Is anyone other than me getting totally fed up with the constant hype surrounding anything English and football? Last night saw another display of how the English game is falling behind are European neighbours.City couldn't get past a very average Porteguese side and United over 2 legs were made to look very average. The English league and teams, really arn't as good as the press/media would have us all believe. A side from a handful of players, the quality in the league is at best ordinary. Its littered with average players on over inflated wages, producing medicority on a weekly basis. Techinically the league is as advanced as a spectrum '81 is in the computer age. Yes it has passion, played at a 100 miles an hour, but overall its falling behind the standards being set across Europe.
This is the first season in a while the English have been so bad in Europe. Won't disagree that barca and real madrid are well above any English team tho.
People continue to defend teams like Stoke and say its a good way to play football but I find it disgusting. There is no enjoyment in watching a team physically bully another team and just lumping the ball. Give me a Swansea over a Stoke any day of the week.
The English game has taken a knock this year in European competitions. I really believe that this is a consequence of the Premier League. To win, or even attain top 4, you are almost forced to play percentage football. This makes our sides pragmatic and defensively minded. There is little room for midfield creativity or attacking risk taking. Add to that the fact that all of our top teams are in the process of transition. Despite what the Mancs say, United are not a good side. Ok injuries have played a part but it does not mask their midfield paupacy or the fact that their back 4 are not as strong as they would like.. City, whilst still developing a style of their own are novices at European football. Both Arsenal and Chelsea have been very poor this season
Problem is, we constantly knock Utd but they still challenge every year and are currently top of the league.
The bit that annoys me is how the commentators and pundits are refering to the Man Utd A.Bilboa game. They keep praising the way A.Bilboa played whilst pointing out that they are only seventh in their respective league. IMO, they didn't score as many as they should have done either. I agree A.Bilboa played well with good fluid passing football. This brings me to Liverpool. We have been playing good fluid passing football all season whilst struggling to put the ball in the net and we are currently have out played Man Utd in two out of three games this season too, just not to the extent that A.Bilboa did. IMO, these are two similar situations yet one gets praised by all and sundry, the other gets stick!
It all starts from the youth set up in my opinion and coaches are not prioritizing the technical side of the game. Of course they focus on it but no where near enough, but I just think that is the English way now. For the past few seasons when English teams are playing we often say when playing big European teams "If we play with the speed we do in the Premiership we can win" and that's often been true, but the level of playing from teams across all of Europe have increased immensely over the past few seasons while our standards have dropped. With that said, I do not own Sky and don't get to watch European football very often, so apart from Liverpool I want all the other big European teams to progress purely because it's not something I get to witness often, and with performances like Bilbao last night and Barcelona a week or two ago it is a real privilege.
I watch Barcelona pretty much every week and they stay true to their tactics and style. No matter who they play against, they will play the same high tempo, quick passing game. The problem I think with Liverpool and with English teams in general is that we tend overthink what the opposition will do and try to nullify their strengths rather than playing to our own strengths.
Also in Spain, I think coaches are allowed to spend a lot more time with the youngsters than the coaches can do in this country so I think that has a big impact. Also, I believe there are a lot more qualified coaches in Spain than in England.
Yeah it's just good being able to watch the likes of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta for 90 minutes, I'd get sky sports just to watch them play. That's true, and the main reason Benitez did so well in the CL was that we played to our strengths especially when we won it
Benitez was good at that, however I think he was more interested in not losing than going all out for the win which was annoying at times.
I will try to look for it but Spain and Germany are 2x-3x ahead of everyone in Europe when it comes to A level or Pro level coaches. They have the best qualified in the correct positions and both nations have a strategy and a way, system and style they implement within the teams. Bilbao players could go into the Spanish side and expect nothing different in the way they play and think, just with better quality around them. This is what I hope Klinsmann is working on here. Not seen it yet at the youth level but high school and up they are starting to put the pieces together.
It's worth mentioning the youth system of Ajax too, even though most of their players brought through get sold the way they introduce their youth players in to the first team and slowly blend them in is something all English clubs take note off and it's something I wish we'd do with the likes of Sterling, Suso and Coady, that experience really showed when they played in the Semi-Final of the NextGen.
Maybe because Bilbao actually won both games and the one we actually won we didn't outplay them? Not rocket science! Conversely i'm bored of those who bang on about how weak the English game is, cause it's not true. We've been extremely strong in Europe the last 8/9 years, it's impossible to keep that going all the time, these things go in cycles. Crystal Palace beat Man Utd, does that prove the strength of the Championship? Watch Palace week in week out and you'll probs figure that one out.
6 finalists in 7 years with 2 winners and a team still in it this year. That's the most finalists of any nation, level wins with Italy and 1 behind Spain.
The key stat there is 2 winners. The rest is irrelevant as you use to mask the deficiencies of English football. Yes - we are competing but we're not winning.
Well i've just told you we have the second most winners (1 behind Spain who are represented by a team some think is the best EVER) and given that even by the group stage there is 32 teams in the competition i'd say this is a reflection that the Premier League IS a strong league. The number of finalists is relevant as it shows our teams do consistently well, even if they have been beaten in a one-off final 3 times by said 'best' team ever. Were Barcelona not in La Liga then there's a very good chance we'd have the most winners of any league.
