English giants losing ground in Europe

Vincent Kompany (left) has seen his Manchester City side join England's other favorites in their Champions League struggles. (Photo Credit: Clive Rose/Getty Images)

With just one day of play left in group stages, the big-spending English sides have been pushed to the edge of UEFA Champions League. Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United all spent heavily to compete in the richest competition in club football, yet all of them look to be falling far short, putting the lie to the notion that you can buy a title. In two weeks, all three clubs could be relegated to Europa League.

It was hardly wild supposition to think that the route to a trophy had to run through Manchester: City spent so lavishly on top talent that they posted a $300 million loss; Manchester United weren’t as profligate but also loaded up on some pricey young names: attacker Ashley Young (from Aston Villa); defender Phil Jones (Blackburn); goalkeeper David de Gea (Atletico Madrid). Both clubs made no secret of their European ambitions and United, smarting from a comprehensive defeat to Barcelona at Wembley Stadium in May, had moved to inject youth and pace over the summer.

And Chelsea? They’re obsessed with Europe, recycling through coaches and players in such a way that chaos now seems routine for Stamford Bridge.

None of the English clubs have come close to matching the teams that Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have built. Those three sides boast experience and guile in equal measure, prizing slick-passing over physical stamina, and a fierce organization that seems to rarely falter. With the exception of Real Madrid — locked in a fierce financial battle with arch-rivals Barcelona — these three teams have also built from the bottom up, prizing continuity over the long term rather than quick fixes. Only Manchester United, overseen by Sir Alex Ferguson, can boast something akin to that in England, and one gets the feeling that ethos is fading.

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That's the flip side of the big money game that the Premiership has become. While it is inarguable that petrodollars have turned what were forgotten clubs into international jewels, they have also warped the market to the point that it is difficult to really assess what kind of league these teams are now actually playing in. The fact is, while the Premiership may well be the most compelling league to watch — a case the Germans and Argentines would argue strenuously against — it is also becoming one of the most unbalanced.

The divide between the Big Six —all but one of which is now in the hands of overseas tycoons — and the rest of the league has become larger every year. That sixth club, Tottenham, owned by a English billionaire in tax exile, is hardly poor but is considered to be hampered by its own wage cap. This mirrors what has happened in Spain and Scotland, and what seems to be a trend creeping into every league save Germany’s Bundesliga.

Talent is being concentrated at the top, and even teams with vast material resources are slowly being weeded out. It used to be that being a multi-millionaire was enough to enjoy some success, but now ask Dave Whelan how that’s working out for him at Wigan.

The funny thing about England, though, is that it mirrors our NFL: Every game matters each week. This is not the case in Spain or Italy, leagues notorious for having teams simply take matches off. The result is that the biggest teams in England enter Europe badly beaten up, and there is no question that the stress of needing to win every game across four competitions takes its toll.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DIARY

 

Andy Brassell, author of All Or Nothing: A Season In The Life Of The Champions League, will be spending this Champions League season with FOX Soccer:

• Mar. 15, 2012 - Napoli eliminated having left its mark
• Mar. 8, 2012 - Microscope focusing on Milan's Allegri
• Feb. 28, 2012 - Deschamps leverages history vs. Ranieri
• Feb. 17, 2012 - Road woes weigh on Barca
• Dec. 7, 2011 - Danny key to history-making Zenit
• Nov. 24, 2011 - Past failure helps Dortmund meet struggles in stride
• Oct. 20, 2011 - Porto forced back to drawing board
• Sep. 29, 2011 - Arsenal turns to new reference point, Arteta
• Sep. 9, 2011 - Chelsea closes ranks around Torres
• Aug. 25, 2011 - Faith in values keeps Villarreal afloat
• Aug. 18, 2011 - Lyon, Garde ready to make them dream
• Aug. 5, 2011 - Dynamo legend Semin faces seminal season

 

Nonetheless, that doesn’t excuse the likes of a Manchester City, who have discovered that even the addition of glittering talents like David Silva and Kun Aguero are little defense against the cold rigors of a European game under pressure. Manchester United have also discovered that while some of their young talent is clearly gifted, the likes of Jones and Young need the same blooding that Nani and Wayne Rooney once did. And Chelsea, who wagered so much on a man they didn’t see fit to bring on even as a sub against Leverkusen ($79.5 million-man Fernando Torres), simply look lost. Manager Andre Villas-Boas's resume seems now quite overstated in the glare of defeat.

There is, of course, one English team that did qualify with time to spare. That would be much-maligned Arsenal, which has been overseen by the same manager since 1996. They have tried to develop talent from within and so far have seen an inverse relationship between the amount of money they have paid for a player and the returns on the field. Andrei Arshavin and Gervinho compare poorly with what they paid for the likes of Robin van Persie and Aaron Ramsey.

No one accuses Arsene Wenger of being anything less than ruthless, but he’s also far more patient. Perhaps that’s why his Arsenal was the last team to put a crimp in Barcelona on the European stage.