As Manchester City became the last Premier League team to be dumped out of the Champions League, the argument of Englands top division being the best in the world took a severe dent. Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool also failed to reach the last 8, ending English representation in the competition.
This is the second time in three years the top four Premier League clubs have failed to reach the quarter finals, which will make worrying reading for fans of the game in this country. There is no doubt that there has been a decline in the fortune of English clubs in the champion’s league, but where has it all gone wrong?
Ever since Chelsea became champions in 2012, the mantle of the most dominant force in Europe’s biggest club competition has been ripped away by the likes of Spain and Germany. Giants Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have won the tournament either side of the Blues triumph, and this seasons poor showing leaves the door open for more opposition dominance.
With no winter break to help with the fatigue of a long ol’ season, it has been hinted at that the lack of a resting period is now starting to weigh heavy on our top teams. Manuel Pellegrini, Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger are just a few of the high profile managers criticising the Premier League format with the Manchester City manager in particular bemoaning the packed fixture list.
The Citizens played a total of 13 games during the December – January period and many associated with English football have bemoaned the tradition of playing so many games in such a tight period. This could well give other sides in Europe an advantage over the Premier League.
Rich owners now demand silverware from the managers at the biggest clubs with the League Cup, FA Cup and Premier League all becoming key to a successful season for a top four club and the overall survival of the Manager in charge. December and January is a time of year in which all of these competitions reach boiling point and a clogged fixture list may cause top players to misfire at the business end of the Champions League campaign.
All in all the fact remains that Europe’s top footballing nations all have a winter break to pause the onset of fatigue throughout the season. Whether the idea of a winter break will be looked at remains to be seen, maybe the answer is simple, we just aren’t as good as we were a few years back.