Source: Telegraph
Champions League 2010/11: Premier League faces test in keeping up with European teams
Success at any level always goes in cycles. For five or six years, the Premier League was regularly represented in the final or the latter stages by one or more clubs. [LNB]But last season Liverpool failed to emerge from the group stage, and none of Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal made it to the last four. [LNB] Related ArticlesIberians to provide spectacleWembley's final countdownThe new kids on the blockIn a League of their ownChampions League fixturesSport on televisionIt was a downturn in the fortunes of English clubs, so that is why it is doubly important for the Premier League that this season's quartet bounce back and carry the English challenge through to the semi-final stage and beyond. [LNB]The Champions League is football's top club competition, so the performance of England's four clubs reflects directly on the Premier League. Another disappointing year would not help the Premier League as a product. [LNB]We have seen signs of a talent drain away from the Premier League to La Liga and Serie A. Who has come to England to replace stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso, who both left for Spain last year? To compete with your rivals, you have to keep on improving. To do that, clubs have to spend money, but Manchester City aside, English football's top clubs all appear restricted financially. [LNB]If you suggest to any punter that there is no money in English football, they would look at you in disbelief, but the big clubs simply are not spending as they once did. [LNB]United are clearly affected financially under the ownership of the Glazers, Arsenal never spend top money and Roman Abramovich appears not to want to spend the sums he used to lavish on Chelsea. [LNB]If somebody out there is better than his equivalent in your squad, then you have to go out and buy him, but English clubs have stopped buying. Only City are spending crazy money on fees and wages, but they are still miles away from being the finished article. [LNB]So against a buoyant La Liga and a Serie A that will have had a massive boost from Inter Milan's Champions League success last season, the Premier League faces a big challenge. [LNB]I still believe that United or Chelsea can win the European Cup this season, but I cannot say that with the same level of confidence that I would have had three seasons ago, when they went on to contest the final in Moscow. Both teams were better in 2009 than now, but they retain the experience and quality required to go all the way. They both know how to sustain themselves over a season and ensure they have enough gas left in the tank for the vital games in April and May. [LNB]As for Arsenal, I would always expect them to progress from the group stage, but I cannot see them being any different from the last four or five years. On that basis, they are no more than a quarter-final team. [LNB]Tottenham are the ones that nobody can yet figure out. Harry Redknapp has built a very good team and a strong squad, but do they yet know how to treat every game as big as the next, rather than focus on the Champions League and allow themselves to slip up in the league? [LNB]Their recent Premier League defeat against Wigan, after beating Young Boys three days earlier, highlighted the difficulties of raising your performance for every game. [LNB]Barcelona stand out as the team to beat. For Inter Milan to retain their title, Rafael Benítez has to merge his caution with the ability to do as well as Jose Mourinho, but that will not be easy. Nor will Mourinho's task at Real Madrid. The guy has surprised us all before, but finding a formula to combine his defensive principles with Real's attacking philosophy with be a tough challenge. [LNB]Some say you have to go with one or the other, others believe they can only be put together with great difficulty and I go with the latter. [LNB]But if you are winning and the product is not good to watch, the crowd will not accept it at a club such as Real. They take no prisoners, and that was proved when Fabio Capello was sacked after winning the league at the Bernabéu! [LNB]
