Premier League embarrassed by Champions League failings, says Jonathan Northcroft
Monday 23 March 2015 10:18, UK
Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, to an extent, have embarrassed the Premier League with their below-par performances in the Champions Leagu, acccording to the Sunday Times’ Jonathan Northcroft.
City’s 1-0 defeat to Barcelona ended English clubs participation in Europe’s elite-club competition for another season, a day after Arsenal came up short against Monaco and PSG ended Chelsea’s hopes the week before.
Everton were thrashed by Dinamo Kiev on Thursday as Europa League involvement came to an end as well, and Northcroft believes it’s a damning representation of the state of the game in England.
“It is embarrassing for the Premier league that in three seasons we’ve had two clubs in the quarter-finals of the Champions League,” he told the Sunday Supplement.
“So that’s just two teams from 24 over three years. At a time where the Premier League is so rich and can afford so many good players it’s just a blight on our football.
“We shouldn’t allow Messi’s remarkable performance to get English clubs off the hook. Man City lost the tie way before then. They went gung-ho in the first leg, played 4-4-2 and should have lost more than 2-1.
“We had Arsenal playing in a childish way against Monaco, leaving themselves open and conceding late goals. Liverpool went out in a group where Basel finished ahead of them. Chelsea might be slightly different because they went out to a good team.
“It does look like English clubs have turned the clock back to the start of the Premier League era when the likes of Manchester United used to win the league but get beaten three or four nil by Barcelona.
“It’s like there is a laziness going into Europe where English clubs don’t think they have to adapt. They just go on the front foot and attack and have no consideration for defending.
“You succeed in the Premier League but putting in a lot of effort and attacking. Sadly, in Europe and it’s about a little bit more when you’ve got to think about away goals and defending properly.
“You just wonder if the Premier League is creating a flat-track bully syndrome where clubs have got used to just attacking all the time and not trying to play seriously.”
"It is embarrassing for the Premier league that in three seasons we’ve had two clubs in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Were all in love with money and glamour on show in England but the better football is taking place elsewhere."
Northcroft went on to question whether the Premier League can regard itself as they best league in the world, highlighting the lack of truly world-class players as evidence it’s stature is dwindling.
“The Premier League has recruited a lot of expensive players but are they really the best players of the world?” he added.
“How many of the top 20 players in the world are playing here? “Guys we think are among the world’s best like Yaya Toure go to that stage and get shown up.
“Were all in love with money and glamour on show in England but the better football is taking place elsewhere.”
