Marka Ragnos Posted March 18, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted March 18, 2015 Well, England's out -- again. From a just-posted ESPN news analysis: • This is the second time in three years that England has no teams in the Champions League quarterfinals. Before 2013, that hadn't happened since 1996, when Blackburn was England's sole Champions League participant. • In the past four seasons, England has put a total of three teams in the Champions League quarters. In the four years before that (2008-11), England had 13 quarterfinalists, more than twice as many as any other country (Spain was next with six). From 2004 to 2007, England put eight teams in the quarterfinals, second only to Italy's nine. What's going on? Are Europe getting better? Are we not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 The poor standard of the Premier League is finally starting to catch up with the top teams. The football is rubbish in England and the PL is rubbish. There's only so long you can play 30/38 games a season against garbage without it having some effect on you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Liverpool never got going this season until it was to late Arsenal put in a terrible home performance against Monaco Chelsea the same against PSG Man City were just outclassed by Barcelona. I don't we are any worse or European teams any better really, except Barcelona have improved their strikeforce.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 This is good news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 all the money in the world and Premier LEague still cant attract the stars and never been able to. Can pay as many mediocre players 80k a week you want but how many world class players in their prime has the league been able to attract Ballack, Shevchenko maybe Veron and Crespo. The rest either turned up as youngsters, past their prime or while still in development or failed at other European clubs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Ballack, Shevchenko maybe Veron and Crespo And they all did so, so well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Very true, how many world class players play in the Premier League? Is Aguero world class? Suarez was and we were more than happy to get rid! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 wasnt really the point I was making whether they did well or not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 at moment I would say Aguero, Silva, Matic, Hazard, De Gea and Sanchez be the only players around the world class bracket in their positions playing in the league Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 wasnt really the point I was making whether they did well or not Yeah but I think it's nevertheless relevant, the "big name, top of their game, world class players" that did come, were all flops. None of them succeeded. Does that mean maybe they weren't that good? Or their other leagues made them look better than they actually were? The PL was decent enough at that time 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 How of them would make the Barcelona first eleven. Not Sanchez they sold him, De Gea maybe! wasnt really the point I was making whether they did well or not Yeah but I think it's nevertheless relevant, the "big name, top of their game, world class players" that did come, were all flops. None of them succeeded. Does that mean maybe they weren't that good? Or their other leagues made them look better than they actually were? The PL was decent enough at that time Maybe they were a little past their prime when they came. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 wasnt really the point I was making whether they did well or not Yeah but I think it's nevertheless relevant, the "big name, top of their game, world class players" that did come, were all flops. None of them succeeded. Does that mean maybe they weren't that good? Or their other leagues made them look better than they actually were? The PL was decent enough at that time i dont know where to start. Ballack who came 2nd and 3rd place player at 2 World Cups in a weak German team or Andriy Shevchenko a former Ballon D'Or winner for a start Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 i dont know where to start. Ballack who came 2nd and 3rd place player at 2 World Cups in a weak German team or Andriy Shevchenko a former Ballon D'Or winner for a start I'm aware of that. That doesn't address my point though, if they were so good as to be worldies, why did they fail so badly in England? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 both were around the 30 mark when they signed for Chelsea. Both seemed to be short of pace! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Tbf I think a bit of it is just a reminder that football is cyclical, didn't bayern go 30 years without a European cup before becoming the greatest team in the world ever that they are now? And if you believe some on here barca were shit anyway Do believe that the increase in money has led to the prem losing touch with reality, I don't think anyone has a sense of where the median is anymore, both in terms of quality and salary, every player seems blown out of proportion, agree with zatman with that world class list, I might add fabregas cos I like him but he's in a hard bracket, but the reality is aguero despite being world class is 20 goals behind messi and Ronaldo Said last week after Chelsea got knocked out that SSN were quick to spout that it's because the prem is this great competitive league with so much quality at the bottom, anyone can beat anyone, I don't agree, I think there is nowhere near as much quality at the top as we are constantly told Not sure if it's the money, the superstardom, the culture here or what but I would say that the effort and organisation off the ball that has made the likes of barca, Spain, atletico, Dortmund, bayern, germany successful over the last decade doesn't exist amongst our teams, the passing and technique argument that has seemingly always existed is still there but now work rate is questionable which is a real worry, go back to England vs chile in the friendly where chiles ability to press as a team (and Sanchez every week for arsenal still) embarrassed us 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderPower_14 Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 With the monopoly of the old sky 4 now broken, clubs that finishing top 4 and getting CL places aren't just waltzing into the top 4 again the following season. The league is a lot closer, especially among the top 7 or 8, and clubs are having to work harder to compete in the league. It's a good thing. Even if England lose a CL spot, it's a good thing for English football. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 The poor standard of the Premier League is finally starting to catch up with the top teams. The football is rubbish in England and the PL is rubbish. There's only so long you can play 30/38 games a season against garbage without it having some effect on you You obviously don't watch Seria or La Liga. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 19, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted March 19, 2015 i dont know where to start. Ballack who came 2nd and 3rd place player at 2 World Cups in a weak German team or Andriy Shevchenko a former Ballon D'Or winner for a start I'm aware of that. That doesn't address my point though, if they were so good as to be worldies, why did they fail so badly in England? I wouldn't say Ballack failed in England. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordoncharles Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Said last week after Chelsea got knocked out that SSN were quick to spout that it's because the prem is this great competitive league with so much quality at the bottom, anyone can beat anyone....... I saw some hack on Sky's "Sunday Supplement" come up with that line as well. The reason English clubs can't do well in Europe at the moment is because the league is so strong. Please. I always end up defending the honour of Spanish cannon-fodder in those regular discussions about how supposedly more competitive the Premier League is, but the reality is that Granada, Rayo, Elche, Almeria etc often (not always) get on the end of good-hidings is simply that Real Madrid and Barcelona are better sides than those at the top in England, and with ridiculous arrays of attacking talent, such as if they get it right on the day they will run riot. In the last two seasons this is the record that England's CL contingent has had against the top three in Spain: P8 W0 D1 L7. If the elite English sides, Chelsea, Liverpool and City are getting beaten practically every time against the best Spanish teams then what does anyone really think Madrid or Barcelona would do on their own ground to QPR or Burnley? There's all sorts of other crackpot theories now being given an airing in the press. There should be a winter break, reserve teams need to be in the Football League ,squads are too small, and for all I know, not enough attention is paid to astrology, but there's a much simpler reason - at the moment the top English teams aren't quite good enough. There is an unwarranted arrogance about the assumed strength of the PL over other leagues which is masking this simple truth. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderPower_14 Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 all the money in the world and Premier LEague still cant attract the stars and never been able to. Can pay as many mediocre players 80k a week you want but how many world class players in their prime has the league been able to attract Ballack, Shevchenko maybe Veron and Crespo. The rest either turned up as youngsters, past their prime or while still in development or failed at other European clubs Ozil and Di Maria surely fit into this category which ever way you spin it. And this sort of argument doesn't explain well why the Premier League was absolutely dominant in that 2008-2011 period at Champions League level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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