What has happened to the English teams in the CL?

I have to agree this thread is a bit ironic.

However, I don't have the feeling that clubs like Arsenal and ManU are going to bounce back in Europe right away next season. Tottenham aren't hopeless, but then again they really aren't expected to do anything.

Manchester City are the only 'real' threat coming from Britain next season.

On a sidenote congrats to Chelsea and their fans. A club from London finally won a CL trophy, woohoo. lol

The good news is that'll shut up some of the bund fans for a while. Anyone can lose a CL final but to lose it against a senior citizen Chelsea side in your home stadium...

Its almost as bad as Liverpools Istanbul comeback...almost.

 

I think Spurs could be dark horses for the Europa, now the management situation is settled.

As for the other stuff, how can you possibly assess those teams’ chances before knowing what they’ll do during the summer?

United’s detractors have pretty much declared them “on the decline” and routinely failed to factor in any of the obstacles they faced this term.

They lost their best current defender in Vidic for the whole season. They lost Fletcher indefinitely. They saw lengthy injuries to Nani, Valencia, Cleverly and Young. They transitioned in a young goalkeeper who initially struggled but ended playing very well. While not as major as De Gea, the team is going through a transitional phase in general. There is a mixture of upcoming young players and older key players who will retire (possibly even permanently) over the next few seasons.

With better health, consistency and a couple of strong signings, they could be back in the mix.

Of course, the extent of any European impact is currently dependent on how Madrid and Barca perform, such is their strength and personnel in relation to the rest of the current field.

 

Writing off Man Utd is always a big mistake. They have come back many times when everyone said
their time was up and arrived in 3 finals in 4 years.

Infact I wouldn't be surprised if they go further than Man City in the CL. Although Man City
do have a great chance to win the CL next year.

 

The tricky thing for City is the potential draw. IIRC they would still be in Pot C, so could get some strong opponents again.

Then again, they didn't disgrace themselves this year. Their presence as a third seed will be as big of a concern for the other teams in their group as it is for them.

 

Don't want to begrudge anyone their gloating. Luck or no, Chelsea won fair and square.

I do see the irony in the title of the thread with this result, but there is another ironic sentiment to be had here. Anyone here thinking that Chelsea's victory is proof that the EPL competitiveness in the CL has not suffered, should think again.

The tactics that Chelsea was forced to resort to in order to achieve what they did are proof enough that this is not so. As happy as he may be right now, I don't think it was Mr. A's intention was for his club to go down in football history as the Greeks of club football.

Another look at the five-year ranking should also tell you that the period of English dominance is over. Chelsea, ManU and Arsenal are all rebuilding. Man City has yet to accomplish anything major at the European level and Tottenham is now denied an appearance on that stage.

 

http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/seedcl2012.html says Manchester City will be in Pot 2. If the seeded clubs advance in the qualifying rounds, the gaps between the bottom club in one pot and the top club in the next pot will be very small:

Bottom club in Pot 1: AC Milan 89.996
Top club in Pot 2: Valencia 89.837

Bottom club in Pot 2: Dinamo Kiev 62.026 (Manchester City has 63.882)
Top club in Pot 3: Olympiakos Piraeus 61.420

Bottom club in Pot 3: Copenhagen 46.505
Top club in Pot 4: Paris Saint-Germain 45.835

 

Of course with Spurs being denied an appearance in the CL it probably means that England will send 4 teams to the knockout stages next season, since the only team that won't be a top seed is Man City but they can probably get through with their talent anyway. Not bad for a rebuilding year.

 

True, but I think we'll see some surprises. Pots 3 and 4 hold the likes of Juve, Paris-Saint Germain and Dortmund, each of them could go on to the knockout stages.

 

Chelsea finished 6th in the league.

Do you think Levante, Stuttgart or this Inter Milan who all finished 6th could even come close to winning the Champions League, let alone do it playing fantasy football?

The fact Chelsea finished 6th does show how competative the EPL is.

Only one Spanish team has even got to the final in 10 years, Barcelona.

 

yes, the epl is uncompetitive. i mean, when a title is decided by goal difference, and there are 4 sides battling for 2 cl slots till the final day almost, that is one dull league! as usual, glaring facts dismissed in order to grind an axe.

 

only an idiot goes into a cl match with barca not expecting to get penalties given against you. also, bayern have plenty of history in playing referees like a fiddle, but they dont have the same 'structural' support that barca enjoy.

 

This has been voted the best Premier League season in history in the polls in England.
It was also the greatest end to any league in history.

For a "weak team" that's not bad being crowned the best team in Europe?
Tell me which mid table Italian, German or Spanish team can ever win the Champions League
or even get to the final.

Even Real Madrid still can't get to the final.

 

What are you talking about? Are you still sore that Bayern players crowded the ref during the game in Manchester two years ago demanding a yellow card? First of all that card was well deserved and secondly, I'd be very interested in any other "history in playing referees like a fiddle", you say there's plenty.

I'll tell you something else. Chelsea was lucky on the ref on Saturday, he was fair alright, but Chelsea profited much more from his leniency than Bayern did. Luiz and Bosingwa should have both been seen off. I remember reading on the Chelsea pre-match thread here on the forum that no English team ever lost under this guy and no German team has ever won. So don't come here with that all international refs are biased against English teams crap.

 

One reason is the fact that far more physicality is allowed in the EPL than in other leagues. So English teams feel like they are being penalised more often because theyusually get away with more.

You just have to breath on someone in Europe to get a foul. I was amazed Drogba's goal wasn't given as a foul.

Sol Campbell has had two crucial winning goals for England disallowed that would be allowed in the EPL. Against Argentina and Portugal.

 

lol going a bit over the top there

Milan won it when they finished 4th in 2007, and Real were 5th when they won it in 2000(?). Fairly similarish positions tbh.

 

Unless it was some macedonian pub league, I would wager anything that no major league has ended more dramatically than the EPL did this season in history.

I am talking about the current leagues right now. I don't see any mid table teams in Germany Italy or Spain who could win the Champions League.

Anyway, Liverpool were 5th when they won it, and the EPL was the strongest league at the time. Finishing 4th is pretty different to a distant 6th btw.

As great as the Mid table Spanish teams do in the Europa League, the Champions League they get nowhere for 10 years.

 

I've got a feeling Malaga will be the biggest waste of a Champions League space for a top league since Everton. That could help England with the co-efficient points over Spain.

Actually Villareal was also a big waste considering they were relegated!

 

Is Chelsea now a mid table team? oO
There should be a Hollywood movie about this poor underdog side, who went out to beat the odds against all the big money teams to end a 15 year drougth, where they struggled to survive in the harsh world that is the EPL ...

 

This season they were an ageing team. Half of their team have been at the club for years and are winding up their careers.

One hand people are saying it was an expensive team so they should win the Champions League anyway, on the other people are saying it's a team with average players and they were lucky to win it. You can't have it both ways.

 

Well, isn't that exactly what you did here. Portraying Chelsea as just a mid table team in the EPL but still better than the rest of europe, ignoring the fact that the other EPL teams went out of the competition.

Either the EPL is so strong that a mid table team can win the cl or Chelsea is better than the standings in the EPL show. You can't have it both ways

 

Tottenham and Newcastle are better teams than Chelsea as shown in the league which never lies.

Chelsea are a cup team reflected by the age of the players which means they can win on off games but not a long consitant run. They remind me of Liverpool in 2005.

When a Spanish team other than Barcelona even gets to the final, then I might change my mind!

Man City and Man Utd will be among the favourites despite slipping up.

Of course if Barcelona and Madrid got to the final, then we would have been talking about La Liga being the clear best and I would not argue, but they lost. If Chelsea didn't lose to Iniesta's unjust late goal in 2009 the EPL would have been seen as totally dominating the CL to an unprecidented level in history with a repeat all English final. The margins are very small at the end of the day.