Nick Wright previews this weekend's clash between York City Knights and Hull FC
Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
James Tompkinson reviews an excellent pre-season victory for the York City Knights against Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos
Ahead of a tricky week in Europe, the Premier League should remember it is not the undisputed champion quite yet...
With its dour group stages out of the way, the Champions League returns in earnest this week with a delectable knock-out draw. A particularly fearsome foursome of ties is likely to remind the Premier League that it requires a few more European highlights to justify its hyperbole.
English sides held the competition hostage in 2008, with all four of the Premier League’s representatives reaching the quarter-finals. This hitherto unseen feat, enhanced by the fact that English teams were only ousted by English opposition, was hailed as evidence of the division’s supremacy. But such a claim should not be made lightly.
The past four Champions League finals have all had Premier League involvement, with last year’s all-English affair marking the third such domestic denouement, but this does not denote lasting dominance.
Spain had their own final first, with Real Madrid routing Valencia 3-0 in 2000, but La Liga was quickly shunted into the wilderness, with only one semi-finalist in 2003 and none in 2004.
With its dour group stages out of the way, the Champions League returns in earnest this week with a delectable knock-out draw
Similarly, 2003’s Italian showdown between Milan and Juventus (a self-parodying goalless stalemate which Milan won on penalties) has been followed by a succession of campaigns during which Serie A has failed to squeeze more than one side into the semis. History then suggests that any proclamations of superiority for the Premier League were premature.
Repeating the trick of last year was always going to be difficult, but the latest Champions League draw, labelled “diabolical” by Fabio Capello, could see England without a club in the last eight, let alone the final.
This week pits the Premier League’s most misfiring entrant, Arsenal, against a Roma side currently emulating the Gunners at their electrifying best. Liverpool and Chelsea have also endured troubles in recent weeks, and will struggle to find succour against Real Madrid and Juventus respectively.
Real, resurgent under Juande Ramos, are second domestically behind the brilliant Barcelona while Juventus, once the subject of much mockery (be it for their recent punitive relegation or the appointment of Chelsea’s deposed boss Claudio Ranieri), are also bested only by a side that appears to already have their national title sewn up.
Unfortunately for Manchester United, that side is Internazionale, their next opponents. Sir Alex Ferguson has mastered the art of securing back-to-back Premier League titles, but the Champions League is yet to be retained in its 16 year history – Milan were the last team to win two successive European Cups, in 1989 and 1990 – and Ferguson’s most immediate obstacle is far from inconsiderable.
Jose Mourinho was appointed by Inter to help move the club on from league winners to Champions League winners, and survived more than three years of Premier League management at Chelsea without his tango down the Old Trafford touchline (en route to glory with Porto in 2004) being fully avenged.
Yet if the Premier League aspires to the status enjoyed by the Italians in the nineties, it must continue to excel in Europe. In the heyday of English players’ big-money moves to Serie A, the Italian league had participants in the first six Champions League finals, between 1993 and 1998, with the run extending to seven years if we include Sampdoria’s appearance in the last European Cup decider.
The Premier League should not mistake extravagance for excellence; that a bottom six side can fritter away £30m on re-purchasing former players, or mid-table mediocrity can make offers that the likes of Real Madrid cannot refuse, is not always an indicator of eminence. The numerous billionaire chairmen of English clubs whose personal fortunes have nosedived in the space of mere weeks surely recognise that it is achievements that endure, not accounts.
To this end, the Premier League must sit on its hands as the next round of the Champions League unfolds. There is a long way to go before it can thrust its thumbs aloft in triumph.
Good article Alex, I have enjoyed the last few installments of this blog look forward to more blogs in the coming weeks.
This is always a debate that interests me as, in reality, it is not the Premier League who dominates in the Champions League but it is the 'big four'. The reason for me is that successful CL teams are invariably those with experience of the competition (with the recent anomolies of Monaco, Porto and Villareal).
England has had the same representatives in the CL for the last 6 years while Spain and Italy have had somewhere in the region of 8 or 9 (i have exact data but not to hand) different representatives since the rather boring 2nd group phase was scrapped.
The teams who play every season are those who are normally successful and due to the 'big four's' dominance in recent years domestically, this has breeded success in Europe through gaining experience of playing big knockout matches against the top teams.
If, as i suspect, Villa break the top four monopoly this year then I would expect them to struggle with the big boys next season. Inexperienced teams like Udinese, Fiorentina and Betis have not met the expectations of previous entrants from their country and if the big four is penetrated by new teams in the coming years then i would expect the Premier League's dominance to come to an end.
I reckon Arsenal will take Roma, Arsenal's style is well suited to the Champions League, whereas Roma have always flattered to deceive. Likewise Liverpool will defeat Real Madrid over two legs, they've beaten far better sides in the past few years, although it's entirely dependent on the fitness of Steven Gerrard.
It's United that's interesting. They do look unbeatable, but if any side can beat them it's probably Milan, especially with Mourinho in charge. Inter were effectively beaten by the Kop last year, be interesting to see if they cope better with the more sedate atmosphere at OT...
"La Liga was quickly shunted into the wilderness, with only one semi-finalist in 2003 and none in 2004."
Small correction - the great Deportivo La Coruna side of the early noughties actually reached the semi-finals in 2004 after a tremendous comeback against then holders AC Milan in the quarters, only to be eliminated by the eventual winners Porto.
Man Utd have never been as strong in the Champions League and Inter Milan, especially under Jose "European Powerhouse" Mourinho, have been fairly strong in UEFA competitions. Porto won under Jose and they weren't a great team; Inter are going to be fairly close to Man Utd, I suspect, and Old Trafford has a rubbish atmosphere compared to San Siro so it'll be interesting to see how the home advantages work out.
Réal Madrid have been unpredictable lately. I consider myself a Réal fan and yet I haven't been impressed with their performances since Zidane's retirement. They could do well but I doubt it.
Barcelona is still strong, AC Milan is good - and despite the article saying that "mid-table mediocrity can make offers that the likes of Real Madrid cannot refuse" the offer for Kaka didn't get its aim. He's still out there playing. Valencia is still pretty good too, Roma as well. I'd say that the Premiership is strongest this year, to be honest, but not substantially so.
I think Inter Milan have a great chance at beating Man Utd fairly well and I really hope they do... preferably without using the incredibly advanced tactic of making Ronaldo and Rooney get sent off. They'll be good games anyway.
Jason, you just seem be saying things without any research which annoys me. Jose has only been in charge of Inter for 6 European games, losing at home to Panathanaikos, drawing with minnows Anorthosis Famagusta and coming 2nd in a group which they should have won at a canter. They have been poor in Europe and the Italian media have been highly critical of Jose in European competition.
Milan and Valencia are not even in the Champions League this year so why you mention them is baffling.
Also, please don't ever say a team 'is still strong' or 'is good'. They 'are still strong' or 'are good'. I would probably leave the football chat to Alex if I were you.
Great point by #5 regarding Inter Milan and European competitions. Despite consecutive Serie A titles, I was under the impression that Mancini was sacked because they failed to get past the quarters in any of his four seasons in charge?
#5, I don't do things without research. Inter Milan are, as a general rule, good in Europe and Jose Mourinho is, as a general rule, a good European manager. If you look at Porto's Champions League victory, they didn't win every match and weren't favourites to win as a result... but overall they were good.
Jose, against Ferguson, will be excited about the possibility of victory. As well as this, they're 9 points clear in the league and whilst Man United's team is similar to the ones fielded against Jose before, the opposite isn't true. I don't think that the criticism is fair and I think it'll spur him into greater action. Prior results are irrelevant in a sense since he's here, now, and therefore did the job needed. We'll see how it goes though.
Your comments about Milan and Valencia are irrelevant because their absence from the Champions League is due to home position in the league. They are still strong in Europe.
A team IS strong. That's called grammar. The whole point is that it's cohesive and not simply a collection of individuals anyway.
Mancini was sacked because he failed to beat Liverpool, who are perhaps the strongest Champions League team this decade. The previous year they lost on away goals only as the year before that. The previous season to that they lost to AC Milan who went on to be the best team of the competition and lose in the best Champions' League final ever (imho). They've had misfortune and lost to Champions League teams. Granted that they should have done more against Valencia and Villareal but they drew with them nonetheless. I think it's harsh to rule out Inter, but we'll see...
At the moment, whether to use singular or plural verbs when referring to a team appears to be pretty much a straight choice in usage, and neither is definitively "correct" or "incorrect". Having said that, there do seem to be some syntactic environmental constraints on the distribution of the two constructions...
Though it seems slightly paradoxical, since "team" is apparently a single entity grammatically (agreeing with singular pronouns and lacking plural -s), most people do opt for "are" over "is", and thus it is becoming the Standard English usage.
So, back to the football...
Well that sucked the life out of a good article
The article is very good. It could have self-stood but it's always interesting to have some debate around the topic.
I don't think Liverpool are the best CL team of the decade. Real Madrid, Milan and Manchester United have won the tournament twice in that time.
On the topic of Valencia and Milan I think these sides are somewhat overrated. Valencia have got a shocking backrroom situation and Silva and Villa are destined to leave for better things at the end of this season. Milan would not beat any of our top 4 in a two legged game. The fact that David Beckham, who is 34 in May, can make such an impact is quite damning on the quality of the Milan squad. Apart from Pato and Kaka the team is riddled with old players past their best with absolutely zero pace
Firstly, I wouldn't want anybody to feel they can't contribute to the discussion - the more the merrier!
Inter did stutter into the second round this year, but Manchester United had some poor results too. More importantly, they both reached the knock-outs, and boast Champions League-winning managers. They’re also waltzing away with their respective leagues – I think it’s foolhardy to suggest either side is streets ahead, but there’s a reasonable case to be made for each club edging the tie.
For what it’s worth, I think that Manchester United will make it through, but the rest won’t. Arsenal couldn’t beat Weymouth’s youth side at the moment, Madrid are in great form and I suspect that Hiddink hasn’t had the time to raise Chelsea’s game enough just yet.
Also, @#3: very true, thanks for pointing it out. The article should be updated soon to reflect this.
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