The balance of power lies firmly with the EPL

Columnist

By Adrian Musolino, 12 Mar 2009 Adrian Musolino is a Roar Expert

Tagged:: Champions League, EPL, football, Liverpool, Real Madrid, UEFA

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Liverpool’s 4-0 hammering of Real Madrid was without doubt the best performance by the Reds all season and typified the hot form of the EPL sides in the UEFA Champions League.

As English sides once again continue their imperious stride deep into the latter stages, it proves that continental power at present lies with the EPL or, more specifically, its big four.

But is this period of English club domination merely a cycle that rotates every few years between other powers such as Italy and Spain or is this part of a sustained period of domination as the big four pull away from the rest of Europe, the net result of the global success of the EPL and the economic rewards it has given them?

Unlike previous periods of strength by respective nations, English clubs are achieving this success in depth. All of the big four have reached a final in the past three seasons.

The same four have qualified for the Champions League in the past five seasons.

Their domination of their local league has created this cycle of enabling them to benefit from the riches rewarded to them through qualification, attracting the best players and personnel. Also, in such an aggressive domestic league with the addition of two Cup competitions, they are battle hardened.

This domination has been helped by the cash cow the EPL has become, with the league’s revenue almost double that of fellow European leagues.

This enables the clubs to attract the cream of footballers worldwide.

This is why this English domination isn’t indicative of the strength of home grown players, it is the quality of overseas players that the EPL attracts.

Take, for example, the great irony of a Liverpool side with more Spaniards in the starting eleven defeating a Spanish giant in Real Madrid, Fernando Torres performance highlighting the quality of the ‘import’ for the big four.

With the best players, the technical quality of the big fours performance has reached a new height and the rest of Europe must play catch up.

Depending on what the draw throws up and this mornings results, another all English Champions League final looks like a good bet.

But does the English clubs dominance detract from the competition?

Seeing the great sides from all over Europe compete against each other is, for the neutrals at least, what makes the Champions League so unique and fascinating.

If English clubs dominate in such a manner then the Champions League could be tagged as a glorified EPL.

If this trend continues, we may see an acceleration of UEFA’s attempts to tinker with the competition, moving away from allowing multiple teams from the stronger leagues and rewarding the champions from the smaller nations.

Then there is the building feud between the EPL and UEFA regarding the latter’s proposal to introduce financial regulations for European competitions and the controversial ‘six-plus-five’ rule.

If the big four crowd out the UEFA Champions League, Platini and his UEFA cohorts will have further reason to look at some form of equivalency to reign in their domination.

In the meantime, the big four have the economic might, personnel and technical capability to continue their hot streak in the Champions League until the rest of Europe catches up.

They can catch up. It’s just a matter of when and how they can achieve it.

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The Crowd Says (23) | Page 1 of Comments

midfield general said | March 12th 2009 @ 8:28am | Report comment

SBS pundits pointed out Europeans and South Americans are learning to execute their skills at speed playing in EPL, which Spanish and Italian clubs are finding it difficult to deal with. Ironically this is to the benefit of their natonal teams, especially Spain.

Probably not for England, but I love the way EPL transformed the insular and xenophobic English football to what it is today. I’m not sure about 6+5 rule, it will definitely make it harder for young Aussies to crack it in Europe.

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Simmo said | March 12th 2009 @ 8:39am | Report comment

I reckon the GFC might sort out this dominance

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Kazama said | March 12th 2009 @ 8:41am | Report comment

It’s pretty obvious that the English clubs are dominating in the UCL, and this will probably continue as long as the current global financial trends continue as the rest of Europe will be more worried about survival than assembling a team of superstars to compete with the English. The 6+5 rule of course would totally change the face of football in Europe, and while I think the English clubs would still be the frontrunners they’d be beatable by the best from Germany, Italy, France and Spain like they were about three or four years ago. The competition would even up again, for sure.

Only Barcelona and Bayern Munich are any threat at all to the English clubs, and I don’t think either of them would beat Man Yoo or Liverpool. Draw permitting, I think we will see a final between ManYoo and Liverpool with the Scousers taking the crown. I won’t be watching that final – I can’t stand either of those teams! It’d be like watching Port & Collingwood play off in the AFL Grand Final, or Melbourne & Sydney in the A-League!

midfield general: “…it will definitely make it harder for young Aussies to crack it in Europe.”

Well, at least that would benefit the A-League with a few of the second and third-tier players forced to come home. I think it is only right though that, for example, an English club is made up of mostly English players.

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Kazama said | March 12th 2009 @ 8:43am | Report comment

Not really simmo – everyone is losing money and the English have more money than anyone else, so as long as the trend continues the English will dominate because they’ll always be ahead. We need things (and not just for the sake of the balance of power in European football!) to turn around if we want the English clubs to be beatable again.

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Colin N said | March 12th 2009 @ 8:52am | Report comment

Well with four English teams in the Quarters, it suggests the English sides are dominant. However, there were varied performances from the English sides. Liverpool were excellent, Chelsea good, Man U average and Arsenal poor. Having said that, I was surprised how much fitter Arsenal were.

Also, Inter were awful in both legs and it surprises me how far behind the English sides they are. That Real Madrid side was the worse I have seen for ages, but Roma and Juventus played fairly well against their respective opposition. However, as the cliche goes, it’s the sign of good sides when they can get results without playing well, like Man U and Arsenal – it’s even more valuable in Europe.

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Marlon said | March 12th 2009 @ 8:59am | Report comment

Some good points Adrian although you forget to mention that it was luck that got Chelsea through against Juventus. The Italian giants, missing at least 6 from the starting eleven, out played Chelsea over the two legs. They lost Nedved after only 15 min of play which highlighted the shocking run they have had this year with injuries.. Although the Brits have the edge over the Italians at the moment, lets give credit to lady luck and acknowledge that she played a major part in Chelsea’s advance.

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Colin N said | March 12th 2009 @ 9:50am | Report comment

“out played Chelsea over the two legs”

I would say Juve out-played Chelsea over one and a half legs really. Chelsea were the better team for an hour in the first 60 minutes in the first leg.

It’s as though the English sides have the mental edge over the Italian and Spanish teams. The way Inter dropped their heads after Man U’s second was quite surprising. Also, in the first game, they seemed to come out tense and almost overawed by United’s presence. Real never really got going and whether that’s representative of the quality within their side I’m no sure, but as I mentioned previously they were one of the worse Real sides for a while. Roma challenged Arsenal and dominated the majority of the second leg, but again it’s an Arsenal team that was missing several players and in Walcott, someone who has only just come back from a long injury.

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Vicentin said | March 12th 2009 @ 10:58am | Report comment

Well done to the various English sides though Colin if you are going to mention Arsenal’s injuries that was nothing compared to Roma’s – and I’m worried about the rest of the season considering Taddei went off near the end with what looked like a serious injury and I can see another extended (of possibly final) rest period for Totti. Agree regarding mental edge, I believe they currently lack the belief they once had, but lady luck also played a part in Inter’s loss – if Ibra’s downwards header had found the back of the net rather than the crossbar, ditto (re woodwork) Adriano’s touch to post etc. 1-1 and it would have been a rather different game. Also while Berbatov may have bee considered passive offside – I’m not so sure, but that’s one of those endless debates … that I’m not going to have. Roma had a decent shout for a penalty late in the first half too …………

Go Barca …………..

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Colin N said | March 12th 2009 @ 11:04am | Report comment

“Roma had a decent shout for a penalty late in the first half too”

Yeah, the commentators over here said it was a definite penalty and I have to agree with them, but as you said some of the English sides were lucky. It’s sort of a reverse from what it was five or six years ago whereby the English sides were striving to get on terms with the Spanish and Italian sides, who were the dominant forces.

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jimbo said | March 12th 2009 @ 12:29pm | Report comment

All four English teams made it through to the last eight with Italy’s three representatives all bowing out – it is the first time in seven years no Italian team has made it through to the quarters.

And we try and compare the A-League to the EPL . . .

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