Why English sides are at a disadvantage in Europe?

Gone are the days when England used to dominate the latter rounds of the Champions League during the 2000’s.

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Article by Ben Law

Since the turn of the decade, England has only had more than one quarter-finalist in the Champions League on two occasions.

The reasons for this decline are clear to see. Firstly, the competitiveness of the Premier League is like no other league in Europe.

In the the likes of Spain, France, Germany and Italy realistically, only one or two teams are capable of winning the league, and there is a massive gulf in talent between these teams and all the rest.

This allows teams such as Barcelona and Bayern Munich to rest players in fixtures leading up to big European matches, a luxury that English teams cannot afford.

The competitive nature of the Premier League is largely down to the league being much wealthier than Europe’s other top leagues through a much larger TV revenue which can be shared between the clubs.

This has meant that Premier League teams can financially blow other teams out of the water in order to sign some of the worlds best players.

If you take Stoke City as an example. This season they have more Champions League winners in their squad than the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United.

Fixture congestion is an other is another obstacle in which our teams have to overcome.

The scheduling for the English football season is extraordinary, with teams having to play three matches a week a number of times throughout the season.

In France, when Paris-Saint Germain have a European match in midweek, they play their league fixture either on a Friday night or an early kick off on Saturday.

When you compare this to England, some of our teams competing in the Champions League have to play on a Sunday evening and then travel to an away European fixture which takes place on a Tuesday.

This gives teams from other countries an extra day or two to tactically prepare ahead of the game.

The scheduling is again brought into question as the Premier League is the only major league in Europe not to have a winter break.

In Germany, the winter break lasted for over a month this season, which can only mean their players will be fresher than players in England when it comes to the latter stages of major tournaments.

The month long break would be too long to introduce into the Premier League, however a happy medium would be beneficial, and the FA need to find a way create space in the calendar to do this.

There has been recent talk about possible changes to the FA cup including scrapping replays and playing cup matches in midweek rather than the weekend, which would allow for a winter break, however discussions seem to be at an early stage.

Some people may argue that a winter break would disrupt the traditions of English football.

I would argue that England as a country needs to come to terms with how to be successful in football today and not worry about the past.

A week or two off after the boxing day fixture would not only benefit the teams competing in Europe but also the national side going into international tournaments.

It is clear to see, looking at the result over the past few years that our teams are at a clear disadvantage compared to those from around Europe and it is about time the FA do something to rectify this.

Until they do we will continue to disappoint season after season which could eventually lead to the Premier League losing a Champions League spot which would be a disaster for the league.