Comments on: Are Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea just too good for the rest of Europe?

By: Dreadeye

Dreadeye — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:33:47 +0000

I dissagree with people who say it is not an indicator of the strength of your countrys league. There are no other countries that have four teams in their leagues that are so strong. I can only see 1 of the english teams winning the champions league, I think Man Utd most likely but would like Arsenal to win it.
Also what the english league has over other leagues is the never say die attitude as I could not believe Inter’s approuch against Liverpool the other night. Inter are top of their countrys league but had absolutally nothing to offer, they looked like they had lost it before the game started, they didn’t even have a real go at Liverpool. No english club would of surrendered so cheaply at home when 2-0 down from the 1st leg.
I would prefer the final to be an english team against a team from another country but if they avoid each other I think theres a big chance it will be an all english final.

By: superdude

superdude — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:12:07 +0000

lets face it we all know that the premiership is the best league in the so we dont need to be proven by the champions league. An English teams gonna win it any way. We’re too strong!

By: Nerazzurri

Nerazzurri — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 19:31:24 +0000

You’re absolutely right Ahmed. I’ve said that the CL is, as you say “hardly an indicator of the quality of the domestic leagues….- it is simply an indicator of how well teams can adapt to playing tactical football in two-legged knockout rounds”. Why don’t some people realise this?

Some people here are talking about the CL, that it should be reformed. I agree, but the biggest problem is the balance of money. There’s a HUGE amount in England, there’s 2 extremely rich clubs in Spain (Barca and Real), but the rest poor, 3 rich in Italy (Inter, AC, Juve), and not nearly enough money anywhere else. Clubs from Germany, France and Portugal for example, can only find and raise the talent. When the English and Spanish notice these players, they’re sold by the club so it can continue to run because it gets not enough more income (and a lot of these players are greedy too). How this can be resolved I don’t know, or if it will ever be. When are we ever going to see a German club win the CL again?!

Arsenal Man is right about Arsenal going through deservedly. They’re the only English that have ever played good at the mighty Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, and were superb the other day. Unlucky not to win by more.

Liverpool_Fan, you have brains saying we’re not out, so thanks. I wish all the Pool fans I know had brains, but none do!

By: Subhankar Mondal

Subhankar Mondal — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:56:26 +0000

Spot on, Ahmed, about the last 8 thing not being the indicator of the Premiership being the best in the world. I would rate the Spanish and the Argentines leagues above par and the Serie A at par with the Premiership.

By: michael

michael — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:15:59 +0000

Adding to what Liviu said, I have to point out that the qualifying and group stages for the Champions League are horrifically biased in favour of established CL teams. You get seeded based on how well you’ve done in the past 5 CLs, so Everton got a difficult draw against Villareal and got beaten. Then Villareal got a difficult group (but still beat Utd, the bastards). The group stage only exists to ‘weed out’ smaller teams that have less marketing power around the world, thus denying them the opportunity to become big, international teams/brands.

Mourinho pulled off a miracle with Porto, and every year makes something like that less likely to happen. If United get knocked out, I’m with Zico and Fener. The Champions League really does need reform, just better thought than Platini’s proposals.

By: Liviu Bird

Liviu Bird — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 07:12:52 +0000

Another thing to consider is that the Champions League teams are usually rather constant. They are consistently near the top four, and have seen Champions League competition before. Just look at what happened with Everton. No CL experience, and they crapped out in qualifying.

On the other hand, the UEFA Cup spots change more. And with that change comes the lack of experience once again.

I’m done now.

By: Liviu Bird

Liviu Bird — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 07:08:56 +0000

I think that this shows part of the problem some fans have with the EPL. The EPL table can usually be split into 3 (or 4) sub-tables: the top 2, the European place contenders, the mid-table obscure clubs, and the relegation battlers.

One of the reasons for this is the amount of money that the top clubs have, for one reason or another (a Russian, a cup win, etc). Because of this difference in funds, the Champions League clubs (who have more money than the Vatican) are more likely to be successful against their opponents than the UEFA Cup clubs (who probably have money equal to their opponents).

What you end up with is four teams in the quarter finals of the Champions League and four teams that have a little bit of difficulty in the UEFA Cup.

By: Ahmed Bilal

Ahmed Bilal — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:42:30 +0000

It would be naive of EPL fans to think that PSV are easy opponents – top of their league, experienced in Europe, etc etc.

Tottenham are, well, Tottenham. They like making things hard for themselves, and the players just don’t have that sort of experience. They’ll get better though.

By: Graham Fisher

Graham Fisher — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 22:17:39 +0000

It is interesting that England’s big four routinely do reasonably well in the Champions League, but best of the rest in England tend to fail in the UEFA cup.

Once again this evening we have Tottenham losing at home to PSV, Everton going down 2-0 in Fiorentina and Bolton drawing at home to Sporting Lisbon.

England’s top four are as good as the rest of Europe, or better, but as for the rest of the Premier League….

By: Frankie

Frankie — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:53:43 +0000

The EPL’s Big Four are not “too good” for the rest of Europe, but they are bloody strong. None of the remaining non-English clubs would want to meet any of the EPL’s Big Four.

Each of the EPL’s finest, are strong contenders for the European Crown this season. The greatest threat to them will come from amongst themselves. Would Arsenal really want to face United? Would Chelsea really want to face Liverpool? The Big Four have nothing to fear from the likes of Barcelona, Schalke, Fenerbache or Roma except perhaps their own over-confidence.

Properly approached, I would back each of the Big Four to overcome the European opposition left in this year’s competition.