Why Premier League Clubs Struggle in Europe?
In 2008, 3 English Clubs made the Champions League Semi-Final with the final being an all-English affair. Since then only Chelsea have won the prestigious competition and no team has even reached the final since 2012. Between 2005 and 2011, it is fair to say the Premier League teams dominated Europe with at least one club qualifying for the final. Since then the Champions League has been a tale of diminishing returns for the Premier League, usurped by La Liga giants, Bayern Munich and even Juventus! Many fans and pundits alike believe the league to be the best in the world, so why is it that English clubs struggle in Europe?
The decline of Liverpool, and more recently Manchester United has seriously dented the Premier League's dominance in Europe. The decline and struggles of England's best in the Champions League has also lead to another interesting phenomena in the last few years. Chelsea this season and Leicester before them, are teams without the burden of Champions League football who are performing much better than teams in the Elite competition. Leicester's contrasting fortunes this year perfectly sum this up, they are performing below expectations in the league and a lot of it can be attributed to Europe. There are a plethora of reasons as to why they struggle in Europe-
1. Lack of Winter Break |
2. 4 Cup/League Competitions |
3. Lack of the 'Best Players' |
4. League Competitiveness |
5. Tactics/Not adapting |
Lets face it, over the last 3 or 4 years Spanish clubs have dominated Europe. Sevilla have won 3 Europa Leagues on the spin, Barcelona and Real Madrid have shared the last 3 champions leagues and English Clubs have become the laughing stock of Europe. There used to be a fear factor about travelling to England and playing the Worlds Best, but that seems to dissipated in recent years. Never mind the elite clubs, The likes of Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea have succumbed to Porto, Monaco, Wolfsburg, PSV among others.
The above graph depicts how far English teams have got in Europe's Premier Competition. It shows a staggering decline in recent years.
Lack of Winter Break
Premier League Managers have been protesting for years about the lack of a mid-season break. Players have spoken about how the increased playing time eventually takes it toll. While Premier League teams are expected to play up to 3 games a week during this period, other leagues in Europe have 2 weeks off to rejuvenate themselves for the business end of all cups. This is a major reason why a lot of the time, by March the squads are fatigued and the best players are injured.
4 Cup/League Competitions
Premier League teams play the most games. Its the simple reality. While clubs in Spain and Germany have 3 competition to contend with, English teams have the FA Cup, EFL Cup, CL and the PL. Add that to the fact that they can rarely afford to rotate their squads because of how competitive the league is, these competition take their toll come the end of the season.
Lack of the 'Best Players'
Some may argue that with the signing of Paul Pogba, the Premier League is showing its intent to challenge in Europe again. The fact is that they do spend ridiculous amounts of money to strengthen their squads, but there is not 1 player in the whole league who has featured in the FIFPro or UEFA Team of the Year for the last 4-5 years. Ronaldo's move to Real Madrid for $80 million, days after United lost the Champions League final signaled a new pattern in world football. While the Premier League may spend the most, they have 1-2 world class players in their squad. The likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich literally have a world class player in ever position. Their squads are leaps ahead of their English rivals. Alexis Sanchez, Hazard, Aguero, Pogba, Zlatan, De Gea and Ozil is the closest these clubs are to the best players in the world. Even then these players do not perform on the big stage because they are exhausted from playing competitive teams every week. Another startling fact is that almost all Premier League defenses are shaky. The defenses cannot compete with the organization of Atletico Madrid or Juventus. Defensively they are outmatched.
League Competitiveness
Manchester United are shocked by Watford
While the league may not be the 'best' in terms of star quality, it is certainly the most competitive. This is a league where Bournemouth can beat Manchester United and it is normal, Arsenal dropping points against Stoke is the norm. Whereas if Barcelona lose to Sporting Gijon, it is a once in blue moon occurrence. The fact is that on any given day, any team can beat the other. The smaller clubs have the determination and defensive organization to shut out English clubs. Furthermore, since the clubs are so financially well off, the smaller clubs like Stoke, Middlesborough can afford to pay $10-20 million for players. All the clubs have the financial power to afford players. Other leagues like Serie A, Bundesliga and La Liga have 2-3 superpower clubs and the rest are dependent on small transfer funds. Moreover teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus have the opportunity to poach the league's best players and while improving their squads, feed of other teams. The Premier League has teams like Everton and Tottenham who boast the likes of Harry Kane, Lukaku, Eriksen, Lloris, among others. These players are up there with the leagues best but do not play for the best because Everton and Tottenham do not have to bow down to the financial muscle of Chelsea or Manchester City. To add insult to injury, this is a league where Leicester, the perennial underdogs triumphed last year, demonstrating that the best clubs cannot afford to rotate their teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid can.
Tactics
At the end of the last decade, European football was more suited to Premier League sides, who, with the influx of talent, had become fairly indistinguishable from other European sides. But the success of Barcelona, as well as Spain at an international level, led to a renewed emphasis on positional play, which the Premier League missed out on. Premier League teams are unable to use space well on the pitch and win crucial midfield battles. Effectively, to win top-level competition, midfields need to be balanced and compact, and those of the Premier League are decidedly not. There are too many exploitable gaps and the defense cannot deal with so many gaps open in midfield.
Other teams in Europe have adapted to Spanish style of play and matched it to improve. The Premier League have not adapted their tactics. The lack of suitable tactics has stemmed from the fact that the managerial talent has been lacking since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson and Wenger's decline. Pep Guardiola, Mourinho, Ancelotti, Simeone, Allegri are fantastic managers who have instilled discipline and creativity into their sides.
With Jürgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola, Mauricio Pochettino and Antonio Conte in the Premier League, the League should be set for an influx of tactical ideas from the continent, thereby leading to more competence in European competition.
I want to point out a few things. Man U between 2006-2011 did well in Europe. It was because of two reasons - Ronaldo (star player) & the tactical genius of Sir Alex. Another example, clubs like Dortmund, Juventus & Atletico are honestly no better than the English Big 4. But they did reach the finals. It was because their squads were fresher & had better tactics than their English counterparts. If English clubs have to perform consistently well in UCL, the FA have to tweak certain things & the mangers have to be tactically better.
All-in-all English clubs suffer from a lack of suitable tactics in Europe, the intensity of the League and lack of the absolute best players. This trend looks ready to change though as some of the best managers are preparing to stamp their mark on the league. Furthermore the influx of money gives them the chance to compete with Europe's bigger clubs for the best players. Only time will tell whether England stamps it's dominance on the continent once again. Comment down below your views on the issue. Like and subscribe if you enjoyed the content! :)
-Zorawar
