Is the English Premier League As Good As It Used To Be?
You only need to look to the Liverpool team of seven years ago to see how much the game in England has changed. They are possibly one of the most unspectacular sides to win the Champions League in recent times. But they worked for it they deserved it. After going 3-0 down in the final they fought their way back into the tie to win on penalties. Only listing a few of their starting XI in Athens shows how little quality they had: Steve Finnan, Harry Kewell and Djimi Traore. Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso were really the only world class players in that team. Yet they beat star-studded AC Milan by out-working them. The combination of aggressive defenders and hard-working midfielders provided a solid defensive base which allowed them to go out and win matches. They only scored 15 goals in their 14 match run-up to the final; but they only conceded seven. Manchester City have already conceded nine goals in their four matches so far. And when you compare the two teams its not hard to see why. The difference between players in key positions like Jamie Carragher and Xabi Alonso over Joleon Lescott and Gareth Barry shows how the teams have different mentalities. Lescott has already cost City several goals this season just by not attacking the ball from corners; a lack of aggression is certainly not an accusation that could be levelled at Carragher. Alonso and Barry are very similar players, although they have both often been accused of not being mobile enough; one is a Champions League and World Cup winner, while the other is Gareth Barry. Even if you compare Steven Gerrard and Yaya Toure, two World Class midfielders, Gerrard was played as a box-to-box midfielder, while Toure is often played behind the striker. Despite all Manchester Citys attacking talents they need Toure to break teams down. But they dont have a player like him in central midfield. The only one who can play like him is Jack Rodwell and he has proved himself to be a liability in Europe this season. The lack of drive in midfield has contributed to Citys weak defence. And if you look at all the best English teams from recent years, they never lacked a box-to-box midfielder. Whether it was Frank Lampard, Patrick Vieria or Paul Scholes, it was one of the most common types of player in an English midfield. The English game is clearly losing its identity. The traditional style of football is becoming less common every season. But what is replacing it? Some teams like Swansea and Wigan have tried a more progressive, technical style of football. While others like Stoke and West Ham still stick with old-fashioned long-ball tactics. But the majority of teams play an end-to-end style of football with little consideration for defence. The problem is without the grafters and hard-men that used to populate English football; most teams are struggling to stop their opponents from creating chances. Although this is great for helping to make the league more exciting and competitive than any other and the last three seasons have been particularly - it is not good practice for bigger teams who have to test themselves against more motivated and technical opponents in Europe. When up against any opposition playing a different style even the likes of West Ham and Swansea in the league most of Englands big teams have struggled severely. Its only through greater quality in attack that English teams have been able to get anything in Europe so far. And they wont have that luxury when coming up against the big guns like Barcelona and Real Madrid. The fact is that English teams need to sort themselves out as soon as possible. They either need to switch to the continental style of possession football, or revert back to the older style of English football. Either way would sort out a lot of their defensive frailties. As ex-England captain Terry Butcher manager of SPL club Inverness Caledonian Thistle, who havent spent a single penny under his tenure- says, Clean sheets means no defeats. And until the big English teams start taking his advice; no amount of money is going to change their performances in Europe.