England is the Best?

We have 4 teams in the last 8 of the Champions League so that kind of goes without saying right? Last year we achieved a similarly impressive feat and had 3 teams in the last 4 of the competition, but could the unthinkable happen this year in the tournament’s third round to leave 4 English semi-finalists and guarantee a winner from our fine shores? I think most in the know would agree that Schalke will pose little threat against whoever they play next, and baring a miracle, Fenerbahce shouldn’t progress any further, so that leaves just Roma and Barcelona in England’s way it seems.

Now there’s no doubting the quality of Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool; historically they are the most successful English clubs, and for the last 5 years especially, have dominated both the Premier League and the domestic cup competitions. However, the coaches are French, Scottish, Israeli and Spanish, and between the starting XIs in the Champions League second legs, there were just 10 English players. That’s under a quarter for those who slept through Maths at school, with Arsenal not fielding a single one until Woolcott’s introduction with less than twenty minutes to go. Benitez played Carragher and Gerrard for Liverpool, while Man United (Ferdinand, Brown, Carrick and Rooney) and Chelsea (Terry, A Cole, Lampard and J Cole) started with 4-a-piece.

It is therefore ridiculous for the press to once again hail the brilliance of ‘English’ football; we are becoming increasingly more and more just like the hosts. If a band plays a great gig, do you congratulate the stadium and administrative staff for being the best in the world? No, the venue’s incidental really isn’t it? England is that venue, and the Premier League the advertisers if you will, telling the world where you can see Cristiano Ronaldo and Cesc Fabregas and Fernando Torres. It is great for the league that they are here, it’s great for the clubs and for the fans too, but to them it’s a job. They aren’t here because they love the English game, or want to help return us to a strong international force, they just want professional success and more money than they could ever spend. The crucial fact linking the four clubs in the Champions League last 8 isn’t that they’re English, it’s that they have smart managers and bottomless coffers should they be required.

I have no problem with Arsenal not fielding English players, that’s how it is these days, and if it was a choice between seeing Bacary Sagna at right-back or Justin Hoyte then it’s a no brainer. It’s just frustrating though when we as a nation get caught up in this media hysteria and start believing our own hype. We have failed in every major tournament in the last 42 years, and did not even qualify for this year’s event, so how can anything connected with English football be a success? The Premier League is exciting because it’s multi-national and cosmopolitan, but as homegrown percentages continue to drop, it can no longer be linked with so-called English triumph. Our country is a platform for talent no doubt, but self-congratulatory circle-jerks are pointless when the only truly successful clubs are the foreign-owned, foreign-managed and foreign-populated ones.

Snatch 22

How’s this for a dilemma then: either play for your club against Inter Milan at the San Siro in the last 16 of the Champions League, or witness the birth of your first child. Thankfully it’s a predicament few of us will ever have to face, but for ace Liverpool midfielder and kickette favourite Xabi Alonso, the choice was obvious.

Raphael Benitez seemed far from happy yesterday about the situation, as Alonso understandably chose to remain in the UK alongside soon-to-be-MILF wife Nagore as she goes into hospital today. The Spanish international is obviously an important player as the Reds look to defend their 2 – 0 advantage from the first leg, but central midfield is not an area where Benitez is short of talent. Argentinian star Javier Mascherano is fit to play again so will easily slide into Alonso’s position, but still Benitez was a little irked (thankfully not merked though):

“He (Alonso) wanted to come here if everything was ok but we cannot wait until we have more information so we made the decision. I can't wait for one player until the end when you don't know what's going on, I have to use my squad.”

Despite leading by two goals going into the tie, Benitez confirmed his opposite number Roberto Mancini's suspicions that Liverpool will not simply go for a goalless draw. Encouragingly, Benitez is very attack minded, even with the tie poised on such a knife-point, and knows that one goal away in the San Siro will be enough to leave Inter needing four themselves to progress:

“We know we can't defend for a long time against a very good team. We need to attack and score a goal. I have a lot of confidence that we will go forward and my idea is to prepare the team to win. (Inter are) a great team and for us it's important not to concede.”

Following an embarrassing defeat by Barnsley several weeks ago now, the Scousers seem to have finally remembered how to play football again, and in the last week have stroked in a majestic set of goals against West Ham and Newcastle, with match-winners Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard playing some simply breath-taking football. Inter meanwhile are not in good form despite still being top of Serie A, with a 2 – 0 victory over Reggina their only win in their last 5 domestic games.

Not to jinx everything, but in 1965 the two clubs found themselves playing each other in the European Cup semi-finals, and having lost the first leg 3 – 1 at Anfield, Inter came back to win 3 – 0 in the San Siro to win the tie. They then eventually won the competition, so Mancini will be praying history repeats itself first tonight, and then at the Luzhniki Stadium in May…