It's a bit like someone asking why is it cold in January and getting the reply that the weather goes in cycles. Does not answer why we are in a cold/bad period at the moment.

Premier League teams simply are not very good at the moment. It's not just down to tiredness or a winter break either. City and Arsenal have not topped a group in 4 years. City, United, Chelsea and Liverpool have all gone out in the group stages. Besiktas and Basel have shown repeatedly they are on the same level as Arsenal/Tottenham/Liverpool.

Some of the reasons are
1. Madrid got themselves sorted and became the force they should always have been after getting Mourinho
2. The rise of the German players turned Bayern into a super power
3. PSG became another competitor for top players above English teams
4. English players are not world class at the moment.

The decline of the Premier League was apparent from 2010 and a few great performances like United in 2011 and Chelsea in 2012 does not change that. Anymore than the great performances from Bayern in 2010 and Schalke in 2011 did not take away from the Bundesliga being weak for several years.

 

[foxy]

Re: What's wrong with the Premier League?

Nothing is wrong with the Premier League and it's inaccurate for pundits to measure how good the Premier League is on the basis of how well teams perform in the Champs League so please stop it.

I think it's more to do with the attitudes of English teams in Europe and they don't want to win enough. Chelsea last week against PSG thought they could just park the bus and it would be a walk in the park. City away at Moscow thought it was an expected 3 points, the same when we played Roma at home. Arsenal as well being complacent and I won't bother with Liverpool.

I think the money in Europe is more of a motivation to foreign teams than it is for English teams.

 

[supercity88]

Re: What's wrong with the Premier League?

I think the Prem has struggled to attract the top players from around Europe both proven class and with younger players. In addition to that we've not produced many home grown talents either. Back when the English clubs were doing well they had a lot of English players like the rag lot, Terry, Lampard, Cole, Gerrard etc who were able to play at that level and not look out of place.

The lure of Madrid, Bayern and Barca has proved too strong for the English league. I'd say the purchase of Costa and Hazard have been the only two in recent times where any of those clubs may have wanted the player. Di Maria, Falcao and Sanchez and Ozil were all seen as major signings but deemed surplus to their original teams requirements...

It's a league that's deemed the best because of how competitive it is. I'd argue that it is only more competitive because the best sides have failed to strengthen and the rest have caught up. I don't believe it's because the quality has improved. Even Hazard's stats are poor compared to the score/assist ratios of players in Bayern/Barca and Real. That's not just because the league is more competitive here - there are plenty of teams that should get a drubbing.

 

[moomba]

Re: What's wrong with the Premier League?

City and Arsenal have not topped a group in 4 years.

Having to beat one of the top three teams in Europe in each of those years probably has something to do with that in our case.

We've played 28 games in the champions league since we got back into it. 12 of those (42%) have been against Bayern Munich, Barcelona or Real Madrid, the best three teams in Europe.

Another two against Dortmund before they were raped by Bayern Munich, another two against Napoli when they were brilliant, another two against Roma where were right up there in Serie A. Thats nearly two thirds of our matches have been against quality opposition.

Imagine if we got a bit more luck in our draws, our results would be better and it would have nothing to do with the premier league being better.

Too much is read into cup results, a few years back everyone in Europe was panicking about English dominance of football. That was ridiculous as well.

 

[Stephenhakin]

Re: What's wrong with the Premier League?

City and Arsenal have not topped a group in 4 years.

Having to beat one of the top three teams in Europe in each of those years probably has something to do with that in our case.

We've played 28 games in the champions league since we got back into it. 12 of those (42%) have been against Bayern Munich, Barcelona or Real Madrid, the best three teams in Europe.

Another two against Dortmund before they were raped by Bayern Munich, another two against Napoli when they were brilliant, another two against Roma where were right up there in Serie A. Thats nearly two thirds of our matches have been against quality opposition.

Imagine if we got a bit more luck in our draws, our results would be better and it would have nothing to do with the premier league being better.

Too much is read into cup results, a few years back everyone in Europe was panicking about English dominance of football. That was ridiculous as well.

Funny. Just worked out that we have played those 3 sides more times then the most successful British side in Europe ever.....they have played them 11 times!

 

[sam-caddick]

Re: What's wrong with the Premier League?

Too many games in England with 4 competition, no winter break and so many games played at an intense pace.

Poor signings and managerial appointments in recent years, still a huge emphasis on physical strength over technique throughout the league albeit we are seeing it staring to change a little.

Tactical preparation for games is incredibly poor, especially when it comes to European games, all three of Pellegrini, Wenger and Rodgers were incredibly tactically naive and stuck in their own ways instead of adapting to their situation.

I also think to be a successful side in Europe you have to have a strong contingent of home grown players which English teams haven't had since the glory days of 05-09, it was no coincidence that our success during that period coincided with the English golden generation all being in their prime. They mat not have done it on the international stage but the bulk of them all went on to win a Champions League or at the very least reach a final.

 

[ninjamonkey]

Re: What's wrong with the Premier League?

The media way over react as usual about this. It took until the scum won it in 99 for the premier league to have a representative in the final. After that we didn't have another team in the final until Liverpool fluked it 5 years later. Then we as a league had a dominant period for a few years before that cycle ended. It's currently the Germans/Spanish teams turned to be dominant that's all, we're not entitled to have a finalist every year just because of the money the premier league generates.

If you're looking for something to blame though look no further than Sky. The Spanish and German teams have their domestic games moved to give them ample recovery time before and after big champions league games, City were forced to play last Saturday night because of Sky, and are again forced to play first thing Saturday morning because of Sky, I'm not saying that's the reason we lost, we simply weren't good enough, but it certainly doesn't help. Money comes before the good of the league.

 

[Chippy_boy]

Re: What's wrong with the Premier League?

It's a league that's deemed the best because of how competitive it is. I'd argue that it is only more competitive because the best sides have failed to strengthen and the rest have caught up. I don't believe it's because the quality has improved.

I agree.

Too much is read into cup results, a few years back everyone in Europe was panicking about English dominance of football. That was ridiculous as well.

It's not about the stats, it's about watching the teams and just looking at how good or bad they are. I just don't see the quality in the PL right now.

Poor signings and managerial appointments in recent years, still a huge emphasis on physical strength over technique throughout the league albeit we are seeing it staring to change a little.

Tactical preparation for games is incredibly poor, especially when it comes to European games, all three of Pellegrini, Wenger and Rodgers were incredibly tactically naive and stuck in their own ways instead of adapting to their situation.

Yup. Poor management (Mourinho aside), players lacking in technical ability and poor work rate. Fat dumb and happy for too long.

 

[moomba]

Re: What's wrong with the Premier League?

It's not about the stats, it's about watching the teams and just looking at how good or bad they are. I just don't see the quality in the PL right now.

Who did you think looked the better team between Arsenal and Monaco on Tuesday?